RIP funkmaster Garry Shider

June 16, 2010 8:59 PM

Garry Shider, singer, guitarist and musical director of George Clinton's P-Funk All-Stars for much of their history, has passed on at age 56. Shider (the man in the diaper for so many P-Funk performances) was co-author of One Nation Under a Groove and many other masterpieces of the funk. RIP, Garry Shider.
posted by flapjax at midnite (37 comments total)

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posted by smoke at 9:21 PM on June 16, 2010

Motherfunk.
posted by dirigibleman at 9:23 PM on June 16, 2010 [2 favorites]

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posted by limeonaire at 9:26 PM on June 16, 2010

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posted by vibrotronica at 9:31 PM on June 16, 2010

shit goddam
posted by humannaire at 9:45 PM on June 16, 2010 [1 favorite]

Gone to the great Mothership in the sky and is no doubt rocking out with Eddie Hazel.

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posted by Sailormom at 9:48 PM on June 16, 2010

Well shit mother!
posted by arse_hat at 9:49 PM on June 16, 2010

Always good to my earhole.

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posted by el_lupino at 9:56 PM on June 16, 2010

he was the one in the diaper? so he was responsible for the funk.

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posted by not_on_display at 9:59 PM on June 16, 2010

See ya in a minute.
posted by StickyCarpet at 10:11 PM on June 16, 2010

He is survived by his wife of 32 years, Linda, and mourned by the city of Plainfield and wherever the language of funk is spoken.

Quite so. And that is one of the nicest and most eloquent closing lines I have ever seen in a newspaper obituary.
posted by y2karl at 10:17 PM on June 16, 2010 [8 favorites]

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posted by pyramid termite at 10:31 PM on June 16, 2010

Swing down, Sweet Chariot
Stop and let me ride
posted by Pirate-Bartender-Zombie-Monkey at 11:01 PM on June 16, 2010

If you got funk, you got style.

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posted by mosk at 11:34 PM on June 16, 2010

I went to see P-Funk a year or two ago here in DC. Best concert I've ever been to. Those guys kept the funk bumping for 3 and a half hours, and we still wanted more when they called it a night. I had heard about the Diaperman, but when I actually saw a dude on stage dancing his ass off in a loincloth, it made everything complete. Thanks Garry :)
posted by Vic Morrow's Personal Vietnam at 11:40 PM on June 16, 2010 [1 favorite]

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So low you can't get under it.
posted by yeloson at 11:59 PM on June 16, 2010

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posted by trip and a half at 12:17 AM on June 17, 2010

No, I cannot get to that. R.I.P., Mr. Shider!
posted by ford and the prefects at 1:21 AM on June 17, 2010

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posted by asok at 1:59 AM on June 17, 2010

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posted by Kinbote at 2:29 AM on June 17, 2010

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posted by El Brendano at 2:52 AM on June 17, 2010

The P-Funk is ever on heavy rotation here at Sanctuary. It's so natural, so unassuming, so sexy, and such a wonderful cure-all for the straight-laced pretentious bullshit of much of modern society. We're gradually getting the 13 year old into the funk and it seems to be helping him significantly.

Eternal groove, Garry.
Eternal groove.
posted by seanmpuckett at 3:56 AM on June 17, 2010 [1 favorite]

There's a fund for his medical bills, and benefit concerts will be held soon. (OBGoddammit: US health care.)
posted by seanmpuckett at 4:01 AM on June 17, 2010

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posted by peterkins at 4:16 AM on June 17, 2010

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posted by phogirl at 5:05 AM on June 17, 2010

With the groove our only guide we shall all be moved

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posted by pointless_incessant_barking at 6:26 AM on June 17, 2010

pointless_incessant_barking,

Amen.

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posted by djrock3k at 6:50 AM on June 17, 2010

Oh man, I just passed on seeing P-Funk (for the first time) because it was a work night. I need to stop doing that.

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posted by JoanArkham at 7:06 AM on June 17, 2010

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posted by rtha at 8:38 AM on June 17, 2010

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posted by snsranch at 8:46 AM on June 17, 2010

Can't fake the funk.

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posted by Vervain at 9:51 AM on June 17, 2010

the man in the diaper for so many P-Funk performances

I just downloaded a bunch of late-70s P-Funk DVDs, and that's really helpful since it's hard to figure out who's who in the mob of people onstage. He played a Travis Bean guitar, too!

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posted by anazgnos at 10:27 AM on June 17, 2010

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posted by marienbad at 11:11 AM on June 17, 2010

Sad news. Glen Goins, Eddie Hazel, now Garry Shider... the individuals may leave us, but their music should go on forever.
posted by LeLiLo at 12:19 PM on June 17, 2010

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posted by The Great Big Mulp at 1:18 PM on June 17, 2010

A big ass .
Bolded
posted by lkc at 10:02 PM on June 17, 2010

Just thinking of all the hip-hop that's sampled Shider and the P-Funk Mothership. Actually, it's almost easier to make a list of the hip-hop that's not sampled them.

He'll be turning this motha out in the great beyond for all eternity.

Newborn, diaper-clad, same as a child,
That's how you'll leave this world.
No, you won't die, just blast off.
           -- "Star Child," Thomas Sayers Ellis [2000]
posted by blucevalo at 7:09 AM on June 18, 2010