Maggot Brain is perhaps the definitive musical statement by Funkadelic, and the title song, "Maggot Brain", contains a ten-minute guitar solo which was Hazel's defining moment and the one piece of music for which he has remained a legend in 2008, Rolling Stone cited this as number 60 on its list of 100 greatest "guitar songs" of all time. Perhaps apocryphally, 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.[citation needed] 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).

Hazel was not the only Funkadelic member to have drug issues. Ross left the group because of a bad LSD trip. Fulwood also used drugs with Hazel, leading Clinton to suspend their salaries so that they would not spend the money entirely on drugs. Nelson and Hazel officially quit Funkadelic 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 (1973) featured only marginal input from Hazel. Instead, Hazel began working with The Temptations (along with Nelson), appearing on 1990 (1973) and A Song for You (1975).

Hazel acted as a major creative force behind the 1974 Funkadelic album Standing on the Verge of Getting It On. Hazel's guitar dominates the album, and he 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. (This was a gambit by Hazel to avoid contractual difficulties with the publishing rights. The "G.Cook" credit would appear a few more times on later Funkadelic albums.)

In 1974, Hazel was indicted for assaulting an airline stewardess, along with a drug possession charge. While he was in jail, Clinton recruited Michael Hampton as the new lead guitarist for Parliament-Funkadelic to replace Hazel. Hampton was hired on the spot after he auditioned with a note-for-note rendition of Hazel's signature song "Maggot Brain." Hampton was just seventeen years old, the same age Hazel had been when he joined The Parliaments.

In the next several years, Hazel appeared occasionally on Parliament-Funkadelic albums, and his guitar work was rarely featured. One song that featured Hazel's lead guitar is "Comin' Round the Mountain" on 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 related to alcoholism and drug abuse. "Maggot Brain" was played at his funeral.

an old friend of mine met him after a show and said he was hitting the crack pipe in front of everyone and that he smelled of piss and sh*t. that's enough for me to stay clear of him.

sosgemini said:

I'm bit late for the party but jus one thing, quick:
You're mixing stuff up, that's BILL Clinton.

I saw him in 2001 at the Taste of Chicago. I loved the show. Even the cops up on their horses were jammin'!!!




plural edit
[Edited 1/17/10 16:24pm]

noimageatall said:

I was there!