WEBVTT - Bootsy Collins 0:00:15.476 --> 0:00:23.076 Pushkin Today Unbroken Record the One and only Bootsy Collins. 0:00:23.716 --> 0:00:26.396 Bootsy first exploded onto the scene in the early seventies 0:00:26.436 --> 0:00:30.236 as James Brown's young, electrifying bass player, but it was 0:00:30.236 --> 0:00:34.476 with Parliament Funkadelic that Bootsy truly found his voice or voices, 0:00:34.956 --> 0:00:39.236 balancing raw funk with a psychedelic, intergalactic persona that would 0:00:39.236 --> 0:00:44.356 inspire everyone from Prince to Thundercat. In today's conversation, Bootsy 0:00:44.396 --> 0:00:47.516 talks about learning to navigate life as both William Collins, 0:00:47.636 --> 0:00:51.756 the introspective, spiritually grounded man from Cincinnati and Bootsy the 0:00:51.836 --> 0:00:55.876 Ryanstone rimmed avatar of groove. He also reflects on his 0:00:55.916 --> 0:00:59.516 writing partnership with George Clinton and keyboard wizard Bernie Warrel 0:01:00.116 --> 0:01:01.756 and how the three of them cooked up some of 0:01:01.796 --> 0:01:05.276 the most joyful and mind bending music in American history. 0:01:06.356 --> 0:01:09.556 Even now, more than fifty years into his career, mains 0:01:09.556 --> 0:01:13.716 on the vanguard, embracing new technology, collaborating with young artists, 0:01:14.036 --> 0:01:16.996 and continuing to spread the one with his new record 0:01:17.156 --> 0:01:22.836 album of the Year, Number one funk Teer. This is 0:01:22.916 --> 0:01:28.036 Broken Record, real musicians, real conversations. 0:01:31.076 --> 0:01:35.676 Here's my conversation with Bootsy Collins. So hopefully I can 0:01:35.916 --> 0:01:37.876 answer hopefully. 0:01:37.916 --> 0:01:40.556 I mean, look, I try not to, you know, I 0:01:40.596 --> 0:01:42.476 try to have a more conversational stop so I trying 0:01:42.636 --> 0:01:43.276 to have. 0:01:43.196 --> 0:01:45.796 Notes with me with you. I'm like, oh my gosh, 0:01:46.076 --> 0:01:49.636 too much. It's gonna it's gonna be flowing. 0:01:49.756 --> 0:01:53.116 I don't know how you keep track of your life, man, 0:01:54.276 --> 0:01:55.396 Actually I don't. 0:01:58.156 --> 0:02:01.676 It just happens, man, you know, I just let it go. 0:02:02.036 --> 0:02:06.356 Just let it go, just let it go, let it flow. Yeah. 0:02:06.476 --> 0:02:11.956 Yeah, it's uh, it's got to feel like one short blur, right, 0:02:12.076 --> 0:02:14.116 not even long in a way, right, Like it's like. 0:02:14.996 --> 0:02:18.676 It's you know, just you know, I got to the 0:02:18.676 --> 0:02:25.396 point where it's just all about you know, just watching observing, 0:02:26.116 --> 0:02:28.836 you know, because it's a lot of time in there 0:02:29.676 --> 0:02:34.956 that you know has been passed. And the onlyess way 0:02:34.996 --> 0:02:37.716 I can learn is just watch and observe and then 0:02:37.836 --> 0:02:43.596 try things. You know, Otherwise, you know, you know, you're 0:02:43.676 --> 0:02:47.316 not staying with the time. And I don't have to 0:02:47.356 --> 0:02:50.076 try to stay with the time because I watch it, 0:02:50.836 --> 0:02:54.716 you know, observe it and learn from it, you know, 0:02:55.596 --> 0:02:58.596 not scared of it. Yeah, you know, because a lot 0:02:58.596 --> 0:03:02.316 of people get get scared when they start getting up 0:03:02.516 --> 0:03:03.756 in the age thing. 0:03:03.756 --> 0:03:05.876 And yeah, you know, but when you were young, you 0:03:05.916 --> 0:03:08.916 weren't even trying to know, trying to fit. 0:03:08.836 --> 0:03:13.556 In invincible man. I mean when you were young. 0:03:13.436 --> 0:03:15.996 Even, it was like you're looking for what's this one 0:03:16.076 --> 0:03:17.196 doing or that one doing? 0:03:17.316 --> 0:03:20.356 Yeah? I know that it never ends, man, you know, 0:03:20.476 --> 0:03:24.716 but come to find out, you know, it's sometimes to 0:03:24.796 --> 0:03:28.596 do you know, that that kind of surge that you have, 0:03:29.236 --> 0:03:33.436 it kind of ends and then you're like, what do 0:03:33.516 --> 0:03:37.876 I do? Now? Wow? What what's what surge is that? Well, 0:03:37.916 --> 0:03:41.276 it's that the young surge that we all have, you know, 0:03:41.556 --> 0:03:47.636 coming up, and we always think that it'll always be that. 0:03:47.916 --> 0:03:50.476 You know, you work with that and it's always going 0:03:50.556 --> 0:03:55.436 to be that. Yeah, but it don't work out like that. 0:03:55.956 --> 0:03:58.196 You know, you got you got a certain time. I 0:03:58.236 --> 0:04:02.356 hope you recording that you got a certain time you 0:04:02.396 --> 0:04:04.516 know to get through that one due to get through 0:04:04.556 --> 0:04:09.676 that portal, you know, and if if you don't get 0:04:09.676 --> 0:04:12.876 through it at that time, then you're a little more lost, 0:04:13.596 --> 0:04:17.876 you know. I just happen to try to stay open 0:04:18.556 --> 0:04:21.996 to what the universe is saying and what it's doing. 0:04:22.476 --> 0:04:26.636 And the only reason I can watch and observe is 0:04:28.316 --> 0:04:32.716 I know too, you know, to you know, to grab 0:04:32.956 --> 0:04:38.876 hold of it and let it be yeah, you know, yeah, 0:04:38.956 --> 0:04:41.636 because you know if you don't let it do its thing, 0:04:41.716 --> 0:04:44.876 it's gonna it's gonna come back to get you. Yeah, 0:04:45.036 --> 0:04:48.556 you know, So that's what I try to do. 0:04:48.636 --> 0:04:52.316 You know, how do you try to counteract the losing 0:04:52.396 --> 0:04:55.076 the surge or not having that surge? 0:04:55.356 --> 0:04:58.476 You don't, I mean, because you know you have to. 0:04:58.716 --> 0:05:01.636 Well for me, I mean, most people try to stop 0:05:01.676 --> 0:05:03.316 it and try to do this, that and the other, 0:05:03.356 --> 0:05:07.836 but I know that don't work. Yeah. Yeah, It's like 0:05:08.716 --> 0:05:14.396 it's gonna happen, and you know, you just try to 0:05:14.436 --> 0:05:18.716 get prepared for it. You know, there's really no way 0:05:18.796 --> 0:05:22.276 to be prepared. It's just you just have to look 0:05:22.316 --> 0:05:27.356 out for it and stay open minded. You know. It's 0:05:27.396 --> 0:05:32.436 like playing piano was one thing, and then when the 0:05:32.556 --> 0:05:38.916 era said, okay, synthesizers are coming in, being a piano player, 0:05:39.796 --> 0:05:42.836 you don't want to hear nothing about no synthesizer. You know, 0:05:42.876 --> 0:05:46.916 this is what I play piano, Acoustic piano. It's beautiful, 0:05:47.316 --> 0:05:49.796 you know, but here's a sensitizer that does this, It 0:05:49.876 --> 0:05:52.756 does that, it does this, and then you have to 0:05:52.756 --> 0:05:56.636 make up your mind whether you're gonna go with something 0:05:56.676 --> 0:06:01.196 new or stay with what you know, you know, and 0:06:01.396 --> 0:06:05.836 a lot of people had problems with that. Bernie Warrell, 0:06:06.596 --> 0:06:09.916 on the other hand, he had no I mean that's 0:06:09.916 --> 0:06:13.916 what he grew up on, was piano and orgon, you know, 0:06:14.196 --> 0:06:18.716 and so when these synthesizers came in, he was, you know, 0:06:18.996 --> 0:06:22.556 supposed to not have a clue, you know. Uh, And 0:06:22.596 --> 0:06:27.636 that's scary, that's scary for you know, for musicians to 0:06:28.436 --> 0:06:31.836 run into a wall where Okay, I got to decide what, 0:06:32.236 --> 0:06:34.756 you know, what I want to do, you know, because 0:06:35.436 --> 0:06:41.236 my way of living is in jeopardy now because you know, 0:06:41.836 --> 0:06:44.836 if I don't jump on that, don't nobody know that 0:06:44.836 --> 0:06:47.996 that's gonna work. I mean, this is a beginning, you know, 0:06:48.436 --> 0:06:52.396 the acoustic has already been established, you know, so you 0:06:52.556 --> 0:06:55.276 have to make your mind up to either be a 0:06:55.316 --> 0:06:59.316 part of the future or stay with the past where 0:06:59.356 --> 0:07:05.996 you used to. And we've always been blessed with both, 0:07:06.676 --> 0:07:11.076 you know, the past and the future. And for me, 0:07:11.836 --> 0:07:16.556 you know, that works best. If you can't accept what's 0:07:16.596 --> 0:07:19.076 getting ready to change, and you know it's getting ready 0:07:19.116 --> 0:07:24.516 to change, you know, then you're gonna get stuck. You know. Drummers, 0:07:24.916 --> 0:07:28.436 you know, they were like you know, they was like 0:07:28.676 --> 0:07:32.836 spellbound when the drum machines come in. It's like the 0:07:32.916 --> 0:07:36.716 drum machines start taking over gigs, you know. And then 0:07:36.836 --> 0:07:38.316 Prince made them famous. 0:07:39.276 --> 0:07:39.516 You know. 0:07:39.916 --> 0:07:42.996 It's like that kick draw man. You can feel. I 0:07:43.036 --> 0:07:45.516 mean you can you can walk in the club nowhere. 0:07:46.076 --> 0:07:48.556 You know, you can come in anywhere. You'll feel that. 0:07:49.036 --> 0:07:52.636 And so everybody wanted to change, you know, but drummers 0:07:52.796 --> 0:07:56.356 was upset. You know. For me, you know, it's like 0:07:57.756 --> 0:08:00.036 you should be you know, all you got to do 0:08:00.116 --> 0:08:03.156 is shift you're thinking, you know, because it's like you 0:08:03.156 --> 0:08:08.916 can play live drums and learn something new, what's happening today, 0:08:09.596 --> 0:08:11.716 you know. But a lot of them casts was like 0:08:12.036 --> 0:08:16.076 so mad, and they was like, you know, you should 0:08:16.076 --> 0:08:19.876 be mad too. I'm like, you know, I mean, you know, 0:08:19.996 --> 0:08:23.436 I play bass, I play guitar, I played drums, I 0:08:23.476 --> 0:08:26.596 mean you know, and I also learned how to program 0:08:26.636 --> 0:08:30.836 the lend drum. I got one, you know. And so 0:08:31.156 --> 0:08:35.916 if you don't stay up with the time, the time 0:08:35.956 --> 0:08:39.676 ain't gonna be good to you, you know. So you know, 0:08:39.796 --> 0:08:43.116 I try to stay up, you know, hang with the 0:08:43.116 --> 0:08:47.156 the new generation, the new era of musicians as well 0:08:47.196 --> 0:08:51.396 as the old, you know. And the key is not 0:08:51.756 --> 0:08:55.876 trying to not try to change nobody's thinking. You know, 0:08:55.916 --> 0:08:59.276 they have to make that up themselves, you know. And 0:08:59.356 --> 0:09:03.356 I think that's why I have a good rapport with everybody, 0:09:03.756 --> 0:09:05.956 because I'm not trying to change nobody. You know. This 0:09:06.116 --> 0:09:08.276 is just the way I came up, and it's the 0:09:08.316 --> 0:09:11.756 way I got the you know. But you know, if 0:09:11.756 --> 0:09:14.796 you see something you like, you're welcome to it. You know. 0:09:15.276 --> 0:09:18.156 If you don't, I'm cool with it. You know. 0:09:18.356 --> 0:09:20.516 Do you spend a lot of time listening to new 0:09:20.556 --> 0:09:22.676 music or any amount of you're listening time listening to 0:09:22.676 --> 0:09:23.196 anything new? 0:09:24.196 --> 0:09:29.196 Every since day one? You know, Day one, I was 0:09:29.356 --> 0:09:33.756 listening because I didn't have nothing in there, you know 0:09:33.876 --> 0:09:36.636 that I thought, you know, it's like I'm learning, you know, 0:09:36.676 --> 0:09:39.716 I got to learn how to play, you know. But 0:09:39.836 --> 0:09:45.236 my brother, Catfish, he was like playing guitar and he 0:09:45.396 --> 0:09:48.796 was like eight years older than I. So I start 0:09:49.196 --> 0:09:53.276 to want to be what he is, you know, And 0:09:53.476 --> 0:09:56.596 that's what kicked my whole thing off, you know, not 0:09:56.716 --> 0:10:00.076 having a father in the house, but having an older 0:10:00.156 --> 0:10:03.636 brother that I really wanted to be like. I didn't 0:10:03.676 --> 0:10:05.796 want to be like my dad because what I had 0:10:05.876 --> 0:10:11.156 heard he was a womanizer, alcohol all, you know, and 0:10:11.196 --> 0:10:13.636 all that, which I could have been, you know, because 0:10:13.636 --> 0:10:18.676 that's the way I started, you know. And so my brother, 0:10:19.516 --> 0:10:23.756 on the other hand, he was somebody that I admired. 0:10:24.076 --> 0:10:26.316 You know. They had to close, you know, they had 0:10:26.356 --> 0:10:29.196 the processes, you know. I mean it was during that 0:10:29.356 --> 0:10:33.516 era that was like, you know, we didn't know who 0:10:33.556 --> 0:10:36.556 we were yet, but we knew something was getting ready 0:10:36.556 --> 0:10:41.796 to happen big, you know, and and so we just continue, 0:10:41.916 --> 0:10:46.476 continue to continue, and getting involved with him and wanting 0:10:46.516 --> 0:10:50.076 to be in a band with him was my dream. 0:10:50.156 --> 0:10:52.996 That was the dream. The only dream I had was 0:10:53.476 --> 0:10:56.556 to be in a band to get my mother out 0:10:57.196 --> 0:10:59.596 of the ghetto where we were at, and so we 0:10:59.636 --> 0:11:02.436 can live, you know, and you know, so she can 0:11:02.596 --> 0:11:08.396 enjoyed life, because watching her come up was like, you know, 0:11:08.676 --> 0:11:11.676 we'd go out to the places that she was working 0:11:11.756 --> 0:11:15.596 and scrubbing floors and all that, you know, and that 0:11:15.716 --> 0:11:20.276 made us sad. You know, It's like a sadness that 0:11:21.076 --> 0:11:24.996 always sticks with you. And so I made up in 0:11:25.036 --> 0:11:29.076 my mind, if I ever get together and make something happen, 0:11:29.836 --> 0:11:32.996 Mama is always first, you know, which was your mom 0:11:33.196 --> 0:11:34.876 happy that you guys were into music or was it 0:11:34.956 --> 0:11:38.316 kind of like she was happy, She was supportive, she 0:11:38.516 --> 0:11:41.796 knew you know, like a lot of mothers would try 0:11:41.836 --> 0:11:44.276 to get in the way, she you know, she'd do 0:11:44.476 --> 0:11:49.436 anything she could to help feed you know, that fire 0:11:49.676 --> 0:11:55.356 that we had because she recognized it. You know, I think, 0:11:55.556 --> 0:11:58.476 you know, this is just my thinking that if I 0:11:58.516 --> 0:12:01.476 had had a father in the house, he would have 0:12:01.516 --> 0:12:04.836 been trying to make me a certain way, you know, 0:12:04.996 --> 0:12:10.436 So I didn't have that. You know, I wouldn't push 0:12:10.556 --> 0:12:14.356 that on everybody, but for me, it worked without him 0:12:14.396 --> 0:12:15.116 being in the house. 0:12:15.676 --> 0:12:19.876 A mother's more sometimes nurturing nature was beneficial for us. 0:12:19.836 --> 0:12:22.876 And that's what that's what we needed. She gave us 0:12:23.116 --> 0:12:27.156 just what we needed. She showed us without showing us, 0:12:27.796 --> 0:12:31.796 you know, she would instead of just telling us, she 0:12:31.796 --> 0:12:35.156 would more show us. So that's what I picked up. 0:12:35.316 --> 0:12:38.636 Like when I got out in the world, you know, 0:12:38.876 --> 0:12:41.636 it was like I knew the street you know, the 0:12:41.636 --> 0:12:44.356 street talk, I knew the street language. But at the 0:12:44.396 --> 0:12:47.676 same time, it was like, you know, give what you 0:12:47.756 --> 0:12:51.716 can give, be who you are and show people instead 0:12:51.716 --> 0:12:55.236 of telling them what to do. Be who you are, 0:12:56.036 --> 0:13:00.116 you know. So I learned that early and Thank god 0:13:00.156 --> 0:13:05.276 I did, because that stuck with me through all the 0:13:05.476 --> 0:13:10.516 changes we've been through, you know, and the power of 0:13:10.556 --> 0:13:14.076 the one is the power of the one, you know, 0:13:14.196 --> 0:13:15.316 and I grabbed onto it. 0:13:15.756 --> 0:13:18.516 Yeah, as you started to develop as a as a 0:13:19.236 --> 0:13:21.596 as who you would becoming, as you started to become 0:13:21.636 --> 0:13:25.036 more bootsy, and you come home and see your mom, 0:13:25.436 --> 0:13:26.396 what was her reaction? 0:13:28.436 --> 0:13:32.876 That's funny, Oh man, she watched me. She let me 0:13:32.916 --> 0:13:36.756 get away with a lot, you know, but she had 0:13:36.796 --> 0:13:40.036 to remind me one time when I came home that 0:13:40.436 --> 0:13:43.756 I'm still William Collins, you know, and I had forgot 0:13:43.756 --> 0:13:46.796 who that guy was. You know, when you get caught 0:13:46.876 --> 0:13:51.436 up in that fame thing, you know, and it happens 0:13:51.476 --> 0:13:56.076 to pretty much everybody, you know, because you don't you know, 0:13:56.156 --> 0:13:58.356 you don't know, you know, you don't know what that 0:13:58.436 --> 0:14:01.996 fame and money and you know, we didn't know nothing 0:14:02.036 --> 0:14:06.116 about none of that stuff, you know, And so I 0:14:06.196 --> 0:14:10.436 got so caught up, you know that you know, I 0:14:10.476 --> 0:14:15.476 didn't know. I'm supposed to come home, chill out, you know, 0:14:16.956 --> 0:14:19.756 take out the garbage, you know, and do what I'm 0:14:20.196 --> 0:14:23.476 supposed to do. Instead of coming back being bootsy, you know, 0:14:23.596 --> 0:14:26.436 I bring the whole crew, you know, got the whole crew, 0:14:26.716 --> 0:14:29.436 you know, because Mama liked to feed everybody, you know. 0:14:30.676 --> 0:14:34.516 But this particular time, she had got fed up with 0:14:34.556 --> 0:14:38.116 me coming home with all these chicks and you know, 0:14:38.636 --> 0:14:41.756 just you know, just being bootsy, you know, and it's like, 0:14:42.636 --> 0:14:45.756 she's going to prove to me that you when you 0:14:45.796 --> 0:14:49.716 come home, you William. You ain't no bootsy, you know, 0:14:49.836 --> 0:14:53.276 and she smacked my glasses off, you know, in front 0:14:53.356 --> 0:14:58.796 of everybody, and I was like, okay, you know, I 0:14:58.836 --> 0:15:01.676 went up ran up to my room, you know, and 0:15:03.076 --> 0:15:06.996 you know, I got dealt with as far as what 0:15:07.156 --> 0:15:09.796 I'm supposed to be and who I'm I'm supposed to 0:15:09.836 --> 0:15:13.316 be when I'm home, you know, and you know that's 0:15:13.356 --> 0:15:20.916 what helped me develop as a supposedly start out in 0:15:21.036 --> 0:15:24.716 the world and come home, I can be me. You know. 0:15:25.836 --> 0:15:29.796 That got so separated from me that I was lost, 0:15:30.556 --> 0:15:32.956 you know, I was really lost, and I start figuring out, 0:15:33.956 --> 0:15:37.516 like I see now what happened to those little young 0:15:38.596 --> 0:15:43.076 child actors. You know, they learned that one way all 0:15:43.156 --> 0:15:45.796 their life, and then when they get to be grown, 0:15:45.996 --> 0:15:47.916 they don't know how to act because they don't know 0:15:47.916 --> 0:15:51.836 who they are, you know. And so when I start 0:15:51.876 --> 0:15:56.316 figuring out who I was. You know, that's when the 0:15:56.436 --> 0:16:01.116 magic really started happening. As far as me realizing who 0:16:01.156 --> 0:16:02.956 I am. You know, I had to go through a 0:16:02.996 --> 0:16:06.876 lot of things, a lot of drugs, a lot of accidents. 0:16:07.476 --> 0:16:11.116 You know. The last act that I was in with 0:16:11.236 --> 0:16:17.196 the motorcycle, you know, reminded me of who and what 0:16:17.276 --> 0:16:21.716 I am. And you're not invincible, you know. You know, 0:16:21.796 --> 0:16:23.996 you take you know, forget the help, and you know, 0:16:24.036 --> 0:16:26.556 you got your hair on, you know, you get riding 0:16:26.636 --> 0:16:29.356 the bike, you got the chicks on the back. You know, 0:16:29.436 --> 0:16:32.196 it's a whole other thing, a whole other world, you know. 0:16:32.876 --> 0:16:36.716 And then once I flipped over about three times, you know, 0:16:36.916 --> 0:16:41.156 riding in the woods, you know, a place I shouldn't 0:16:41.156 --> 0:16:45.476 have had a street bike anyway, I found out that 0:16:46.956 --> 0:16:50.996 you're not invincible, you know, loaded to the gills, you know. 0:16:51.236 --> 0:16:55.036 And that's the thing that snapped me out of a 0:16:55.076 --> 0:16:59.436 lot of you know, the fortune and fame thing, you know. 0:16:59.716 --> 0:17:03.956 And I watch it every day as I see the 0:17:04.516 --> 0:17:07.916 young era coming in, and you know, so I get 0:17:07.956 --> 0:17:10.876 a chance to watch it now as opposed to just 0:17:10.956 --> 0:17:12.076 be in it and stuck. 0:17:12.876 --> 0:17:15.396 Yeah, you also collaborate with a lot of young artists 0:17:15.436 --> 0:17:19.156 there too, and like do they ever Do they ever? 0:17:19.356 --> 0:17:21.476 I mean you kind of can't insert yourself when you're 0:17:21.516 --> 0:17:23.276 not wanting, But did they ever come to you and 0:17:23.316 --> 0:17:24.716 ask you how did you survive? 0:17:25.636 --> 0:17:28.516 They do? They do it all the time, and you know, 0:17:28.596 --> 0:17:30.996 I try to explain it in a way where that's 0:17:30.996 --> 0:17:34.516 what I do because you know, for me, you know, 0:17:34.676 --> 0:17:37.516 to tell a person not to do something and you know, 0:17:37.556 --> 0:17:40.196 it didn't work on me. I mean, you know, James 0:17:40.196 --> 0:17:42.276 Brown was telling me not to do this and not 0:17:42.396 --> 0:17:45.476 to do that, and it didn't work. Yeah, you know, 0:17:45.796 --> 0:17:48.236 as a matter of fact, it pushed me further and 0:17:48.316 --> 0:17:51.436 further away from him, you know, because he was trying 0:17:51.476 --> 0:17:54.796 to be my father, you know, and it's like, you know, 0:17:54.956 --> 0:17:57.556 I couldn't tell him you can't be my father. But 0:17:57.596 --> 0:18:00.676 at the same time, it was like he was doing 0:18:00.716 --> 0:18:04.236 that because that's what he you know, that's what he felt, 0:18:04.476 --> 0:18:07.556 you know, he felt like a father figure and you know, 0:18:08.476 --> 0:18:11.396 so I had to I gave him that respect. And 0:18:11.596 --> 0:18:13.956 at the same time, it was like, I see what 0:18:15.076 --> 0:18:18.196 helped push me, you know, over the edge. Like if 0:18:18.236 --> 0:18:21.196 you tell me to not do something, I'm gonna do it, 0:18:21.756 --> 0:18:26.196 you know, So I figured the kids now they think 0:18:26.236 --> 0:18:29.796 the same way, and so I really stay away from 0:18:29.916 --> 0:18:33.236 trying to tell them what to do, and I show 0:18:33.276 --> 0:18:36.756 them how I am, you know, and then if they 0:18:36.796 --> 0:18:39.996 pick up something, cool if they don't, you know, but 0:18:40.076 --> 0:18:43.396 don't look for me to actually tell you what to 0:18:43.476 --> 0:18:46.236 do in your life. You know, I'll show you what 0:18:46.316 --> 0:18:51.476 I did if you ask, you know. But other than that, 0:18:51.636 --> 0:18:55.996 you know, it's like we're cool, you know. Yeah, yeah, 0:18:55.876 --> 0:19:01.236 when when did you get sober? Really sober? 0:19:01.276 --> 0:19:05.836 And when I met Peppermint Patty, I faked like I 0:19:05.956 --> 0:19:14.516 was sober in nineteen eighty three, you know, but. 0:19:14.516 --> 0:19:18.876 It kept coming back, you know, up until nineteen eighty eight. 0:19:19.476 --> 0:19:22.796 Is when I made my mind up that you know, 0:19:22.876 --> 0:19:25.316 I'm gonna do it, you know, and I called Turkey. 0:19:26.316 --> 0:19:26.556 You know. 0:19:27.116 --> 0:19:31.116 It was like it was really really deep. But she 0:19:31.276 --> 0:19:35.556 helped me. A lot of people helped by just being themselves, 0:19:36.236 --> 0:19:42.196 you know, and talking a lot of faith and works 0:19:42.756 --> 0:19:45.676 and how it goes together. But the difference for me 0:19:46.036 --> 0:19:51.396 was everybody that talked about faith had a particular way 0:19:51.756 --> 0:19:56.076 that they wanted you to dive in, you know, and 0:19:56.116 --> 0:19:58.916 to me, I had a problem with that because for me, 0:19:59.956 --> 0:20:06.596 it's like respect everybody's father, whoever they choose, respect it, 0:20:06.796 --> 0:20:10.676 you know. To me, it's really simple, you know, And 0:20:10.756 --> 0:20:12.796 I don't have to. I don't feel like I have 0:20:12.876 --> 0:20:16.436 to change nobody. You know, they'll change it's like I did, 0:20:16.636 --> 0:20:20.516 or they won't, you know, So that's all up to 0:20:20.516 --> 0:20:22.676 the person. But I'm not to be the judge of that, 0:20:23.436 --> 0:20:27.356 you know, And that's that makes me feel good when 0:20:27.396 --> 0:20:31.596 I see how God has changed me and how it 0:20:31.636 --> 0:20:35.476 affects people without me trying to be the number one. 0:20:35.996 --> 0:20:39.596 You know, I'm not number one. You're not number one either. 0:20:40.116 --> 0:20:43.836 You know. We're a part of the one, you know, 0:20:44.356 --> 0:20:48.116 and anybody that feels like they are the one, I 0:20:48.196 --> 0:20:51.036 let them have it. You are the one, you know. 0:20:51.596 --> 0:20:58.356 But I know that all of us together equals the one. 0:20:59.436 --> 0:21:02.636 You know. If we ain't all together on it ain't 0:21:02.636 --> 0:21:04.916 nobody to one. 0:21:04.396 --> 0:21:07.236 Yeah, it's interesting here you say that because you also, 0:21:07.636 --> 0:21:11.396 I mean, you know, because you in a way you 0:21:11.436 --> 0:21:15.076 do have like like Boots, Like there's a such a 0:21:15.116 --> 0:21:18.956 bravado to the character of Bucy that's fun and amazing. 0:21:19.996 --> 0:21:23.036 But it's incredible you say that, like you know, I'm 0:21:23.076 --> 0:21:25.116 not number one, Like I'm not like am. 0:21:24.956 --> 0:21:27.236 I saying boots to me, I'm not I'm not fooling 0:21:27.276 --> 0:21:31.236 myself anymore. I mean I went for it. When it happened, 0:21:31.756 --> 0:21:33.796 you know, it blew up so big. You know, it 0:21:33.876 --> 0:21:38.636 was scary. You know, it's like Frankenstein invented the monster 0:21:38.836 --> 0:21:42.196 and then the monster turned on him, you know, and 0:21:42.196 --> 0:21:44.636 that's what happened to me. When did you realize it 0:21:44.636 --> 0:21:45.076 was scary? 0:21:45.116 --> 0:21:45.196 Like? 0:21:45.236 --> 0:21:49.636 What was there an incident or it was a whole 0:21:49.676 --> 0:21:56.356 lot of incidents, oh man, but you know, one at 0:21:56.476 --> 0:22:00.716 one thing after another. I mean, you have to actually 0:22:00.876 --> 0:22:05.396 pay to be that star, you know, to be that 0:22:06.436 --> 0:22:10.476 gigantic being. You have to pay for that. You know. 0:22:10.636 --> 0:22:13.876 It's not like, you know, you learn all this and 0:22:13.916 --> 0:22:16.636 then you know, you know, you get up there and 0:22:16.796 --> 0:22:21.436 everything's cool. Everything was cool, but you got to realize 0:22:21.636 --> 0:22:24.756 there's a cost, you know, and you never you never 0:22:24.836 --> 0:22:28.196 learned about that. Nobody explains that to you because all 0:22:28.236 --> 0:22:33.356 you want to do is play, make money, be successful, 0:22:33.596 --> 0:22:36.316 Da da da da day, you know, and you don't 0:22:36.316 --> 0:22:41.116 even think about that, you know, until it starts crumbling 0:22:41.156 --> 0:22:43.796 down on you. Like you know, wow, I didn't go 0:22:43.876 --> 0:22:47.876 out there to you know, pay the bills, like for 0:22:47.956 --> 0:22:51.876 the truck. I gotta pay the account. I gotta pay 0:22:51.916 --> 0:22:54.596 the ban I gotta. I didn't go out there for that. 0:22:55.116 --> 0:22:57.276 I went out there because I wanted to play to 0:22:57.316 --> 0:23:00.556 the people, period. You know. I didn't want all those 0:23:00.636 --> 0:23:04.836 other responsibilities, you know, but all of that falls on 0:23:04.876 --> 0:23:08.756 you when you're out front doing the thing and becoming 0:23:08.796 --> 0:23:12.676 this big, major star, you know. So I wasn't ready. 0:23:13.156 --> 0:23:17.036 I wasn't and I'll never be ready for that because 0:23:17.076 --> 0:23:19.556 I don't want to, you know, I don't want that 0:23:19.636 --> 0:23:24.836 kind of responsibility, responsibility that I got now. I feel 0:23:24.876 --> 0:23:27.396 like I can take care of that. But if it 0:23:27.516 --> 0:23:31.956 gets any bigger, I will be prepared because I'm being 0:23:31.996 --> 0:23:36.156 prepared now, you know, otherwise, and then I can see 0:23:36.156 --> 0:23:40.156 it coming because I know it's coming. But then you 0:23:40.196 --> 0:23:43.956 can't see nothing, you know, all you see is the 0:23:44.036 --> 0:23:46.876 good things. You know. I can get all this, I 0:23:46.876 --> 0:23:48.676 can get all that. I can do her, I can 0:23:48.716 --> 0:23:51.156 do her. Yeah, I can do that. I can do that. 0:23:51.596 --> 0:23:54.236 You know. You can do everything, you know, And so 0:23:54.956 --> 0:23:58.716 you guys were yeah, yeah, yeah, And to make it 0:23:58.756 --> 0:24:02.796 through that is enough for me to just be like, 0:24:03.676 --> 0:24:07.076 if you want that, you got it, got you know, yeah, 0:24:07.196 --> 0:24:08.796 And I'm here for you if you need me. 0:24:09.916 --> 0:24:12.276 We'll be right back with more from Bootsy Collins after 0:24:12.316 --> 0:24:18.956 the break. When you put out Bootsi's Rubber Band, for instance, 0:24:18.996 --> 0:24:22.236 and you sort of start becoming your own entity within 0:24:22.516 --> 0:24:26.716 the Parliament organization, the Parliament Funkadelic organization. Did you feel 0:24:26.716 --> 0:24:29.436 that coming? Did you know you were gonna be like 0:24:29.596 --> 0:24:30.516 the guy to be? 0:24:31.636 --> 0:24:34.836 I didn't want to be the guy, that's first off. 0:24:34.956 --> 0:24:36.916 I didn't want. All I wanted to do was play 0:24:36.916 --> 0:24:40.236 in the band, you know, and that's stuck with me 0:24:40.476 --> 0:24:43.916 throughout the whole thing, and I couldn't figure out, well, 0:24:44.196 --> 0:24:48.196 I figured out why I was in the front, you know, 0:24:48.436 --> 0:24:52.396 because George really wanted me to be the front of 0:24:52.516 --> 0:24:56.796 my own band as opposed to just being in Parliament Funkadelic, 0:24:57.636 --> 0:25:02.076 and I really didn't want that, you know, But he 0:25:02.276 --> 0:25:06.236 starts showing me ways that it would be beneficial if I, 0:25:07.116 --> 0:25:11.076 you know, took off on another another band, because I 0:25:11.116 --> 0:25:14.196 had been playing with all of them, you know, and 0:25:14.236 --> 0:25:16.396 I had my own band when I first got there, 0:25:17.076 --> 0:25:19.796 and I still had them, so it was like, you 0:25:19.836 --> 0:25:22.796 should take them on the road, and I'll take parliam 0:25:22.796 --> 0:25:25.516 and fro Unkadella. He had a great The concept was great. 0:25:26.276 --> 0:25:31.316 You know. But the downside was I wasn't ready to 0:25:31.356 --> 0:25:35.956 be a front man, you know, and so all those 0:25:36.036 --> 0:25:40.556 years that I was learning, I was losing interest in 0:25:40.756 --> 0:25:43.516 being because that ain't what I wanted to be. 0:25:43.756 --> 0:25:45.796 You really didn't want to that when you know, I 0:25:45.796 --> 0:25:48.356 call that first album cover at Thrasher Design with that 0:25:48.436 --> 0:25:49.356 you want to well. 0:25:49.236 --> 0:25:53.396 Well, that's part of what helped turn into oh this 0:25:53.396 --> 0:25:58.676 this might be all right? You know, you know everybody 0:25:58.796 --> 0:26:02.716 checked this out. Yeah, that's the part that gets you. 0:26:02.716 --> 0:26:05.236 You know, when when it you know, when it first 0:26:05.236 --> 0:26:09.436 starts and then something happened would Warner Brothers. Wow? Then 0:26:09.476 --> 0:26:13.596 it starts hitting you like wow, you know, and then 0:26:13.756 --> 0:26:16.636 gigs start coming up. And I was just talking to 0:26:17.516 --> 0:26:20.676 my man out here about you know, Dave Liebert. He 0:26:20.756 --> 0:26:24.076 came in and started booking us, and you know, it's 0:26:24.196 --> 0:26:28.116 just start growing so fast. And I wasn't ready for that, 0:26:28.636 --> 0:26:30.676 you know, I wouldn't all what I was ready for 0:26:30.876 --> 0:26:33.396 was playing with Parliam and Funkadella. You really still just 0:26:33.396 --> 0:26:36.316 wanted to be part of that, hey man. That was 0:26:36.516 --> 0:26:39.316 that was the beauty, the beauty of you know, a 0:26:39.356 --> 0:26:43.236 band is playing together, you know. Uh. And I knew 0:26:44.036 --> 0:26:48.516 that if I if we separated them. You know, I 0:26:48.596 --> 0:26:50.436 knew that the weight was going to fall on me. 0:26:50.996 --> 0:26:52.836 You know, if I didn't have no sense at all, 0:26:53.396 --> 0:26:55.276 I knew it was gonna follow on me if I 0:26:55.356 --> 0:26:58.796 take that, you know, that approach of being a solo artist. 0:26:59.316 --> 0:27:01.996 You know. But when I saw seeing all the good 0:27:02.076 --> 0:27:06.396 parts that is going to benefits, you know, I was like, Okay, George, 0:27:06.716 --> 0:27:10.116 you know I do it. So I cave in, you know, 0:27:10.436 --> 0:27:14.476 and sure enough it turned out the way I was thinking, 0:27:15.116 --> 0:27:19.676 you know, and you can call that stinking thinking, you know, 0:27:20.236 --> 0:27:23.196 but that ain't what I wanted. You know. What I 0:27:23.236 --> 0:27:26.556 wanted was to be with the band and make people 0:27:26.596 --> 0:27:31.916 feel good about themselves, having fun. You know. Actually fun 0:27:32.076 --> 0:27:35.676 had more to do with it than making money. You know, 0:27:36.596 --> 0:27:40.036 when we got with James Brown, I thought we had 0:27:40.036 --> 0:27:44.836 to pay him, you know, I mean that's how you know, 0:27:45.156 --> 0:27:48.796 we just didn't know, you know, like the artists now 0:27:49.236 --> 0:27:53.116 musicians now know about getting paid. You know, we were 0:27:53.236 --> 0:27:57.556 just having a good time. We want to have fun. 0:27:57.796 --> 0:28:01.276 You know. It wasn't about the era of making money 0:28:01.316 --> 0:28:03.836 for us. You know, we just he snatched us off 0:28:03.876 --> 0:28:07.676 the street. You know, we was riding having a great 0:28:07.716 --> 0:28:10.876 time doing that. You know, and he snatched us off 0:28:10.916 --> 0:28:14.236 the street. How did he find you? Well, we played 0:28:14.236 --> 0:28:18.916 at King and King Records. That's the King fellow right there, 0:28:19.156 --> 0:28:24.756 he's the head here guy King and and so that's 0:28:24.796 --> 0:28:29.156 where we met James Brown. So that's a whole nother 0:28:29.276 --> 0:28:35.036 long story. But Charles Berling brought us the King Records 0:28:35.076 --> 0:28:39.916 because he thought that we were such an energetic you know, 0:28:40.076 --> 0:28:45.036 rhythm section that you know, we could cut his records 0:28:45.116 --> 0:28:48.996 and cut you know, different sessions for and we wound 0:28:49.116 --> 0:28:55.676 up working with Hank Ballard Wow. Uh, Bill Doggett Uh, 0:28:56.596 --> 0:29:00.756 I mean, what's what's my man's name? Henry Glover was 0:29:00.796 --> 0:29:05.236 the first black producer you know of you know, not 0:29:05.516 --> 0:29:10.756 just rhythm and blues, but you know folk music. He 0:29:10.836 --> 0:29:14.596 was doing everything at King Records. Wow. And you know 0:29:15.156 --> 0:29:20.276 his dad, ODIs Williams, was the head of Oldest Williams 0:29:20.276 --> 0:29:25.476 and the Charms Wow nowhere Yeah. Yeah, and so you 0:29:25.516 --> 0:29:29.356 know you never know, yeah, I mean you know, so 0:29:29.356 --> 0:29:32.236 so you know all of that, you know, I was 0:29:32.316 --> 0:29:35.276 growing into you know what those are? 0:29:35.316 --> 0:29:39.836 Guys like like Hank Ballard and Bill Doggett are incredible Yeah, 0:29:40.676 --> 0:29:45.196 musicians from bang Bood, incredible front man even Yeah, talks 0:29:45.196 --> 0:29:45.796 about these days. 0:29:45.836 --> 0:29:47.956 What was it like hanging around them? What were they like? 0:29:48.716 --> 0:29:55.476 Man very encouraging because they were true musicians, I mean, 0:29:55.636 --> 0:30:00.076 true to the bone, you know, and it was such 0:30:00.556 --> 0:30:03.436 a pleasure to be around them. And they treat you 0:30:03.556 --> 0:30:09.556 like regular people, you know, and so being around them 0:30:09.996 --> 0:30:13.796 kind of help set myself up to I want to 0:30:13.836 --> 0:30:17.156 be like that, you know. I want to be, you know, 0:30:17.356 --> 0:30:21.636 like able Town. I'm down to earth where you know, 0:30:21.676 --> 0:30:25.156 I might look crazy, you know, and I probably do. 0:30:25.636 --> 0:30:27.476 But at the same time, it's like I want to 0:30:27.516 --> 0:30:29.716 be able to. I want people to have fun with me, 0:30:30.396 --> 0:30:32.196 you know, I want to I want them to chill, 0:30:32.516 --> 0:30:36.356 have a good time, and and if they whatever they 0:30:36.396 --> 0:30:39.156 want to say, say it, you know. And so I 0:30:39.196 --> 0:30:43.636 try to carry that, you know, once once I start 0:30:43.716 --> 0:30:46.916 picking up from them, you know, it's like we live 0:30:46.996 --> 0:30:50.836 on their backs. And that's what I talk about. You know, 0:30:52.036 --> 0:30:54.196 a lot of people want to put it all on me, 0:30:54.476 --> 0:30:57.396 but I have to tell them, you know, you know, 0:30:57.516 --> 0:31:00.356 I'm really not the one. You know. I worked at 0:31:00.676 --> 0:31:03.596 being on the one, but I'm not. Well, I'm not 0:31:03.676 --> 0:31:06.636 the one. The one is bigger than all of us, 0:31:07.036 --> 0:31:10.916 you know, because it's all all of us collectively together. 0:31:11.156 --> 0:31:13.116 Well, you know what's funny, It's like you're talking about 0:31:13.116 --> 0:31:18.356 how James was almost like a father figure, and like 0:31:18.556 --> 0:31:20.916 most father figures when you're when you're that age, you 0:31:20.956 --> 0:31:24.996 kind of want to like buck buck against him. Yeah, 0:31:25.036 --> 0:31:28.436 but his lesson about the one, oh all, seems to 0:31:28.436 --> 0:31:29.996 have always really stuck with you boys. 0:31:30.676 --> 0:31:31.916 Yeah, what was like? 0:31:32.116 --> 0:31:33.796 And you then you even go and introduce that to 0:31:33.876 --> 0:31:35.876 George and part of my funk delic in that because 0:31:36.156 --> 0:31:37.676 so how did that stick? 0:31:38.676 --> 0:31:43.316 That stuck because I was in it and I got 0:31:43.316 --> 0:31:47.796 to see it work. You know, it wasn't just him talking, 0:31:48.636 --> 0:31:51.876 you know about the one. It was when I put 0:31:51.916 --> 0:31:56.156 it into effect in my music. That's when I found 0:31:56.196 --> 0:32:00.716 out he ain't just rapping. You know, this is real 0:32:00.876 --> 0:32:03.756 because soon as I start doing that because I played 0:32:03.756 --> 0:32:07.396 a lot of you know, playing guitar, and I got 0:32:07.476 --> 0:32:11.356 stuck on bass because my brother the play guitar and 0:32:11.396 --> 0:32:13.836 he needed a bass player. So that's how I got 0:32:13.876 --> 0:32:18.036 stuck on bass. And once that happened, you know, and 0:32:18.076 --> 0:32:21.356 I'm with my brother, I'm happy. You know, I'm happy 0:32:21.396 --> 0:32:24.716 because I don't care what I play, a flute, clarinet, 0:32:24.756 --> 0:32:28.156 whatever with my brother, you know, that was the key. 0:32:28.716 --> 0:32:31.956 And we just happened to get picked up over there 0:32:32.036 --> 0:32:35.756 King Records, you know, because we was tearing it up. 0:32:35.836 --> 0:32:39.316 We were street kids, and we wasn't letting nothing get 0:32:39.396 --> 0:32:42.796 in the way nothing. I mean, oh you won't pay us, 0:32:42.876 --> 0:32:45.556 Oh that ain't no problem, you know, let us put 0:32:45.636 --> 0:32:47.876 let us put this funk down for you, you know. 0:32:48.036 --> 0:32:51.756 And that was the attitude, you know. So but you 0:32:51.756 --> 0:32:54.236 were playing, and it's true you were playing a guitar. 0:32:55.196 --> 0:32:55.676 At first. 0:32:55.756 --> 0:32:58.236 I learned rung like a bass, yeah, like a six 0:32:58.236 --> 0:33:00.636 strings guitar, but with four bass strings. 0:33:00.756 --> 0:33:03.836 Well I had to do that because my brother needed 0:33:04.156 --> 0:33:07.276 a bass player, not a guitar player. And I just 0:33:07.396 --> 0:33:11.396 asked him, can you get me four bass strings? He 0:33:11.476 --> 0:33:15.036 got me four bass strings. And that night, you know, 0:33:15.316 --> 0:33:21.596 was our first gig. And the place was, the place was, 0:33:21.996 --> 0:33:28.836 let's see, it was about from here to the door, 0:33:29.236 --> 0:33:34.156 the whole place, the whole place, you know, no stage. 0:33:34.356 --> 0:33:36.956 We were standing on the floor and people were like 0:33:37.076 --> 0:33:41.596 this in your faith and drunk as I don't you know, 0:33:42.156 --> 0:33:47.396 And here I am. I'm like fifteen, fourteen fifteen, and 0:33:47.716 --> 0:33:50.796 I got into place, you know, because of my brother. 0:33:51.436 --> 0:33:55.076 You know, he's like eight years older than I, so 0:33:55.596 --> 0:33:59.116 I get it in because, you know, because of him, 0:33:59.396 --> 0:34:02.556 and people are just getting off because I'm so young, 0:34:03.356 --> 0:34:06.436 you know, and I'm knowing, I'm knowing that they're getting 0:34:06.436 --> 0:34:10.116 off because I'm young, but I'm also playing what they like, 0:34:10.876 --> 0:34:13.556 you know. And so when I got with when we 0:34:13.596 --> 0:34:17.676 all got with James Brown, he tightened us up and 0:34:17.756 --> 0:34:22.636 told us about the one once. Once that happened, you know, 0:34:23.116 --> 0:34:26.396 we all started knowing where the one was at, and 0:34:26.876 --> 0:34:31.316 it was like, oh, you mean like this, and James said, yeah, 0:34:31.356 --> 0:34:33.876 I'm glad, I'm glad I thought of it. You know. 0:34:34.036 --> 0:34:38.436 So everything he thought of which was great, you know, 0:34:38.596 --> 0:34:42.116 which at the time, you know, then, wasn't nobody telling us, man, 0:34:42.236 --> 0:34:44.876 y'all should be you know, y'all should be doing this, y'all. 0:34:45.316 --> 0:34:48.796 You know, when the rappers came out and started sampling, 0:34:50.076 --> 0:34:53.036 everybody's telling me what I should be getting, you know, 0:34:54.036 --> 0:34:57.636 you know, And if it had been that era instead 0:34:57.676 --> 0:34:59.516 of the era I grew up in, they would have 0:34:59.556 --> 0:35:02.316 been right. Yeah. But the era I grew up in was, 0:35:02.556 --> 0:35:08.436 you know, we was what do you call working? What 0:35:08.436 --> 0:35:11.876 do you call that? Uh? You know, we was kind 0:35:11.876 --> 0:35:15.916 of like worked for hire. Oh yeah, freelance. Yeah, And 0:35:15.956 --> 0:35:19.396 it wasn't about you know, you know, us getting paid. 0:35:19.436 --> 0:35:23.316 It was about you mugs are here with James Brown, 0:35:23.556 --> 0:35:26.476 and y'all better pay attention, you know. And that's what 0:35:26.516 --> 0:35:30.436 we did. We paid attention. And if somebody paid us, cool, 0:35:30.556 --> 0:35:32.676 If didn't, nobody pay us. We had a couple of 0:35:32.756 --> 0:35:35.436 dollars to go get some wine. A couple of girls 0:35:35.436 --> 0:35:38.196 in the backseat were good, were good. 0:35:38.076 --> 0:35:40.156 And he had a way of for I guess for 0:35:40.276 --> 0:35:43.116 people who don't understand the one, it's just a way 0:35:43.116 --> 0:35:47.476 of organizing your playing where you're emphasizing. 0:35:46.956 --> 0:35:50.916 You're emphasizing that one on every four you know, four bards. 0:35:51.756 --> 0:35:55.076 And you know that's so true to this day. Even 0:35:55.116 --> 0:36:02.396 the computers, you know, they they got it shows you 0:36:02.436 --> 0:36:06.196 what the one is. That that's it. That's it, I mean, 0:36:06.276 --> 0:36:10.396 And no computers worked like you know, they don't don't 0:36:10.396 --> 0:36:13.156 work like that. They work like that, you know. And 0:36:13.236 --> 0:36:17.556 for James to be told us about the one way 0:36:17.596 --> 0:36:21.596 back in those years and then to this day, it's 0:36:21.676 --> 0:36:30.916 it's still a give them a nye. I mean, it's 0:36:30.916 --> 0:36:33.996 still there, you know. And once you start doing that, 0:36:34.596 --> 0:36:37.156 you put the emphasis on that people feel that they 0:36:37.276 --> 0:36:40.916 vibe off of that. You know, it's like a internal clock, 0:36:41.756 --> 0:36:44.916 you know, it's the heartbeat of the world. You know. 0:36:45.236 --> 0:36:47.156 So what about like when you go into play with 0:36:48.436 --> 0:36:50.796 like you did a Herbie Hancock record with Sugar for 0:36:51.836 --> 0:36:57.436 Bonner from Ohio players. Can you can you do that 0:36:57.516 --> 0:36:58.756 on a on a Herbie record? 0:36:59.236 --> 0:37:02.556 Well, it's it's it's all the same thing, but it's 0:37:02.596 --> 0:37:07.476 in different measures, you know, different bars. You know. You 0:37:07.516 --> 0:37:11.196 know they they got a one too, but you know, 0:37:11.356 --> 0:37:15.996 them being jazz musicians, they got a certain count, you know. 0:37:16.116 --> 0:37:19.116 But it all, if you know, it all comes back 0:37:19.156 --> 0:37:21.316 to one. You know, they got they got to come 0:37:21.356 --> 0:37:23.996 to the one too. Everybody got to come to the one. 0:37:24.116 --> 0:37:27.836 I don't care what it is. You know, it's just 0:37:27.876 --> 0:37:32.116 not four four, you know, it can be five, you know, five, seven, 0:37:32.436 --> 0:37:36.236 you know, you know whatever whatever that is. But it 0:37:36.356 --> 0:37:39.076 all has to come back to one. 0:37:39.476 --> 0:37:41.636 And when you when when you're introducing this concept of 0:37:41.676 --> 0:37:44.916 parliament funk dialect, this thing that James taught you would 0:37:44.916 --> 0:37:47.756 it have been big Foot Bradley on drums at that 0:37:47.756 --> 0:37:49.716 time or Tiki Fu was. 0:37:49.676 --> 0:37:51.516 Both of them? Both of them were there? Yeah, Well 0:37:51.516 --> 0:37:58.036 it was Tiki first, Tyrone and then Bigfoot. Yeah yeah, 0:37:58.516 --> 0:38:05.756 and for me, I think bigfootre Braley brought home the 0:38:05.876 --> 0:38:10.756 p funk. You know, Tiki brought home on the funkadelic side. 0:38:11.596 --> 0:38:17.716 You know. Tyron Lapkin, he was just an all out 0:38:17.876 --> 0:38:21.756 next level drummer, you know. I mean he made you 0:38:21.836 --> 0:38:25.716 stop and like watch him. You know. You know, it 0:38:25.876 --> 0:38:29.836 wasn't really about the one with him. You know, he'd 0:38:29.836 --> 0:38:33.396 do it if you, you know, told him to, but 0:38:33.796 --> 0:38:36.316 it was about he was like a jazz drummer. Yeah, 0:38:36.716 --> 0:38:39.036 you know, he was all over the place, you know, 0:38:39.236 --> 0:38:43.956 and he find his own one, you know, so you know, 0:38:43.996 --> 0:38:46.596 which was cool because he always he always had to 0:38:46.596 --> 0:38:49.916 come back. You know, I don't know what his count was, 0:38:50.476 --> 0:38:53.076 but he knew what you know, he knew what it was. 0:38:53.116 --> 0:38:55.036 And that's what matters. You guys. 0:38:55.156 --> 0:38:57.916 You guys were playing that just completely different feels going. 0:38:57.956 --> 0:38:59.756 But that would maybe be some of the magic is 0:38:59.956 --> 0:39:03.276 that's what you're feeling one thing, he's feeling a different post. 0:39:03.036 --> 0:39:07.316 And you are allowed to do it. You know, that 0:39:07.516 --> 0:39:12.116 has a big emphasis on how you feel about doing 0:39:12.196 --> 0:39:15.156 what you're doing, you know, because if you're not allowed 0:39:15.196 --> 0:39:19.276 to do it, you know, then you feel like you're constricted. 0:39:19.356 --> 0:39:22.996 You can't express you can't self express yourself, you know, 0:39:23.676 --> 0:39:27.596 the way you want to. And in that era, it 0:39:27.676 --> 0:39:31.716 was very important to express yourself, you know, just like 0:39:31.756 --> 0:39:34.956 the record express yourself, you know, your boy I mean 0:39:35.036 --> 0:39:43.276 The Boys was funky or the original exactly Charles Wright. Yes, yes, yeah, 0:39:43.476 --> 0:39:46.956 so you know, and we had all of that that 0:39:47.036 --> 0:39:52.156 we was growing up in and today, you know, it's 0:39:52.236 --> 0:39:56.116 like where is that at? You know, I mean we 0:39:56.156 --> 0:39:59.036 had we grew up in such a great musical era, 0:39:59.876 --> 0:40:02.876 you know, to have all that around you, you know, 0:40:03.036 --> 0:40:05.836 to absorb all of that and then wake up one 0:40:05.916 --> 0:40:09.236 day and it's not there. You know, it's like, how 0:40:09.276 --> 0:40:11.996 does that feel? You know, people like ask me, how 0:40:11.996 --> 0:40:15.556 does that feel? You know? I had to learn, you know. 0:40:16.076 --> 0:40:19.316 The good thing for me is learning while I'm on 0:40:19.396 --> 0:40:22.836 the job. You know, I'm sure I'm learning, you know. 0:40:23.556 --> 0:40:26.876 And when we got to this part here, it's like 0:40:27.676 --> 0:40:32.196 I was kind of prepared, you know, to accept, Okay, 0:40:32.556 --> 0:40:35.276 it's done change, you know, because I was in the 0:40:35.396 --> 0:40:38.796 changing while it was changing. Yeah, you know, so I 0:40:38.836 --> 0:40:43.156 got a chance to adjust. And most people that I'm 0:40:43.196 --> 0:40:48.116 not gonna stop playing the acoustic. I'm not gonna you know, 0:40:48.316 --> 0:40:51.996 play the electric. Yeah, but I love this acoustic you know. 0:40:52.636 --> 0:40:57.636 That's how I observed it and was like, whatever comes in, 0:40:58.356 --> 0:41:00.796 I'm gonna learn how to you know, or if I 0:41:00.796 --> 0:41:02.836 can't do it, I'm getting somebody else to do it. 0:41:03.236 --> 0:41:03.436 You know. 0:41:05.156 --> 0:41:07.036 After the last break, we'll be back with the rest 0:41:07.076 --> 0:41:14.556 of Bootsy Collins. Were you getting blowback then, like, because 0:41:14.716 --> 0:41:17.996 you know you Larry Graham all right around that same time. Yeah, 0:41:18.036 --> 0:41:21.476 really changing the nature of bass playing, you know, like 0:41:21.756 --> 0:41:24.716 and really making it a different a different instrument. 0:41:25.196 --> 0:41:28.196 You know. Well, I was so glad to be a 0:41:28.316 --> 0:41:32.076 part of that, you know, you know, because it was 0:41:32.116 --> 0:41:36.316 only a few of us, you know, and you know, 0:41:36.516 --> 0:41:42.276 it's like James Jamison was the cat that really changed 0:41:42.316 --> 0:41:46.116 my mind about bass playing, you know, because he had 0:41:46.396 --> 0:41:49.516 he played with one finger. All of that stuff he 0:41:49.636 --> 0:41:54.396 was playing, he used one finger, you know. Wow. Yeah, 0:41:54.436 --> 0:41:59.956 and he I'm glad you mentioned that. He all those 0:42:00.036 --> 0:42:06.476 hit records beforehand. He played upright, upright bass. He got 0:42:06.516 --> 0:42:11.676 introduced to Defender P bass and he wanted to play 0:42:12.196 --> 0:42:17.916 the P bass. Motown said, now you know you can't 0:42:17.956 --> 0:42:20.236 play that. You ain't made no money with you know, 0:42:20.356 --> 0:42:23.476 playing that. So they didn't want to change, but he 0:42:23.556 --> 0:42:27.636 said if you want me, I'm playing the p bass 0:42:28.116 --> 0:42:32.596 and then all after all after that, you know, the 0:42:32.996 --> 0:42:37.436 upright base, all the stuff after that. He made much 0:42:37.516 --> 0:42:41.236 more money for them, And you know, he was a 0:42:41.276 --> 0:42:46.076 perfect example to accept and embrace that change that we're 0:42:46.076 --> 0:42:50.396 talking about right now that most musicians don't want to 0:42:50.636 --> 0:42:53.196 don't want to deal with. You know, we're always gonna 0:42:53.236 --> 0:42:57.356 run into that change that we don't want to change. 0:42:57.436 --> 0:43:01.316 You know. It's like sampling. You know, it's like, you know, 0:43:01.756 --> 0:43:05.756 oh man, God, the sampling. What we're gonna do? It's 0:43:05.796 --> 0:43:08.436 you know, it's just like AI, what we're gonna do. 0:43:08.876 --> 0:43:10.876 You know, they're coming in and they're coming to get us. 0:43:10.956 --> 0:43:13.756 They coming, you know, take our gigs, you know, And 0:43:13.796 --> 0:43:17.596 so it's the same thing, you know. So I'm getting 0:43:17.596 --> 0:43:20.636 ready to face this along with the rest of the world. 0:43:21.396 --> 0:43:25.356 But the only difference is I know it's coming, you know, 0:43:25.836 --> 0:43:29.356 and we made it through the sampling era. You know, 0:43:29.996 --> 0:43:32.156 we can make it through this one too, you know. 0:43:32.676 --> 0:43:35.956 So you know, and I can't tell nobody how to 0:43:36.036 --> 0:43:38.076 do it because I don't know. I didn't know how 0:43:38.076 --> 0:43:40.556 to do the sampling though, you know, I didn't even 0:43:40.556 --> 0:43:43.996 know that was coming, you know, until you in it. 0:43:44.756 --> 0:43:46.556 You know, once you're in it, then you you know, 0:43:46.636 --> 0:43:49.356 you have to try to figure out, you know, like, wow, 0:43:49.476 --> 0:43:53.596 what do you do? You know? And so that's what 0:43:53.676 --> 0:43:56.796 I have to say about the AI because because everybody's 0:43:56.836 --> 0:44:00.196 talking asking me about that, you know, and you know, 0:44:00.756 --> 0:44:03.396 we'll learn, We'll all learn how to deal with it, 0:44:03.596 --> 0:44:05.316 you know, because it ain't no way you're gonna keep 0:44:05.356 --> 0:44:06.676 it from coming. That. 0:44:06.676 --> 0:44:10.156 That's sort of that sensibility of just have taken things 0:44:10.276 --> 0:44:12.116 as they come and working with it. 0:44:12.476 --> 0:44:13.916 I've heard you talk about. 0:44:15.116 --> 0:44:20.276 Getting lost as a part of your creative process, and 0:44:21.316 --> 0:44:21.916 that seems to. 0:44:21.876 --> 0:44:24.356 Kind of fit with that. And that's like, well, we 0:44:24.436 --> 0:44:27.636 don't know where it's going, but but we're going anyway. 0:44:27.676 --> 0:44:29.716 We're going anywhere, you know, and there we go. That 0:44:29.876 --> 0:44:33.556 was one of my whole sayings is I don't know 0:44:33.596 --> 0:44:38.276 where I'm going, but I'm going. That's one of my 0:44:38.436 --> 0:44:44.396 whole you know, it's like very short sentence, but you know, 0:44:44.556 --> 0:44:48.676 I'm committed to that, you know, and people be hanging 0:44:48.716 --> 0:44:53.556 their hopes on well, somebody tell us what to do. Hey, 0:44:53.596 --> 0:44:57.436 I don't know where I'm going, but I'm going. You know, 0:44:57.556 --> 0:45:01.436 that right there just tells you that you have to 0:45:01.476 --> 0:45:06.556 prepare yourself because it's coming, whatever that it is, you know, 0:45:06.836 --> 0:45:11.316 it's definitely coming, you know, and so you have to 0:45:11.356 --> 0:45:13.716 try to prepare yourself the best you can. I'm glad 0:45:13.716 --> 0:45:16.676 you're not running from it. And oh no, on the 0:45:17.276 --> 0:45:20.516 only thing I'm scared of is flying. He hasn't asked 0:45:20.516 --> 0:45:23.036 me about it because you pulled up in R and V. 0:45:24.036 --> 0:45:27.156 When did the flying things start? Oh that's all enough, 0:45:27.516 --> 0:45:30.316 that's all. When did that happened? Since you brought it up, 0:45:30.436 --> 0:45:34.236 that happened? That happened in nineteen seventy nine. You know, 0:45:35.156 --> 0:45:39.556 I wanted to fly on the the concord, you know, 0:45:39.716 --> 0:45:42.676 when Meg for what. 0:45:42.836 --> 0:45:44.436 You could get seed or. 0:45:46.516 --> 0:45:52.356 Not light, speeding sound or whatever. That's it. That's it. 0:45:52.436 --> 0:45:54.556 So I wanted to fly on it because you know, 0:45:54.756 --> 0:45:57.516 it was our first time going to Europe, you know, 0:45:57.716 --> 0:46:01.516 and me headlining. You know, it's like I don't you know, 0:46:01.716 --> 0:46:05.276 just breaking off from Parliament Funkadelic and we getting ready 0:46:05.276 --> 0:46:09.796 to go a headline in London and all England in Paris, 0:46:09.796 --> 0:46:13.076 frank all that, you know, And and so I wants 0:46:13.116 --> 0:46:17.356 to fly on the concord, and so I get to 0:46:17.356 --> 0:46:22.116 fly on the concord you know, So forty five minutes 0:46:22.156 --> 0:46:26.876 into the flight, you know, everybody's you know, you know, happy, beautiful, 0:46:27.756 --> 0:46:31.356 And forty five minutes into the flight, the captain comes 0:46:31.396 --> 0:46:34.716 on and says, you know, because I knew something was 0:46:34.756 --> 0:46:37.156 wrong because the plane was you know, we was flying 0:46:37.276 --> 0:46:40.876 like this, you know, and it's like, you know, and 0:46:40.956 --> 0:46:44.196 I'm sitting there and I'm looking out the wonder and 0:46:44.236 --> 0:46:48.636 then I saw fire shooting out the engine and I 0:46:48.716 --> 0:46:53.996 was like, oh, like, im like, we just we just 0:46:54.116 --> 0:46:58.116 made it, you know. And then not only that Jaws 0:46:58.476 --> 0:47:01.236 was a big movie. Then it's like, okay, if you 0:47:01.396 --> 0:47:07.316 make the crash right you falling in Jaw's territory, the 0:47:07.756 --> 0:47:11.716 right Atlantic, all this come to me, I mean, you know, 0:47:12.516 --> 0:47:14.996 and it's like, oh, man, if I ever get on 0:47:14.996 --> 0:47:19.876 the ground again, I would never ever fly, you know. 0:47:20.676 --> 0:47:24.796 And sure enough I got. We made He turned the 0:47:24.836 --> 0:47:27.556 plane around. You know, we were just getting ready to 0:47:27.556 --> 0:47:30.876 cross the line, you know, but he turned the plane around, 0:47:31.476 --> 0:47:34.196 and we was flying like this all the way back 0:47:34.236 --> 0:47:38.236 to New York. Got back to New York. He landed 0:47:38.276 --> 0:47:40.796 the plane some kind of way, I mean, told us 0:47:40.796 --> 0:47:42.596 to put our heads down. You know. We went through 0:47:42.636 --> 0:47:48.036 the whole drill the whole drill, you know, and the 0:47:48.676 --> 0:47:52.596 tool was so big though that they talked me in 0:47:52.716 --> 0:47:55.676 the you know, taking the next flight out, which was 0:47:55.716 --> 0:47:59.596 a seven forty seven. Yeah, and then and then they 0:47:59.636 --> 0:48:03.876 gave me some drugs to just sleep. I didn't wake 0:48:03.956 --> 0:48:06.676 up until I got over there, so, you know. And 0:48:06.716 --> 0:48:11.356 then when I got back, no more flying. That was it. 0:48:11.476 --> 0:48:16.076 Nineteen seventy nine, Well that was it up until I 0:48:16.116 --> 0:48:17.796 think it was more like two thousand. 0:48:18.356 --> 0:48:20.396 Yeah, it's a bad time to start back, I know, 0:48:20.916 --> 0:48:23.036 I know, and I did it. 0:48:23.196 --> 0:48:26.756 I did, and you know, I lost that fear until COVID. 0:48:26.796 --> 0:48:30.116 Once COVID hit, you know, it was like, okay, I 0:48:30.116 --> 0:48:33.396 got I can't fly no more. I can't. What happened 0:48:33.476 --> 0:48:37.116 is how you watch Jaws again more. I didn't watch it. 0:48:37.236 --> 0:48:41.036 I didn't watch it, but but you know, it's always 0:48:41.156 --> 0:48:44.996 I get these signals, you know, and I call it 0:48:45.076 --> 0:48:48.676 the universe. You know, it's like, Okay, you can't fly now. 0:48:49.036 --> 0:48:51.396 And I don't even question it if I hear that, 0:48:52.036 --> 0:48:54.196 you know, because you know, because I'm, like I said, 0:48:54.236 --> 0:48:59.836 I'm really not afraid, you know, until unless it's heights. Yeah, 0:48:59.836 --> 0:49:01.956 I'm scared of heights and flying. 0:49:01.996 --> 0:49:05.236 That's why you didn't tell me you're not afraid. 0:49:06.156 --> 0:49:08.596 I'm letting you know. I'm letting you know. When it 0:49:08.636 --> 0:49:12.116 comes out, all heights I'm through. I mean, you know, 0:49:12.716 --> 0:49:16.716 the roller coasters, I love it, you know, and you 0:49:16.756 --> 0:49:20.996 know we we rode on them thousands of times, you know. 0:49:22.316 --> 0:49:25.276 But she didn't never know I was scared of heights, 0:49:25.316 --> 0:49:28.636 you know, until one day I just broke out into it, 0:49:29.276 --> 0:49:30.836 you know, because we was up in one of those 0:49:30.916 --> 0:49:34.076 hotels that you know, you ride up in the elevator 0:49:34.116 --> 0:49:37.356 and you could see yourself going up, but then you know, 0:49:37.996 --> 0:49:41.076 then it's like, oh, man, I couldn't even look over 0:49:41.156 --> 0:49:43.676 the you know, like if you're up on the forty 0:49:43.796 --> 0:49:47.356 floor or whatever window, look, man, I couldn't do that. 0:49:47.716 --> 0:49:51.636 I couldn't do that. But you know, that's that's the 0:49:51.676 --> 0:49:54.836 two things that got me scared to death. You go 0:49:54.876 --> 0:49:58.316 to the Grand Canyon or anything. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. 0:49:58.556 --> 0:50:02.076 If it's natural, is that okay? That that's okay? Because 0:50:02.156 --> 0:50:04.116 I'm not going to go to the edge, you know, 0:50:04.476 --> 0:50:06.716 and look over I'm not you know, I'm staying away 0:50:06.756 --> 0:50:07.956 from that, okay. You know. 0:50:08.676 --> 0:50:11.156 So it's something you do do you navigate around bridges 0:50:11.196 --> 0:50:14.796 on the r v or no is that Okay, that's. 0:50:14.716 --> 0:50:19.236 Kind of deep, that's kind of we don't go there, 0:50:20.276 --> 0:50:24.476 not sorry that trail bike, trail bike in in the 0:50:25.356 --> 0:50:27.796 you know, that's cool. 0:50:28.156 --> 0:50:30.996 You know, as long as it ain't no way up 0:50:31.036 --> 0:50:36.156 in the air, I'm good with. Okay, okay, you know, okay, yeah, okay, I. 0:50:36.436 --> 0:50:39.476 Get that though, because honestly, to a COVID, once you're grounded, 0:50:39.956 --> 0:50:40.836 you're not going anywhere. 0:50:40.876 --> 0:50:41.516 You're not driving. 0:50:41.676 --> 0:50:43.196 To the point too, I used to love to drive, 0:50:43.356 --> 0:50:44.396 like everywhere I could drive. 0:50:44.556 --> 0:50:46.956 See that now you four hours, now you hit it. 0:50:46.996 --> 0:50:50.276 But I'm like, now, I'm like, now driving that's all. 0:50:50.436 --> 0:50:52.876 That's all I used to do. I would take George 0:50:52.956 --> 0:50:57.036 from New Jersey down to Miami, Florida, and all we're 0:50:57.076 --> 0:51:00.716 doing is listening to music, getting loaded, and me driving 0:51:00.996 --> 0:51:03.756 because he couldn't drive. He didn't have a license, didn't 0:51:03.756 --> 0:51:07.596 want a license. Really, yeah, that was a getaway for us. 0:51:08.676 --> 0:51:12.356 You know, we go to Florida and fish. You know, 0:51:12.396 --> 0:51:16.436 we rent a yacht and that was our getaway because 0:51:16.436 --> 0:51:19.396 we was under a lot of pressure trying to get 0:51:20.036 --> 0:51:24.236 these groups and getting the songs and the albums. Because 0:51:24.276 --> 0:51:32.156 George was developing a whole new concept where each group 0:51:32.996 --> 0:51:36.996 was on a different label, and you know, we didn't 0:51:37.076 --> 0:51:40.916 realize at the time what he was doing. He didn't 0:51:40.956 --> 0:51:44.876 really realize, but he thought, you know, that would have 0:51:45.036 --> 0:51:48.756 them fighting against each other to make sure that they 0:51:48.836 --> 0:51:51.756 pushed their own group. And it worked. 0:51:52.436 --> 0:51:53.196 It worked. 0:51:53.636 --> 0:51:56.636 Like did he get sued for that or no? 0:51:56.116 --> 0:51:56.156 No? 0:51:56.636 --> 0:52:00.916 No, I mean you know at that particular time, you know, 0:52:01.356 --> 0:52:03.996 it's like sampling comeing in and you don't know what 0:52:04.076 --> 0:52:05.836 to do with it. They didn't know what to do 0:52:05.916 --> 0:52:08.756 with that. You know, he was a genius as far 0:52:08.756 --> 0:52:10.556 as the you know, it's like, damn, how do you 0:52:10.556 --> 0:52:14.476 figure that out? You know? So no, I mean all 0:52:14.516 --> 0:52:17.596 of them felt like fools, you know. So you know, 0:52:17.636 --> 0:52:20.116 they didn't want you to know that they were that stupid, 0:52:20.716 --> 0:52:23.076 you know. So you know he got away with it. 0:52:23.236 --> 0:52:24.716 That's incredible. Yeah. 0:52:24.796 --> 0:52:27.716 And then you guys, eventually, because it was like Casablanca 0:52:27.756 --> 0:52:31.316 and west Bound exactly, then you guys throw a Warner. 0:52:31.276 --> 0:52:39.876 Yeah, Warner Atlantic had horny horns. Wow. Uh uh. Columbia 0:52:39.996 --> 0:52:44.996 I think had the Brides and so and Paul add 0:52:45.036 --> 0:52:49.156 it was on I can't remember, maybe they were on Westbound, 0:52:49.156 --> 0:52:52.556 I can't remember what. But every group was on a 0:52:52.636 --> 0:52:57.036 different you know, and and then Boosy rubber Band was 0:52:57.036 --> 0:53:01.756 on Warners you know. Yeah, so that was the whole thing. 0:53:01.836 --> 0:53:06.996 That's where doctor Dre and Snoop got that whole concept from. 0:53:07.356 --> 0:53:12.076 You know, it's because that's that whole empire that we 0:53:12.196 --> 0:53:15.636 kind of you know, came came through and we didn't 0:53:15.636 --> 0:53:18.596 know what we was doing. Dre and Snoop they know 0:53:18.636 --> 0:53:21.076 what they're doing. You know, they take care of business. 0:53:21.396 --> 0:53:23.716 We wasn't taking care of no business. We were just 0:53:23.836 --> 0:53:27.916 doing what we thought, you know, what would help us 0:53:27.956 --> 0:53:30.836 at the moment. You know. It wasn't like we was 0:53:30.876 --> 0:53:35.716 looking for longevity or we were looking you know, for legacy, 0:53:36.276 --> 0:53:39.996 you know, none of that. You know. It was like, man, 0:53:39.996 --> 0:53:46.796 I can get some more drugs, you know, like did 0:53:46.836 --> 0:53:48.796 you get because you know, I know like Hendrix was 0:53:48.836 --> 0:53:52.836 a big you know for all you guys, big poster 0:53:52.956 --> 0:53:57.036 on you you know, like his passing, that's that didn't 0:53:57.036 --> 0:54:00.796 spook anyone, like no, because you know, we kind of 0:54:01.356 --> 0:54:04.556 kind of felt the inside story. You know. I used 0:54:04.596 --> 0:54:08.156 to yeah, yeah, I used to go out with his uh, 0:54:08.716 --> 0:54:10.436 his friend Litho Fame. 0:54:11.236 --> 0:54:13.836 You I was just talking about her because she's in 0:54:13.876 --> 0:54:16.436 the she's like the star of his documentary that came 0:54:16.836 --> 0:54:17.996 for him like seventy one or two. 0:54:18.076 --> 0:54:20.396 Well, she was on the road with us with James Brown, 0:54:21.276 --> 0:54:24.476 and she would ride the bus with us, you know. Uh, 0:54:24.516 --> 0:54:28.676 and she was gonna take me to meet Jimmy, you know. 0:54:28.836 --> 0:54:32.916 But what happened was, you know, when he was working, 0:54:33.196 --> 0:54:36.036 we were working, you know, because everybody was on the 0:54:36.116 --> 0:54:39.996 road at that time, you know, and so we never 0:54:40.036 --> 0:54:44.556 got a chance to hook up. Wow yeah yeah, it 0:54:44.676 --> 0:54:52.076 was deep wow yeah. And she told you what yeah wow, yeah, yeah, 0:54:52.116 --> 0:54:55.196 they do. And the rap was they don't ever want 0:54:55.356 --> 0:54:59.636 another one of those kind of talents to to reach 0:54:59.716 --> 0:55:04.516 that level because they can rule the world, you know, 0:55:04.956 --> 0:55:09.636 and we can't have that, you know. So you know, 0:55:09.996 --> 0:55:12.836 and then when we came on the scene, it was like, oh, 0:55:12.916 --> 0:55:14.756 let's make sure these mother you know, we got to 0:55:14.756 --> 0:55:17.876 shut these mothers down because they a big threat. Yeah, 0:55:18.196 --> 0:55:20.596 you know. And we wasn't trying to do nothing but 0:55:20.636 --> 0:55:24.996 play music and express ourselves. Yeah, you know, but it 0:55:25.036 --> 0:55:27.316 was a it was complicated. 0:55:27.396 --> 0:55:30.996 Did you have a relationship with with with Kiss beyond 0:55:31.076 --> 0:55:32.876 just a label? 0:55:32.996 --> 0:55:35.116 Just a label, you know, as far as the label, 0:55:35.676 --> 0:55:41.156 you know, and we both used the same clothes designer, 0:55:41.716 --> 0:55:47.956 you know, Lugaspi Lagasy yeah in New York, you know, so, 0:55:48.876 --> 0:55:52.156 and then Patty LaBelle and then they used them too, 0:55:52.556 --> 0:55:54.996 and they were they had the same lawyer we had, 0:55:55.556 --> 0:55:58.756 so it was all kind of all you know, kind 0:55:58.796 --> 0:55:59.636 of screwed up there. 0:55:59.756 --> 0:56:05.996 Yeah, okay, yeah, I'm getting the picture now, groupe, same lawyer, 0:56:06.316 --> 0:56:06.956 right right? 0:56:09.796 --> 0:56:11.076 What once? 0:56:11.076 --> 0:56:13.356 Talk about the new album too before we get there. 0:56:14.316 --> 0:56:19.716 The song like your songwright songwriter you George and Bernie 0:56:20.436 --> 0:56:21.916 as like a songwriting unit. 0:56:22.116 --> 0:56:28.116 Yeah, how did how did that start? Oh? Wow, I 0:56:28.676 --> 0:56:31.156 see how did it start? I guess it started with 0:56:32.556 --> 0:56:39.956 going in cutting tracks, and then Bernie and I would 0:56:40.036 --> 0:56:44.156 cut tracks, and then George would come in with the party, 0:56:45.076 --> 0:56:47.596 you know, because he always brought the party and we're 0:56:47.596 --> 0:56:50.356 trying to get some music down, and he'd bring the 0:56:50.436 --> 0:56:53.356 party in and busted up, you know, and he'd come 0:56:53.396 --> 0:56:57.396 in loud, you know, and he had this microphone you know, 0:56:57.476 --> 0:57:00.676 in the control room that he would get on, you know, 0:57:00.796 --> 0:57:03.636 as soon as he walk in. You know, he heard the 0:57:03.756 --> 0:57:07.276 music and he was live. I mean, he was so 0:57:07.636 --> 0:57:11.196 live and loud. You know, it's like we was like, 0:57:11.276 --> 0:57:13.756 wait a minute, George, hold up man, we're trying to 0:57:13.796 --> 0:57:16.996 you know, figure this arrangement out, you know, but he 0:57:17.116 --> 0:57:20.476 was so hyped up about whatever we was doing, you know, 0:57:20.796 --> 0:57:24.036 and he would come up with words, you know, and 0:57:24.156 --> 0:57:26.756 lyrics and stuff right on the spot. 0:57:27.076 --> 0:57:30.196 Man, Let's talk about the new album, I mean, talk 0:57:30.236 --> 0:57:31.676 about not being afraid. 0:57:32.476 --> 0:57:34.156 Yeah, not not. 0:57:36.476 --> 0:57:40.796 I mean, you know, there's no boundaries still with your 0:57:41.076 --> 0:57:43.916 there's still he wasn't now me like there's no world 0:57:43.996 --> 0:57:47.556 box or boundaries in which well, you know, after what 0:57:48.956 --> 0:57:52.236 we've all kind of been through, it's like. 0:57:52.716 --> 0:57:55.116 Ain't nothing new they can do to us. I mean, 0:57:55.196 --> 0:58:01.796 you know, you know, we pretty much know, we pretty 0:58:01.836 --> 0:58:05.996 much know the game, you know, and so that allows 0:58:06.036 --> 0:58:09.596 me to do more of what are you to do? 0:58:09.796 --> 0:58:14.396 But even more than that, you know, because I'm not afraid, 0:58:14.996 --> 0:58:20.876 you know, it's more like I got a bigger audience 0:58:21.916 --> 0:58:28.116 to play too. And not only that, you know, I'm 0:58:28.156 --> 0:58:31.516 standing in front of them trying to show them that 0:58:31.636 --> 0:58:33.956 they can do it too. That's my whole thing about 0:58:33.996 --> 0:58:38.516 the mirror star glasses I had, you know, made was 0:58:39.236 --> 0:58:41.996 when the people looking, when the kid looks into my eyes, 0:58:42.756 --> 0:58:47.036 he sees itself, you know, And to me, that meant 0:58:47.076 --> 0:58:50.156 more than him seeing me, you know, And that's why 0:58:50.196 --> 0:58:53.316 I had the star glasses make you know, the same 0:58:53.316 --> 0:58:56.356 thing with the bass the space base. If you notice 0:58:56.356 --> 0:59:00.236 this mirror all on the you know, and that was 0:59:00.956 --> 0:59:04.756 when the lights hit the space Base. It's gonna hit 0:59:04.796 --> 0:59:09.996 you too, you know. And so all of that was 0:59:10.276 --> 0:59:14.636 you know, I thought of that beforehand, before I actually 0:59:14.636 --> 0:59:18.796 had it done, you know, because it had to have meaning, 0:59:19.476 --> 0:59:22.596 you know, not just me being a superhero or star. 0:59:23.356 --> 0:59:25.916 It had to be something deeper than that. Yeah, you know. 0:59:26.116 --> 0:59:31.156 Yeah, these days when you're making music, Yeah, what's your 0:59:32.516 --> 0:59:33.516 how do you organ like? 0:59:34.036 --> 0:59:37.716 Is there a there's no certain way. There's no certain way. No, 0:59:37.836 --> 0:59:40.796 it can come at any time. It can come through 0:59:40.836 --> 0:59:44.756 somebody else, or somebody else might spark you to go 0:59:44.876 --> 0:59:49.076 in a certain direction. You know. I don't ever put 0:59:49.076 --> 0:59:53.636 it on How do should I come up with this music? 0:59:54.316 --> 0:59:56.316 It just comes. It always come. 0:59:56.436 --> 1:00:01.236 You might be doing something, yeah, and what like a 1:00:01.276 --> 1:00:05.196 line or a melody will hit you or a line. 1:00:05.756 --> 1:00:10.596 It either comes in a riff or melody or a beat. 1:00:11.476 --> 1:00:15.036 You know, if you got to be you know, if 1:00:15.076 --> 1:00:18.156 you got to beat down. I'm more comfortable now with 1:00:18.556 --> 1:00:21.876 having a beat, you know. Uh, just something you can 1:00:21.916 --> 1:00:24.516 go back, even if it's just a metrono, you know. 1:00:25.196 --> 1:00:28.636 And and then you can put this idea, doo doo 1:00:29.636 --> 1:00:32.596 doo dooo. Do do do do do do Do Do 1:00:33.716 --> 1:00:36.716 Do Do Do Do Do Do Do do do do 1:00:36.916 --> 1:00:39.556 do doo. You know, you can take that in a 1:00:39.636 --> 1:00:42.796 whole parliament thing, you know, put some collaps on that mode, 1:00:42.996 --> 1:00:48.756 you know. Do doo doo doo doo dooo doo doo dooo. 1:00:48.996 --> 1:00:51.156 You put that, you get at the George, He'll kill it. 1:00:51.916 --> 1:00:55.436 He'll kill it, you know. So you know, that's the 1:00:55.516 --> 1:00:58.356 way it came then, that's the way it comes now. 1:00:58.956 --> 1:01:03.436 But it comes even more so now because of what 1:01:03.636 --> 1:01:06.516 I got around me, you know, different things. You know. 1:01:06.956 --> 1:01:11.556 It used to be all about out the musicians, you know, 1:01:11.836 --> 1:01:14.876 like because they're there, which yeah, you know. Now I 1:01:15.076 --> 1:01:18.636 had to up my game and figure out how to 1:01:18.756 --> 1:01:22.836 work the boy in the box, you know, and instead 1:01:22.836 --> 1:01:25.356 of putting it down, you know, I picked it up 1:01:25.676 --> 1:01:28.236 and started learning. My son start teaching me how to 1:01:29.156 --> 1:01:29.476 work it. 1:01:29.836 --> 1:01:29.996 You know. 1:01:30.316 --> 1:01:35.036 I'm not like a professional engineer, none of that, but 1:01:35.156 --> 1:01:38.156 I know how to record myself, you know, and anytime 1:01:38.316 --> 1:01:41.876 something comes bang, I'm on it, you know. And I 1:01:41.956 --> 1:01:44.436 put the idea down and then I come back to 1:01:44.556 --> 1:01:47.796 it if I feel like, yeah, that's popping, you know. 1:01:48.676 --> 1:01:51.516 So that's that's kind of the way we do it now, because, 1:01:51.556 --> 1:01:55.156 like I said before, we always had the band with us. 1:01:55.476 --> 1:01:58.036 You know, I had to get used to not having 1:01:58.156 --> 1:02:02.916 the band, you know, And so I know how teased 1:02:03.236 --> 1:02:06.316 and how hectic that is without the band because I've 1:02:06.356 --> 1:02:08.916 been through that, you know, and I learned how to 1:02:09.156 --> 1:02:13.276 deal with it, you know. And rejection is another thing 1:02:13.956 --> 1:02:17.556 that the younger generation has to deal with, and they 1:02:17.596 --> 1:02:20.196 don't know how to deal with that, you know. Rejection 1:02:20.436 --> 1:02:23.356 is that's a heck of a thing to be rejected, 1:02:23.956 --> 1:02:26.916 you know. And like the Funk has always been rejected, 1:02:27.356 --> 1:02:29.196 you know. That's why we ain't never been in the 1:02:30.796 --> 1:02:33.556 you know, the Grammys and all that big stuff that 1:02:33.956 --> 1:02:36.276 you know, you know, mugs make you know, they ain't 1:02:36.356 --> 1:02:39.156 give they don't give a funk about that funk. You know. 1:02:39.276 --> 1:02:41.716 That's why we cut Album of the Year. We'll give 1:02:41.796 --> 1:02:46.116 it to ourselves number one funk tier. Now y'all funk 1:02:46.196 --> 1:02:47.916 with that. They gonna have to funk with that. 1:02:49.196 --> 1:02:52.636 I love that, man, The ability of funk to give 1:02:53.076 --> 1:02:58.436 to the audience man, a feeling of of joy and 1:02:58.916 --> 1:03:02.836 eliminating vulnerability. And it's like before hip hop was was 1:03:02.876 --> 1:03:05.556 sort of the language of giving people confidence and that's 1:03:05.596 --> 1:03:07.436 what I feel it was like that was that's where 1:03:07.476 --> 1:03:08.156 funk lived, you know. 1:03:08.316 --> 1:03:13.116 Yeah, yeah, that's it. Yeah, that's totally it. And you know, 1:03:13.596 --> 1:03:18.116 for me, it's like the more I stay committed to that, 1:03:19.516 --> 1:03:25.556 the more I'll still be around and able to speak 1:03:25.636 --> 1:03:28.876 the language of today whatever it is, or I can 1:03:28.916 --> 1:03:32.316 speak the language of it yesterday. It don't make a difference, 1:03:32.596 --> 1:03:36.436 you know. It's being able to hang with whoever it is. Yeah, 1:03:36.756 --> 1:03:40.956 you know, and so when you feel started feeling comfortable 1:03:41.036 --> 1:03:44.436 with that, you start to feel comfortable with yourself, you know. 1:03:44.716 --> 1:03:48.676 And now it's like the sky is not the limit 1:03:49.196 --> 1:03:53.196 because there's walls behind the sky. Yeah. 1:03:54.396 --> 1:03:58.156 Yeah, we're so blessed to have you still making music 1:03:58.716 --> 1:04:02.756 and it's still just giving us that the bootsy energy man, 1:04:02.796 --> 1:04:04.356 because it's needed in the world. 1:04:04.396 --> 1:04:06.596 Man, So thank you for everything. Oh, thank you man, 1:04:06.756 --> 1:04:06.996 thank you. 1:04:09.916 --> 1:04:12.196 In episode description, you'll find a playlist of some of 1:04:12.236 --> 1:04:14.956 our favorite boots of tracks, along with songs from his 1:04:15.076 --> 1:04:17.756 new album album of the Year number one, Funk Tier. 1:04:18.596 --> 1:04:20.676 Be sure to check out YouTube dot com slash Broken 1:04:20.756 --> 1:04:23.636 Record Podcast to see all of our video interviews, and 1:04:23.756 --> 1:04:26.076 be sure to follow us on Instagram at the Broken 1:04:26.116 --> 1:04:26.676 Record Pod. 1:04:27.356 --> 1:04:29.676 You can follow us on Twitter at broken Record. 1:04:30.196 --> 1:04:33.076 Broken Record is produced and edited by Leah Rose, with 1:04:33.236 --> 1:04:36.636 marketing help from Eric Sandler and Jordan McMillan. Our engineer 1:04:36.876 --> 1:04:41.196 is Ben Tollin. Broken Record is a production of Pushkin Industries. 1:04:41.636 --> 1:04:44.396 If you love this show and others from Pushkin, consider 1:04:44.476 --> 1:04:48.796 subscribing to Pushkin Plus. Pushkin Plus is a podcast subscription 1:04:48.916 --> 1:04:51.676 that offers bonus content and ad flete listening for four 1:04:51.836 --> 1:04:55.076 ninety nine a month. Look for Pushkin Plus on Apple 1:04:55.156 --> 1:04:59.076 podcast subscriptions, and if you like this show, please remember 1:04:59.156 --> 1:05:01.676 to share, rate, and review us on your podcast app. 1:05:01.996 --> 1:05:04.716 Our theme music's by Kenny Beats. I'm justin Richmond.