Speaker 1: Of Course Love Supreme is a production of I Heart Radio.
Speaker 1: This classic episode was produced by the team at Pandora.
Speaker 1: Previously on k l S Classic with Booty Collins, he
Speaker 1: told us about growing up in Cincinnati, Ohio, me and
Speaker 1: his idol James Brown, and James Brown taking him under
Speaker 1: his wing, taking him all the way to Africa to
Speaker 1: see failer, and then coming back to build the p
Speaker 1: Funk Empire. You do not want to miss part two
Speaker 1: of the Bootsy Column episode q LS y'all q LS
Speaker 1: Classic to be a matter of fact, Okay, what are
Speaker 1: we gonna do now? You know, because I knew that
Speaker 1: was it. You know, it's like, we gotta go. So
Speaker 1: we're sitting on the bus, we all the whole band
Speaker 1: sitting on the bus, you know, looking at each other
Speaker 1: on trailway, I know, with trail trailway bus man, and
Speaker 1: you know, we're looking at each other. And then they're
Speaker 1: looking at me like, okay, well we're gonna do now.
Speaker 1: Since you went in there and you know you and
Speaker 1: and so you know, that was whin me out. I
Speaker 1: started feeling like, dag, what are we gonna do? So
Speaker 1: the next thing came to my mind is you're gonna
Speaker 1: go to Cincinnati. You're gonna practice, You're gonna get in
Speaker 1: that basement, you're gonna practice, you're gonna get tight, and
Speaker 1: you're gonna go to Detroit, you know, and see what happens.
Speaker 1: Because you know that's what we were into, taking people's gigs.
Speaker 1: You know, you may Motown could sign us. We actually,
Speaker 1: let me tell you why Detroit. Billy from the Spinner's
Speaker 1: Call and asked, uh what told us that he needed
Speaker 1: a band, and he also needed a lead singer. And
Speaker 1: you know, Philip a Win which is feel so walker.
Speaker 1: He was singing with us before we got with James,
Speaker 1: after we got left James right after we got you know, left,
Speaker 1: and so um, we already had the lead singer. We
Speaker 1: didn't know it, but I told him. I was like, Billy,
Speaker 1: we got the lead singer you need. Man, I said, well,
Speaker 1: we'll play behind y'all, you know, um, you know, but
Speaker 1: but seriously, we did not want to play behind another
Speaker 1: set of singers. If you know, if it killed us,
Speaker 1: you know, because you gotta understand the time that it
Speaker 1: was coming through sliding them these bands was coming up.
Speaker 1: We wanted to be a band. Yeah, you know, we
Speaker 1: wanted to dress crazy act of fool and and do
Speaker 1: anything we wanted to do and singers wouldn't let us
Speaker 1: do it. Yeah, yeah, and so we was really through
Speaker 1: with that. So we we go to Detroit, you know,
Speaker 1: um on Billie's dime. And once we get to Detroit,
Speaker 1: we play and take a few gigs, right, we take
Speaker 1: it to the stage, all right, take some gigs. And
Speaker 1: when we did that this I met this uh young
Speaker 1: lady named Mallia Franklin, and she was um tired with
Speaker 1: with George Clinton, and because her sister was dating George,
Speaker 1: so she know him, and she wanted to take me
Speaker 1: over the meeting because you know, y'all, y'all look just
Speaker 1: like funk a delly, y'all sound like them. You know,
Speaker 1: y'all need to hook up. So she convinced me, and
Speaker 1: I'm like, yeah, I gotta go meet this man. I said, yeah,
Speaker 1: we've been wanting to take it to the stage on
Speaker 1: the mom because anyway, you know, you were you you
Speaker 1: were fully aware of a by this point, not fully
Speaker 1: we had just been hearing about him. You know. It's
Speaker 1: like everywhere we went, it's like, man, y'all look like
Speaker 1: fun doll y'all. So I like them. You know, so
Speaker 1: everywhere we went it was like it followed us. It's
Speaker 1: about what years this around, this is like seventy two. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and so um we heard that so much. You know.
Speaker 1: It's like then when we got to Detroit, you know,
Speaker 1: it was like, Okay, I need to meet George. You know,
Speaker 1: so Malia sets up the meeting. I go over there
Speaker 1: get with George. You know, that's the whole story in itself,
Speaker 1: which is another three or four hours. You know, you
Speaker 1: love it first night when you all first met each other. Yeah,
Speaker 1: basically basically, you know, I I knocked on the door,
Speaker 1: and the door kind of the creepy, the creepy thing
Speaker 1: Adam family thing, So it kind of creeped open, and
Speaker 1: uh I heard a voice say come on, come on there,
Speaker 1: and so I kinda walked walked in and I saw
Speaker 1: this black light and I immediately it was like, oh,
Speaker 1: you know, I went straight to the black light. You know.
Speaker 1: Then I looked right down below it. This mug is
Speaker 1: sitting in a Buddhist buddhistance right with with a sheet
Speaker 1: white sheet on the picture. This in a black light,
Speaker 1: white sheet on't and chicken feet on now yell yellow
Speaker 1: yellow chicken feet. Yeah, he's sitting there like this on
Speaker 1: the floor like this, you know, and he's just sitting
Speaker 1: there in the corner and he's got a half moon
Speaker 1: on one side, star on the other. Rest of his
Speaker 1: ball is here, and he is looking just as crazy
Speaker 1: as I mean, you know, I mean, you know, And
Speaker 1: when I seen it, it was like, whatever he's talking about,
Speaker 1: I won't end whatever it is. I mean, whatever he says.
Speaker 1: You know, I already know about the money thing, you know,
Speaker 1: and why you know, you know, I was not into that.
Speaker 1: I was in the if you just let me get
Speaker 1: in I will I will produce, I will give it
Speaker 1: to you. I lay it on you, you know. And
Speaker 1: you know I didn't have to go through all that
Speaker 1: with George. He was like, you know, you just come
Speaker 1: on in here and help me with this Parliament, this
Speaker 1: funk a dollic, these records I gotta do. Just come
Speaker 1: on in here and do that. And and on down
Speaker 1: the line. You know, I'll get you a deal, a
Speaker 1: record deal, you in the band. It wasn't at that point,
Speaker 1: it wasn't about getting me a deal. It was about
Speaker 1: getting the band, you know. And and he's the one Georgia,
Speaker 1: the one to talk me into doing the solo thing
Speaker 1: because I wouldn't you know, I wasn't down with that.
Speaker 1: It was like, man, we're a band. I mean, you know,
Speaker 1: I had always been used to be in a band,
Speaker 1: and I never even entertained the idea of me doing so.
Speaker 1: I can't sing, Man, what what am I gonna do?
Speaker 1: You know, that's what, That's exactly what he's there. I mean,
Speaker 1: you're the first larger than life character, like your persona
Speaker 1: supersedes you're You're already powerful catalog and you know your
Speaker 1: your name is associated with a lot of make a
Speaker 1: ton of hits in the p funct uh you know, yeah,
Speaker 1: So how when how did he finally truly convince you
Speaker 1: that this has to happen? And you know, you know what,
Speaker 1: he didn't have to convince me. I mean, um, he
Speaker 1: already knew about us, you know, um from the James
Speaker 1: Brown thing, So he he knew more about us than
Speaker 1: I knew about him. You know, yeah, yeah, he knew.
Speaker 1: I mean, George's George's a silent genius. I mean that
Speaker 1: mug is um. I can't say enough about him and
Speaker 1: how he have moved through not only the music but
Speaker 1: the business um, all of us could use a bit
Speaker 1: more of what we're lacking. But him as a person, he,
Speaker 1: you know, the thing that that messes us all up
Speaker 1: is the flesh. If we didn't have flash, we'd be cool,
Speaker 1: We really, we'd be really cool because we wouldn't have
Speaker 1: to take care of this, you know. Uh, and we
Speaker 1: wouldn't be so addicted, you know, addictable, you know. And
Speaker 1: so those are the things that called him, you know what.
Speaker 1: It catches not just him, he catches all of us, yeah,
Speaker 1: you know. And so but his mind was just so
Speaker 1: I mean, he's the one that got me into reading
Speaker 1: and being up on the mother ship and you know, clones.
Speaker 1: And let me ask you, star wise at this point,
Speaker 1: where were you and how did you get there? From James? Right,
Speaker 1: because when you met George, I'm imagining that you was
Speaker 1: already there. Okay, So how did stage? He was dressing
Speaker 1: crazy on stage he had to suit and tie with James. Okay,
Speaker 1: and then George that you didn't influence James a little
Speaker 1: bit because he started dressing you know, yeah, he got
Speaker 1: black and eyes right. Well, actually that's what James named
Speaker 1: us first, y'all was black and Eyes, the black Nisers Wow,
Speaker 1: that was you know, he named us that before the
Speaker 1: j BS, we was the Black and Eyes and he
Speaker 1: sent us out with I Haint Ballot, so it was
Speaker 1: Hank the Ballot, Ballot, the Midnighters and the Black and
Speaker 1: Niss band. So you guys are the band on that
Speaker 1: record as well on the on the Hank Ballot record,
Speaker 1: which one now now the ones like like a round
Speaker 1: in the twist time we wentn't no no no, I'm
Speaker 1: talking about if you haven't cut your no no? That
Speaker 1: was that was That was Macy on new from the
Speaker 1: love side at least store there's I knew he had
Speaker 1: one record out in seventy that was okay. So the
Speaker 1: sound of p funk it's actually the opposite of James Brown.
Speaker 1: Yeah who So who's crafting the sound of it? And
Speaker 1: was it that much of a science or was it
Speaker 1: just whatever you felt? Let me let me tell you
Speaker 1: exactly how it was. Everybody that was involved brought their
Speaker 1: signature and was allowed to use it. In other words,
Speaker 1: George gave me an opportunity to get in the studio
Speaker 1: and find myself, you know. Um, and that is what
Speaker 1: you know I didn't get from James. So what I
Speaker 1: got from James was the ABC like the discipline fun.
Speaker 1: You know. Then what I got with Georgie, with George's
Speaker 1: whole thing was whatever the funk you got, bring it,
Speaker 1: And so I wouldn't never at a stand still. I
Speaker 1: was always That's why I wasn't ever going back listening.
Speaker 1: I was always It's like George said, whatever I got,
Speaker 1: so I gotta see what I got. You know, he
Speaker 1: allowed he allowed me to have that freedom to find myself.
Speaker 1: He allowed Bernie to have that freedom to find himself.
Speaker 1: And it just so happened that all that stuff worked.
Speaker 1: The magic was coming from each mug. You know. It
Speaker 1: wasn't like we planned it or planned the sound or
Speaker 1: are you know the sound was anytime I'm with Bernie,
Speaker 1: uh with Catfish, you know, um, it's gonna sign that way.
Speaker 1: How long will all those records did they take? I've
Speaker 1: read stories of them, y'all cutting records in like a week,
Speaker 1: week and a half. How How would the average studio
Speaker 1: session work? Well, we didn't have no plan first of all.
Speaker 1: Whatever happened, yeah, yeah, you know, we just going to
Speaker 1: studio and stuff cutting. George say, I like this for Funkadelic,
Speaker 1: I like that for Parliament. Um, I like that for
Speaker 1: part Lad and Day. You know, So it wasn't like
Speaker 1: that we were just recording. We wasn't thinking, We wasn't
Speaker 1: thinking about what we had to cut. One question I
Speaker 1: always had Glenn Goings, because you're the only person I
Speaker 1: met that you know, I actually worked with him. What
Speaker 1: was he like? Man? He was such an incredible voice. Well,
Speaker 1: not only was he incredible voice, his songwriting ability along
Speaker 1: with his guitar playing. You know, actually that's him playing
Speaker 1: twelve string on Monkey's Yeah, that's glam lamb twilt strang guitar.
Speaker 1: So okay, not many people know that for a lot
Speaker 1: of those Parliament songs, you're drumming on it, which I
Speaker 1: want to know. I mean, now I appreciate it. But
Speaker 1: for me, like the sound of funk and the sound
Speaker 1: of raw soul was always James Brown esque like tight snares,
Speaker 1: high tune stuff. You guys were the opposite of that.
Speaker 1: So what was what was the ideology behind like the
Speaker 1: lowest tuned snare ever and you know, playing like under
Speaker 1: orthodox rhythms like I know Jerome also, you know he
Speaker 1: shouldn't be slept on as far as Jerom Bigfoot. Yeah,
Speaker 1: but what just with with the the age of synthesizers,
Speaker 1: which I know, like everyone, especially with Stevie. Yeah, that
Speaker 1: sounded futuristic and right up there with you guys. But
Speaker 1: just as far as like slowing the pace down like
Speaker 1: a lot like Dr Funkenstein is so slow an anti
Speaker 1: disco like what that? That for me was what funk was?
Speaker 1: I mean it felt like that. I mean, you know,
Speaker 1: you don't do the rabbit thing. I mean, you know
Speaker 1: when you get on a chick, you know, it's like
Speaker 1: making love. You know, it ain't about being a rabbit.
Speaker 1: You know, you gotta be a slow, go slowgo that
Speaker 1: funk down so she can feel it. He needs his
Speaker 1: own love advice. He wants to feel it. Man, I'm
Speaker 1: jumping all over the place, but I know that we
Speaker 1: might as well start the regret questions. So okay, now
Speaker 1: you say stop the questions, the ones that we know
Speaker 1: we're gonna forget. We have regret questions that we think
Speaker 1: of now and then forget about because we're on a
Speaker 1: tangent um. Okay, So in in seventy eight and again
Speaker 1: I'm just jumping all over the police. In seventy eight,
Speaker 1: Bootzilla is absolutely and it's it's absolutely inescapable, you know,
Speaker 1: I mean, what what brick House was for seventy six
Speaker 1: and what uh flashlight was for seventy seven. I mean,
Speaker 1: at this point, I felt like your second album was
Speaker 1: slightly bigger. Yeah, Motor Booty Affair. So my question is
Speaker 1: with boot Zilla, it never occurred to none of you
Speaker 1: to just call that song wind me Up, because I'm
Speaker 1: just saying that record in the record store, were just
Speaker 1: saying you got you gotta understand. The mentality wasn't by this.
Speaker 1: The mentality was is I was building a character, and
Speaker 1: Boodzilla was the character, not wind me up, but not
Speaker 1: even parentheses like no, no, and and if you notice,
Speaker 1: if you notice on the album, there's nothing about Boodzilla
Speaker 1: on that album. Boots the question mark. So it wasn't
Speaker 1: we wanted to go break all the rules, all of
Speaker 1: the things you're just saying, you know, we wanted to
Speaker 1: break all of those. So we put emphasis on okay,
Speaker 1: what we're gonna call it, and and Enjoyge would say uh,
Speaker 1: well um, and I say, well how about rubber ducky.
Speaker 1: It had nothing to do with the song. I realized
Speaker 1: that there's a lot of titles in which are never
Speaker 1: but but we only we only pretty much did that
Speaker 1: on my stuff, you know, uh, some of some of
Speaker 1: the other things did that. But if you notice on
Speaker 1: on the Bootsley Rubber Band stuff, a lot of the
Speaker 1: titles had nothing to do with the songs. How did
Speaker 1: y'all come up with what's the telephone being? Yeah, it's
Speaker 1: your phone from that at the gym. That's one of
Speaker 1: my love songs. Man. What it is is I used,
Speaker 1: you know, when I used to go to school. Um,
Speaker 1: it was like this one girl, I just you know,
Speaker 1: I messed around, got some mouth from right check it out,
Speaker 1: check check it out, check it out. You know. Her
Speaker 1: daddy was a preacher, you know, and some kind of
Speaker 1: way I was planning to where I got in, I
Speaker 1: hit that mouth and I got out, you know what
Speaker 1: I'm saying, so, you know, and doing so I got real.
Speaker 1: You know, I don't think it was well, it might
Speaker 1: have been love, but I think it was more so
Speaker 1: lust turn out, Yeah, I think it was more of luck.
Speaker 1: And then every chance I got I was on the
Speaker 1: you know, the phone booth. I was in the phone
Speaker 1: booth calling up talking about what time can I get
Speaker 1: some more of that mouth? I need some mouth right now, okay,
Speaker 1: And so you know that was the whole conversation. And
Speaker 1: you know I would carry that conversation out because if
Speaker 1: I couldn't see her, because you know, Dad got the
Speaker 1: strict you know, preacher thing going on. So I had
Speaker 1: to make you know, you know, make adjustments here and there.
Speaker 1: Whatever time I can get that mouth, I had to
Speaker 1: sneak in, sneak out. So and I did all that
Speaker 1: on the telephone. And so the whole thing came down
Speaker 1: to if I can get your loving I mean, what's
Speaker 1: the telephone bill? I mean it didn't matter. I mean,
Speaker 1: you know, if I can get that some of that mouth,
Speaker 1: nothing I I was. I was getting the nickelback anyway,
Speaker 1: you know, because you know, we knew how to work
Speaker 1: them telephone booths. My god, all these lyrics like that.
Speaker 1: So the hook, but then all the stuff you're saying
Speaker 1: in the middle, that's just you. And then George wrote
Speaker 1: wrote a lot of that one too. Yeah. But the
Speaker 1: hook of it, the hook of the whole thing was,
Speaker 1: you know, the whole purpose of it was to get
Speaker 1: the word out about you know, if I if I
Speaker 1: can get some of that mouth, And that was it
Speaker 1: what what they were saying, so when you're in concert
Speaker 1: and a lot of these songs don't have traditional verses
Speaker 1: to earth Hook, it's just you doing dialogue like Hollywood
Speaker 1: squares or or or whatever. I mean, just just talking.
Speaker 1: Would your audience mouth that back to you as if?
Speaker 1: And would they be disappointed if you went off script?
Speaker 1: Like would you have to recite your dialogue? Pretty? I
Speaker 1: mean they want to hear it. They don't have to
Speaker 1: hear it exact exact, but they want to hear it.
Speaker 1: They want to hear some of it. You know, they
Speaker 1: would love to hear all of it. But if for
Speaker 1: some reason, I don't do it that night, it's all
Speaker 1: right because they're gonna get some of it anyway, you know. Um,
Speaker 1: But I don't know. Um. The audience has been really
Speaker 1: good for me, um throughout the career. So it's like
Speaker 1: Funk of Tears is funk of tears, man. I mean,
Speaker 1: you know, they just come to you know, they want
Speaker 1: to give up some funk and then they want to
Speaker 1: get some fun. What was the the touring like for you,
Speaker 1: because I mean, by that point, black theater really wasn't invented.
Speaker 1: I mean, you your typical night and and watching your
Speaker 1: favorite act was more like a review like the Motown
Speaker 1: review again in suit and tie. Nothing close to theatrics
Speaker 1: and and and props and symptom of the opera going
Speaker 1: on like a mug I mean, I mean, you know
Speaker 1: it was. It was a stage. It was bigger than
Speaker 1: all of us. I mean, because we wasn't going for
Speaker 1: the sure p A system, you know, um, the little
Speaker 1: baby microphones. I mean, we were going for the big
Speaker 1: boy stuff, you know. And that was, uh, that was
Speaker 1: partially George's idea and my idea as far as we
Speaker 1: want to do it like the White Boys, you know,
Speaker 1: I mean, why why put us on stage with a
Speaker 1: baby p A when you know we're gonna blow that
Speaker 1: ship up, you know. So you know, but that's the
Speaker 1: way we were always treated. So we had to start
Speaker 1: taking our own money and investing, Yeah, invested in p A. Uh.
Speaker 1: I had um Maryland Sound make the this thing. I
Speaker 1: call it this uh space based station. It was up
Speaker 1: in the middle of the um, the Colosseum, and it
Speaker 1: would spend on a certain certain part of the show
Speaker 1: and the bass solo and stuff would come out of it,
Speaker 1: you know. Uh. And that wasn't that year you talked
Speaker 1: about nine. So the speakers would rotate. Yeah, well they
Speaker 1: would they would turn, okay while listen in the middle
Speaker 1: of the uh colosseum or auditor it would turn and
Speaker 1: the speakers you know, and the sound would come off
Speaker 1: the stage and up here. So it's like an earlier
Speaker 1: version of a three D effect um with sound. What
Speaker 1: does a writer look like for you guys at this point,
Speaker 1: I would be scared as a promoter. Yeah, yeah, it
Speaker 1: was different. Yeah, yeah, it was pretty deep. But again,
Speaker 1: we wouldn't I don't. I don't think we were that
Speaker 1: kind of band where, you know, everybody was tripping. You know,
Speaker 1: if a mother can get a sandwich. We was cool.
Speaker 1: I mean just just just because we could. I think
Speaker 1: a lot of them did it. But you know, it
Speaker 1: wasn't really about none of that with us, you know.
Speaker 1: It was it was more about we came to give
Speaker 1: up the phone and we're gonna teurn this mother out.
Speaker 1: That was the whole thing. You know. When I was
Speaker 1: a kid, I've read about problems with using the name
Speaker 1: the Rubber Band. What was the band present? No nod
Speaker 1: like someone trying to sue for the Rubber Band. It
Speaker 1: was a country and Western guy. That's funny you said
Speaker 1: that because I was just reading over the because it's
Speaker 1: always been rubber Band and me. But well, they were
Speaker 1: saying that we took his name rubber Band, and we
Speaker 1: nobody never heard of him. I mean, you know, um,
Speaker 1: he came in and you know, just because we were
Speaker 1: being successful, and you know, I want some money. I
Speaker 1: want to get paid. Did the Rubber Band existing, I
Speaker 1: don't want Yeah, that's what he well, but I mean,
Speaker 1: I mean the actual rubber Band that was in existence,
Speaker 1: So how could you claim that? Well, I mean, you
Speaker 1: know they'll claim anything. Ownership, I mean ownership, Come on, man,
Speaker 1: I mean we were blessed to get away with they
Speaker 1: didn't sue me, right, Yeah, well, I think you're saying
Speaker 1: the actual literal note. When you are a unit, you
Speaker 1: have to register your name, like we I owned the
Speaker 1: Roots and as if you're a group, you can't be
Speaker 1: named the Roots. But then movie could be made or yeah,
Speaker 1: and and then today you gotta understand that what what
Speaker 1: quest is saying, you know, that's like that's every day
Speaker 1: known fact. Then brothers didn't know nothing, but see Juicy
Speaker 1: Fruit still came tried to come after James and two May,
Speaker 1: but they just didn't win. That's why I was right,
Speaker 1: you know, right right, yeah, Oh they don't Oh yeah,
Speaker 1: oh yeah, that's the thing. They come and take it.
Speaker 1: You know, they come and take it. They don't care.
Speaker 1: You know, it's like it's mine. You know, I don't
Speaker 1: care who came up with it. I mean, it is mine.
Speaker 1: So was that was that? Why y'all you start you
Speaker 1: did the one off the sweatband project? Was that because
Speaker 1: of that? Well, sweat Band didn't have nothing to do
Speaker 1: with what I think what Quest is talking about? Quest
Speaker 1: talking about the rubber band. Yeah, and um, and then
Speaker 1: we didn't call it the rubber band. It was always
Speaker 1: boots He's rubber band. So that's the other part of
Speaker 1: it that we had in our favorite we and going
Speaker 1: around trying to sell the rubber band. You know, it
Speaker 1: was Bootsy's rubber band. So I think that's how we
Speaker 1: won that. Warners came in and blew because they were
Speaker 1: so cocky because Dude had already got with them about
Speaker 1: you know, give me a little Stomon and everything's cool.
Speaker 1: They were like, man, you know, we own this, you know,
Speaker 1: we you know, so it's Warner Brothers. What was it
Speaker 1: like dealing with Austin and and the cats at Warners.
Speaker 1: With them at all I did, but not with mo
Speaker 1: uh Bob Krasnow was the cat and we had we
Speaker 1: had a we had a good, good relationship, real good
Speaker 1: you know. Um at the time. Um, at the time,
Speaker 1: I was, you know, doing really good and doing what
Speaker 1: I'm supposed to do. So um, yeah it was. It
Speaker 1: was good, you know. But they wouldn't. They wouldn't into
Speaker 1: investing in something that they had no idea that you know,
Speaker 1: we looked like maniacs, man, come on, but they knew
Speaker 1: it were well now, I don't know, I can't say
Speaker 1: that they knew somebody loved it. They knew yeah, there
Speaker 1: you go. They knew somebody and they know who to
Speaker 1: somebody was we don't get it, but somebody. Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 1: So if Neil Bogart hadn't come in and like basically
Speaker 1: financed the was it the seventy seven tour? Um, Like,
Speaker 1: where do you think Funk would have been? Well? I
Speaker 1: think we would have been somewhere, But you know, something
Speaker 1: would have happened. I don't I don't exactly know what,
Speaker 1: but we was at a point that it had to happen,
Speaker 1: you know. Um, and it just happened that Neil stepped
Speaker 1: up because he's like pretty much the only one. I
Speaker 1: guess he's the only one, you know, you, I mean,
Speaker 1: by seventy you were such a character figure. Was there
Speaker 1: any talk whatsoever about you having your own cartoon? Because
Speaker 1: you guys comic books inside the record that's all we
Speaker 1: that's all and within our crew, within carrying out. I
Speaker 1: was like, yeah, yeah, I mean, it was so much
Speaker 1: talent around that whole p funk time. Man, it was.
Speaker 1: It was just incredible. But but what it was quest
Speaker 1: was they didn't want that kind of thing. That was
Speaker 1: too you know, it had to be lightweight. You had
Speaker 1: to be talking about just love, uh just you know,
Speaker 1: I love you baby, and and dressing nice. And they
Speaker 1: didn't want that raw p crap you know, Saturday Morning
Speaker 1: didn't want none of that. Man, it's definitely ready for
Speaker 1: adult swim nail though, like that oh yeah man, oh
Speaker 1: yeah yeah. Well just the way that the shows began
Speaker 1: and all that stuff, you guys were showing, like the
Speaker 1: three four minute cartoons at the beginning, and but but
Speaker 1: guess who bought those we did? I mean, what what
Speaker 1: nobody helping? What nobody helping with George, you know, had
Speaker 1: to come up with the money, with the uh you know,
Speaker 1: with the mother. Yere what nobody helping, you know, and
Speaker 1: they knew, they knew how big it was getting. But
Speaker 1: at the same time it was like, don't touch them,
Speaker 1: crazy mom, you know, you know, especially George that boys
Speaker 1: out of his mind. Okay, so is there any truth
Speaker 1: to the myth that, um, you and George will purposely
Speaker 1: go fishing in the Bermuna Triangle. Yeah, that's not enough.
Speaker 1: That's actually true in hopes to get abducted or to
Speaker 1: see what happens to get loving to get it. Oh yeah,
Speaker 1: well now that that's why I can't. But why go
Speaker 1: fishing in the Bermuda Triangle? It's kind of like asking
Speaker 1: for it. Wait, do you know how heavy the tides
Speaker 1: are the Bermuna Triangle? No, but I'm just saying, like,
Speaker 1: if you're trying to take a robe they did. Or
Speaker 1: there was one night George told me about the night
Speaker 1: you were in Detroit driving you and George saw well,
Speaker 1: actually we drove from Detroit to Toronto. Okay, yeah, it
Speaker 1: was coming out of Detroit and uh yeah, that's that's
Speaker 1: one of the ones that I know really happened. I mean,
Speaker 1: I mean, I didn't say I was so okay, I'm
Speaker 1: just saying that I know, yeah, I know that that happened.
Speaker 1: I mean, I know that that happened, and I know
Speaker 1: also know that there's some missing time that happened that
Speaker 1: day night whatever it was. First it was a day
Speaker 1: and next thing we know, it was night and Chuck
Speaker 1: Barry was on that singing, uh Johnny be Good on
Speaker 1: the radio. And that's when George told me after we
Speaker 1: saw this, it was yeah, after we actually saw this
Speaker 1: come down and hit the car, Yeah, yeah, we um.
Speaker 1: I looked at George because I'm always looking up to George,
Speaker 1: like you know, he's the savior. He knows everything, you know,
Speaker 1: and you know, I'm I'm not afraid that's like, you know,
Speaker 1: being out there on to try and shoot. I'm with George,
Speaker 1: you know, I mean, I'll be anywhere with night fishing,
Speaker 1: you know, and you can't even seeing man, I mean,
Speaker 1: and George called just we don't know what it was.
Speaker 1: We never got a chance to pull it in. It
Speaker 1: went under the boat and he couldn't, you know, couldn't
Speaker 1: pull it in. So we don't know what happened. And
Speaker 1: because you can't see your hand in front of your face,
Speaker 1: you know. So, yeah, it was some deep um. It
Speaker 1: was some deep experiences. Uh that one you was talking
Speaker 1: about dough in Detroit, Toronto. We went to we went
Speaker 1: to Georgia's house over Toronto after that experience. Knocked on
Speaker 1: the door and his daughter asked the door, and she
Speaker 1: was in shock by the way we looked. She said,
Speaker 1: what is wrong with you? Mother? Because we were lit up?
Speaker 1: She said, we were lit up? Okay, then this is
Speaker 1: her wrap and she she don't know. I mean, you know,
Speaker 1: she's a little a little girl growing up Barbarella, you know. Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: and you know she what happened to y'all? You know,
Speaker 1: and we're thinking, we just you know, we got just
Speaker 1: got scared out of our mind. We didn't know we
Speaker 1: had a certain look and show enough. So when she
Speaker 1: saw us, what is wrong with y'all? You know? So
Speaker 1: and we never talked about it. George and I never
Speaker 1: talked about it because I wasn't sure about, you know,
Speaker 1: the facts, and I knew he wasn't sure because he
Speaker 1: was he was more confused, and I was another singer
Speaker 1: I had a question about, was Leslie and Bailey Love vibes. Uh.
Speaker 1: You know, I met leslian Um let's see, in nineteen
Speaker 1: seventy three or four, and we started doing you know,
Speaker 1: a little recordings and stuff like around in uh Cincinnati,
Speaker 1: and I first thought that, well, actually she was a
Speaker 1: part of the band in the very first record, um
Speaker 1: what was And because I hadn't really put the whole
Speaker 1: band together yet, so you know, um, it was myself,
Speaker 1: Bone uh cat Um, Frankie and Fred and I had
Speaker 1: called them to come in to do the horn things.
Speaker 1: But yeah, the band, actual touring band wasn't together yet,
Speaker 1: you know, so I was trying to find myself, find
Speaker 1: out who the actually rubber band was gonna be, you know,
Speaker 1: and she was part of that and uh yeah she
Speaker 1: uh she was. She was a heck of a song writer, um,
Speaker 1: with those kind of love you know, love vibes and
Speaker 1: that kind of like, yeah, that's my girl. So so
Speaker 1: by the late seventies, when you guys are just in
Speaker 1: full mood, does it get overwhelming because you're dealing with
Speaker 1: Parlette Brides, Bootsy, funky delic uh and all these yeah,
Speaker 1: every like how do you know our first phase? I
Speaker 1: mean because it never technically ran out of gas? But
Speaker 1: how did you know like we need a break or
Speaker 1: that sort of truth. You know. Um, I think the
Speaker 1: worst part about music is the business, right and um,
Speaker 1: music is so blissful, it's such a blessing. Um, But
Speaker 1: that's the business is the thing that separates everybody. And
Speaker 1: that's what happens. You don't. It didn't only happen to us.
Speaker 1: That's what happens is pretty much everybody. You know, you
Speaker 1: start making money, you know, because when we weren't making
Speaker 1: no money, hey, I mean you know, it was like
Speaker 1: that was the best time in my life. That's when
Speaker 1: we weren't making no money. I mean you know, Um,
Speaker 1: when you start making making the money, people start wanting
Speaker 1: to separate. Oh you can come over and do this
Speaker 1: with me, and you don't need them, and that that
Speaker 1: and that, so that all that rap starts happening. The
Speaker 1: one thing they couldn't do is separate me and George,
Speaker 1: you know, and you know, because that came up a lot,
Speaker 1: wanting to separate, you know. But that's one thing that
Speaker 1: didn't happen, you know. But everything else. When I started
Speaker 1: figuring out that I needed a drug to go to
Speaker 1: the studio, I knew something was wrong. With me, not
Speaker 1: something wrong when anybody else the blame stopped right here
Speaker 1: because I started realizing that ain't that ain't what I do.
Speaker 1: You know. I used to go see you because I
Speaker 1: love to do music, you know, but now I can't
Speaker 1: go out to the house without doing drugs. First, you know,
Speaker 1: I knew something was wrong with me, and so I
Speaker 1: think that hit everybody at a certain in this time
Speaker 1: period that maybe not the same way it hit me,
Speaker 1: but it was hitting everybody. Do you think it was
Speaker 1: was it trying to deal with the fame like being
Speaker 1: like actually fair? I mean, when nobody give us no
Speaker 1: manual on how to you know, I mean question to them.
Speaker 1: They know more about you know everything. You know, were
Speaker 1: just out there, were just out there, you know, for
Speaker 1: the experience and the love of music. You know. Um,
Speaker 1: George is the only one in the camp I think
Speaker 1: even had a clue about how Motown worked or how
Speaker 1: you know, Yeah, the business work. You supposed to you know,
Speaker 1: try to get a hit, try to make sure you
Speaker 1: gotta hook, try to make sure you got you know,
Speaker 1: he was the only one that had a little clue,
Speaker 1: you know, but he didn't have nobody to push him,
Speaker 1: you know, he was it. So what were your thoughts
Speaker 1: once who WHOA even before that, Um, you technically are
Speaker 1: the producer of the first app album you're listed out. Yeah,
Speaker 1: describe people. I still don't think that the world knews
Speaker 1: what a virtual So Roger Troutman was as a musician, Well,
Speaker 1: you know, Um, I knew Roger before any of that stuff.
Speaker 1: So you knew him from the from the hood and yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: and we used to play in the same clubs. I mean,
Speaker 1: you know when he was rodding the human body, you know,
Speaker 1: um and so um we used to go to their gigs.
Speaker 1: They used to come to EE gigs and we used
Speaker 1: to joke a lot about his dad, you know, his
Speaker 1: dad all it used to um come down on me
Speaker 1: about I stole his cigarettes and I'm like, come on, Dad,
Speaker 1: I don't even smoke. Well not them, not that, No,
Speaker 1: And you know we always had a big joke about
Speaker 1: that and roging them always had a big motor home
Speaker 1: because Dad had it going on. Now Dad had it gone.
Speaker 1: Um he was in construction and you know he didn't. Yeah,
Speaker 1: they still have a big construct like they invested in
Speaker 1: they have, they had it, they had it going on.
Speaker 1: Out of all the bands they had it going on
Speaker 1: with music or without it, you know, um, and so
Speaker 1: you know, um, we always made uh, it's kind of
Speaker 1: like a pledge to each other that if I make
Speaker 1: it first, you know I'm gonna reach back and grab you.
Speaker 1: If you make it first, you reach back and grab me.
Speaker 1: That was our whole thing. Catfish didn't let me forget it,
Speaker 1: you know when we messed around started making it cast.
Speaker 1: They don't forget about rodding now. And that's when we started.
Speaker 1: You know, I was like, okay, let's where they're playing at.
Speaker 1: Cat always was in tune with the street. You know,
Speaker 1: he always knew all yet the mother they playing up
Speaker 1: in dating to night. Let's roll up there. You know,
Speaker 1: we're jumping in the limo, or we was big timing
Speaker 1: like a mug. Then you know, we're jumping the limo
Speaker 1: right up. Called Roger, come on, man, come on jumping
Speaker 1: the limbo. Let's wrap, man, let's wrap. We can get
Speaker 1: this deal man. You know. So we talked about it
Speaker 1: and they was all up for it. Next thing you know,
Speaker 1: we're arriving the studio United Sounds in Detroit City today,
Speaker 1: I'll say United Sounds. Yeah. What was the United Sounds like?
Speaker 1: Was it just a regular studio to you or just
Speaker 1: was there anything magical about it? I hear that it's
Speaker 1: it was a magical play and for well, I guess
Speaker 1: I would have to say it's a magical place because
Speaker 1: that's where I found myself. Yeah. Yeah, I would have
Speaker 1: to say that because, um, when I when I first
Speaker 1: started going there, you know, it was like the engineer,
Speaker 1: you know, he he hate to see me coming because
Speaker 1: I always had some kind of pedal to hook up.
Speaker 1: And you know, he's like, man, you know, because he
Speaker 1: was used to doing like Motown stuff. You just plug
Speaker 1: it in and play, you know, just come on in
Speaker 1: and throw that in the wall as in it, you know.
Speaker 1: But I'll come in, you know, I'll be figuring out
Speaker 1: my my gadgets, you know, trying to get this sound.
Speaker 1: And he's like, why do you just play the part?
Speaker 1: You know, I'm like, no, man, you don't understand. See
Speaker 1: I didn't even understand what I was doing. I was
Speaker 1: just trying to get some different things going on, you know.
Speaker 1: And and so I would have to, um, always hear
Speaker 1: this going into the studio, I wouldn't know. I would
Speaker 1: have to deal with Jim. Jim. Jim is his name
Speaker 1: Jim Vitty, I would put him one. Yeah, Jim Vidy
Speaker 1: was a smash though, man, that mug. You know. Once
Speaker 1: he called on to what I was doing, he was like,
Speaker 1: you know, is that all the pedals you've got? You know,
Speaker 1: he's like ring up, rang on, you know, because he
Speaker 1: started understanding, Oh, I see what you're doing. So since
Speaker 1: you're mentioning engineering the collapse or all people, Jim how Yeah,
Speaker 1: because the electricogy wasn't harmonizer, the even tad harmonizer and
Speaker 1: even even time and uh a m what was that thing?
Speaker 1: A m s uh did the only sample for a minute? No,
Speaker 1: it wasn't even a minute, it was five or ten seconds. Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: that was you know Jim Jim Betty came up with
Speaker 1: that vibe and is that y'all clapping out in the studio,
Speaker 1: you know, all out in the studio clapping at the
Speaker 1: same time, you know, and it's making that Beasley brothers
Speaker 1: once told me that in your hands. Yeah, they put
Speaker 1: their hands in the bucket and then start clapping. But well,
Speaker 1: I don't know that that might work for them, but
Speaker 1: not for years. You know, we just all went out
Speaker 1: and just clap, you know. So how were you surprised
Speaker 1: that how your your your catalog slowly started to come
Speaker 1: back into fashion, uh in the late eighties, and you
Speaker 1: know what, quesse Um, I was never really surprised. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean on the reel, you know, I was always
Speaker 1: kind of just looking forward to the experience. And when
Speaker 1: they started sampling and stuff like that, it was like, oh, great,
Speaker 1: I got it, you know, great, I'm glad somebody really
Speaker 1: like about I'd rather you like my favorite use of sample.
Speaker 1: I remember the first time I heard it in high
Speaker 1: school and it was like, what the fun is this?
Speaker 1: When the first time you heard it and were asked,
Speaker 1: is it cool? Can we use this? Well? Actually he
Speaker 1: played it for me um before it even came out,
Speaker 1: you know, and to get the permission. Yeah yeah, and
Speaker 1: you know we were just yeah, not even a question,
Speaker 1: just right, just go ahead and hit it, you know.
Speaker 1: And you know what, we wasn't even really getting paid
Speaker 1: at that point, you know. So it was more for me,
Speaker 1: it was more about the re birth like he was
Speaker 1: talking about, because when you started doing in concert, then
Speaker 1: it's like who this is? Where? Yeah? Yeah, So for
Speaker 1: me it was you know, it was more of that.
Speaker 1: And then James, I think was the first one that started, um,
Speaker 1: you know, what do you call sowing and uh for
Speaker 1: the samples and stuff. But George and I was pretty
Speaker 1: cool with you know, they legendarily cut great deals like
Speaker 1: the I think the not just needy uh rate was
Speaker 1: I think half a penny in the album's old. Yeah,
Speaker 1: because George's theory was like it was like, let's sell
Speaker 1: it for cheap and then everybody will come and use us.
Speaker 1: So in comparison, I'm wondering where James would charge. Oh James,
Speaker 1: I mean he's not let picture two hundred dollars a
Speaker 1: week for gas for gas. He is just just with li.
Speaker 1: I mean, he definitely went back to, you know, get
Speaker 1: his money. But I think he also realized that you
Speaker 1: know where the bridge being buttered now you know they did.
Speaker 1: State just absolutely encourages it. And I'm like, well, you
Speaker 1: don't know, like James round has been sampled years now.
Speaker 1: They're like, yeah, anytime you when you use it. Here's
Speaker 1: some more things at this point in your career, like
Speaker 1: where's most of your money coming from? As it shows,
Speaker 1: is it like publishing royalties on your records? I don't
Speaker 1: know when this money coming from. I mean, you know, uh,
Speaker 1: and I think by me not caring, it just comes.
Speaker 1: And that's the way it's been all my life. So
Speaker 1: you have a very trusting individual in your life. Well,
Speaker 1: it ain't like it ain't like trusting. It's more like
Speaker 1: I depend on the one period, you know, and the
Speaker 1: one is bigger than music. The one is all of us.
Speaker 1: It's the essence of all it is. And so that's
Speaker 1: what I depend though. You know, it's no religion, you know,
Speaker 1: it's it's no nothing, it's no color, you know, it's
Speaker 1: the one. Whatever that one is. Our minds can't grasp
Speaker 1: what it is. And so I don't even try to
Speaker 1: figure it out. I never have. Yeah, I never try
Speaker 1: to figure it out. It's like, oh, that's what it is, Okay.
Speaker 1: So you've done some collaborations with with a lot of artists,
Speaker 1: Like people might know you, uh, the the Light Project,
Speaker 1: but there's one particular, this one particular project I will
Speaker 1: never for the life of me when it happened. You
Speaker 1: were in calling me badge man. You if you remember
Speaker 1: the if you remember the very beginning sketch of Fat
Speaker 1: Cat Fantastic One, They're like, like, I thought I was
Speaker 1: on a roll, but what what what? What? Dank what
Speaker 1: Frank Dank and Diller are talking about? And Chance? Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: they did it on the Soultry and Awards the night before.
Speaker 1: And even I was like, wait, is Bootie playing with
Speaker 1: Cody back? Like he's on the album too, But you know,
Speaker 1: I think too. What I was doing was trying to
Speaker 1: get prepare myself to get back into band, you know.
Speaker 1: And it wasn't It wasn't so much as Who's band.
Speaker 1: It was like let me see where I can fit
Speaker 1: in clowning. I mean it actually made sense, made the
Speaker 1: lottery like that. I don't but that's when they were
Speaker 1: hot kind of that time they were hot after I
Speaker 1: want sec okay, and it just seemed like I said,
Speaker 1: how the one takes care of me? I mean with
Speaker 1: delight now, I mean of all times, of all people
Speaker 1: and house music, you know. Even George said, man, you
Speaker 1: can't do that really? Yeah? Yeah, And and then I
Speaker 1: invited him to the gig he came to get He said,
Speaker 1: oh I see, I get it. I mean all this
Speaker 1: festival and all of them jump him. He was like, Okay,
Speaker 1: I get it. This is all making sense. Now you're
Speaker 1: taking chances because I was wondering when I heard you
Speaker 1: were doing something with Billy Ray Cyrus. I was like, yeah,
Speaker 1: then I'm like, okay, this this is Booty. He on
Speaker 1: the one he taking a chance. You never know what
Speaker 1: could come out. I don't want to do it with
Speaker 1: who you would think I would worry. You know what,
Speaker 1: I forgot We all the stuff we did together. I'm
Speaker 1: totally forgetting. So Booty and I want did uh they
Speaker 1: like read did the Monday Night football theme and that
Speaker 1: it was me and Boots, a little Richard, a whole
Speaker 1: bunch of bunch of people. But one of the craziest
Speaker 1: moments was on break, Charlie Daniels starts playing the p
Speaker 1: F on catalog. I didn't realize how deep into soul
Speaker 1: music Charlie Daniels was, and he was ending up the
Speaker 1: whole fact that like, oh y'all underestimating me. Yea, yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: I know my people, but I mean he was doing
Speaker 1: like like good to your ear hole like, and I
Speaker 1: was like, what the hell? I did not know that? Yeah,
Speaker 1: these teople were just jamming like but you know, you
Speaker 1: know what's funny too, is I run into a lot
Speaker 1: of cast today't you know you ain't supposed to be
Speaker 1: really down with and I find out that they know
Speaker 1: more about you than you do undercover. Yeah yeah, and
Speaker 1: it's like wow, you know, so you're living leg You're yeah,
Speaker 1: you're a timeless, living legend. Well, you know, like I said,
Speaker 1: I didn't get into it to be to be what
Speaker 1: that is, because I don't even know. But I'm just
Speaker 1: glad to still be able to you know, to sit
Speaker 1: there and be amongst people and to vibe the good
Speaker 1: vibe because it's so much mess. You know, it's so
Speaker 1: much mess that's going on, and you know, just to
Speaker 1: be able to use your platform. That's what um. I
Speaker 1: feel like, whatever I have done, I want to use
Speaker 1: the platform for these young mugs that's coming up now,
Speaker 1: because they don't they didn't get they didn't get the
Speaker 1: platform to play live music like we did. You know.
Speaker 1: They you know, they got an iPhone. They got an
Speaker 1: iPhone and that's all they need, you know. But we needed,
Speaker 1: you know, we needed to be able to touch and
Speaker 1: feel people, you know, and have those private moments, you know,
Speaker 1: because you can't even have a secret now, ain't nothing private,
Speaker 1: you know, you can't even get lost that A question
Speaker 1: about the record UM Instant Replay by Michael Wait is
Speaker 1: that you playing on that I produced to it. I'm
Speaker 1: trying to think another lost song, right right? I remember
Speaker 1: the record, but I can't. I have to hear the
Speaker 1: song to know if I'm playing on that. Okay, you
Speaker 1: know that's how. But you didn't produce that, okayaking from
Speaker 1: that side, I love that record looking from the inside
Speaker 1: of I had that tape. My question, you got everything? Man, No,
Speaker 1: we're just nerds. Man, quays are the the Glenn go inside?
Speaker 1: Were you on that? Okay? But the boys is bad man,
Speaker 1: Jersey Man, Come on, Mike, wait when when? When when
Speaker 1: Paul uh? Bill Paul? I was like, I'm thinking from
Speaker 1: Bill Gate's former partner using experience in so Paul Allen Paul?
Speaker 1: When Paul Allen uh reunited you guys to do the
Speaker 1: uh you guys as in uh the j b S. Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: what was that? Was that the first time that you
Speaker 1: guys played together? And well, what you mean it's like
Speaker 1: all of us? Yeah? Actually that was um as far
Speaker 1: as um all of us like country yeah, the original crew. Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: that was definitely the first time, you know, and check
Speaker 1: this out, um, you know, so you know they asked James,
Speaker 1: you know, now we got your original band. You know
Speaker 1: cats here you know. Now, uh, why don't you want
Speaker 1: to play with them? Yeah? Yeah, he didn't want to
Speaker 1: play with us, and he didn't play with us, so
Speaker 1: we had we went on before him, throw it up
Speaker 1: all right, mind you playing his stuff, mind you? And
Speaker 1: then he came on with his band and you know,
Speaker 1: people kinda yeah, they kind of saw him later. What
Speaker 1: did he say to you? Did he speak to you? Oh? Well,
Speaker 1: you know, he came into room, come on in, you know,
Speaker 1: and what men a cat? Do you know? We get
Speaker 1: a mugs sitting in the middle of us, right because
Speaker 1: we like them headphones. You know, It's like we get
Speaker 1: the mugs and in the middle and we were that
Speaker 1: mug out. Then we started cracking on and what's with
Speaker 1: the shoes? Man? So you know, we had a we
Speaker 1: had a thing where we didn't even think about, you know,
Speaker 1: like what we're gonna do. It's like Mr Brown want
Speaker 1: to come in and see y'all, Yeah, come out, There'll
Speaker 1: come on in. Then I'll move over. Cat, move over.
Speaker 1: Jay's gonna sit right there. And we put off because
Speaker 1: you know, he ain't used it in hugging ship, you know.
Speaker 1: So you know, we first thing he do is he
Speaker 1: sit down hugging then he gets all uncomfortable. It's like, yeah,
Speaker 1: that's exactly the way we want you. Now. So is
Speaker 1: there anything that you've not done that you wish you
Speaker 1: could do? Or what I've not done? Is you scored
Speaker 1: a movie? I forgot even Super super Bad? Yeah? Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: it wasn't well actually, um that was Clyde was there,
Speaker 1: Jabbo um and Bernie. Bernie was real okay man catfish
Speaker 1: um actually mash up all Stars. Yeah, yeah, it was
Speaker 1: really that was a cool time. Now that you mentioned it,
Speaker 1: I got some some great tapes of Jabbo and Clyde,
Speaker 1: you know, um during during that session. I mean yeah,
Speaker 1: and we got the video I got taped. I mean
Speaker 1: they were they was killing. It was killing. They was kidding.
Speaker 1: I know, I already know already. What does your archives
Speaker 1: look like? Because you know there's a lot of your
Speaker 1: show was like on YouTube or whatever. But like you know,
Speaker 1: you know what I do quit, I just I just
Speaker 1: stack stuff, you know, And it's just like my music.
Speaker 1: I don't go back and listen to it. I just
Speaker 1: know I got it. Yeah. Yeah, because that I think
Speaker 1: that's coming. It's coming around, you know, because everybody's really
Speaker 1: asking me, and I got It's so many different artists
Speaker 1: that's been through there that you know, like, for instance,
Speaker 1: Bobby warmack Man. People have no idea how bad that
Speaker 1: boy is on the guitar, you know, and I mean
Speaker 1: singing he's killing it, but the guitar he's killing it
Speaker 1: even more. And I got these tracks that we did
Speaker 1: when we did the record before this one, and you know,
Speaker 1: he brings you in. It is this spiritual thing with Bobby.
Speaker 1: He just brings you in and whatever he's feeling, you
Speaker 1: feel it. Um. Actually, you mentioned Bobby wool Matt, which
Speaker 1: made me think of Reason, which made me think of
Speaker 1: him recording in the same students. There's a ride going on. Yeah, okay,
Speaker 1: can you as honest as you can be about it?
Speaker 1: What was that miniature Sly period like when Sly kind
Speaker 1: of joined yah? Because the thing is that I know
Speaker 1: that during that p Funk Earth tour or which fingers
Speaker 1: the funking telling oh no no, was Motor Booty fair
Speaker 1: seventy he I know that he was opening for you guys,
Speaker 1: and you know George Adamore a few records. It was
Speaker 1: just okay. But every time I look at the footage
Speaker 1: of any old footage of Sly in the p Funk era.
Speaker 1: I gotta wonder how much of a psychological part of
Speaker 1: my French mind funk that was for him to like
Speaker 1: him as a captain kind of he has to go
Speaker 1: down to minion status and he's opening for me. Yeah,
Speaker 1: how how awkward it was that period. I know that
Speaker 1: had to be really stupid, really for him, and it
Speaker 1: was felt stupid to me. I don't I can't speak
Speaker 1: for nobody else, but I know that you know, you
Speaker 1: guys had nothing but love for him, and he's like
Speaker 1: my hero and you know, Uh, to actually see him
Speaker 1: going through that at that time, I thought it was
Speaker 1: good because at least he had came back out of
Speaker 1: his shill, you know, So I thought that part of
Speaker 1: it was good. But the agony that I can feel
Speaker 1: that you know, was coming from him to to have
Speaker 1: to do that to get his legs back, you know. Uh,
Speaker 1: I know that agony too. I felt that I felt
Speaker 1: that before feel that. I can't say exactly when I
Speaker 1: felt it, but I know I've had I felt that.
Speaker 1: You know, who was the artist that you were looking at?
Speaker 1: This kind of you saw is if not the next
Speaker 1: you but well, well it didn't necessarily have to be
Speaker 1: in that same way that that it happened. It's just
Speaker 1: that feeling I've felt that before. You know, I would
Speaker 1: that's what, Okay, that's news to me because I would
Speaker 1: still feel as though you are still Bootsy unmistakably Bootsy Collins,
Speaker 1: Like your your presence is such if you're if you're
Speaker 1: standing with Snoop, if you're doing stuff with you know,
Speaker 1: Rapp for the moment whatever, and you know, millennials aside
Speaker 1: somebody news that's Booty Collins. Whereas I'll tell you when
Speaker 1: it was Slide was kind of stup I know. Now, Um,
Speaker 1: this is one of the times, um, when you're when
Speaker 1: you're playing to an audience that don't have a clue
Speaker 1: of who the hell is this mother standing up there
Speaker 1: with you know, got you know, the starglasses on and
Speaker 1: the mugs don't have a clue of who you are,
Speaker 1: and all the mugs is on this show. It's like,
Speaker 1: what do you call um funkatis from from what you know?
Speaker 1: That's the time that you feel like damn, I mean,
Speaker 1: you know, it's like and it ain't got nothing to
Speaker 1: do with the artists. This has something to do with
Speaker 1: they don't know and it ain't nothing you can do well,
Speaker 1: But it wasn't like, you know, it was their fault.
Speaker 1: This is why we have But that's that's you know,
Speaker 1: that's the closest time I think that i've you know,
Speaker 1: that kind of feeling would come out. It's like, you know,
Speaker 1: when you come on and you know, these mugs supposed
Speaker 1: to know something. Somebody's supposed to know something and they don't,
Speaker 1: you know, and uh, but but then you know, me
Speaker 1: being a man of the world, I kinda understand why
Speaker 1: they don't, you know, um because funk was a bad
Speaker 1: word when we first came out, you know, and they
Speaker 1: wanted us to two interviews on the radio, but they
Speaker 1: didn't want us to talk about funk. So I understand
Speaker 1: that stupid part, you know, like, how are we gonna
Speaker 1: tell you all about what the funk you know is
Speaker 1: about if we can't say funk? You know, So right there,
Speaker 1: that was so stupid, you know. And then it was
Speaker 1: the people that drove it home that made him realize,
Speaker 1: hey man, you better you know, y'all better catch you
Speaker 1: up because the people going for it, you know, the
Speaker 1: people was in it, you know, they was in it
Speaker 1: already and the DJs and you know, the radio, it
Speaker 1: was like, no, we can't play that ship. You know,
Speaker 1: they got airplanes and the records and you know, alarms
Speaker 1: going off. You know, we can't play that on the radio.
Speaker 1: You know. So you know, we had seen that that
Speaker 1: story before. And I also think it's on us because
Speaker 1: we just can't take for granted that someone's good. If
Speaker 1: I say ash like you'll know what I'm talking about.
Speaker 1: I mean, you know there's sports events you see each
Speaker 1: one to teach one. Yeah, if you deserve and didn't
Speaker 1: at least teach twenty people about your playlist or whatever
Speaker 1: it is on then I still blame the parents because
Speaker 1: it was in my house where I learned about you know, yeah,
Speaker 1: but I didn't know what. But you know what, it's
Speaker 1: a lot. It's a lot of kids that they get
Speaker 1: it like that, and then you have a lot that don't,
Speaker 1: you know, So it's like, you know, so it's like
Speaker 1: you get the best of both worlds every now. And yeah,
Speaker 1: you also have to look at the way people's music
Speaker 1: collections are these days, like it's not necessarily a physical
Speaker 1: object in your house, Like there's not a stack of
Speaker 1: vinyl sitting in the corner of most people's houses thousand
Speaker 1: records during this telephone right now. Yeah, it's current and
Speaker 1: when you have access to that much you kind of
Speaker 1: lose context for it all. So so of course, let
Speaker 1: me ask you, how do you feel now, you know,
Speaker 1: because you you have moved checked it out. Just let
Speaker 1: me ask just let me have you have moved from
Speaker 1: crates right and then just to have the availability, what
Speaker 1: does that make you feel like? I mean, you know, um,
Speaker 1: you know, I missed. I missed the I missed the
Speaker 1: immersive experience of record shopping, mainly because that was the
Speaker 1: bonding thing with my dad and I. My dad and
Speaker 1: I would go to the mom and pop store and
Speaker 1: just and he was a ben shopper the way I
Speaker 1: am now. So you know, after school had a record
Speaker 1: store and just buy every forty five, every record. So
Speaker 1: I missed you know, the the instance and the store
Speaker 1: and you know, him playing this record in that record.
Speaker 1: I missed that experience. Um, we'll just think, just think
Speaker 1: about this. But on the other hand, I'm fully embracing
Speaker 1: technology now and there's so much music out there on
Speaker 1: the internet. I'm just overwhelming and I'm probably not even
Speaker 1: going to get it. But you know, I you know,
Speaker 1: I'm I'm kind of a board for the ride, you know. Yeah, well,
Speaker 1: I guess the same thing, the same kind of thing
Speaker 1: you're dealing with there. It's kind of what we're dealing
Speaker 1: with as well, you know, because the crate, you know,
Speaker 1: the create is what we do, you know, that's the
Speaker 1: creative music. And what they're doing now is they're making it. Well,
Speaker 1: you don't have to carry to create, you know. So
Speaker 1: if you don't carry to create what you then they
Speaker 1: give you a replacement, you know, which the replacement you know. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean, and that's where the phone. That's kind of crazy,
Speaker 1: I know, but that's where it's going, you know, that's
Speaker 1: where it's going. That's where it is. Yeah, all right,
Speaker 1: are there any regret questions? What was your thoughts on
Speaker 1: a ball first second? Yeah? I thought it was pretty
Speaker 1: pretty good. I mean I liked it. You know, Um,
Speaker 1: I knew, I knew the rother b with you was.
Speaker 1: I knew that was all all um up in there.
Speaker 1: You know, it wasn't sample, but they know they recreated
Speaker 1: the way they heard it, you know. Um, yeah, I
Speaker 1: thought it was a great record. Bill. Bill might hint
Speaker 1: that you're being diplomatic right now, but you know, let
Speaker 1: me let me tell you, um, you know if you yeah,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna be honest, thank you. Okay, I know why
Speaker 1: now I'm a fan of that song. My partner George,
Speaker 1: he's actually, Um, what I understand is he's going after it,
Speaker 1: you know, and um, you know that's that's what George do.
Speaker 1: Because I was gonna ask was there a sample check
Speaker 1: or they didn't sample they didn't sample it or interpret it.
Speaker 1: It's just it's kind of what that was. I rather
Speaker 1: be with you know. I thought that there was some
Speaker 1: clearance going on. You mean it was done and not
Speaker 1: even oh wait, I just no, no, not, I wasn't
Speaker 1: doing it at you. I'm like, but even were not
Speaker 1: called you? That were I was texting. I was like, yo,
Speaker 1: I heard that. I was like, yo, he might be
Speaker 1: in blurredins here. Here's the thing though, because we don't
Speaker 1: have physical copies of it, nobody knows. I've never read
Speaker 1: the credits of that album, of that album. I've just
Speaker 1: heard the song naturally assumed. Oh yeah, they cleared that ship. Yeah. Oh,
Speaker 1: everyone knows. This derivative of I'd Rather be with you.
Speaker 1: That was the debate because they said, remember, y'all said
Speaker 1: a lot of millennials will not know where this comes from,
Speaker 1: not credited as like co writers on that song or nothing.
Speaker 1: That's okay, all right, anyway we're supposed to go. We're
Speaker 1: supposed to go back to talk about this. What did
Speaker 1: James think about your guitar? You never get that I
Speaker 1: wrote it down? Oh my goodness. Okay. Uh that first
Speaker 1: night we played, I had that green silver tongue um
Speaker 1: guitar which I turned into a base and I played it.
Speaker 1: I thought, you know, the color of it was just
Speaker 1: let me see if y'all got a green. Yeah, okay,
Speaker 1: take this blue and neon green it okay, So that's
Speaker 1: the color of this base. Okay. And James looked at
Speaker 1: that mama and he was like, son, son, ya he
Speaker 1: this is what he would do, not not not, ain't
Speaker 1: gonna work, ain't gonna work. Done that thing you got there.
Speaker 1: I can't ever be on my stage again, on my
Speaker 1: stage else you won't. Did you stand out too much?
Speaker 1: I don't think it was that. It's just he didn't
Speaker 1: under he wasn't he didn't know the story. He didn't
Speaker 1: know that I was blessed, just that. So did he
Speaker 1: buy you a base? He bought me a baby? Still
Speaker 1: have that ba? Actually I don't what was the story
Speaker 1: about it turning into a sneak or the Yeah, I
Speaker 1: heard that story too. That was what happened. Well it
Speaker 1: actually I thought it was pretty good, but but obviously
Speaker 1: other people that was looking thought it was bad. So, um,
Speaker 1: what happened was, uh, Javis sign, look at your eyes
Speaker 1: they're all read. I know you're doing them drugs. I
Speaker 1: don't do it on your set. I do not, you know,
Speaker 1: and anybody would be crazy outside of Catfish two, I
Speaker 1: mean to do drugs on James said, with all the
Speaker 1: movements hits, I mean everything he did was a was
Speaker 1: a man. Yeah, And it was like, I can't be
Speaker 1: high on this sand, you know even I know that,
Speaker 1: you know, So you don't have to drill me on
Speaker 1: doing drugs because yeah, I'm gonna do them, but I
Speaker 1: ain't gonna do them on your set. So that's what
Speaker 1: I told him. And every time he comment, look at
Speaker 1: your eyes on and I'll be looking crazy. But it
Speaker 1: would because of the sweat, you know, it's a sweat
Speaker 1: and dripped him my eyes. Maybe I stayed up all night.
Speaker 1: You know, with this, that and the other one and
Speaker 1: you know, and all of that played into seven nights
Speaker 1: a week. So every night he called me in that
Speaker 1: I'm gonna look crazy. You know, it ain't gonna be
Speaker 1: one good night. So he called me in, um uh
Speaker 1: this one night, and that was after I had the
Speaker 1: snake experience. You know, I'm on stage, you know, because
Speaker 1: I said, if he's gonna accuse me, I'm gonna let
Speaker 1: it be real. I'm gonna take I'm gonna take some Now,
Speaker 1: let's to night. And so I might as well. I mean,
Speaker 1: he gonna accuse me anyway, So I took it. I could.
Speaker 1: Now you're talking about recalling that night. I have no idea.
Speaker 1: Nobody complained about nothing I played. You know, I don't
Speaker 1: even know how I got through that night. But I
Speaker 1: wind it up in James room and you know, he
Speaker 1: said to me, come in, son, sit down, sit down,
Speaker 1: sit down over there, and he put me right next
Speaker 1: to him, I mean right next to him. You know.
Speaker 1: It was like, you know, I need a little room
Speaker 1: because I need you know, it's like I'm tripping, you know.
Speaker 1: And I couldn't tell him that, but it's like, don't
Speaker 1: you know, and see what he's so deep is he
Speaker 1: knew that I was tripping and he just gonna mess
Speaker 1: my trip up. He's gonna mess it up. So he
Speaker 1: called me get real close to him because he don't
Speaker 1: never have me getting that close, you know. So I
Speaker 1: got so close to him that when he was talking,
Speaker 1: I had to look at him, you know. And when
Speaker 1: I looked at him, his face started like you know
Speaker 1: how volcanoes look, the volcano with the stuff sewing out
Speaker 1: of him. I started seeing his pores just you know,
Speaker 1: all over his face. And the next thing, you know,
Speaker 1: I fell out on the floor, check it out, fell
Speaker 1: out dying. Last he was so through with me, he said,
Speaker 1: no go get you ask he told he told the
Speaker 1: bodyguards throw me out. And that was the last time
Speaker 1: that he called me back in his room to talk
Speaker 1: to give me a lection. Yeah, you know, because every
Speaker 1: night he would call me in the room to tell
Speaker 1: me how bad I was, how messed up, you know,
Speaker 1: how I wasn't on the one son, you ain't got it.
Speaker 1: You still ain't got it. And see we we be
Speaker 1: don't kill the people. The people be like damn them.
Speaker 1: Oh man, the mother. So you get all that wrap.
Speaker 1: Then James called you in the back. Yeah, A son,
Speaker 1: you ain't got it. You wasn't on the one tonight,
Speaker 1: you know. So every day we went in there, that's
Speaker 1: the that's the story I got. And you think that
Speaker 1: was where just kind of keeping your home with not
Speaker 1: getting the big head, But check it out. It was
Speaker 1: a little deeper than that. The more he said that,
Speaker 1: the more it made me want to practice. You know,
Speaker 1: I never knew it at the time, but once I
Speaker 1: got out of the thing and look back, I was
Speaker 1: practicing hard and a mug because I thought we wasn't happening,
Speaker 1: you know. And I don't think he was doing it
Speaker 1: for that purpose, I thought he I think he was
Speaker 1: doing it just to wear me out, because that's what
Speaker 1: he do, you know, he wear a mug out. But
Speaker 1: if you take it in a positive way, you can
Speaker 1: help your situation, you know. And that's why, you know,
Speaker 1: a lot of negative stuff to come down. Some was
Speaker 1: good for you, some of it will you know, if
Speaker 1: you take it in a in a positive way, some
Speaker 1: of it will make you get on it, you know.
Speaker 1: So that particular one made me get on it. And
Speaker 1: what nothing nobody could say that was deepen than James
Speaker 1: Brown about you ain't on it, you know, because I
Speaker 1: hear that voice all the time. I still hear it now, man,
Speaker 1: you know, and it makes me want to do that
Speaker 1: much better, you know. But I know the reasoning now.
Speaker 1: But then I didn't know why he was doing I
Speaker 1: thought he was just doing it just to wear me out,
Speaker 1: you know, um, you know, to make me throw my
Speaker 1: instrument down, you know, and say I can't handle it,
Speaker 1: you know. But it made me grab my instrument more,
Speaker 1: you know, and take a hold of that, you know.
Speaker 1: And you know, and like I said, I don't think
Speaker 1: he I don't think he was doing that on purpose.
Speaker 1: But then again he might have because James was deep
Speaker 1: any other Now, I think I'm good for that, You're
Speaker 1: good for her. Um yeah, I think we covered it.
Speaker 1: Random question that anybody, any styler, has ever tried to
Speaker 1: get up in your business and be like, I think
Speaker 1: I could do some things, you mean, stylish, but at
Speaker 1: some point somebody was like, oh yeah, yeah. I mean,
Speaker 1: you know, it was lots of lots of people that
Speaker 1: that did that, but well it was only a select
Speaker 1: few that would come in. And you know, I always
Speaker 1: drew what I wanted, you know, because if I hadn't
Speaker 1: been a musician. I was gonna definitely yeah, because that's
Speaker 1: all I did in school was drawn. Well, I do
Speaker 1: want to know, uh, how many starglasses do you have?
Speaker 1: And have you ever do you ever go out and
Speaker 1: disguise yourself by not dressing like you just so? You
Speaker 1: gotta you know, you gotta go to Whole Foods and
Speaker 1: get your bread. I had I had to figure that out.
Speaker 1: I mean, once you make that monster, you know, the
Speaker 1: monster turns on. I didn't find that out until it
Speaker 1: turned on me. You know that Bootzella we were talking about.
Speaker 1: When that mom turned on me, I was like, I
Speaker 1: didn't know what to do. I didn't know who I was,
Speaker 1: you know, um, and when when he turns on you,
Speaker 1: you just you know. So I had to find myself again,
Speaker 1: you know, find out the William. You know. I had
Speaker 1: to find William again, yeah, my mom William. I had
Speaker 1: to find that boy that took out the garbage, now
Speaker 1: go on out did take that garbage out? I had
Speaker 1: to find him again because I was so into boots
Speaker 1: and Bootzala that I lost that boy, you know, until
Speaker 1: I came home one day and Mama slapped these same
Speaker 1: glasses off my face and said, get out there and
Speaker 1: take out that damn garbage. And I had all my
Speaker 1: friends with me. I don't do that no more. No,
Speaker 1: I didn't know. I didn't say she had. That's exactly
Speaker 1: what I did. I was fully dressed. She's like, you
Speaker 1: better get you ask and then take out that damn cobbage.
Speaker 1: She went straight to the garbage. She was talking to
Speaker 1: William and that's where I found start to find William McGain.
Speaker 1: It's when she did that. Yeah, that's true story U.
Speaker 1: The star glasses did they? Did they pinture that your
Speaker 1: nose are digging your cheeks? Star? Does that hurt it all? No?
Speaker 1: It might, it might look like it. But actually that's
Speaker 1: a great question, Steve, you know. And then the other
Speaker 1: part of the question is I got asked this a
Speaker 1: few times too, Um what is the star glasses all about?
Speaker 1: And the star period? Because your hat too? Yeah yeah,
Speaker 1: and why um, why did you uh uh make your
Speaker 1: glasses mirror? You know? And my answer was I did
Speaker 1: it in mirror, so who's ever looking at me? You know?
Speaker 1: At the time, it was you know, it was a
Speaker 1: lot of kids that would come to the show, and
Speaker 1: you know, because I dealt with a lot of geepies,
Speaker 1: the fans that the Funkadelic was too you know, older kids, right,
Speaker 1: But I saw getting the younger kids six and seven eights,
Speaker 1: so I started calling geepies. And so I got these
Speaker 1: glad to start glasses so when the kid looked in
Speaker 1: my eyes, instead of them seeing me, they see themselves.
Speaker 1: And that's yeah, that's beautiful now. But that that's that's
Speaker 1: what this was all about. And with the base, if
Speaker 1: you notice the first space basis got the mirror on
Speaker 1: the you know, as a bodyguard. And what what I
Speaker 1: did with that was I wanted the lights when they
Speaker 1: when they hit me from the stage, I wanted those
Speaker 1: lights to hit the base and bounced off the base.
Speaker 1: So all of that, now, all of that was thought out,
Speaker 1: you know. Now, I'd admit most of the stuff we
Speaker 1: never even you know, but the glasses and the image,
Speaker 1: I was alway. I was already on that in school
Speaker 1: when I when I said I was drawing a lot
Speaker 1: in school stick Man with the star glasses, with the
Speaker 1: star base. That was the beginning of it. I didn't
Speaker 1: know that I was gonna wind up actually being that guy,
Speaker 1: but that's what came to me, you know. So you know.
Speaker 1: And then when George gave me the opportunity to to
Speaker 1: uh front the boot the Booty Rubber Band, It's like, oh,
Speaker 1: I already know what I'm gonna do. I gotta find
Speaker 1: somebody to make these stock glasses, and I gotta find
Speaker 1: somebody to make the star bas and I was on
Speaker 1: a mission. Well yeah, Willien Earl Booty Collins, we thank
Speaker 1: you very much for I never knew I remembered all
Speaker 1: of that stuff. Man, Jesus, that was more in our
Speaker 1: bargain for. I don't think you remember these stories. Um yeah,
Speaker 1: those ones there, but a lot of stuff. I don't
Speaker 1: have a clue. We won't ask you about those stories. Yeah,
Speaker 1: just want to record because they're all over your hands.
Speaker 1: You are scorpio. Yeah, okay, alright, oh yeah, you know
Speaker 1: he will be twenty three next month. Anyway, I wanna
Speaker 1: be half of Boss Bill Unpaid Bill, find cig a
Speaker 1: little sugar Steve Like it's like, yeah, I'm sorry, um
Speaker 1: persistent this quest Love and my brother Boucy and Collins.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, there you go. All right, Yeah, let's why
Speaker 1: I see you in the next go round. Question Love, Quess,
Speaker 1: Love Supreme. It's a production of Heart Radio This classic
Speaker 1: episode was produced by the team at pandoram. For more
Speaker 1: podcasts from my Heart Radio, visit the I Heart Radio app,
Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.