| Eddie Hazel |
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| 1992 deaths | |
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EARLY LIFE Born in Brooklyn in 1950, Hazel grew up outside Plainfield, New Jersey because his mother, Grace Cook, wanted her son to grow up in an environment without the pressures of drugs and crime that she felt pervaded the city. She worked in Brooklyn as a silk presser; Eddie occupied himself from a young age by playing a Guitar , given to him as a Christmas present by his older brother, as well as singing in church. At age 12, Eddie met Billy "Bass" Nelson , and the pair quickly became close friends, singing and playing the guitar, soon adding Harvey McGee, a drummer, to the mix. CAREER In 1967, The Parliaments (a Plainfield-based Doo Wop band headed by George Clinton ) hit the charts with " I Wanna Testify ". Clinton recruited a backing band for a tour, hiring Billy "Bass" Nelson. Eddie was in Newark, New Jersey working with George Blackwell and couldn't be reached. After Nelson returned from the tour, he tried to recruit Eddie. His mother at first vetoed the idea (since Eddie was only seventeen), but Clinton and Nelson worked together to change her mind. In the fall of 1967, The Parliaments went on tour with both Nelson and Hazel. In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania , Hazel met and befriended Tiki Fulwood , who quickly replaced The Parliaments' drummer. Nelson, Hazel and Fulwood became the backbone of Funkadelic , which was originally the backup band for The Parliaments, only to later become an independent touring group when legal difficulties forced the group to (temporarily) abandon the name "Parliaments" The doo wop of The Parliaments quickly began morphing into the Soul -inflected Hard Rock of Funkadelic, influenced as much by Jimi Hendrix as Frankie Lymon . The switch to Funkadelic was complete with the addition of Tawl Ross and Bernie Worrell (rhythm guitar and keyboards, respectively). Funkadelic (1970), Free Your Mind... And Your Ass Will Follow (1970) and Maggot Brain (1971) were the first three albums, released in a mere two years. ''Maggot Brain'' is perhaps the definitive musical statement by Funkadelic, and the Titular Track 's ten-minute Guitar Solo is Eddie Hazel's defining moment, and the one piece of music for which he has remained a legend. Perhaps apocryphally, George Clinton told Hazel, during the recording session, to "play like your momma just died" and the result was the epic sounds of Hazel's guitar. The term, "Maggot Brain," refers both to Hazel's incredible intake of various drugs, as well as a mode of thinking which allows one to rise above the "bullshit" of the world, which is inhabited by maggots who have not yet achieved the status of Maggot Brain (see P Funk Mythology ). SELECTED EVENTS Eddie Hazel was not the only Funkadelic member to have drug issues. Tawl Ross left the group because of a bad LSD trip and/or an Amphetamine overdose. Tiki Fulwood also used drugs with Hazel, leading George Clinton to suspend their salaries so that they would not spend the money entirely on drugs. As a result, '' America Eats Its Young '' (1972) featured only marginal input from Hazel. Instead, Hazel began working with The Temptations , appearing on '' 1990 '' (1973) and '' A Song For You '' (1975). In 1974, Hazel was indicted for assaulting an airline stewardess, along with a drug possession charge. While he was in jail, Clinton added Michael Hampton to Funkadelic. Hampton was Hazel's replacement as lead guitarist, hired on the spot after he auditioned with a note-for-note rendition of "Maggot Brain." Hampton was seventeen years old, the same age Hazel had been when he joined The Parliaments. Hazel's guitar dominates '' Standing On The Verge Of Getting It On '' (1974), which had been recorded before his arrest. When Hazel returned to Funkadelic, his guitar-playing was rarely featured. Over the following years, Hazel's presence with Funkadelic became unpredictable. One song that featured Hazel's lead guitar is "Comin' Round the Mountain" '' Hardcore Jollies '' (1976). He was completely absent from '' One Nation Under A Groove '' (1978), Funkadelic's most commercially successful album. On the P-Funk All Stars ' '' Live At The Beverly Theater '' (recorded in 1983, released in 1990), Hazel is upstaged during "Maggot Brain" — his signature song — by guitarists Hampton and DeWayne "Blackbyrd" McKnight . In 1977, Hazel recorded a "solo" album, '' Game, Dames And Guitar Thangs '', with support from other members of Parliament-Funkadelic, including vocals from The Brides Of Funkenstein . On December 23 , 1992 , Hazel died from internal bleeding and liver failure, after a long struggle with stomach problems. "Maggot Brain" was played at his funeral. Three collections of unreleased recordings have been released posthumously: The 1994 four-song EP '' Jams From The Heart '' (which Rhino Records later added as bonus material to its rerelease of ''Game, Dames and Guitar Thangs''), 2000 's '' Rest In P '' and 2006 's '' Eddie Hazel At Home ''. Other recordings by Hazel have appeared on albums by other musicians. Several albums produced by Bill Laswell , including ''Axiom Funk: Funkcronomicon'' (1995), have featured Hazel's guitar. Bootsy Collins has also incorporated recordings of Hazel in some of his recent releases. TRIVIA
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