Clarence “Fuzzy” Haskins, the vocalist and electric stage presence who played alongside George Clinton from the start of Parliaments through Funkadelic’s peak years, has died, Clinton and the band announced Saturday. He was 81 years old.
Born in 1941, Haskins was an original member of Parliaments when the doowop quintet was formed in 1960, vocalizing alongside Clinton and bandmates Ray Davis, Calvin Simon and Grady Thomas, who would remain in the fold during the band’s radical transformation. . After years of chasing a multi-label hit and finally finding one on 1967’s “I Wanna Testify,” the group morphed into Funkadelic in 1970, rebranded as a galactic R&B-funk outfit, a change prompted mainly by Clinton and Haskins, according to Clinton’s website.
In addition to contributing vocals, Haskins was an explosive stage presence, as well as a writer (on songs including “I Got A Thing” and Funkadelic’s “I Wanna Know If It’s Good To You”) and multi-instrumentalist who played drums. on topics like “Can you get to that?” He sang on classic LPs like Funkadelic’s self-titled debut in 1970 and the following year. worm brainbefore disembarking from the mother ship in 1976 to record the solo album a whole different world. Returned to Funkadelic for 1977 Live: P-Funk Earth Tour.
Haskins joined Simon and Thomas on a reimagined version of Funkadelic in 1980, releasing one LP, entitled 42.9% in Germany and Connections and Disconnections in the US, leading to a court battle with Clinton over the name Funkadelic. In the ’90s they joined Davis in Original P, performing Parliament-Funkadelic classics in addition to original songs. Haskins was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame with other members of Parliament-Funkadelic in 1997.
