From literally the first seconds though, Hazel stamps his identity on the album. But, unlike George Harrison, Eddie Hazel never made an All Things Must Pass but he did release this 1977 solo album, and although no Maggot Brain it’s still pretty good.Ĭonsidering that it’s the one solo album released during the guitarist’s life, it’s not exactly – at first glance at least – substantial this reissue reproduces the original release without any of the bonus material from the Rhino 2004 edition, and so it comes in at just over half an hour only seven tracks, three of which are covers – two of those being “California Dreamin” and the other an epic version of The Beatles’ “I Want You (She’s So Heavy).” Aside from those, the album consists of songs written with George Clinton and therefore not vastly dissimilar from the Funkadelic and Parliament records of the same era. Also, there’s an element of George Harrison syndrome at play like Harrison, Hazel could hardly be better at what he did, but if you are a musician in what was to all intents and purposes George Clinton’s band, then it’s hard not to remain in the great man’s shadow. Most likely it’s because those lists tend to be rock-centric and, although he could play rock as well as anybody, he’s primarily thought of as a funk guitarist a meaningless distinction, as even a cursory listen to something like Funkadelic’s Maggot Brain (though it should be acknowledged that Tawl Ross, rhythm guitarist on that album was no slouch either) demonstrates. Eddie Hazel should be somewhere towards the top of all of those greatest guitarists of all time lists, but he rarely is.
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