There are two conflicting theories about who recorded Funkadelic’s standout Get Off Your Ass and Jam guitar solo. But who actually played it?
Released as part of the genre-mashing band’s seventh album, 1975’s Let’s Take It to the Stage, the tune became an instant success.
Notably, the guitar solo is uncredited, and the void left by the solo's absent author has given way to plenty of theories – including an assertion from bandleader George Clinton that it was performed by a mystery stranger.
Writing in his 2014 autobiography, Brothas Be, Yo Like George, Ain’t That Funkin’ Kinda Hard on You?, Clinton said (via Ultimate Classic Rock), “We finished one take, took a smoke break or something, and noticed that a white kid had wandered into the studio, a smack addict.
“We didn’t know him at all, but he said he played a little guitar, and wanted to pick up a little cash.”
It was certainly a bold move, and maybe Clinton respected that, because he didn’t send him packing. In the end, he was glad he didn’t.
“We set him up, and he just started to play like he was possessed,” Clinton recalled. “He did all the rock n’ roll that hadn’t been heard for a few years, and he did it for the entirety of the track.
“Even when the song ended, he didn’t stop. All of us were up there goggle-eyed. We had agreed on 25 bucks, but I gave him 50 because I loved it.
“I tried to find the guy and put him on another song, but he was gone. He never resurfaced. We never heard from him. He's not credited on the record because we have no idea who he was.”
That’s one recollection. In the other, Paul Warren – best known for his spells playing guitar for Tina Turner and Rod Stewart – says it was his work.
“The main guitar player for Funkadelic had been arrested that night for heroin possession, and George Clinton wanted to carry on with the session,” he told Outsider Rock in 2021. “So I showed up with a guitar; they had an amp. They gave me $50 under the table.” He says he was 15 at the time.
In the new issue of Guitar World Michael Hampton was asked for his version of events.
“I heard a story like that, but I don’t wanna say the guy who did it was a smack addict, you know?” was his light-hearted reply.
“Yeah, I don’t know!” he returns when asked about Warren's claims. “Maybe it was a guy on smack who got paid $50. But let’s just roll with what George Clinton said. [Laughs] So, yeah, sure, the original story is probably true.”
Granted, it doesn’t clear things up categorically, but he’s at least given his preferred narrative. And there’s certainly a romance to it – a mystery of intrigue and “who the hell was that guy?” Either way, it was $50 well spent.
Hampton’s full interview features in the new issue of Guitar World. See Magazines Direct for more.
