I was listening to 'Sex Machine' for the first time in years. Bootsy sounded so great on that album How long did he play with the Godfather? Does anyone agree with me that his tone was much better back in the day with James? Sounds like pure Fender through an Ampeg.
Yes yes a billion times yes I watch his videos with the star bass and kinda long for his older feel. Go out of your way to find the JB collection called In The Jungle Groove. Jesus, it's so good.
Bootsy got the JB gig when one night after a show...JB's entire band quit and The Godfather needed a band immediately. Bootsy...who was gigging a lot of R&B stuff in the midwest with his cousin...future Spinner Philipe Wynn got the call. He jumped on the next plane (train or Greyhound bus) and spent a relatively short stint with The Godfather and played a few nice tracks before leaving (by his choice or not) and landed on The Mothership. Before Bootsy...Bernard Odum and Tim Drummond did some solid funk bassing for JB. I wonder though how Bootsy did it without a Mutron...
Fred Thomas is a monster player as well. He played on 'The Payback', 'Get on the Good Foot' and other super funky stuff.
Other knockout Bootsy/ JB stuff: 1. "Since You Been Gone" JAMES BROWN Since You've Been Gone - YouTube 2. Brother Rapp/ Ain't It Funky - the change at 3:38 or so is the toughest JAMES BROWN Brother Rapp & Ain't It Funky Now - Olympia 1971 - YouTube Slightly o/t: Blowfly documentary out on 9/15: The Weird World of Blowfly - Movie Trailers - iTunes
Thanks for the tip on the Blowfly documentary. I didn't know about it. Never could figure out why Blowfly doesn't get his props (other than his non-stop obscenity)
Good documentary about Bootsy here: Unsung (Documentary) - Bootsy Collins - YouTube Lots of interviews and he talks about playing for JB.
Hell yeah, 100% also 100%, one of my favorite albums of all time. If you're a fan of late 80s-early90s hip hop, you've already heard it a million times from being sampled. He sounds killer with that jbass. That star bass is a classic example of "just because you can do something, doesnt mean you should."
No love for Bootsy's P-Funk days? I was just listening to Funkadelic's "Uncle Jam Wants You": Funkadelic - Uncle Jam - YouTube Bootsy's tone is beautiful - full, focused and funky! The playing is, of course, awesome. There are many other post-JB examples that I could give, but we'd be here all day. I love Bootsy's JB sound, his post-JB sound, his affected sound, and his unaffected sound. I don't think any other bassist has ever been better at getting the right tone for the right song. And what he did on P-Funk slow jams - he made bass sexy!
Thanks for all the YouTube links. That's some great stuff, especially the "Unsung" documentary. My respect for Bootsy just keeps growing. BTW I dig his Star bass stuff, but his early Jazz bass-Ampeg sound is pure perfection to my ears
I've got to check out the Blowfly documentary! I was a real fan of his back in the eighties! I had no idea he was a real musician as well.
Yeah, Blowfly will never be mainstream. Some of those old party LP's were sooo filthy, but you have to admit they are hysterical. I wish I still had my dad's Redd Foxx album 'Wash Yo Ass'