A LOVELY CHAT WITH BOOTSY COLLINS

Revisiting a born day treat for you and me.

Bootsy Collins has been in my life since 1970, though I didn’t know it at the time. As a member of the JBs, Bootsy was the bass player on some of the most hellacious funk jams recorded by James Brown when I was an adolescent, records that designed air molecules and send streams of funkafied energy through my body. Only later, when he’d joined the musical circus of Parliament-Funkadelic, did the sound of those throbbing bass lines become the tall, jovial fifure of William Earl Collins aka Bootzilla aka Casper the Funky Ghost aka “the world’s only rhinestone rockstar monster of a doll.”

I first saw Boosty was at the Felt Forum in the late ‘70s, a concert venue located on the Eight Avenue side of Madison Square Garden, where he and his Rubber Band turned out several thousand young funkateers. When I became a professional journalist I interviewed him a few times about new record releases. But it wasn’t until I made Finding the Funk that I got to sit down for a lenghty chat about all things Bootsy. That meant Ohio funk, James Brown, George Clinton, Jimi Hendrix, Sly Stone, Larry Graham and space ships. Without a doubt one of the most enjoyable conversations with a musician I’ve ever had.

September 1st is my born day, so I thought I’d celebrate it by sharing Mr. Collin’s wit and wisdom.