Bass superstar Bootsy Collins has been bringing the funk and holding down the bottom end for five decades. His reputation and legacy are built on his inimitable command of groove and tone. His custom basses, monstrous effects rig, and multi-amp setup are legendary. I was privileged to sit down with Bootsy during his recent visit to Sweetwater. Here is an excerpt from our conversation.
What was it like playing with James Brown at age 18?
It was mind-blowing. At that time, to us, he was the biggest! We never thought we’d wind up playing with him. He sent us out on the road with Hank Ballard and then Marva Whitney. We didn’t know that James Brown was prepping us to play with him at some point. He kept that a secret until it was the right time.
James said you were too busy with your playing and that he wanted you to emphasize the “one.”
I was busy because I was a guitar player. I really didn’t know about playing bass. When we got with James Brown, his rap was, “Son, you’re too busy. You’re playing too many things. I tell you what: if you give me the one…” And I was like, what is the “one”? He had this concept of BANG, 2, 3, 4, BANG, 2, 3, 4. He wanted me to emphasize the one count. He said, “You can play anything you want to play, just give me that one.” Playing the one kind of made me come back. It helped me stabilize as a bass player.
What influences whether you choose to hit the one or not?
It depends on what I’m hearing. I know where the one is at. That’s the whole key. That allows you to either play with it or off of it. I can play after the one or right before the one. But the kick drum is always right there. Normally, you would just play right on the one. But I was hearing all kinds of stuff, so it was like, how close to the one can I get? I can purposefully play on the one when I’m feeling that. But I don’t want to be locked into having to play on the one.
What are you hearing to tell you how to subdivide the beat?
You know, I’ve never actually thought about it or got a question about it. That’s probably the answer; I never thought about it. What felt good to James Brown, that felt good to me. But there’s something else that feels good to me also. I learned to feel the one, but I was also feeling this off-time, syncopated stuff. I guess it depends on the riff I’m hearing and what’s being played around me — I might be playing off of something else.
You started playing with your thumb, then added fingerstyle, and then added slap.
When I started playing bass, a lot of bass players were playing with their thumb and first finger or just their first finger. The next thing I knew, the new thing was playing with the fingers. The finger thing stayed in for a long time. Then Larry Graham came out with the slap. It was like, fingerstyle and slap; there’s your choice. You just start embracing. That’s what we did — we embraced the slap. I just had to have an open mind. Now, today, all the youth has caught onto it, and they’ve taken it to another level. Bass has definitely evolved.