Garry Shider

Garry Shider
Shider in 1978, as part of the Funkentelechy tour.
Background information
Birth name	Garry Marshall Shider
Also known as	Diaper Man Starchild
Born	(1953-07-24)July 24, 1953 Plainfield, New Jersey, U.S.
Died	June 16, 2010(2010-06-16) (aged 56) Greater Upper Marlboro, Maryland, U.S.
Genres	Funk, psychedelic soul, R&B
Occupation(s)	Musician
Instruments	Guitar, vocals
Years active	1971–2010
Associated acts	Parliament-Funkadelic

Garry Marshall Shider (July 24, 1953 – June 16, 2010) was an American musician and guitarist. He was musical director of the P-Funk All-Stars for much of their history. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997, with fifteen other members of Parliament-Funkadelic.

Shider was born in Plainfield, New Jersey. At the age of ten and under the guidance of his father Jesse, Garry and his brothers played and sang behind many gospel artists of the time including legends such as Shirley Caesar, The Five Blind Boys, The Mighty Clouds of Joy, and others. As a youth Shider was also a regular customer at the Plainfield barbershop owned by George Clinton, where the future members Parliament would sing doo-wop for customers and counsel local youngsters. Clinton made note of the young Shider's talents on guitar and his ability with gospel singing.

By the time he was sixteen, Shider wished to escape the crime and dead-end prospects of Plainfield, so he and his friend Cordell "Boogie" Mosson left for Canada where Shider married and had a son. Shider and Mosson formed a funk/rock band called United Soul, or "U.S.". George Clinton was living in Toronto at the time and began hearing about United Soul from people in the local music business, and took the band under his wing upon learning that Shider was a member.

In 1971, Clinton produced several tracks by United Soul with input from members of Funkadelic. The songs "I Miss My Baby" and "Baby I Owe You Something Good" were released as a one-off single by Westbound Records in 1971 under the group name U.S. Music with Funkadelic. All the tracks recorded with Clinton in 1971 were released by Westbound in 2009 as the album U.S. Music With Funkadelic. After producing United Soul, Clinton then invited Shider and Mosson to join Parliament-Funkadelic. Two United Soul songs were rerecorded on later Funkadelic albums with Shider as a member. Clinton groomed Shider for an important role in the P-Funk roster, which Shider joined full-time in 1972. He was a prominent contributor to albums by both Parliament and Funkadelic until the dissolution of those two bands in the early 1980s, after which he continued to work regularly with Clinton's P-Funk All-Stars.