Edward Earl Hazel (April 10, 1950 – December 23, 1992) was an American guitarist and singer in early funk music who played lead guitar with

Parliament-Funkadelic Parliament-Funkadelic (abbreviated as P-Funk) is an American music collective of rotating musicians headed by George Clinton, primarily consisting of the funk bands Parliament and Funkadelic, both active since the 1960s. Their distinctive ...

. Hazel was a posthumous inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, inducted in 1997 with fifteen other members of

. His ten-minute guitar solo in the Funkadelic song " Maggot Brain" is hailed as "one of the greatest solos of all time on any instrument". In 2015, ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...

'' ranked Hazel at no. 83 in its list of the 100 Greatest Guitarists.

Biography

Early life

Born in

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

in 1950, Hazel grew up in

Plainfield, New Jersey Plainfield is a city in Union County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, known by its nickname as "The Queen City."

because his mother, Grace Cook, wanted her son to grow up in an environment without the pressures of drugs and

crime In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definitions of", in Ca ...

that she felt pervaded

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

. Hazel occupied himself from a young age by playing a

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...

, given to him as a

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year ...

present by his older brother. Hazel also sang in church. At age 12, Hazel met

Billy "Bass" Nelson William "Billy Bass" Nelson (born January 28, 1951) is a U.S. musician, who was the original bassist for Funkadelic. He is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, inducted in 1997 with fifteen other members of Parliament-Funkadelic. Caree ...

, and the pair quickly became close friends and began performing, soon adding drummer Harvey McGee to the mix.

Career

In 1967,

the Parliaments The Parliaments were an American vocal quintet from Plainfield, New Jersey, United States. Originally formed in the back room of a barbershop in 1956, the quintet was named after the cigarette brand. The Parliaments initially performed doo-wop ...

, a Plainfield-based doo wop band headed by George Clinton, had a hit record with "

(I Wanna) Testify "(I Wanna) Testify" is the first hit single by the soul singing group The Parliaments. Background The single was released at the beginning of the summer of 1967 by Revilot Records. It would be the only major hit for the group for the entire d ...

." Clinton recruited a backing band for a tour, hiring Nelson as bassist, who in turn recommended Hazel as guitarist. Hazel was in

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the second largest city within the New York metropolitan area. In late 1967, the Parliaments went on tour with both Nelson and Hazel. In

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

Hazel met and befriended

Tiki Fulwood Ramon "Tiki" Fulwood (May 23, 1944 – October 29, 1979) was an American musician. He was the drummer for the funk bands Parliament and Funkadelic, as well as a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, inducted in 1997 with fifteen other membe ...

, who quickly replaced the Parliaments' drummer. Nelson, Hazel and Fulwood became the backbone of

Funkadelic Funkadelic was an American funk rock band formed in Plainfield, New Jersey in 1968 and active until 1982. The band and its sister act Parliament, both led by George Clinton, pioneered the funk music culture of the 1970s.John, Bush. Funkade ...

, which was originally the backup band for the Parliaments, only to later become an independent touring group when legal difficulties forced Clinton to temporarily abandon the name "Parliaments". The switch to Funkadelic was complete with the addition of

Tawl Ross Lucius "Tawl" Ross (born October 5, 1948, in Wagram, North Carolina) is an American musician. He was the rhythm guitarist for Funkadelic from 1968 to 1971, and played on their first three albums. He left the band in 1971 soon after a debilitating ...

and

Bernie Worrell George Bernard Worrell, Jr. (April 19, 1944 – June 24, 2016) was an American keyboardist and record producer best known as a founding member of Parliament-Funkadelic and for his work with Talking Heads. He is a member of the Rock and Rol ...

( rhythm guitar and keyboards, respectively). ''

'' (1970), '' Free Your Mind... And Your Ass Will Follow'' (1970) and '' Maggot Brain'' (1971) were the first three albums, released within two years. All three albums prominently featured Hazel's guitar work. The third album's title song, " Maggot Brain", consists of a ten-minute guitar solo by Hazel. Clinton reportedly told Hazel during the recording session to imagine he had been told his mother had just died. Music critic

Greg Tate Gregory Stephen Tate (October 14, 1957December 7, 2021) was an American writer, musician, and producer. A long-time critic for ''The Village Voice'', Tate focused particularly on African-American music and culture, helping to establish hip-h ...

described it as Funkadelic's ''

A Love Supreme ''A Love Supreme'' is an album by American jazz saxophonist John Coltrane. He recorded it in one session on December 9, 1964, at Van Gelder Studio in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, leading a quartet featuring pianist McCoy Tyner, bassist Jimmy ...

''. In 2008, Rolling Stone cited this as number 60 on its list of 100 greatest "guitar songs" of all time. Nelson and Hazel officially quit

in late 1971 over financial disputes with Clinton, though Hazel contributed to the group sporadically over the next several years. The albums '' America Eats Its Young'' (1972) and ''

Cosmic Slop ''Cosmic Slop'' is the fifth studio album by Funkadelic, released in May 1973 on Westbound Records. While it has been favorably reevaluated by critics long after its original release, the album was a commercial failure, producing no charting si ...

'' (1973) featured only marginal input from Hazel. Instead, Hazel began working with

the Temptations The Temptations are an American vocal group from Detroit, Michigan, who released a series of successful singles and albums with Motown Records during the 1960s and 1970s. The group's work with producer Norman Whitfield, beginning with the Top ...

(along with Nelson), appearing on ''

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of humanity on Earth, astrophysicist ...

'' (1973) and '' A Song for You'' (1975). For the 1974

album '' Standing on the Verge of Getting It On'', Hazel co-wrote all of the album's songs. On six of those songs the songwriting credit was in the name of Grace Cook, Hazel's mother. Hazel also had a significant presence as arranger and lead guitarist on the same year's Parliament album, '' Up For The Down Stroke''. In 1974, Hazel was indicted for assaulting an airline stewardess and an air marshal, along with a drug possession charge. While Hazel was in jail, Clinton recruited

Michael Hampton Michael Hampton (born November 15, 1956) is an American funk/rock guitarist. He is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, inducted in 1997 with fifteen other members of Parliament-Funkadelic. Career Hampton was born in Cleveland, Ohio, a ...

as the new lead guitarist for

. In the next several years, Hazel appeared occasionally on

albums, although his guitar work was rarely featured. One song that featured Hazel's lead guitar is "Comin' Round the Mountain" on '' Hardcore Jollies'' (1976). In 1977, Hazel recorded a "solo" album, ''

Game, Dames and Guitar Thangs ''Game, Dames and Guitar Thangs'' is the debut album by Parliament-Funkadelic lead guitarist Eddie Hazel. The album was released on July 29, 1977. It was Hazel's only album until his death in 1992, when it was followed by several posthumous rel ...

'', with support from other members of Parliament-Funkadelic, including vocals from

the Brides of Funkenstein The Brides of Funkenstein were an American Soul and Funk girl band, originally composed of singers Dawn Silva and Lynn Mabry. History Previously background singers for Sly Stone, singer of Sly and the Family Stone, Lynn Mabry and Dawn Silva joi ...

. He was completely absent from '' One Nation Under a Groove'' (1978), Funkadelic's most commercially successful album. Hazel made another prominent appearance in "Man's Best Friend" on the George Clinton album '' Computer Games'' (1982), as well as the track "Pumping It Up" from the

P-Funk All Stars Parliament-Funkadelic (abbreviated as P-Funk) is an American music collective of rotating musicians headed by George Clinton, primarily consisting of the funk bands Parliament and Funkadelic, both active since the 1960s. Their distinctive f ...

album ''

Urban Dancefloor Guerillas ''Urban Dancefloor Guerillas'' is the debut album of funk band the P-Funk All-Stars, released in 1983 on Uncle Jam Records. The album features an amalgamation of various alumni from the bands Parliament and Funkadelic, both of which were disband ...

''.

Death

On December 23, 1992, Hazel died from

internal bleeding Internal bleeding (also called internal hemorrhage) is a loss of blood from a blood vessel that collects inside the body. Internal bleeding is usually not visible from the outside. It is a serious medical emergency but the extent of severity dep ...

and liver failure. "Maggot Brain" was played at his funeral.

Legacy

Three collections of unreleased recordings have been released posthumously: The 1994 four-song EP ''Jams From the Heart'' (which

Rhino Records A rhinoceros (; ; ), commonly abbreviated to rhino, is a member of any of the five extant species (or numerous extinct species) of odd-toed ungulates in the family Rhinocerotidae. (It can also refer to a member of any of the extinct species ...

later added as bonus material to its rerelease of ''Game, Dames and Guitar Thangs''), 1994'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 William Otis Laswell (born February 12, 1955) is an American bass guitarist, record producer, and record label owner. He has been involved in thousands of recordings with many collaborators from all over the world. His music draws from funk, ...

, including '' Funkcronomicon'' (released under the name Axiom Funk, 1995) have featured Hazel's guitar. Bootsy Collins has also incorporated recordings of Hazel in some of his recent releases, for example, "Good Night Eddie" on '' Blasters of the Universe''.

Ween Ween is an American rock band from New Hope, Pennsylvania, formed in 1984 by Aaron Freeman and Mickey Melchiondo, better known by their respective stage names, Gene and Dean Ween. Generally categorized as an alternative rock band, the band a ...

recorded a tribute to him called "A Tear for Eddie" on their album ''

Chocolate And Cheese ''Chocolate and Cheese'' is the fourth studio album by the American rock band Ween, originally released by Elektra Records in 1994. It was the first Ween album to be recorded in a professional studio, in contrast to the crude four-track home reco ...

''. There is an image of Hazel on the back of Primal Scream's album ''

Give Out But Don't Give Up ''Give Out But Don't Give Up'' is the fourth studio album by Scottish rock band Primal Scream. It was released on 28 March 1994 in the United Kingdom by Creation Records and in the United States by Sire Records. It peaked at number 2 on the UK A ...

''.

John Frusciante John Anthony Frusciante (; born March 5, 1970) is an American musician, best known as the guitarist for the Red Hot Chili Peppers across three stints since 1988. He has released 11 solo albums and 7 EPs, ranging in style from acoustic guitar to e ...

recorded a tribute to Hazel's "Maggot Brain" on his 2009 album ''

The Empyrean ''The Empyrean'' is the eighth solo album by American musician John Frusciante, released worldwide on January 20, 2009 through Record Collection. Frusciante did not plan on a following tour, as he instead wanted to focus on writing and recordin ...

'' in the nine-minute-long "Before the Beginning". Nick Cave named him one of his favorite guitarists.

Sound, guitars, equipment

Hazel played in the vein of Jimi Hendrix and added "the aggressive rock and roll sound of Jimi Hendrix into the funky world of James Brown and Sly Stone". He used much reverb and was a "razor sharp" rhythm player, besides an exceptional soloist with "fuzz-drenched leads". He played a variety of guitars including Gibsons, but is best known as a player of

Fender Stratocaster The Fender Stratocaster, colloquially known as the Strat, is a model of electric guitar designed from 1952 into 1954 by Leo Fender, Bill Carson, George Fullerton, and Freddie Tavares. The Fender Musical Instruments Corporation has continuousl ...

s. His typical setup included a Marshall 100-watt amplifier,

MXR Phase 90 The MXR Phase 90 is a phaser effects pedal introduced in 1972 by MXR. History The Phase 90 was the first pedal sold by MXR and helped launch the company in 1974. The original model had a simple orange enclosure with a script style MXR logo. In ...

phaser,

Echoplex The Echoplex is a tape delay effect, first made in 1959. Designed by Mike Battle, the Echoplex set a standard for the effect in the 1960s—it is still regarded as "the standard by which everything else is measured." It was used by some of the ...

, Maestro FZ-1 Fuzz-Tone, and a Dunlop Cry Baby wah, and in his later days with P-funk a Music Man HD-130 amplifier. George Clinton recalled that when they were moving from Motown/doo wop toward a more rock and roll oriented sound, they were looking for a heavier, European sound, and he got Hazel a

Marshall stack Marshall is a British company that designs and manufactures music amplifiers, speaker cabinets, brands personal headphones and earphones, drums and bongos. The company also owns a record label called Marshall Records. It was founded in Lond ...

(with an 8x12 cabinet), and a Stratocaster (to replace a big-body

Gretsch Gretsch is an American company that manufactures musical instruments. The company was founded in 1883 in Brooklyn, New York by Friedrich Gretsch, a 27-year-old German immigrant, shortly after his arrival to the United States. Friedrich Gretsch ...

). Clinton noted, though, that it didn't matter what Hazel played--"it could be a Kay or anything--he could make it sound the same". Asked about effects, Clinton said, "Eddie started right out learning the pedals—the wah wah, the Big Muff, and phasers and shit. We bought all the gadgets in the world".

Discography

Solo recordings *''

'' (1977),

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...

*''A Night for Jimi Hendrix'' (Live At "Lingerie Club", Hollywood, 1990) eat. Krunchy*''Jams From the Heart'' (1994), JDC - EP *'' Rest in P'' (1994),

P-Vine P-Vine Records is an independent record label based in Tokyo, Japan. History It was started in 1976 by Blues Interactions, a firm founded in 1975 by Yasufumi Higurashi and Akira Kochi, as a record label focused on black music. The label name c ...

*''At Home (With Family)'' (2006), Eddie Hazel *''The Basement Rehearsals'' (feat. Krunchy) (2014)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hazel, Eddie 1950 births 1992 deaths African-American guitarists American funk guitarists American male guitarists American rhythm and blues guitarists Songwriters from New York (state) American soul guitarists Deaths from bleeding Lead guitarists P-Funk members Musicians from Brooklyn African-American rock musicians 20th-century American musicians Guitarists from New York City 20th-century American guitarists P-Vine Records artists African-American songwriters 20th-century American male musicians Deaths from liver failure