Bootsy Collins: Still Stretchin' Out the Uncut Funk

*From the "Things You Do When Schloopy's on the Loose" Dept...*The Black History Month posts continue today and picks up with William “Bootsy” Collins who was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, and began performing with his guitar-playing brother Phelps “Catfish” Collins. The two eventually formed the Pacemakers, and the outfit got gigs playing in local bars (though Bootsy was underage) as early as 1967...Discovered by King Records’ Bud Hobgood, who was James Brown’s production manager at the time, the young group was offered session work at the label backing bigger recording artists like Arthur Prysock, which led to touring gigs for label acts as well. The young Collins brothers outfit was called to the front lines of the performance scene when the Godfather of Soul’s own band became unhappy during a tour. Brown remembered the Pacemakers from the studio, had sidekick Bobby Byrd find them, and sent his private plane (to Ohio from Georgia) so the fledgling act could back him in that evening’s scheduled performance. The extemporaneous lineup change effectively infused the “new JB’s” into Brown's recording/performing band as Brown instantly began to record with the “new blood.” In a little less than a year, Collins was featured on recordings of such James Brown staples as “Sex Machine,” “Talkin’ Loud And Sayin’ Nothin’,” “Soul Power,” “Get Up, Get Into It And Get Involved,” and “Superbad”— at the ripe age of 16....Collins adopted his “wild style” dress code while touring with the JB’s in Europe and witnessing the duds that the crowds were sporting at discos, years before the styles would become mainstream fare in the States...In spite of the opportunities that touring worldwide with the Godfather offered, Collins began to experience firsthand exactly why the band they replaced stopped working with James Brown in the first place: constant touring, strict regiment, and overall draconian policies. Collins decided to go back to Ohio to do his own thing with the House Guests. When Bootsy and Catfish left the JB’s in ’71, they were joined by other J.B.’s luminaries Maceo Parker, Frank “Kash” Waddy, and Fred Wesley. This would forge the practice of a core group of musicians performing and recording under various names (much like jazz musicians in the decades before) and affiliations, a habit that bled over into the Parliament dynasty to follow..."*check the rest and a phat-ass video here*":http://chronicridicule.blogspot.com/2007/02/bootsy-collins-stretches-out-in-music.html