Happy Easter to those who celebrate, and happy shakin’ to all those with rumps. Here are five of the best easy-to-miss moments in funk.
Bootsy Collins in the background of ‘Mothership Connection (Star Child)’
Bootsy Collins is an unignorable presence throughout much of Parliament’s Mothership Connection (1975), his bass giving both weight and spaceish adventurism to the album. But one contribution is more subtle: his studio chatter from 3:47 in ‘Mothership Connection (Star Child)’. The first part is inaudible but then you hear “me and the boys, brother” as Bootsy references the fantastic chorus: “If you hear any noise, it’s just me and the boys / Hit me. You gotta hit the band.”
Junie Morrison asks which one George Clinton is
In his first session with Funkadelic after three records with Ohio Players and three solo albums, Junie Morrison recorded ‘Promentalshitbackwashpsychosis Enema Squad (The Doo Doo Chasers)’ for One Nation Under a Groove (1978). Junie asked “Which one is George Clinton?”, referencing Clinton’s comparable anonymity during Bootsy Collins’ ascent to stardom in the 1970s. Junie repeated the joke for Parliament’s ‘Deep’, released earlier the same year.
Bootsy Collins forgets when the chorus is
In the Bootsy’s Rubber Band cut ‘The Pinocchio Theory’, Bootsy seemingly gets confused by his own song. After the Rubber Band have crammed about as many “funk”s into the first verse as physically possible (“Somebody been sleeping with my funk / Funkin’ round funkin’ with it till they funked it up”), Bootsy tells his bandmates, “Sing!”, seemingly expecting the chorus. But the (equally catchy) horn riff arrives, and Bootsy can be heard saying, “Oh.”
Flea chats to the ‘Aeroplane’ kids
Red Hot Chili Peppers were in a dark place during the era of One Hot Minute (1995). But the album include some joyous moments, including a children’s choir singing on ‘Aeroplane’, a time Flea looked back on fondly years later (even in the company of John Frusciante, who had quit then rejoined the band). Just before their main moment to shine, Flea can be heard chatting to the kids (3:40). In a rare in-studio video, you can see Flea directing them.
Flea’s daughter Clara Balzary, among the singers, directed the video to his recent single, ‘A Plea’, released 30 years later.
Anthony Kiedis references Tom Tom Club
In 2004, Flea and co were supported by James Brown during a run at Hyde Park in London. It’d be a mere dream for pretty much any other band inspired by the funk forefather. But in the early days of the Peppers, a drug-addicted Anthony Kiedis once convinced Flea to stick around by saying, “But Flea, I was going to be the James Brown of the ’80s”.
The band recorded those landmark gigs for their 2004 Live in Hyde Park album. Toward the end of the ‘Right On Time’ track (2:37), during a spoken interlude before ‘Parallel Universe’, Flea says to the crowd, “Thank you so much for comin’ to see us play, and comin’ to see James Brown play.” Kiedis responds, “James Brooowwwn!”, referencing Tom Tom Club’s classic, ‘Genius Of Love’, inspired by many of the same artists that inspired the Chilis.
Top image from Discogs.