funkadelic - one nation under a groove

It's Bootsy, Baby!

 

Rodney Skeet Curtis and Cordell Mosson are also on that album. I've always loved the bass tone on Groovallegiance.

 

The bass line on "Flashlight" is a keyboard. I was so bummed when I found out.

 

I don't know, but that's one of my favorites, too

 

well check this live vid of Flashlight, it most certainly ainta keyboard, but one of the most awesome tones ever, fat but also defined!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=0JbUP-skb7E&feature=related

i think it is one of those 2 P pickup BC rich basses.

i seriously want that tone!

 

Well I wasn't talking about a live performance now was I? I was talking about the recording. Anyway, you think that bc rich has a lot of pick ups check this thing out.

http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-TRABEN-LIMI...oryZ4713QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

 

Sounds like a passive bass with a little bit of a phaser with a wee boot of distortion. But that might just be coming from the speakers and how loud he's playin. Lots of mid's. Don't be afraid to use mid's. That whole scoop sound where it's just bass and treble and no mid's just don't work. You can hear the E string and the G string. If you don't want to hear the A and the D just take them off cuz that's effectively what you do when you use the "scoop" eq.

 

When I saw them live for the Fourth, they played Flashlight, and it certainly wasn't a keyboard then. Their bass player was good. It wasn't Bootsy, but hey, can't have it all. They also played Atomic Dog, using bass instead of keyboard.

 

Go back two posts please.

 

Rodney "Skeet" Curtis using an Alembic.

 

Hey Starrchild,

Thanks for clearing that up. I've read a lot of people saying that this bass performance is Bootsy, and it most definitely isn't (don't get me wrong, Bootsy is phenomenal, that's just not his sound). Any idea what kind of Alembic it is? (or, phrased better, is that the typical Alembic fretless sound? It sounds a lot different than my Tony Franklin Fretless P-Bass -- much more subtle, which I really appreciate. I have a hard time playing fretless in a funk setting, when I have to lay down the groove).

Sorry to revive a moldy thread =( I wish it wasn't so hard to find information on P-Funk's various ensembles!

Thanks!

 

skeet, he's the more jazzy of all the bassists in p-funk.

my favorite record is uncle jam.

 

Agreed. It seems like P-Funk was an aggregate of incredible musicians who didn't particularly care about who got exact credit for anything, so we may never know exactly who played what. IIRC, Boogie is the only bassist credited on "Funkentelechy," but it's hard for me to believe that Bootsy didn't play bass on any of those songs. Bootsy is credited as the drummer, but come on...he was one of the hottest bassists, and maybe the hottest funk bassist, at the time, but all he did was play drums on "Funkentelechy"? I know he was busy with his own band, but if he's going to contribute to Parliament, wouldn't it be primarily with his bass? I agree that "Groovallegiance" doesn't sound like Bootsy, but I've heard too many songs credited to others that sound straight out of Bootsy's playbook.

 

if you listen to enough p-funk you can tell the difference between the bassists. s

skeet plays all the super fast stuff and has a super trebly tone think steel wounds jazz bass. he's the most "jazzy" of the cats.

bootsy has a couple signature licks he does in most things and he's the slapper/popper guy. if it's envelope filter or fuzz it's bootsy as well.

boogie is the basic groove cat, he sometimes used a wah but not much from what i can tell. basically if it ain't bootsy or skeet, it's boogie.

lige curry is the later stuff like 1980+. billy bass was before bootsy so anything early 70's.

 

Skeet, played "Grooveallegiance" and "Who Says a Funk Band Can't Play Rock?" From "One Nation Under a Groove" "Oh, I" from The Electric Spanking of War Babies.

When the Baltimore crew toured with George, O'BOY! That crew had Skeet playing Bass and Dennis Chambers on Drums. Now that was P-Funk at It's Zenith.imo

 

He also played on P-funk live at the Beverly Theatre.

I'm sure he played on more tracks. These will give you a good idea on what to listen for.

 

'I’m really into the Scriptures. I read and study the Bible on a regular basis and I try to let it influence my life as much as possible and influence everything that I do'

Now, it don't get any better than that!!!
That's top, Starchild.