Eddie Hazel - Games, Dames & Guitar Thangs (1977)

This album is a fucking monster.

You know Eddie Hazel as the guitarist from P-Funk. The dude responsible for the killer shredding on "Maggot Brain" that basically revolutionized music from being "good" to a whole different playing field. This is his only legitimately good solo release, and it just shreds. Imagine Hendrix with less feedback, and the funkiness turned up. Imagine alien soul sisters singing floating around a studio singing backup. Imagine plenty amounts of coke and LSD and whatever else is available, only being available for short increments of time due to rapid ingestion.

Ok so I basically just described every good P-Funk album. But with the focus primarily on the guitar on this record (and guys, Eddie Hazel rips), it is P-Funk in a different light. Opening track is "California Dreamin" which apparently seems to maintain it's quality no matter who is covering it. Hazel gives the record a real soulful vibe and his guitar is evident throughout. A real jam in the vein of the Baby Huey cover, but where that one was drenched in heart-wrenching soul, Hazel kicks up the psychedelics. Another obvious highlight is his cover of the Beatles "I Want You (She's So Heavy)" which is a monster of a track in the first place. Hazel takes it and makes it his own. Adding about 2 minute of guitar freakouts (this is a 9 and a half minute song) and it just kills.

Listen, I'm gushing, the album is killer. California Dreamin' is reprised at the end of the album to really tie the actual album tracks together, cementing the idea that this album is one for southern California road trips.

After that, included in the zip, there are like 5 bonus tracks. And while none of them are essential, they all feature killer guitar work. If you really wanna jam for the afternoon, listen to all 12 tracks, if you just want to hear an awesome psychedelic funk album, you can just stick to the first 7 tracks.

You'll probably want to listen a few times more after that.

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