CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WVDN) – The careers of Clarence Eugene “Fuzzy” Haskins and Calvin Simon – West Virginia’s own Funk Brothers – transported them from the coalfields of southern West Virginia to the helm of the country’s most storied, groundbreaking and influential funk band, Parliament-Funkadelic.
Along with George Clinton, Grady Thomas and Ray Davis, they co-founded the original Parliaments in 1956 and stayed on board “the mothership” for more than two decades as it morphed into the deep soul, sci-fi funk and acid-rock of Parliament-Funkadelic.
The evolution of the P-Funk family, from a doo-wop “barbershop quintet” to a group known for creating mind-bending, multimedia experiences is one of the most fascinating stories in modern American music. Likewise, no fortune teller could have predicted that Calvin Simon and Fuzzy Haskins would help usher in a new era of black music, and, in the process set the stage for rap and hip-hop.
Calvin Simon was born in 1942, in the East Park area of Beckley, Raleigh County. Early on, his mother Alice moved to New Jersey to find work, leaving Calvin with his grandmother Mamie Simon. At her encouragement, he began singing in the Church of the Living God church. He attended Stratton High School, Raleigh County’s first all-black high school – which was also attended by Bill Withers. As Mamie got on in years, Calvin joined his mother in Newark when he was 15.
Clarence “Fuzzy” Haskins was born and raised in Elkhorn, McDowell County. His mother died when he was seven months old leaving his oldest sister to raise the family. They sang gospel songs at home and she taught Fuzzy to sing harmony. He attended Elkhorn High School where he played football and took up trumpet and trombone before settling on tuba. Eventually, he picked up the guitar.
When Fuzzy was in his early teens, his sister and older brothers moved to Edison, New Jersey while Fuzzy and his younger sister stayed in West Virginia with his father. When Fuzzy was 15, she came back for the rest of the family – although his father chose to return to the Beckley area..
Strange but true: While Calvin and Fuzzy grew up just 60 miles from one another, and shared an interest in music, they first met in Plainfield, NJ, at George Clinton’s barber shop, The Silk Palace.
Fuzzy was singing with a vocal group called The Bellaires and was getting his hair styled at The Silk Palace which had become a gathering place for singers and musicians. Before long, a quintet of barbers and patrons became the first incarnation of The Parliaments. They recorded a number of sides including “Poor Willie.”
In 1963, the five singers traveled to Detroit to audition for Motown Records, running out of gas directly in front of the studio. While they opted not to sign with Motown, the group eventually released its first single, “I Just Want To Testify,” on Detroit’s Revilot label in 1967. Shortly after, a contract dispute with the Revilot label prohibited Clinton from using the Parliaments name. As a result, he renamed the band Funkadelic and then side-stepped the suit by dropping the “s” from Parliaments.
While in Detroit, the group became part of the burgeoning ‘60s rock scene, sharing bills and hanging out with MC5, Vanilla Fudge, and The Stooges.
Parliament’s’ first LP, “Osmium,” was released in 1970. Stylistically it was a wildly mixed bag but the genie was out of the bottle Gone were the staid suits and ties; members were encouraged to create their own free-form costumes that accented the band’s gritty funk. As the music expanded, the stage shows followed suit.
The next trio of releases were instant classics: “Up For The Down Stroke”…. “Chocolate City”… and “Mothership Connection,” arguably the pinnacle and the first LP to be certified Platinum.
Taking James Brown’s deep grooves to the next outrageous level coupled with dadaist theater made the band as intense visually as musically. There was simply nothing else like it. .But beneath the full-on party vibe was a deeper, holistic message: We are all in this world together or, as the title of a Funkadelic record stated: “One Nation Under a Groove.”
Calvin and Fuzzy left the band in 1978, following the “Live P-Funk Earth Tour.” Along with Grady Thomas, they released “Connections & Disconnections” under the name Funkadelic in 1981.
Calvin, Fuzzy and Grady rejoined “the Mothership” a little more than a decade later as part of the P-Funk Allstars. Fuzzy released his first solo album, A Whole Nother Thang, in 1976 which featured a number of key P-Funk members. Two years later he issued “Radio Active.”
In the late 1990s, Calvin and Fuzzy briefly toured with Original P, which also included charter members Grady and Ray Davis.
In the 1980s, both Calvin and Fuzzy left secular music for more than a decade. Fuzzy became an ordained minister while Calvin, re-assessing his career and lifestyle, turned exclusively to gospel.
After battling cancer, Calvin was saved in 2002. He helped start the Sky Baptist church Ministries In Beckley where his cousin Reverend Bill Fruit remains pastor. He was the first person to be baptized there. His 2004 release, Share the News, reached #32 on the “Billboard” Gospel chart.
All told, Parliament-Funkadelic has amassed 15 gold records and seven platinum records and is the most sampled funk group second only to James BrownIn 1997, none other than Prince inducted Fuzzy, Calvin and 15 other members of Parliament-Funkadelic into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In 2019, they were given Grammy Lifetime Achievement Awards. Calvin passed away in January, 2022. Fuzzy died in March, 2023.
Calvin Simon and Fuzzy Haskins along with bluegrass pioneers The Lonesome Pine Fiddlers, country bluegrass multi-instrumentalist Buddy Griffin, world renowned classical pianist Barbara Nissman, and R&B Hammond B-3 great Winston Walls, will be inducted into the West Virginia Music Hall of Fame on June 3 at the Culture Center in Charleston.
