Clarence “Fuzzy” Haskinsthe former vocalist of Parliament y Funkadelic He has passed away at the age of 81. The news of the death of one of the geniuses of psychedelic funk has been confirmed by his former bandmates Bootsy Collins y George Clinton.
Born in 1941, Haskins was an original member of Parliaments when the quintet formed back in 1960, along with Clinton and his bandmates. Ray Davis, Calvin Simon y Grady Thomas. After years of chasing a multi-label hit until making a splash in 1967, the group morphed into Funkadelic in 1970, reinventing itself as a galactic R&B-funk outfit, a shift driven primarily by Clinton and Haskins. With them he began to talk about P-Funk.
In addition to contributing vocals, Haskins was noted for having an explosive stage presence, as well as a songwriter (on songs including “I Got A Thing” and Funkadelic’s “I Wanna Know If It’s Good To You”) and multi-instrumentalist who he played drums on tracks like “Can You Get to That.” He sang on classic LPs like Funkadelic’s 1970 self-titled debut and “Maggot Brain” the following year, before going solo in 1976 with the album “A Whole Nother Thang”.
Haskins joined Calvin Simon and Grady Thomas on a reimagining of Funkadelic in 1980, releasing “Connections & Disconnections” in the United States, which led to a court battle with Clinton over the name Funkadelic. In the 1990s the three joined Davis in Original P, performing Parliament and Funkadelic classics as well as original songs. Haskins was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame with his bandmates in 1997.
