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Somewhat of a mythical figure, original
Funkadelic guitarist Eddie Hazel pioneered an innovative funk-metal
sound in the early '70s, best exemplified on his mammoth classic
instrumental jam "Maggot Brain." This mythological status arises
from his brief, mysterious era of productivity, a shadowy three-album
cycle capped by Maggot Brain that came to a close as Hazel's notorious
drug problems began to haunt him, resulting in personal disputes
with George Clinton, a jail sentence, and ultimately his slow
death to liver failure. Yet even though Hazel's notable accomplishments
are few — reserved mostly to the first three Funkadelic albums,
a 1977 solo album, and legendary live performances — these accomplishments
were highly influential. At the time, Hazel seemed a clear successor
to the deceased Jimi Hendrix, one of the few black guitar players
merging an acid rock approach with an R&B aesthetic. Furthermore,
Hazel took things a step further, integrating a heavy dose of
funk into his fiery guitar work as well, setting the precedent
for successive Parliament/Funkadelic guitarists, as well as later
generations of funk-metal guitarists.
Though born in Brooklyn on April 10, 1950, Eddie Hazel grew up
outside the city in Plainfield, NJ, since his mother, Grace Cook,
didn't want her son growing up in a negative, drug-littered environment
(though, ironically, Plainfield wasn't much better in regard to
drugs). While his mother commuted back and forth to Brooklyn to
work as a silk presser, the young Eddie spent most of his time
playing the guitar his brother had bought for him as a Christmas
gift. In addition to his self-trained guitar playing, Eddie also
sang in church and eventually met Billy "Bass" Nelson when he
was only 12 — the two instantly began playing together, teaching
each other to sing and play guitar. Once they met up with yet
another local youth, drummer Harvey McGee, they began jamming
together as a trio, trying to learn all the early-'60s Motown
hits.
In 1967, another much more established Plainfield group, the Parliaments,
had suddenly found themselves experiencing a considerable level
of success and wanted to mount a tour. They needed a backing band,
though, and looked to Nelson for help. Unfortunately, Hazel was
nowhere to be found, supposedly in Newark, NJ, working with producer
George Blackwell. When Nelson returned from a short summer tour
in August, the first thing he did was hunt down Hazel in hopes
of beefing up the Parliaments' rhythm section. There was one problem,
though — Eddie's mother. She wasn't crazy about the idea of letting
her 17-year-old son head out on a tour with George Clinton's ensemble
of wild musicians. Yet after a little begging and some convincing
on both Clinton's and Nelson's part, Ms. Cook agreed to let her
son follow his ambitions.
The Parliaments went back on tour in September 1967, with Nelson
and Hazel anchoring the rhythm section. In Philadelphia during
a show at the Uptown Theater, Hazel met Tiki Fulwood, who was
the Uptown's house drummer. The two instantly became close friends,
going out partying after the show together. Furthermore, since
both Nelson and Hazel were unhappy with their drummer at the time,
they argued with Clinton about replacing the Parliaments' inadequate
drummer with Fulwood. By the time they left Philadelphia, the
Nelson/Hazel/Fulwood rhythm section was finally in place, a tight
squad that spawned Funkadelic.
In essence, Funkadelic was just a continuation of the Parliaments.
With group member Calvin Simon gone off to the war, and with Hazel
and Fulwood now in the group, the Parliaments abandoned their
uniforms, donned extravagant costumes or street clothes, and began
playing increasingly rock-influenced music driven by Hazel's dirty
fuzz tone and Hendrix-influenced acid rock approach. The change
to Funkadelic then became official with the introduction of Tawl
Ross on rhythm guitar and Bernie Worrell on keyboards, resulting
in a series of three landmark albums: the group's self-titled
debut (1970), Free Your Mind...and Your Ass Will Follow (1970),
and Maggot Brain (1971).
Maggot Brain ended up being one of the group's more essential
albums, thanks primarily to Hazel's guitar playing. In particular,
the title track has become his legacy, an epic instrumental piece
fashioned as an emotive eulogy that has become a perennial staple
of the group's live shows over the decades. The song's origins
are supposedly rooted in a recording session where Clinton told
Hazel to envision the saddest thought possible, his mother's death,
and use that vision as inspiration. Other myths involve Hazel's
voracious drug intake, a characteristic that led to the nickname
"Maggot Brain." Either way, the song made Hazel famous and secured
his legacy for successive decades.
Unfortunately, following Hazel's most promising moment and greatest
accomplishment to date, his career began descending quickly. It's
no secret that the early Funkadelic lineup suffered through drug
problems during this early-'70s era, as first Ross was ousted
from the group for his increasing LSD-related unreliability. Soon
after, Clinton became equally frustrated with Hazel's and Fulwood's
growing drug abuse, often cutting off their pay so that they wouldn't
go spend it on illicit substances. These problems most obviously
came to light on the follow-up to Maggot Brain, 1972's America
Eats Its Young, where Hazel's role was minimal. Furthermore, the
guitarist began working with fellow Detroiters the Temptations
instead, contributing guitar and songwriting to Zoom (1973) and
Song for You (1975).
Hazel's drug abuse problems finally caught up with him in 1974,
with an indictment resulting from an airline incident that involved
him assaulting a stewardess. In his absence, Clinton integrated
the potent duo of Gary Shider and Ron Brylowski into Funkadelic,
and later Michael Hampton (a young guitar prodigy who caught the
band's attention by playing a note-for-note rendition of "Maggot
Brain" at a party in Cleveland). Hazel returned from exile for
1974's Standing on the Verge of Getting It On, with strong guitar
contributions and co-writing credits with George Clinton on several
songs, but by the next album (Let's Take It to the Stage), Hazel
was taking a secondary role to the new roster of Parliament/Funkadelic
guitarists.
While Hazel's role in Parliament/Funkadelic had diminished by
the late '70s, Clinton did grant him the opportunity to record
a solo album for Warner Brothers, 1977's Games, Dames and Guitar
Things. The album featured covers of "California Dreamin'" and
"I Want You (She's So Heavy)," along with a few songs written
by Clinton and Bootsy Collins. The nine songs all prominently
feature Hazel's lead guitar work, along with a considerable amount
of backing vocals courtesy of the Brides of Funkenstein. Incredibly
rare and highly collectable for years as a vinyl-only release,
the album remains one of the better P-Funk albums of the late
'70s, highlighted by its guitar-heavy sound.
Following this album, Hazel continued to play with Clinton in
successive years, but his contributions were never major, and
he slowly descended further into oblivion, eventually suffering
from chronic stomach problems and ultimately dying on December
23, 1992, from internal bleeding and liver failure. In the wake
of his death, two posthumous collections of unreleased material
were released. Jams From the Heart surfaced first in 1994, a brief
four-song EP that eventually was eclipsed by a second import release,
2000's Rest in P. This latter collection compiled the material
from Jams From the Heart along with a few other leftovers dug
up from the vaults. In 2004 Rhino Homemade finally reissued Games,
Dames and Guitar Things, appending the Jams From the Heart EP
as an added bonus.
This bio courtesy www.allmusic.com
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