Eddie Hazel
Games, Dames & Guitar Thangs

"The funk, the whole funk and nothing but the funk"

Are you familiar with "Maggot Brain"? Well, the story is well-known by now: Mr. Clinton, the mastermind behind P-Funk, instructed his young guitarist to play "as if your mother were dead." And he did. Damn, did he ever. A feat worthy of history books through the front door.

But George was (is) a bastard: he knew he was touching a sensitive chord by speaking to his man about that mother who made him flee the ghetto to escape drugs, only to find refuge in another ghetto, and later end up, at just 17 years old (!), as part of Funkadelic, a group of genuinely crazy individuals for whom getting high (on everything, from heroin, LSD, cocaine, etc.) was like solving crosswords under a beach umbrella.

Eddie Hazel, a genius of the six strings, would never reemerge from ‘Maggot Brain.’ A story like many others: drugs became his sole interest, he turned violent, he couldn’t even pick up his guitar anymore, ending up as a session-man for the Temptations, assaulting a hostess. He would return later to the scene of the crime, among those Funkadelic who had granted him fame and the title of "the only possible heir to Jimi Hendrix": but by then he was no longer the guitar’s leading man, already replaced by another seventeen-year-old once this kid managed to reproduce ‘Maggot Brain’ note for note.

Shit.

But a comeback is on the horizon. George Clinton gives him a handful of songs with a typically Funkadelic vibe (you know, that mix of bass lines that seem like they want to jump out of the speakers, groove, and '60s psychedelia) and sends him into the recording studio. The result? No one cares, but the album quickly becomes one of the most sought-after rarities among collectors, and is especially considered as one of the best examples of P-Funk.

Let's be clear: "Games, dames and guitar thangs" is a disjointed, unfinished, verbose, and self-indulgent album. But it's got a killer vibe: the two covers, "California Dreamin'" and the Beatles' "I Want You (She's So Heavy)" are an experience, the first at least for that shivering guitar intro from another time, the second for how it is crafted, subservient to our guy’s needs, and a piece clearly psychedelic reveals its soulfulness, while Hazel showcases his entire repertoire with distinctive rhythmic characteristics, in short, he solos but also dictates the rhythm of the piece. The rest is nothing but pure funk to the nth degree, like "What About It", with razor-sharp drumming and slap-and-loose bass setting the stage for our guy's ecstasies, take it or leave it (I obviously recommend taking it).

After this album, Eddie Hazel would make just a few more appearances, only to die at the age of forty from internal bleeding. Of him remains the regret for what he could have done and this album, dedicated to both guitar maniacs and hopeless funketeers (see ZiOn).