1. Edward Earl Hazel was an American guitarist and singer in early funk music who played lead guitar with Parliament-Funkadelic.
17 Facts About Eddie Hazel
1. 2.
Eddie Hazel was a posthumous inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, inducted in 1997 with fifteen other members of Parliament-Funkadelic.
3.
Eddie Hazel occupied himself from a young age by playing a guitar, given to him as a Christmas present by his older brother.
4.
At age 12, Eddie Hazel met Billy "Bass" Nelson, and the pair quickly became close friends and began performing, soon adding drummer Harvey McGee to the mix.
5.
Eddie Hazel was in Newark, New Jersey, working with George Blackwell and could not be reached.
6.
In Philadelphia Eddie Hazel met and befriended Tiki Fulwood, who quickly replaced the Parliaments' drummer.
7.
Nelson and Eddie Hazel officially quit Funkadelic in late 1971 over financial disputes with Clinton, though Eddie Hazel contributed to the group sporadically over the next several years.
8.
Eddie Hazel had a significant presence as arranger and lead guitarist on the same year's Parliament album, Up For The Down Stroke.
9.
In 1974, Eddie Hazel was indicted for assaulting an airline stewardess and an air marshal, along with a drug possession charge.
10.
In 1977, Eddie 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.
11.
Eddie Hazel was completely absent from One Nation Under a Groove, Funkadelic's most commercially successful album.
12.
Eddie Hazel made another prominent appearance in "Man's Best Friend" on the George Clinton album Computer Games, as well as the track "Pumping It Up" from the P-Funk All Stars album Urban Dancefloor Guerillas.
13.
On December 23,1992, Eddie Hazel died from internal bleeding and liver failure.
14.
Eddie Hazel is buried at Hillside Cemetery in Scotch Plains, New Jersey.
15.
Eddie 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".
16.
Eddie Hazel used much reverb and was a "razor sharp" rhythm player, besides an exceptional soloist with "fuzz-drenched leads".
17.
Eddie Hazel played a variety of guitars including Gibsons, but is best known as a player of Fender Stratocasters.