Given that Prince grew up a fan of Parliament/Funkadelic, I'm surprised he's never hooked up with Bootsy Collins as his bass player. I'd rather him than Larry Graham. Is Bootsy still around and playing?

Just a guess but I think Bootsy is probably too individualistic to be put under Prince's thumb. He's pretty busy doing his own thing and wouldn't want to "only" be Prince's bass player.

Yup. Bootsy has some new clips online from his visit at NAMM from 2011. He's been promoting his F.U.N.K University school.

I'm kinda surprised that Bootsy and P never did anything. According to George Clinton he used to see P (around 78-79) at all the Bootsy shows back then.

I saw Bootsy's Unsung documentary, and it seemed like Bootsy was a little resentful (And rightfully so) that Warner Bros. wanted him to use Prince's style.

One thing that stuck out for me is when Bootsy said he didn't wanna sound like Prince, and he wanted to be himself. Then, they cut to a picture of Bootsy wearing a purple studded trenchcoat and wearing lipstick!

I don't think Bootsy ever had a problem with Prince. I just think he didn't want that influence and more resentful of the label for suggesting he be like the new, hot act at the time.

I've been wondering about this too....only reasion that I could think of is that P is scared to stand next to Bootsy, who is about twice as tall as him...

Paris9748430 said:

I saw Bootsy's Unsung documentary, and it seemed like Bootsy was a little resentful (And rightfully so) that Warner Bros. wanted him to use Prince's style.

One thing that stuck out for me is when Bootsy said he didn't wanna sound like Prince, and he wanted to be himself. Then, they cut to a picture of Bootsy wearing a purple studded trenchcoat and wearing lipstick!

I don't think Bootsy ever had a problem with Prince. I just think he didn't want that influence and more resentful of the label for suggesting he be like the new, hot act at the time.

That was very misleading

Boots was doing that during his Ultra Wave period, early 1980.

Prince was in his bikini drawers during that time, Dirty Mind'n

[img:$uid]http://www.amoeba.com/sized-images/maxs/800/600/uploads/blog/Chad_2/fringe/ultra_wave.jpg[/img:$uid]

so, nope

Plus, I think it might strictly be a musical thing. I think it's obvious that Prince was much more influenced by Larry Graham's bass playing than he was Bootsy's.

The way Prince plays the bass is much more like Larry's than it is Bootsy's.

HuMpThAnG said:

That was very misleading

Boots was doing that during his Ultra Wave period, early 1980.

Prince was in his bikini drawers during that time, Dirty Mind'n

so, nope

Fair enough, but Bootsy did say how much the label was pressuring him to sound like Prince.

[Edited 3/12/11 2:33am]

Paris9748430 said:

HuMpThAnG said:

That was very misleading

Boots was doing that during his Ultra Wave period, early 1980.

Prince was in his bikini drawers during that time, Dirty Mind'n

so, nope

Fair enough, but Bootsy did say how much the label was pressuring him to sound like Prince.

[Edited 3/12/11 2:33am]

And thank God he didn't give in to it

Great topic. I don't think that there was a place, musically, in Prince's band for Bootsy. He is more of a "lead bass" player. Listen to his stuff and you see that he plays the bass like a lead guitar. Listen to Prince's stuff, and it matters not if you like the song or not, the arrangements are always tight. Nothing steps on anything else. Bootsy would have been bored halfway theough the first practice. Prince would have fired him the first time he stepped on that octave pedal.

leonche64 said:

Great topic. I don't think that there was a place, musically, in Prince's band for Bootsy. He is more of a "lead bass" player. Listen to his stuff and you see that he plays the bass like a lead guitar. Listen to Prince's stuff, and it matters not if you like the song or not, the arrangements are always tight. Nothing steps on anything else. Bootsy would have been bored halfway theough the first practice. Prince would have fired him the first time he stepped on that octave pedal.

There u have it.

Maybe you're right about Bootsy not wanting to be controlled by Prince but Bootsy definitely has the funk vibe more than Larry IMO (I know his involvement in slapping/popping but he seems like a grandad trying to be cool - Bootsy simply exudes funk) and for attitude alone should be in Prince's band. I think it would also boost Prince's kudos among the true funk fraternity who may still see P as a bit too pop.

bigbrother said:

Maybe you're right about Bootsy not wanting to be controlled by Prince but Bootsy definitely has the funk vibe more than Larry IMO (I know his involvement in slapping/popping but he seems like a grandad trying to be cool - Bootsy simply exudes funk) and for attitude alone should be in Prince's band. I think it would also boost Prince's kudos among the true funk fraternity who may still see P as a bit too pop.

interesting

bigbrother said:

Maybe you're right about Bootsy not wanting to be controlled by Prince but Bootsy definitely has the funk vibe more than Larry IMO (I know his involvement in slapping/popping but he seems like a grandad trying to be cool - Bootsy simply exudes funk) and for attitude alone should be in Prince's band. I think it would also boost Prince's kudos among the true funk fraternity who may still see P as a bit too pop.

Oh Big Brother, you got that part nailed. Larry is indeed the originator of slapping and popping, and a very funky bass player. But he always seemed a generation removed from the band. Bootsy on the other hand IS funk and seems ageless. Maybe they can do a collaboration, I would love to see the Star bass on stage with the Symbol guitar...that would be a feast for the eyes alone. But I think the Star bass would burn in frustration at having to play some of those "other" songs.