The original recording, over ten minutes long, features little more than a spoken introduction and an extended guitar solo by Eddie Hazel.
[7] Other sources say the title is a reference to Funkadelic leader George Clinton finding his brother Robert's "decomposed dead body, skull cracked, in a Chicago apartment.
Bash" Freeman started a tradition of playing the original full version of "Maggot Brain" on 100.7 WMMS/Cleveland every Sunday morning at 1:30 (around "last call").
Currently, Kenny Kidd keeps the tradition alive by playing the song at the end of his "All Request Saturday Night" show at 12am EST every Sunday morning.
[11][12] John Frusciante said he was inspired by "Maggot Brain" to record his own version called "Before the Beginning", which is featured on his 2009 album The Empyrean.