eddie hazel

oh, by the way: next monday, april 10th, woulda been eddie hazel's 56th birthday. for those who don't know, mr. hazel was the 'riginal lead gtrist in funkadelic, the cat who laid down the gut-wrenching (but sparse, like all the best blues is) acid-blooze sprawl on the classic '71 version of "maggot brain" (that's Em-D-Bm-C, gtrists). while he undoubtedly experienced some real blues in his life, he's away from all that now (checked out right before christmas, the year i got out of the airforce), and his masterwork on that toon (and "red hot mama," and "free your mind and your ass will follow," and "funky dollar bill," and "i wanna know if it's good to you," and all o' those old gooduns) remains transcendent. you can bet i'll be thankin' about him the next time i pick up a gtr (as i do each 'n' every time).