Eddie Hazel by John M. Ellison IV

Eddie Hazel

What can said be about Eddie Hazel that hasn’t been already said before? This man was a living legend, a man to carry the torch that Jimi Hendrix lit, pioneer of the Funk-Metal fusion sound that laid the ground that many were influenced by and not even realized it. Many Funkateers and guitar players who know the real deal, know about Eddie Hazel, but, there are a good amount who should know. Like Spacey T said in the black rock documentary “Electric Purgatory: The Fate of the Black Rocker”, “Nobody talks about my man Eddie Hazel.“ For those who are familiar but not aware of the genius of Eddie Hazel this is the article for you.

Born in Brooklyn, NY in 1950 as Edward Earl Hazel, Eddie grew up in Plainfield, New Jersey because his mother, Grace Cook, didn’t want her son growing up in an environment without the drugs and crime that she felt was prominent in New York City. Hazel was given a guitar as a Christmas gift by his older brother. At 12, Eddie became friends with the person to be known as Billy “Bass” Nelson. Both Eddie and Billy sung and played guitar and soon added drummer Harvey McGee to the mix.

In 1967, The Parliaments, a Plainfield-based doo wop group headed by George Clinton, had a hit record with “(I Wanna) Testify.” On this tour, Clinton recruited a backing band, hiring Billy “Bass” Nelson on bass. Billy recommended Hazel for the guitar position. But, due to Hazel working with George Blackwell in Newark, New Jersey. After Nelson returned from touring, he tried to recruit Hazel. Naturally, Eddie Hazel’s mother vetoed the idea of Eddie playing since Hazel was only seventeen at the time. But, Clinton and Nelson changed her mind and let Eddie join the band.

In late ‘67, The Parliaments went on tour with both Nelson and Hazel. In Philadelphia, Pa, Hazel met and befriended Tiki Fullwood, who replaced the Parliaments drummer. With this, Nelson, Hazel and Fullwood evolved from the backing band of the Parliaments to the backbone of Funkadelic. The familiar Doo-Wop sound of the Parliaments quickly began developing into the soul-inflicted hard rock of Funkadelic, Funkadelic was influenced as much by Frankie Lymon as much as Jimi Hendrix. With the addition of Tawl Ross on rhythm guitar and Bernie Worrell on keys, Funkadelic was born.

Now that you’re aware of the basic origins of Eddie Hazel and Funkadelic, I’m going to start off with the first three Funkadelic albums. Remember, this isn’t the definitive Eddie Hazel discography by any means whatsoever. But with these three albums, this should give you a glimpse on the underrated guitar genius of Eddie Hazel.

“Funkadelic”

A phenomenal album recorded in Detroit with contributions from the Motown house band “The Funk Bros.” This album needs a review of all of it’s own. but, in this case we’re going to focus on Eddie Hazel‘s best moments on this phenomenal album.

“I Bet You”

This track asserts itself as a soulful jam that begins with a drum break from Tiki Fulwood and a funky opening riff by Eddie. But as the songs develops, some keyboards and spacey synthesizer action and at 2:07 Eddie’s guitar solo “hits the scene” and brings it on home. The tracks breaks down into a juxtaposition of a science fiction soundtrack, Eddie’s fuzzed out guitar but anchored by the earthy sounds.

Guitar Solo

“Music For My Mother”

“Music For My Mother” gives you a down home southern feel that they refer to as “way back yonder funk.” A track that builds into a call and response with driving drums by Brad Innis and some tasteful licks from Eddie. In this case, Music For My Mother has a grounded feel in the midst of the afro-science fiction funk that’s common throughout the album.

“Good Old Music”

Good Old Music lives up to it‘s name. Eddie Hazel is playing a fuzzed out guitar solo that throughout the song, sews the rhythm section together. In the grand scheme of things, Eddie’s sharp fuzzed out tone is reminiscent of audio embroidery. With Eddie’s soloing he created an audio equivalent of needlepoint that sewed together an already great rhythm section.

“Qualify and Satisfy”

“Qualify and Satisfy” is a down and dirty blues number with suggestive lyrics sung by Calvin Simon. What first starts off as a “gut bucket” blues number develops into a spacey funk jam. Eddie Hazel’s greasy blues licks that develops from a satisfying greasy blues guitar solo into an echoed, fuzzed out call to the cosmos.

Guitar solo

Thanks to the contributions of Dennis Coffey, Earl Van Dyke and other members of the Motown records house band The Funk Bros., this self titled debut was a juxtaposition of screeching Post-Hendrix, Proto-Heavy Metal guitar licks and the “Motown” sound.

“Free Your Mind And Your Ass Will Follow”

The way this album was mixed, the output of the album has this primal crunchy distorted sound that gives you the feeling of pandemonium but still controlled. There have been various legends of George Clinton’s intention regarding this album. One legend is, George Clinton wanted to see if you can record an album on acid and the other legend is that George Clinton wanted to emulate the feeling of an acid trip on a record.

“Free Your Mind…”

The title song kicks off with a mix of fuzzed out guitars, weird chants, synthesizer madness that urges you to elevate your mind from the shackles of yourself to a higher conscious. In this song, Eddie rips a heavy fuzzed out guitar solo that just weaves through out the song like the intricate needlework on a “coat of arms“.

“Friday Night”

A loud, kick to the face to an all around crunchy track with drums by Tiki Fulwood, bass by Billy Nelson, organ by Bernie Worrell and rhythm guitar by Tawl Ross and lead work by Eddie Hazel. Like Good Old Music, Friday Night is a loud jam with proto-metal lead work by Eddie Hazel that sounds like a contemporary to Black Sabbath guitarist, Tony Iommi. Amidst the chaos of this free for all, the song ends on a jazzy outro.

Guitar Solo

“Funky Dollar Bill”

With the band getting across the message of the potential evil that money can buy. A shining moment for not just Eddie Hazel but the band as an entity.

“I Wanna know if it’s Good To You”

“I Wanna Know…“ is a great example of controlled chaos, this is a psychedelic gut bucket R&B tune, the best way to describe it is, soul food fried in LSD. Although as humans, the band are separate entities but, it sounds as if they’re fused together sharing one spiritual entity playing as one. The complimentary licks of Eddie Hazel’s guitar amidst the band sound like racing thoughts that make you break out in a sweat. This song is taken home by a mammoth solo by Eddie Hazel that gives you the feeling of going through time and space.

Maggot Brain

This album is full of amazing guitar work by Eddie, but, I’m going to focus on the title track and “Super Stupid” due to there cultural significance.

“Maggot Brain”

What can you say about this 10 minute epic that hasn’t been said before? I remember, getting into a disagreement with a friend of mine once because they felt this song was a rip off of “Comfortably Numb” by Pink Floyd. Trouble is “The Wall” was released in 1979, meanwhile Maggot Brain was released in 1971. So unless, Eddie traveled in time to get that “Pink Floyd’s The Wall” vibe, I think it’s safe to say after listening to “Maggot Brain“, time travel is possible.

“Super Stupid”

If anyone tells you that black people don’t play rock, get that guy and crank this jam to the highest volume until there hair stands on end like an anime character and there eyes pop out like a cartoon! Eddie rips this track like cheese to a grater! With a quick guitar sketching that is merely a call to the gates, the song breaks into the no nonsense opening riff that’s the audio equivalent to a punch to the face! Words can’t describe this classic head banger, do yourself a favor and listen for yourself.

Guitar Solo

To reiterate, these three albums are just phenomenal examples of an underrated guitar genius and troubled soul but also the bricks on the road me know as modern rock. If you’re looking to get into the origins of “Funk-Rock”, “Groove Metal“, “Nu-Metal” “Rap-Metal” etc. Funkadelic is one of those definitive bands along with Mother’s Finest, Jimi Hendrix’s Band of Gypsys and countless others to pioneer the sound. Remember this, you can’t known where you’ve been if you don’t know how far you’ve gone.