Which bassist joined James Brown’s band in 1970 and later became central to Parliament-Funkadelic? Bootsy Collins. His elastic, highly syncopated bass playing helped define James Brown’s early-1970s funk before he became a major figure in George Clinton’s P-Funk world.
Collins and his brother Phelps “Catfish” Collins were members of the Cincinnati group the Pacemakers. After a pay dispute caused most of James Brown’s previous band to leave in March 1970, the Pacemakers were recruited as the nucleus of the new J.B.’s. Bootsy played on landmark recordings including “Get Up (I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine,” “Super Bad” and “Soul Power.”
His tenure with Brown lasted only about 11 months, but its influence was enormous. Collins then joined Clinton’s expanding Parliament-Funkadelic collective, helping shape its bass-heavy sound and larger-than-life stage mythology. He later led Bootsy’s Rubber Band, a P-Funk side project whose 1976 debut album further established his comic persona, “space bass” approach and distinctive vocal style.
Louis Johnson, Bernard Edwards and Larry Graham were also influential bassists, but none fits this particular James Brown-to-P-Funk career path. Collins was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997 as a member of Parliament-Funkadelic.