John Chalmers finds out wassup with Bootsy Collins and his "Fresh Outta 'P' University" album.

You think funk, you think Bootsy Collins! Seminal bass player for James Brown before moving on to partner George Clinton in Parliament and Funkadelic, the childlike and funloving Bootsy is the essence of the irrepressibly rhythmic and out there P-Funk. From humble beginnings in Ohio as the studio bassist for the now legendary King Records, the most sampled bass player ever, Bootsy -- still complete with trademark star guitar and glasses -- gave the world a foundation for hip hop with his interstellar bass lines.

From playing with James Brown as early as 1969, and then P-Funk, and already given to spontaneous reproduction, it was natural for P-Funk to spawn Bootsy's Rubber Band. And while Bootsy's records have outsold George Clinton's he continues to play with P-Funk occasionally. Indeed he was Clinton's right-hand man, contributing music and lyrics to many of P-Funk's best songs and helping establish their doctrine of 'silly seriousness'. Luring JB stalwarts to the Rubber Band (elder brother, guitarist Phelps 'Catfish' Collins, drummer Grankie 'Kash' Waddy, legendary saxophonist Maceo Parker and trombonist Fred Wesley), the Rubber Band would ultimately become part of P-Funk. And while P-Funk was aimed at teenaged older American youth, Bootsy wrote for the 'geepies' -- kids six to twelve who could respond to the songs of Collins' alter egos like Caspar The Friendly Ghost and Bootzilla. Fading from view in the early 80s, Bootsy recorded with the likes of Buddy Miles, The Last Poets and Keith Richards and then recorded and performed with Deee-Lite, appearing on the record and video for "Groove Is In The Heart". In 1997, still resplendent in his freaky wardrobe, Bootsy teamed up with Mousse T, Norman Cook (aka Fatboy Slim, Pizzaman) and Boogieman to bear his first major label solo record ever. When his naturally exaggerated and oh so funky accent comes on line, it is immediately obvious you are dealing with a funloving, yet sincerely warm individual.

BOOTSY: Jaycee wassup man? Just trying to keep the funk alive!

JC: Hey Bootsy, a 90s solo album, huh?

BOOTSY: Ohh yeahhh. I'm thrilled man because it's really a first for me on my own album to have so many different people and different producers and people that really wanted to help to make this thing work, you know? I had some real help, y'know? It was a good feelin' a really good feelin'.

I wasn't even thinking about doin' a major record because I was havin' fun just doin'¼ the tours and the little independent label records -- because I can do 'em the way I wanna do 'em. I didn't have to do no records to satisfy no radio stations, so I was just havin' fun with it. But then this record company from Germany, WEA, they approached me about doin' a record where I could have the old school stuff and the new school stuff, and that really made sense to me.

JC: You must be happy to be bringing the P-Funk to a new generation.

BOOTSY: Yeeeaahh, definitely. Well the hip hoppers, they been samplin' the stuff anyway and they been tellin' me I should do that on my records for years. You know they say "well you help us do it on our records and you should do the same thing" but I never really thought about it seriously, y'know.

JC: But those bass lines of yours are the most sampled ever. You created part of the essence of this shit!

BOOTSY: Yeah, well I'm just really glad that they really kept it alive and made me able to come back into it. This is a two-sided coin y'know? I'm feeling good because I'm in the picture [laughs].

JC: And slick production on the album, eh?

BOOTSY: Oh man, I had three great producers on the album, Mousse T, Boogie Man outta Hamburg and Norman Cook outta London. These guys are like wow. Once I met 'em we jammed in the studio and next thing I know it was like love at first bite -- I just run into these kinda cats, it's just goooone, I don't know if I draw 'em or what [laughs].

JC: From James Brown and George Clinton days right through to now. What's your take on that?

BOOTSY: Well, I'm really glad that I was there at that particular time, I mean, the sixties, come on, man! If I hadn't been born then I woulda just gone on to the next planet. James Brown was cuttin' right here in Cincinatti, Ohio. Whoever woulda thought that? The biggest cat of that time recording right here in Cincinatti. Then we met James Brown and that really blew us away cos we wasn't even looking at his feet, he was so big at that time. Then we got a call that he wanted us in his band and words can't describe how that feeling was. And like I was 16 going on 17. I don't know how I took it, "like what!"? But he said "how much do y'all want to play with me?" and we was like "how much do we want?" We thought we hadda pay you!

JC: And the rest is history, huh?

BOOTSY: Big time. And from that, the discipline we learnt from James, then we went to work with George Clinton and that was like mmm. George gave me the full red carpet treatment. He said "need three or four songs on Funkadelic, I need three or four songs on Parliament, just go do it". All I hadda do was show up in the studio and that's what I did.

JC: Is that where your space bass playing really came into its own?

BOOTSY: Yeees, because when I was goin' to school I had the ideas of wearin' dark glasses and playin' a star guitar but I didn't have no money and wasn't playin' in no band -- but George heard what I was sayin'! James, I could never get that point across to him, he was more into what he was doin'. George was more like a brother, James was more like a father figure, always tellin' me what I should be doin' and what I shouldn't be doin'. And George was into havin' fun and makin' it all happen, so that was like a perfect opportunity for me and I think we both enjoyed ourselves.

Bootsy's back and he's bad! Find out how bad in "Fresh Outta 'P' University" on the WEA label.