Penso che Bootsy sia stato uno dei più grandi

Quanta musica. ....
Se si è estranei a questo mondo non si riesce nemmeno a
immaginare quanta c9è ne sia.Entrando ci si accorge di tutte le
forme di "bellezza" di quest'arte sublime ma soprattutto quanto
sia difficile cercare di conoscere le "vette", i "promotori", i grandi
"messia" . .......
Sono stato colpito e abbattuto ascoltando un bassista dal buffo
nome di "BOOTSY COLLINS"come già riuscisse degli anni '60
con sole tre note a groovare in un modo disumano,facendo
"camminare" dei pezzi per decine di minuti, innescando il
detonatore che fa accendere "l'energia" e il "movimento"dei corpi
dei suoi ascoltatori.
La STELLA del basso fiink:WILLIAM "BOQTSV" COLLINS.
Fin dalle esperienze più iniziali la missione di BOOTSY era
quella di regalare la sua musica alla gente e avere
divertimento nel farlo.
Nato il 26110/197 1 a Cincinnati, nell9OHIO,William già
dall'infanzia cercava contatti col mondo della musica.
Ha cominciato a suonare la chitarra a 8 anni perchè suo
fratello PHELPS (chiamato da Bootsy "pesce gatto") era già
un chitarrista.
Phelps era un idolo per Bootsy e si divertiva a farsi ascoltare
per tutto il tempo che suonava.
A 16 anni i fratelli grandi hanno poca pazienza nei confronti
dei fratelli più piccoli. ...
Infatti "pesce gatto" aveva appena comprato una nuova
chitarra rossa "Epiphone" e aveva proibito a Bootsy di
toccarla. Naturalmente egli fece l'esatto contrario e così per
Bootsy fu uno dei giorni più tristi della sua vita. Mamina
Collins lo calmò promettendogli una chitarra. Ma i soldi
erano pochi per una donna afro-americana che allevava tre
figli negli anni '50 a Cincinnati.
A 14 anni Bootsy iniziava ad avere le sue prime esperienze in
gruppettini e in alcune situazioni gospel.Fino a quando il gruppo
del fratello Phelps si trovò in una situazione d'emergenza.Serviva
un chitarrista cosi Bootsy iniziò a suonare con il Pesce Gatto e si
destreggiava tra chitarra e basso.
Aveva un "fuoco", un "energia7'incredibile quando impugnava la
sua "spigola"(basso).
Da dopo il primo concerto i due erano una squadra e ogni notte
andavano a suonare in molti locali della zona.
Iniziò così lo "stile di vita del Bootsy che sicuramente non si
sposava con la HIGH SCHOOL .e così convinse sua madre a
lasciare la scuola.Lei gli diede la piena approvazione perché
credeva in lui e contribuì sempre a "spingerlo".
Le cose hanno iniziato ad accadere quando intorno al '67
Cincinnati era diventata una viva cittadina musica1e.Bootsy e gli
altri erano anche stati contattati per fare dei mini-tour in paese
naturalmente pagati raramente e in condizioni dell"'u1timo
momento".
"
Era il marzo del 1970.La vita del fùnk si era sparsa rapidamente:James
Brown stava conquistando tutti.
Fu proprio lui che chiese al suo agente BOBBY B
di trovare
Bootsy e i suoi "capretti".Così arrivò la chiamata!
B0OTSY:"stavamo preparando un pomeriggio di musica sul Viale
Gilbert e all'improvviso abbiamo avuto una chiamata da Bobby
Byrd.Inizialmente abbiamo pensato che fosse uno scherzo ma Bobby
era molto sicuro.Mi disse che "lì"avessero bisogno subito di noi e che
massimo tra un'ora dovevamo essere alla corte di James.
Nessuno ci credevafino a quando siamo arrivati in aeroporto.Abbiamo
volato a Columbus,in Georgia,sul get privato di James.Non avevo la
più pallida idea riguardo quello che stesse succedendo.
Prima di arrivare dal sig.Brown vedemmo andare via dalla sua
"corte "il trombettista Richard "Kush" Grzflth sicuramente nonfelice.
L'idea di dover suonare con James era incredibile.
Superammo le audizioni e a 17 anni facevo il giro del mondo con una
telle più grandi della musica nera.
S:"Penso che Bootsy sia stato uno dei più grandi brzssisti.Lui
,Phelps ed io abbiamo lavorato alla grande ...
the "SEX
M C H I N E ", "SUPER BAD ", "TALKlN' LOUD AND SA Y IN
NOTHING ", "GET UP,GET INTO IT, GET INVOL VED"e "SOUL
POWER" li abbiamo creati in una sola notte.
BO0TSY:"Ogni città era molto graziosa.Ma la cosa più importante
non era né la musica né la città.Era James la cosa più importante.
Ero uno degli eletti di James tanto che viaggiavo con l~i~facevamo
interviste insieme e poi in un certo senso fungeva anche da padre.
Però nel 1969 ci fu una sorta di ribellione nei con£ronti del "colore
marrone di James".
Era il periodo di Jimi Hendrix, del vestirsi "strano",dell'essere
"particolare" e naturalmente di assumere droghe.Infatti James multava
spesso i suoi musicisti.. ......
Fu allora che Bootsy decise di dire basta a questa fantastica esperienza.
Era tempo di provare qualcos'altro!
99
J)
77
J
3
Lasciare il godfather era più che un emancipazione.
Quel qualcos'altro si trovava esattamente nello scantinato di
Mama Collins. Formarono un altro gruppo chiamato
"Houseguests" con le proprie regole e rappresentazioni negli anni
'70.
BOOTSY:"La gente impazziva. Avevamo stile e "colorful ". Siamo
stati dappertutto,in molti paesi e qui abbiamo espresso quello che
veramente sentivamo dentro scoprendo nuovi locali europei,le
nuove tendenze e soprattutto facendo del funk che spaccava la
roccia. Ohio,Pensilvania,Michigan,Kentucky, Tennessee... ...
Eravamo booking di noi stessi in modo da provare, partire e
arrivare anche in anticipo per mettere i manfesti.Ha funzionato!
Abbastanza presto fecimo delle audizioni con i FUNKADELIC
(molta gente ci diceva che fossero selvaggi cime noi).
La nostra fortuna ha girato quando conoscemmo una cantante
chiamata
LLIA FRANKLIN. Con lei abbiamo provato ad
ottenere lavoro intorno Ditroit e finalmente siamo venuti a
contatto con George Clinton.
George ci conosceva già perché sin dai tempi del Cincinnati
mandavamo a lui molti "demo" insieme a Phelps, Maceo Parker e
Gary Mudbone.
Iniziò a lavorare con Clinton nel '73. Ma Bootsy non si limitava
solo nel1'impiego con GeorgeCercava degli ingaggi esterni su
delle session.. . . . ..
Intanto i suoi contributi a Funkadelic e Parliament erano sempre
più influenti( "DISCOLADY"y"C0SMIC SLOP","UP FOR THE
9,
DO
STROKE").Iniziò così la coo-scrittura di molti brani e da
questro momento iniziò la scalata in classifica dei Parliament.
Funzionava con Clinton non solo nei live ma anche in studio cooscrivendo più di metà dell'album "Parliament's ciocolate city" e
tre canzoni per Funkadelic.
In questo periodo nel pezzo "BE MY BEACET' viene introdotta la
voce di Bootsy che sarebbe il prototipo per il suo proprio
progetto.
BO0TSY:"Penso che sia stato il periodo migliore delle nostra
chimica perché George era realmente nello studio.Era dentro,
là, ervamo allo stesso livello.Era grande! ".
Finalmente i tempi erano maturi per un proprio progetto.Infatti
George molto rapidamente gli ha ottenuto un affare con la Wamer
Bros.Così nel '75, mentre si lavorava sempre con i Parliament,
iniziarono le sezioni intagliate per il primo album di Bootsy.
La formazione iniziale era: Bootsy- Pesce Gatto-Franky Waddy
alla batteria-Mudbone e Leslyn Bailey alle voci.Poi Clinton
desiderò i fiati e così Bootsy chiamò Fred Wesley e Maceo
Parker.Dopo anche Fredrick Allen e Robert Johnson.
Era il periodo più bello in tutti i sensi.
Iniziarono le registrazioni e, se in un primo momento vennero
sottovalutati,ci vollero grandi sforsi per far funzionare il progetto.
George disse:"abbiamo bisogno di un colpo commerciale in
questo LP!".
Così andarono di nuovo in studio con Gary Spider e Miche1
Hampton e registrarono una pista con la macchina del tamburo.
Bootsy :"Prima di registrare la batteria vera iniziai a pensare ai
battimenti che avevo sentito quando ero in Africa con James. Quei
percussionisti erano molto profondi!".
Naturalmente ci voleva tempo affinchè la figura del Bootsy fosse
vista in primo piano.
ALBUM
Iniziarono le vendite della "BOOTSU RUBBER B
" e
quindi anche diVPSYCHOTICBU SCHOOL"(versione live
senza nessuna manipolazione grande esempio di fùnk grezzo).
La differenza l'ha fatta il bassone del Bootsy:LA SPIGOLA!
Un secondo album fù richiesto nel mese di gennaio del
....THE NAME IS BOOTSY,BABY".
1977:"
B0OTSY:"Stavamo lavorando in studio e subito è nata
Ahh ...The name is Bootsy,baby e The Pinocchio Teory tutto
costruito da Joel che stava "giocando"al clavinet,George che
ha fornito i testi e io che ... ....
Molto inaspettatamente The Pinocchio Teory si è trasformato
in un vero e proprio colpo, un singolo.
Nella primavera del 1977per la Bootsy Rubber Band era un
vero successo e i risultati andavano sopra ogni previsione.
Così prendeva più piede la popolarità di Bootsy fino a
raggiungere il terzo album: "BOOTZILLA".
Nel mese di marzo la Bootsy Rubber Band era in giro in tutto il
mondo.
Ben presto sorsero i primi problemi relativi ai managment e a
una serie di decisioni aiministrative.
Non dimenticando sempre i grossi problemi legati alla droga
che aveva colpito tutti i componenti della sua band.
Bootsy capì che bisognava proprio smettere soprattutto per un
discorso di immagine e serietà,dato che i soldi non avevano più
significato(rifiutava festiva1 a $700.000).
Usci poi il IV e il V album "Bootsy Mysteriously" e "Ultra
Wave".Intanto ci fu decisamente una scissione con gli atri
sempre a causa dei soliti problemi.
6-6
CON E SENZA CL
O AD OGG
Con "THE ONE GTVET, THE COUNT T
TH AWAY".
George ed io provavamo poco divertimento e così ci
promettemmo che in futuro avremmo sicuramente continuato a
lavorare.
In realtà Bootsy aveva resistito a scrivere per Clinton anche
negli anni più occupati per la Rubber Band sia per Funkadelic
che per Par1iament:"one nation under a groove","Knee
deep","funkeketelechy","flash night7',"theme fiom the black
holeVecc......
Nel 1980 Clinton riunisce molti musicisti tra cui Bootsy per
una tournee.
Nel 1982 la Warner Bros pubblica il suo ultimo album di
Bootsy:"The one givet".
Nel 1983 ripartono le sue apparizioni con Clinton.
Bootsy si dirige verso lo studio di registrazione anche come
produttore collaborando con Harbie Hancock,Keith
Richards,Afiica Bambaataa,Sakamoto ecc. .... .
Oggi a 50 anni cerca i suoi mondi de conquistare!
Collaborazione con molto successo è quella con SNOP DOG!
....THE NA
IS BOOTSY BABY
BOOTSY?PLAYER OF THE YE
ULT
WAVE
TH
THE ONE GIVETH,THE COUNT T
AWAY
AT'S BOOTSY DOIN?
GLE BASS
SAVE
BLASTERS OF
FRESH OUTTA 'P'
BACK IN THE DAY:THE BEST OF BOOTSY
KEEPIN' DAH F
AL
LIVE AT JUNGLE BASS
LIVE AT WASHINGTON DC 1978
DO THE FREAK
PLAY WITH BOOTSY-A TRIBUTE T 0 THE
F
cast of characters, pushing the cosmic limits of
h n k with Zillatron, Axiom Funk, and Prasis-a
baiid whose free-flowing membership has
included guitar virtuoso Buckethead, Primus
drummer Brain, aiid P-Funk keyboard wizard
Bernie Worrell. In the last year Bootsy has also
recorded with Victor Wooten and Janles Brown
drummers Jab'o S t a r h and Clyde Stubblefield,
and he's involved in a reunion recording of James
Brown band members.
Recently returning h o m e from a t o u r of
Europe, where his CD Fresh O ~ l f f n'P' Utiiversity
was released earlier this year, Bootsy is back on
his rigorous recording schedule. He's currently
cutting tracks with his rapper son, Oui-Wey
("ooh-wee"), at the Bootzilla Re-hab P-Form
School, the studio attached to 11is Cincinnati
home. Behvveen sessions Bootsy graciously squeezed
in time to taik about his history at the forefront
offunk bass as well as his dbum's U.S. release on
Private IIMercury, but it was clear his time was
limited-he hnd to get back to the studio.
Why the constant activity? "You've got to
keep it going while you got it going, right? O h
yeah!" he offers, asking and answering his own
question. "I really like doing a lot of the studio
thing now because I get a chance to be more creative and work with other people, too. That's
really key with me. Back when 1 was with P-Funk
was a good time for me, but I was always cutting
something-Parliament, Funkadelic, Bootsyand that took up al1 my time. I never really got a
chance to work with anyone else. Since that
wound down I've had a chance to stretch out a
little. That's ~ v h yI'm going nuts with it now."
Fora versatile musician whose bread and butter has been far-out experimentation, Fresh 01ltta
'P' Utiiversity marks a distinct departure. The C D
is filled with the hip-hop and niodern RSrB,
though with a definite Bootsy bent, both in bass
sounds and sense of humor. "Tlie goal was to have
a record that would help us play bigger places so
1 can pay the band. Trying to straighten up and
dost~iffatleasthalfwa~
right wasredy hard work.
I can always go back to doing crazy stuff; that's
what 1 really love doing."
Long before the star glasses and star-sllaped
I
Zeta Quality
at the Wight W i c e (
Space Bass, long before the wild outfits and effectsladen sound, William Collins was just a scrawny
kid f r o m Cincinnati, tagging along with his
guitar-slinging brother Phelps-also called
Catfish-nine years his elder. The two brothers
put together a band with drummer Frankie
Waddy and horn players Clayton Gunnels, Daryl
Getùin' down with Jarnes Brown: 19-year-old Bootsy and organist Bobby Byrd keep their eyes on
the star of the show.
'
IO Q T SY !
co~itii,~,c~i
irniaon, '~ildRobert McCollough, and when they
eg'in to turn local heada, the group began doing
sessions at nedrby Kiilg Recorh. There they met
L7ing's star, I'irnes Brown, and got t0 know his
and members. Eveiltually hired o n as a baiid for
L ,,imes Brown Productioiis, the group did short
tours supportiiig Hank Ballard and illarva
I ihitiiey. That put thein iii the right spot in March
i 370, when most of Brown's disgruntled musicians rebelled just before a slioxv in Coliimbus,
Georgia. James sent for the youngsters on his pri1 ite jet, and they soon became the JB's. For just
ver a year, Bootsy made music history by
reinventing the Godfather's grooves with his overthe-top playing on such songs as "Get Up (1 Feel
Like Being a) Sex Machine," "Super Bad," and
"Talkin' Loud and Sayin' Nothing."
After montlis of marathon touring and money
disputes Bootsy left Brown, and his friends walked
with him. Armed with a new determination t0
put out theit own wild and crazyversion of h n k ,
they returned to Cincinnati and re-formed the
old band as the House Guests, an outlandishly
dressed group led by Collins. "Oh, m a n you
should have seen that cat," laughs Bootsy about
his own youthhl abundance of energy. "It was
hnny-he was rarin' to go." Touringaround the
Midbvest, the group heard tales of a similar group
called Funkadelic. When they finally met
Series roundwounds with LaFace Records
Funkadelic visionary George Clinton, he was having personnel problems of his own, so he hired
Bootsy and the band to perform m the band they'd
been hearing about. This marked the beginning
of Bootsy's long relationship with Funkadelic,
Parliament, and Clinton's other interrelated band
pro.
P-F
Par
Gec
dev~
Iiad
and
LV-
e(
?C
ng
ic.
l
115
l
We didn't have a plan; I only knew we weren'i
going to be with Janies Brown forevei.
Tlie soitg "Whut So Nei~erthe Dniice" [Back III
The Dav: The Btst Of Bootsil] isfioiii tlie period
behvecn Juilies Brc~iwiiniid P-Flriik, wheii yoii iverir
back to Cinciniinti. Yozir boss isso oirt froiit. \,Vere
yoir the Iender?
I guess. I couldn't hold that boy back, inali;
that boy was crazy!
How is ityour big brotherletyoi, step iiifiont?
I think he was having more fun with it being
on me than on him. For some reason he's always
wanted to be in the band and watch my back. I
didn't know what the heck was going on-I just
wanted to be out tliere. It was the girls, it was the
wine, you know, getting high. But he was acting
lprojects, which cnllectively bccaine known as
!'-Fiiiik. Bootsy wrote ;iiid co-wrote much of
i'arlia~ii~iitand Funkadelic's [>est work, and
George Clinton retiiriied tlie favor by Iielping
levelop Boorsy's Il~ibberBand. By tlien, Bootsy
iiad seriously begiiii esperiinentiiiguritli effectsiiid fuiik bass was never ilie sanie.
Yw've beea playing Fwak bess
a k n p Oime. Has qeur umder--.&asdi@g
of Bunk chengcd aP @M?
.?W
Funk to me is where I came from; it's the way
I grew up. It's even deeper than the miisic. It's
i:he way we comniunicated; actually the way we
lived. It's like ten people in a small room and it's
i i0 degrees outside aiid there's iio air conditioner.
1;'s when the bill collector comes and you don't
I~iiveany moiiey to pay. It's when you've had as
~ i ~ u as
c hyou can take and you can't take no more.
VVhat do you do? Funk it. That's when you grow
iiito the hink.
What is tiie esseiice offiiiik boss?
It started offwith the olie. Then the a i ~ dand
s
thi. ifs were added-al1 tlie in-between things.
Tiiat's pretty much what I started doing. Nowait's been developed to a whole other level;
pwple are doing different things with the niids
aiid the ifs. It's their intelpretation ofwhat funk
is (or them. But as long as the oite is there, your
niiiis and ifs mean something. If the olie is not
thcre, it's kind of like daydreaming [ln~iglis].
\.zrltnt is tlie i~iostsignifjcaiit eveiit froni yoiir
clii.1~cnreer tllnt helpcd yoii develop iiito tlie persoli yoti becaiiie?
The first group I was in, the Pacemakers, or
Pairsetters-we were kind of confused on which
naiiie to use-helped me start searching for who
a i i ~ what
i
I wanted to be. That was when I started
dieising crazy. I must have been 13 or 14 because
1 iiìct up with Janies at the studio when I was
aro~ind15.
fantes Bioivil lzns n repiitntioil for beiitg qiritc
n d!<c-ipliiinrinii bniidleader.
\.!h, he was! But you know as a kid, I didn't
realli. care about tliat. I respected him, but at the
sani:: tinie I liad tliis kid incide me who felt like
he 1\.:is the baddest cat iii the world. You know
ho\v C O C kids
~
are, man! 1 had that aU over meaiid i,imes knew it-so he treated me like his son.
Evervbody wascallirig hini Mr. Brown, but I was
calliiifiliiin James. I f gured I could get away with
alot :ifstuff and Ipretty niuch did. I really thouglit
I had it goiiig on. I didn't even thinkabout it unti1
after i wasii't there. Tlien it was, Man, what were
)'OLI ;ii,irlg?
?;e ivere with raines Brown-we were on top
of
world! But \ve started tliinkiiig of things
"e\v,,;ited to do oiice we wereii't \viti1 Janies. And
the il;-=,: was coming oli quicker tlian we anticiPated LVe weren't sure tvhat \ve wanted to do,
but e i iry day it was gi-owing in us. Eacb show we
did\viili Iairies ~ o o kusniore to the point ofthink1: 'iit tiU we get a cliaiice to really do oiirtliing.
I
ds the group's manager and booking the shows.
He was the older brother and I wds tlie fool kid.
Thereyou were iii 1971, steppiiigoirtfroiii witlz
tlie boss at a time whenfewplayers had doiie ihat.
bVllat tnade yoti dijjereizt?
Jimi Hendrix is the one I was looking ai. I was
freaked out about what he \vas doiiig, and I
tliought, Wow-maybe I can do tliat with the
bass. That's what did it. I was probably goiiig to
do something crazy anyway, but hearing rimi put
the icing on the cake.
You X-newyoti ivot~Mii'tbe wiih Janies Browii
forever. Is tliat how yoti felt nboiii George Cliiitoii
nild P-Firnk as well?
Well, George and I had an uiiderstaiidiiig
going in: If I did Parliament and Funkadelic with
lirnitless partnership
l
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39
him, then he would help me d o Bootsy's Rubber
Band in return. I didn't have a plan when I was
with James, but George helped me plan things.
That made it totally different. James was more
like a father; he really acted like a father. George
was more like a brother. I could have fun with
him in ways I couldn't with James.
Yotir rntisical role was probably pretty
differen t, too.
George really wanted me involved. He gave
me free clearance to do anything and everything
I wanted, while James wanted to look like he did
everything.
You weren'tP-Ftinki only bassist; Billy "Bass"
Nelson and Corde11 "Boogie" Mosson were also
around. How did yoti decide who wouldiuta track?
Bass-the final fmniier. The two white Space
Basses were built by Detmit's b n y Pletz in
1975 and 1977. ?he original Space Bass,
right, has had a few facelifts since its
inception, including the latest rnodificaiion by
Torn Pellerinto: fine jazz pickups. In the
middle is Bootsy's newest bass: The Dark
Star, built by Pdew York's Manny Salvador,
sports Bartolini pickups. Each bass has four
ouiputs and numerous knobs controlling
volume and tone for each pickup, plus a few
"ciick-ons for special eifects."
I
40
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BASS PLAYER
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D E C E M B E R
1 9 9 8
S E E YOUR DEALER OR WRITE FOR FREE CATALOG
www.all~arts.corn
1
If they came up with a song they cut it; if I
came up with a song I cut it. That's pretty much
the way it was, unless George stepped in and said,
'Bootsy, I want Billy's bass on this one.' I was
probably on inore of the comniercial stuff. I did
some stupid stuff too, but that's me on niost of
theparliament hits and the Funkadelic hits "(Not
Just) Knee Deep" and "One Nation Under a
Groove." Most people don't know I actually
played drums on those, too, as well as on
"Flashlight," "Stretchin' Out in a Rubber Band,"
and "BootziUa." If you see my name on it as a
writer, it's generdiy me on bass.
e
How did yoli get iiito zi,iiig ejjFccts?
Again I have to credit Jimi. When I listened to
his records I didn't knowv what lie was using, but I
knew he was using something. So I went oiit on a
mission to find something to make the bass sound
different and develop my own sound. I tried the
wah-wah, but it wasn't redy happening. I tried this
box caiied the BassBaUs that was ali right. But until
I found the Mu-Tron I never hedrd anything that
t o t d y made it wacko. When I played it for some
girls in the studio, they said, 'Ooh, what's that wet,
watery sound? That's sexy!' Oh, mai-al1 of that
rattle made me want to play every song with that
sound! I would say I started using it aroiind 1976.
Did you know any other lirlssplayerc who were
tisingpedals?
Larry Graham was the oilly other one I knew
of that was even thinking about it. He wvas using
u Maestro Rass Urassmaster, which giive it that
s~istain.But I had started wailting to use pedals
when I was with James; I actually tried using a
wah-wvah, but he wasn't going for it! I knew I'd
have to wait unti1 I was away from him to really
get off into it. And when ldid I went crazy with it.
As tlze folltidiirg fnther oflinss efects, holv do
yoii feti1 n liassist sizottld icse thciii?
Go through them one by one and check out
what they do. How you hit the note-tlie fingers
or thumb you use-tells the gadget what to do.
If it seems like it doesn't work fora certain song,
it might work if you play differently-if you
change how you talk to the pedal. And certain
pedals sound better on certain songs. You have
to search it out and find the right ingredient.
Not orzlydidyo~rjilst iae soniepednk, you used
a M ofpednls.
Aw, yeah-and I still do. I was hooked on
the Mu-Tron-that and the Electro-Harmonìu
Big Muff. Of course I started adding a whole lot
of other stuff: MXR digital delays, ElectroHarmoniu Bass Micro Synthesizer, the Morley
pedal with the fuzz and the wah built in-it goes
on and on. I had a board built for al1 those pedals. Nowadays it's a much bigger pedalboard, and
I've got the old pedals mixed with the new ones.
[Seepage 36.1
W i t h al1 those effects how do yoil nvoid losirig
the bottom eild?
Well, the Space Bass has four different
outputs-the lo~vs,the mids, the highs, and the
ultra-highs-each from a different pickup. My
low output is straight, so I never lose that bottom
end. The other three al1 go to different effects,
and then I use four different amps and four
speaker systems. I've got two Crown ìvlicro 5000s
for the lows and mids, and two Crown Micro
3600s for the highs and ultra-highs. I had al1 my
speaker cabinets custom made. O n the low end
we've got eight 18s, four each in hvo cabinets. For
the mids it's eight 15s, four in each cabinet. Then
I have four Inore cabiiiets, each with eight 10s,
two cabinets on the higlis aiid two on the ultrahighs. You feel the power. Plus, witli the effects,
you've got to have a lot of speakers or else you'd
be blowing them every night, which I was doiilg
when I didn't have enoiigh rig to carryeverything.
It al1 sounds like one big wallof sound. But when
I kick on sometliing, or kick out something, tlie
bass is always there.
They i~nveti'tkirked you orit of Ciiiriiriinti yet?
We intimidate the PA company so bad sometimes. One tiine they said they wouldn't even set
up. They saw us pulling in and said, 'What's tliis,
another PA coinpany? How are we going to compete with this?' It became a big joke, biit I guess
to them it wasn't too funny.
Are yo~lroiistntitly tr~riiirigor.[rliirl ojfefccts
while yorl'rc plriyiiigpnrts?
It depends »n the song. Sometimes 1'11 play
straight Mu-Tron or straight bass. Actually very
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seldom do I play strdiglit bass, but I've been kiown
to d o that, too. But when I kick on the effects,
that's tlie gooey part-it's like, Ooli, yenh! I've gol
different things that conle out of different sides
of the speakers: Mu-Tron on the righi speaktir
and a wet whammy pcdal coniing oui in another
octave on the left. That's how I have it yanned
lor live shows and recording.
How do y o t ~record?
Usually I go direct, or ifthe song is supyosed
to sound live, 1'11 do inore of a live thingand mis
a little of the direct in with ihe live. I record four
tracks at a time-one froin each oiitput.
You tnke al1 of this eqiliprneilt iiiith yozi nroriird
tlie world?
Actually, I'm just now getting my siuff back
from Europe.
Wlio were some of yolir eal-iy bnss iiiflueiices?
The major one was James Jamerson. Before
i knew anything about bass we used to listen al1
those Motown records when we'd go to house
parties. He was so perfect in what he played-l
tilways wanted to be Iike that. You didn't really
l a o w who bass players were then; they didn't pui
it on the 45 record. But when I found out who it
was, I thought, Wow-that's the cat.
Who turns your hend iiow?
Victor Wooten. I want to do a record on hini,
because he is the cnt. I don't think he's getting the
i-ecognitionhe deserves; he is bnd; he is awesome.
We did a session here about eight months ago,
iind he came in getting on the floor laying his
Iiands out and stuff. I said, 'Man, get up from
tliere-don't even try it!' And then that cat came
iii and played al1 the bass in the world. He's the
»ne I'm definitely going to bank on. But it's not
like there's nobody else. Armand Sabal-Leccothat's another spankin' mug. Those two are the
most incredible cats right now, doing all this new
stu& You know when I was talking about the nnds
aiid the $
Well
i?
they go in between that. They've
giit their micro-glasses on. And fast-we look like
we're standing still. It's good, because it gives hope
ft!rthe future ofplayers. I think young people are
rully going to be interested in playing again
iiistead of just sarnpling stuff, because of young
giivs whose playing is really ripping heads off.
There nre sonie great bass hooks or? the neiv
nil~i~ni,
but yoli seeni to have bncked offsonie oii
yoi~rplnyingto leave niore rooni for tlie sons.
That's exactly what we did to try to be more
cciinmercial. I learned a lot from the other producers and artists. Working with other peoplr
rrally helps me clock in on what's happening. The
way we came up is just doing things the way you
fecl. Today the groove is so perfect and you can
fis everything, so I'm learning how to do that.
Do you thiilk that's lessfiliiky tlinii plnying ivitli
a li^,^ bnild?
Yeah, it is, but it's a new day. People are
grii~vingup a new way than when I came up. The
clcisest thing you'd get to a sample in my day was
thc rea1 Jarnes Brown or Parlian~eiit/Funkadelic.
ToLIay nothing has to be a mistake; you can make
Back in the day: "The world's only
rhinestone rock-star doll"
everything right. But our mistakes usually ivrr[
the groovc. The niistakes we niade, rappers use
for samples! [Lniighs.]
111)/011r so~ig' ' P i i ~ ~ c ~Tlieoqi"
l ~ i o yolf s~rid,'"1
~ O Ifnke
I
tliefiriik yozri. nose ivillgroiv." Does todoy's
ivny of innkiiig iiiiisicjiike thefiriik?
It depends upon the angle of ~ l i edaiigle. If
you compare it to the stuff of today, it's the fuiiky
stuff. But if you compare it to the stuffwe were
used to-the rea1 funk-definitely solne iioses
would be growing. But it's two different worlds.
I tliink what's happening today is best for today.
However the process changes with coniyutei-s,
we are tlie DNA ofwhat's tn come, and the funk
will always be encoded in that.
3:
See nilisic, nesi pngr
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1
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l 9 9 8
.)' SASS PLAYER
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