Lucius "Tawl" Ross (October 5, 1948 – January 3, 2024) – Super Stupid (1971)

The former Funkadelic rhythm guitarist co-wrote this hard-hitting funk rock masterpiece from their Maggot Brain LP.

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Lucius “Tawl” Ross is one of the original members of Funkadelic. He played rhythm guitar with the group from 1968 to 1971, and was featured on their classic first three albums.

Born in small town North Carolina, Ross joined Funkadelic in 1968, joining its other original members George Clinton, bassist Billy “Bass” Nelson, lead guitarist Eddie Hazel, drummer Ramon “Tiki” Fulwood, and keyboardist Bernie Worrell. See our earlier posts on George Clinton, Bernie Worrell, and Clarence “Fuzzy” Haskins for more on the group’s history.

(L-R) Funkadelic members Ross, Worrell, Fulwood, Nelson, and Hazel (seated) in Liverpool, England, 1971.

Ross played rhythm guitar on Funkadelic’s first three albums, starting with their self-titled debut LP, released in February, 1970. On their second album Free Your Mind…and Your Ass Will Follow, which dropped that July, he sang lead vocals on the meditation on greed and wealth “Funky Dollar Bill.” And for their breakthrough third album Maggot Brain, released in July, 1971 which made it to #14 on the R&B album charts, Ross co-wrote two songs and was featured on co-lead vocals on two, including “Back in Our Minds,” written by “Fuzzy” Haskins.

One of the Maggot Brain songs he co-wrote was the ahead-of-its-time fusion of funk and hard rock “Super Stupid.” Co-written along with Clinton, Nelson and Hazel, it exploded onto turntables with a hard hitting, funky roar that paid homage to Hendrix while paving the way for the future sound of artists like Lenny Kravitz and Living Colour.

Sadly, following the release of Maggot Brain, Ross left Funkadelic after a bad drug trip. His official bio page on George Clinton’s website describes it as a “debilitating experience with LSD.” Another source says Ross engaged in an “acid eating contest, then snort(ed) some raw speed, before completely flipping out.” He returned to North Carolina and withdrew from the music business for the next two and a half decades.

In 1995, Ross reemerged with his first and only solo album to date, titled Giant Shirley. It was initially released only on CD by the Coconut Grove Recording Company, with Ross billed as “Tal Ross A.K.A. Detrimental Vasoline.” Twenty-five years later in 2020, the Tidal Waves Music label (a Light In The Attic subsidiary) re-issued Giant Shirley for the first time on vinyl as a double LP.

The album’s material sounded as if time had stood still, with tracks that would have been at home on any of Funkadelic’s first three albums Ross was featured on. Highlights included the hard-hitting, funky jam “Hussein (I'm Lucky),” the laid back love song “Cry And Show Me,” and the upbeat workout “Feelin’ Good.”

Besides “Super Stupid,” the other Maggot Brain track Ross co-wrote was its chaotic closing cut “Wars of Armageddon” (along with Clinton, Worrell, and “Tiki” Fulwood) which featured him on co-lead vocals. Ross re-recorded a very funky updated version (“It Was”) for Giant Shirley.

Happy 75th Birthday to the great “Tawl” Ross.

UPDATE: Bootsy Collins just posted the sad news that Ross passed on January 3, 2024. Rest In Power, “Tawl” Ross.

Further info:

“Tal Ross - Giant Shirley,” LightInTheAttic.net, 2020.

“Funkadelic's 'Maggot Brain' At 50: R&B, Psychedelic Rock And A Black Guitarist's Cry,” NPR, by Eric Deggans, July 22, 2021.

#funk #soul #Funkadelic #GeorgeClinton #MaggotBrain #TawlRoss