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Bootsy Brings the Funk!

by Kellie Knight

With enigmatic appeal and stars in his eyes, literally, the legendary bass guitar maestro William “Bootsy” Collins perched on his th rone to speak before ta capacity crowd at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum. The day, Wednesday, February 22nd 2006; reminiscent of a time when “The Funk” was an empire ruling the airwaves with the jaw-dropping talents of heroes like James Brown as well as George Clinton in Parliament-Funkadelic. But no one knows this better than Bootsy, an amazing hero-King in his own right. The energy in the Hall was free flowing, as the crowd sat captivated and in love.  Professor Thomas Sayers Ellis of Case conducted the nearly two hour interview.  Their relaxed and conversational tone gave the lucky RSVP’ers an inside view into Bootsy’s beginning, love of music and declaration to make music his only recreational drug.  This set the stage for a Q&A with Bootsy Collins that will forever embed its wonderful memories into the Rock Hall’s white tiles. Man! If these walls could talk!

Ellis asked Bootsy about his early years, so Bootsy rewinded the clock by telling the story of borrowing his older brother’s guitar.  Around the age of nine he picked it up to be like his big brother who “always has the girls around”.  He would regularly borrow the instrument when “bruh” wasn’t looking, until his brother decided to come home early and blasted young Bootsy!  By then he was hooked and asked mom to buy him one of his own.  Finances were tight so Bootsy eventually got a paper route to purchase his first bass guitar.

All the questions zigged and zagged into great and sometime funny stories about touring, the bands he played with and on over to his philosophy of life.  One question about a trip to Africa with James Brown revealed he was a great swimmer too!  He gave us the Bootsy serenade from atop a fictional racing block.  Ellis did a great job of directing traffic and keeping the interview focused. But, not without the natural tangents that kept it totally real and human.  At times it felt as if we were all at a friend’s momma’s house, up late, vibing.

When asked about his Player’s life he said that he has turned in his “Player’s card” for someone that has got his back.  His beautiful wife joined him on stage and their synergy was obvious. But, that didn’t stop him from disclosing to his captive audience that he had no less than five women at his disposal per city he toured, most times “back in the day!”  His Harem would come to the shows and no one seemed to mind. Ahhh, The life of a Black rock star!

The night ended with questions from the audience and autographs.  Most of the questions were cool, but of course, we couldn’t finish the night without some divisive commentary from the seventies-babies and the predictable rap music bashing. In a supposedly music lover’s audience, some failed to see the value of ‘sampling’ and its role in re-introducing classic Funk music to later generations. Not to mention keeping some of those musicians, including Bootsy, paid!  Deservedly, since so many, including Bootsy was not properly compensated for their talents and contributions.  Bootsy however, showed nothing but love and respect for everyone.  He said rap artists, such as Snoop Dogg come to visit his studio, dubbed “Bootsy’s Rehab.”  After being asked what’s in his CD player he named the spectrum—Chili Peppers, OutKast 311 and Beethoven, etc.

The questions ended when Lady Bootsy joined him on stage to signal “bedtime” or else we all would have “stayed up all night” vibing.  This was an end to a fantastic night where any Bootsy fan, or not, left feeling very full and chanting “Bootsy!” The very much deserved praise for another legendary hero-King.