Garry Marshall Shider (July 24, 1953 – June 16, 2010) was an American musician and guitarist. He was musical director of the

P-Funk 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 ...

All-Stars for much of their history. He was inducted into the

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), sometimes simply referred to as the Rock Hall, is a museum and hall of fame located in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States, on the shore of Lake Erie. The museum documents the history of rock music and ...

in 1997, with fifteen other members of

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 ...

Early life

Shider was born 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."

. At the age of ten and under the guidance of his father Jesse, Garry and his brothers played and sang behind many

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message (" the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words a ...

artists of the time including legends such as

Shirley Caesar Shirley Ann Caesar-Williams (born October 13, 1938), known professionally as Shirley Caesar, is an American gospel singer whose career has spanned seven decades. She has won 11 Grammys in addition to Dove Awards and Stellar Awards; Caesar is k ...

, The Five Blind Boys, The Mighty Clouds of Joy, and others. As a youth Shider was also a regular customer at the Plainfield barbershop owned by George Clinton, where the future members of

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

would sing

doo-wop Doo-wop (also spelled doowop and doo wop) is a genre of rhythm and blues music that originated in African-American communities during the 1940s, mainly in the large cities of the United States, including New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Chica ...

for customers and counsel local youngsters. Clinton made note of the young Shider's talents on guitar and his ability with gospel singing. By the time he was sixteen, Shider wished to escape the crime and dead-end prospects of Plainfield, so he and his friend Cordell "Boogie" Mosson left for Canada where Shider married and had a son. Shider and Mosson formed a

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the mi ...

/ rock band called United Soul, or "U.S.". George Clinton was living in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

at the time and began hearing about United Soul from people in the local music business, and took the band under his wing upon learning that Shider was a member.

Career

In 1971, Clinton produced several tracks by United Soul with input from members 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 ...

. The songs "I Miss My Baby" and "Baby I Owe You Something Good" were released as a one-off single by Westbound Records in 1971 under the group name U.S. Music with Funkadelic. All the tracks recorded with Clinton in 1971 were released by Westbound in 2009 as the album '' U.S. Music With Funkadelic''. After producing United Soul, Clinton then invited Shider and Mosson to join

. Two United Soul songs were rerecorded on later Funkadelic albums with Shider as a member. Clinton groomed Shider for an important role in the

roster, which Shider joined full-time in 1972. He was a prominent contributor to albums by both

and

until the dissolution of those two bands in the early 1980s, after which he continued to work regularly with Clinton's

All-Stars. During

performances, Shider was known for appearing in a diaper, making him instantly recognizable on stage and earning him the nickname "Diaper Man". Shider is featured prominently in many hit songs like "Cosmic Slop," "Getting to Know You," and " One Nation Under a Groove". He co-wrote many noteworthy

songs, and he made important contributions to

spin-off acts including

Bootsy Collins William Earl "Bootsy" Collins (born October 26, 1951) is an American bass guitarist and singer. Rising to prominence with James Brown in the early 1970s, and later with Parliament-Funkadelic, Collins established himself as one of the leading ...

and

Eddie Hazel 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. Hazel was a posthumous inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, inducted in 19 ...

. Shider has been featured in Guitar Player Magazine three times, and once in the Japanese version. He has been featured in ''Who's Who in Music'' and appeared on a compilation album by

Paul Shaffer Paul Allen Wood Shaffer (born November 28, 1949) is a Canadian singer, composer, actor, author, comedian, and multi-instrumentalist who served as David Letterman's musical director, band leader, and sidekick on the entire run of both ''Late Ni ...

of the

David Letterman David Michael Letterman (born April 12, 1947) is an American television host, comedian, writer and producer. He hosted late night television talk shows for 33 years, beginning with the February 1, 1982 debut of ''Late Night with David Letterman' ...

band, and also on rock group

The Black Crowes The Black Crowes are an American rock band formed in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1984. Their discography includes eight studio albums, four live albums and several charting singles. The band was signed to Def American Recordings in 1989 by producer Ge ...

' 1996 album '' Three Snakes and One Charm''. Shider has also appeared on ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock. Michaels currently serves ...

'' several times, the ''

Late Show with David Letterman The ''Late Show with David Letterman'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by David Letterman on CBS, the first iteration of the ''Late Show'' franchise. The show debuted on August 30, 1993, and was produced by Letterman's production ...

'', ''

The Arsenio Hall Show ''The Arsenio Hall Show'' is an American syndicated late-night talk show created by and starring comedian Arsenio Hall. There have been two different incarnations of ''The Arsenio Hall Show''. The original series premiered on January 3, 1989, ...

'', ''

New York Undercover ''New York Undercover'' is an American police drama that aired on the Fox television network from September 8, 1994, to February 11, 1999. The series starred Malik Yoba as Detective J.C. Williams and Michael DeLorenzo as Detective Eddie Torre ...

'', ''

The Tonight Show ''The Tonight Show'' is an American late-night talk show that has aired on NBC since 1954. The show has been hosted by six comedians: Steve Allen (1954–1957), Jack Paar (1957–1962), Johnny Carson (1962–1992), Jay Leno (1992–2009 and 201 ...

'', and others. He appeared in the films '' PCU'' and '' The Night Before''; both of which included songs he wrote and performed. He has also had songs featured in the film '' Bad Boys'', with

Sean Penn Sean Justin Penn (born August 17, 1960) is an American actor and film director. He has won two Academy Awards, for his roles in the mystery drama ''Mystic River'' (2003) and the biopic ''Milk'' (2008). Penn began his acting career in televisi ...

, as well as being the recipient of several

Grammy The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

nominations for songs like "Stomp" by

Kirk Franklin Kirk Dewayne Franklin (born January 26, 1970) is an American songwriter, choir director, gospel singer, and rapper. He is best known for leading urban contemporary gospel ensembles such as The Family, God's Property, and One Nation Crew (1NC) ...

, which used "One Nation Under a Groove" as its musical inspiration. The song won Song of the Year at the

GMA Dove Award A Dove Award is an accolade by the Gospel Music Association (GMA) of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the Christian music industry. The awards are presented annually. Formerly held in Nashville, Tennessee, the Dove Awar ...

s. Shider released a solo single in 1988 entitled "Beautiful". The attempt to reconcile

's distinct sound with that of late-80s synthpop yielded no chart success. He released two full albums in 2002, ''Diaper Man, The Second Coming'' and ''Diaperman Goes Starchild''. Shider was inducted into the

in 1997 as a prominent member of

Death

In 2010, it was announced that Shider was suffering from cancer of the brain and lungs. On June 16, 2010, Shider died from complications of his cancer at his home in

Greater Upper Marlboro, Maryland Greater Upper Marlboro is an area of Prince George's County, Maryland that completely surrounds Upper Marlboro, the county seat. It was formerly a census-designated place (CDP), with a population of 18,720 at the 2000 census. However, the 20 ...

. He is survived by his two sons, as well as his wife, Linda Shider, a singer and songwriter.

Awards

* 1998 Dove Gospel awards for ''Song of the Year'', "Stomp" * Who's Who in Music, 1978 * Grammy nominee 1997, 1978 * Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, 1997

References

* Career credits at

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Music ...

* Liner notes to ''Music For Your Mother'' by Rob Bowman, 1992.

Early life

Career

Death

Awards

References

Further reading