Friday Funk: Bootsy Collins

Words By J-man

James Brown, Parliament Funkadelic, The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame... All three of these entities share one common denominator, bass legend Bootsy Collins. This larger than life character is one of, if not the most prominent funk bass players of all time. His involvement with James Brown spawned such classics as "Get Up (I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine", "Super Bad", "Soul Power", and "Talkin' Loud and Sayin' Nothing".

Following his stint with the JBB, he made his way to Detroit where he was introduced to George Clinton of the Parliaments. This would be a crucial marker in funk history. After about eight years with the funk super group, Bootsy began working on a plethora of solo material and what appeared to be random collaborations.

In 1997 Bootsy was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame with members of Parliament Funkadelic. Following the induction, Bootsy's career, resume and charisma have only seemed to increase.

More recently, Bootsy started Bootsy Collins' Funk University, an online bass guitar school. As well, he just realeased his first album in five years titled Tha Funk Capital of the World featuring an interesting laundry list of names including Ice Cube, Snoop Dogg, Jimi Hendrix, Al Sharpton, Samuel L. Jackson, Bela Fleck, Buckethead, Ron Carter, George Clinton and the list goes on.

Bootsy's tour begins tonight in L.A.! Stay tuned for a review of his Boulder, CO!

www.bootsycollins.com

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