764.) Sat Jan. 5, 2019

The Song of the Day is:

Bootsy’s Rubber Band – “I’d Rather Be With You”

From the album Stretchin’ Out in Bootsy’s Rubber Band (1976)

I’d rather be with you until that day we’ll fly away
I just love that smiling face in the early sun
If I can’t have you to myself, then life’s no fun

George Clinton – Bootsy Collins – Gary “Mudbone” Cooper

What’s Bootsy Doin’?  William “Bootsy” Collins is hanging up his star-shaped bass guitar.  The legendary funkateer is leaving the road because it has become “too much pressure” on his inner ear and right hand.  Too many, Collins is the “Hendrix of the bass guitar”, and his mastery of the slap bass technique is one of the innovations that define funk music.  Bootsy, and his oft-present guitarist brother Phelps “Catfish” Collins (d.2010), were plucked from their humble Cincinnati roots to become members of James Brown’s backing band, when the Godfather’s regulars suddenly quit on him.  The Collins brothers immediately made an impression, jamming to “Get Up (I Feel Like Being a ) Sex Machine”.  This lineup became known as “The JB’s”, however the JB’s would continue on after Bootsy’s time with James Brown came to an end just short of the one-year mark.  Bootsy (and Catfish) would then become members of George Clinton’s P-Funk empire.  His persona and voice would become ever more cartoonish under the “anything goes” mentality of P-Funk.  With the exception of Parliament and Funkadelic, Bootsy’s Rubber Band (and/or his solo career) became the biggest spin-off group under the P-Funk umbrella.  Bootsy would sprinkle the occasional love song (like “I’d Rather Be With You”) onto albums full of virtuosic monster-ravers.  He became a well-known presence in music after the P-Funk empire crumbled.  He has popped up on records by Deee-Lite, Keith Richards and Fatboy Slim, and much like George Clinton, he is often sampled by the rap community.  Bootsy was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with Parliament/Funkadelic, but he is eligible to be a two-time inductee through his work with the JB’s, his Rubber Band, or as a solo artist.  His latest album was in 2017, and while he still leaves the door open for recording, he says that effective immediately he is done with touring.  Happy Semi-Retirement Bootsy!