Editing Fuzzy Haskins

{{Short description|American funk singer (1941–2023)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2014}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| name                = Fuzzy Haskins
| image               =
| caption             = 
| image_size          =
| background          = solo_singer
| birth_name          = Clarence Eugene Haskins
| birth_date          = {{birth date|1941|6|8|mf=y}}
| birth_place         = [[Elkhorn, West Virginia]], U.S.
| death_date          = {{death date and age|2023|3|16|1941|6|8|mf=y}}
| death_place         = [[Grosse Pointe Woods, Michigan]], U.S.
| instrument          = Vocals, guitar, drums
| genre               = [[Rhythm and blues|R&B]], [[funk]]
| occupation          = Musician, record producer
| label               = [[Westbound Records|Westbound]], [[Ace Records (UK)|Ace]]
| associated_acts     = [[The Parliaments]], [[Parliament (band)|Parliament]]-[[Funkadelic]]
| website             = 
}}

'''Clarence Eugene''' "'''Fuzzy'''" '''Haskins''' (June 8, 1941 – March 16, 2023) was an American singer. He performed with 1950s and 1960s [[doo-wop]] group, [[The Parliaments]], and was a founding member of 1970s [[funk]] bands [[Parliament (band)|Parliament]] and [[Funkadelic]], also known as [[Parliament-Funkadelic]]. He left Parliament-Funkadelic in 1977 to pursue a solo career. He is a member of the [[Rock and Roll Hall of Fame]], inducted in 1997 with fifteen other members of [[Parliament-Funkadelic]]. In 2019, he and Parliament-Funkadelic were given [[Grammy]] Lifetime Achievement Awards.

==Early life==
Haskins was born in [[Elkhorn, West Virginia]], and grew up in New Jersey.<ref name = Genzlinger>{{cite news|url = https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/23/arts/music/fuzzy-haskins-dead.html|title = Fuzzy Haskins, 81, Who Helped Create P-Funk Music, Dies|date = March 24, 2023|accessdate = March 24, 2023|last = Genzlinger|first = Neil|newspaper = [[The New York Times]]|page = A21|url-access = limited}}</ref> Starting in the late 1950s, he was a founding member of [[doo wop]] vocal group [[The Parliaments]], led by [[George Clinton (funk musician)|George Clinton]]. The group originated as a [[Barbershop music|barbershop quintet]] in the back room of a barber shop on West 3rd Street in [[Plainfield, New Jersey]].<ref name = Genzlinger/> Haskins often sang lead in the group. They started traveling to [[Detroit|Detroit, Michigan]] on weekends in order to audition for [[Motown Records]] and to participate in the fertile music scene there {{Citation needed|date=October 2024}}. The Parliaments released [[single (music)|singles]] on several record labels, but did not have a hit until 1967 when "(I Wanna) Testify," on the small Detroit imprint Revilot Records, reached #3 on the ''[[Billboard magazine|Billboard]]'' R&B singles chart. The song was actually recorded by George Clinton and a group called The Holidays, as the other Parliaments didn't make it to Detroit that week. Revilot went out of business, and in the process, the group lost their name, The Parliaments.

==Career==
By 1970, the five Parliaments singers were touring with five backing musicians known separately as [[Funkadelic]]. The highly rehearsed performances and [[suit (clothing)|suited]] look of The Parliaments gave way to the members dressing in their own outrageous styles. Haskins wore [[long underwear|long johns]] on stage. Due to the contractual issues surrounding the group name, Clinton signed the band as [[Funkadelic]] to [[Westbound Records]]. The ensemble released their first album ''[[Funkadelic (album)|Funkadelic]]'' in 1970. Clinton also renamed his group of singers [[Parliament (band)|Parliament]] (but still with the Funkadelic musicians as official members) and signed that act to the [[Holland-Dozier-Holland]]-owned record label, [[Invictus Records|Invictus]]. Parliament released their first album ''[[Osmium (album)|Osmium]]'' in 1970. Clinton now had two groups that were actually one entity. Under the name Funkadelic, the ensemble was geared towards a rock audience, and as [[Parliament (band)|Parliament]] it was aimed at a [[soul music]] audience. Collectively, they became known as [[Parliament-Funkadelic]], or [[P-Funk]]. Haskins contributed to P-Funk as a writer through 1972. He toured and appeared on P-Funk albums as a singer, and occasionally as a guitarist, throughout the 1970s. In June 1977 at the height of P-Funk's popularity, Haskins (along with other original Parliaments [[Calvin Simon]] and [[Grady Thomas]]) left the ensemble over financial and management disputes with Clinton.

Haskins released his first solo album, ''[[A Whole Nother Thang]]'', in 1976. The album featured P-Funk members: [[Tiki Fulwood]] and [[Boogie Mosson|Cordell "Boogie" Mosson]] on drums, and [[Bootsy Collins]] and Mosson on bass. [[Bernie Worrell]] makes an appearance on keyboards, contributing horn and string arrangements as well. Haskins served as producer, singer, songwriter, guitarist and even drummer on one song. Haskins released his second album, ''[[Radio Active (Fuzzy Haskins album)|Radio Active]]'', two years later. An Ace compilation from 1994 reissued both albums on one CD.

In 1981, Haskins, Simon, and Thomas formed a new funk band using the name Funkadelic, appeared on ''[[Soul Train]]'' under that name, and released the album,  ''[[Connections & Disconnections]]''. The album was later reissued on CD with the title ''[[Who's a Funkadelic?]]'' in 1992. In the 1990s, Haskins toured with [[Original P]], a group made up of four of the original five Parliaments.<ref name = Genzlinger/>

==Personal life and death==
Haskins was married twice, to Estelle James and Lorraine Debney, with both marriages ending in divorce. He had five children, two of whom predeceased him.<ref name = Genzlinger/> He lived in [[Southfield, Michigan]], a suburb of Detroit.<ref name = Genzlinger/>

Haskins suffered a serious stroke in 2022. He died from complications of diabetes in [[Grosse Pointe Woods, Michigan]], on March 16, 2023, at the age of 81.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Kreps |first=Daniel |date=March 18, 2023 |title=Fuzzy Haskins, Original Member of Parliament-Funkadelic, Dead at 81 |url=https://www.msn.com/en-us/music/news/fuzzy-haskins-original-member-of-parliament-funkadelic-dead-at-81/|magazine=MSN |language=en-US |access-date=March 19, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Genzlinger |first=Neil |date=March 23, 2023 |title=Fuzzy Haskins, Who Helped Turn Doo-Wop Into P-Funk, Dies at 81 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/23/arts/music/fuzzy-haskins-dead.html |magazine=The New York Times |language=en-US |access-date=March 26, 2023}}</ref>

==Discography==
* ''[[A Whole Nother Thang]]'' (1976), [[Westbound Records|Westbound]]
* ''[[Radio Active (Fuzzy Haskins album)|Radio Active]]'' (1978), Westbound
* ''[[A Whole Nother Radio Active Thang]]'' (1994), Westbound/[[Ace Records (UK)|Ace]] – reissue of both albums on one CD

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Sources==
* Bowman, Rob (1992). ''Music for Your Mother'' [CD liner notes]. Westbound Records.
* Bowman, Rob (1994). ''A Whole Nother Radio Active Thang 1976–1978'' [CD liner notes]. Ace Records Ltd.
* Bowman, Rob (1996). ''Live: Meadowbrook, Rochester, Michigan – September 12, 1971'' [CD liner notes]. Westbound Records.
* Hamilton, Andrew. "[{{Allmusic|class=album|id=r433031|pure_url=yes}} I Wanna Testify]". ''[[AllMusic]]''.
* Vincent, Rickey (1996). ''Funk: The Music, The People, and The Rhythm of The One''. [[St. Martin's Press]]. {{ISBN|0-312-13499-1}}

==External links==
*{{Allmusic|class=artist|id=p84989}}
* {{discogs artist|Fuzzy Haskins}}

{{P-Funk}}
{{The Parliaments}}
{{Funkadelic}}
{{Parliament}}
{{1997 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Haskins, Fuzzy}}
[[Category:1941 births]]
[[Category:2023 deaths]]
[[Category:American funk singers]]
[[Category:American funk guitarists]]
[[Category:American male guitarists]]
[[Category:P-Funk members]]
[[Category:Singers from West Virginia]]
[[Category:People from McDowell County, West Virginia]]
[[Category:Guitarists from West Virginia]]
[[Category:20th-century American guitarists]]
[[Category:People from Southfield, Michigan]]
[[Category:Deaths from diabetes in the United States]]