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 from liver failure. Even though
Hazel's notable accomplishments are few -- reserved mostly for the first three
Funkadelic albums, a 1977 solo album, and legendary live performances -- all 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, New Jersey, 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, 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 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 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, Grace 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, 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 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 -- 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 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
Garry 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 his 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, 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 was eventually 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 out of the vaults. In 2004 Rhino Homemade finally reissued
Games, Dames and Guitar Things, appending the
Jams from the Heart EP as an added bonus. ~ Jason Birchmeier