Track Listing:
Tangerine Green {Clarence Haskins} 4:14
Cookie Jar {C Haskins} 4:44
Mr. Junk Man {C Haskins} 3:48
I Can See Myself In You {C Haskins} 3:23
The Fuz And Da Boog {C Haskins, Cordell Mosson} 3:27
Which Way Do I Disco {C Haskins} 4:09
Love's Now Is Forever {C Haskins} 4:17
Sometimes I Rock And Roll {C Haskins} 4:14
I'll Be Loving You {C Haskins} 5:45
Personnel:
Producer: Fuzzy Haskins
Vocals: Fuzzy Haskins
Drums: Tiki Fulwood, Fuzzy Haskins, Cordell Mosson
Bass: Bootsy Collins, Cordell Mosson
Guitars: Ron Bykowski, Donald Austin
Keyboards: Bernie Worrell
String & Horn Arrangement: Bernie Worrell
Rating: RC: ***1/2
Comments:RC: This was Fuzzy Haskins' first solo album, at around the time he started to break away from Parliament. As one of the original Parliaments (after early shakeups in the 50's of course), Fuzzy stood out because he often sang lead. His voice is as distinctive in its own way as Clinton's odd tones, with sort of a huskiness to it. It almost sounds like he was half-singing, and half growling. While this worked well in a five- man vocal group, the limitations of his voice become apparent after listening to several of his songs. Still, his albums are a lot of fun, and he had a number of good lyrical and musical ideas. On this album, he was rather experimental, mixing in pure rock, an instrumental, some mild psychedelia, dance songs, and straightforward funk. The presence of Cordell 'Boogie' Mosson adds a lot to the proceedings, as does Bootsy Collins. Bernie Worrell also anchors all of the songs the way he did with Parliament. So the end result is a group of songs that aren't as commercial (in their own way) as Parliament's, and not as experimental and wild as Funkadelic's.
"Tangerine Green" is one of the best songs on the album, with Tiki Fulwood starting out with one of his classic rolls on drums. The song is really punched up by Bernie's keys and early Funkadelic-sounding guitar, making it nicely psychedelic. Fuzzy's vocals are evocative and the lyrics are clever, going through a number of colors and their emotional connotations. "Cookie Jar" is a lightly soulful number that had been performed a number of times live prior to being on this album. Fuzzy again sounds great here, with more clever lyrics. The music isn't as interesting, with too much emphasis on strings. "Mr. Junk Man" is a diatribe against drug dealing to children that gets overly preachy very fast. Strings are again used heavily, but there's a tasty lead guitar presence throughout. "I Can See Myself In You" is a driving funk number with a heavy organ presence and a great bass groove. Fuzzy's singing is slightly echoed, creating a layered 'heavy' presence that adds a lot to them. "Fuz And Da Boog" is a deeply funky instrumental that features Fuzzy on drums and Boogie on bass, with some nice guitar vamping. "Which Way Do I Disco" isn't quite a disco song, but some of the lyrics certainly show his discontent with George. Heavy fuzz effects and interesting drumming help along Fuzzy's babbling about the discotechque protecting him, a lost spaceboy. "Love's Now..." is a ballad that Fuzzy doesn't quite carry off; it does have an interesting horn presence. "Sometimes I..." is a great, straight-up rock song that sounds like it came right out of the 50's, with great back-up harmonies. Fuzzy's half-raps work really well. "I'll Be Loving You" is a good ballad that starts with an acoustic guitar introduction and gets progressively heavier from there. It sounds like something that could have been on America Eats Its Young, with an overall ominous tone and long guitar solo.
The album is a must-have for any serious P.Funk fan. It's out of print, but the album can be found in its entirety on a CD reissue with Radio Active. Copies of the LP are rare, but you should be able to find one for anywhere from $20-50. The cover has a psychedelic drawing of Fuzzy.