“Recording with the J.B.’s cats again felt incredible – beyond sex,” said Bootsy Collins in the October 2007 issue of Bass Player. The funk bass legend was talking of his soundtrack session for the comedy film Superbad.
Led by guitarist/composer Lyle Workman, Bootsy and several other James Brown alumni – including drummers Clyde Stubblefield and John “Jab’o” Starks and guitarist Phelps “Catfish” Collins – convened to recreate the unique chemistry that had once made Brown’s backing band such a formidable force.
“It felt the same as it ever did. Even though we all have gotten older and are looking crazy, that energy popped back like we had been playing all the time. Nobody was rusty, man. Everybody was on – like we’d just got off the J.B.’s bus!”
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Much like the James Brown days, that element of musical interaction provided the foundation for Bootsy to instinctively build his basslines during the session.
“We pretty much came up with our own parts once Lyle would strike up the groove, which is pretty much how it was with James Brown.”
“There’s nothing like it when you’re feeling each other, wondering what a guy is going to play next and knowing that whatever it is, you’re going to be on top of it.
“People are making great music with computers and so on, but that’s like having a doll in the closet instead of having a real chick, you know?”
Bootsy’s partnership with Clyde Stubblefield and John “Jab’o” Starks was never simply a case of locking into the same beat. Each drummer brought a distinct feel to the J.B.’s rhythm section, and Bootsy learned to respond accordingly.
“Jab’o has got the swing thing – like on Sex Machine – but Clyde is more of a live-on-fire kind of drummer – like on Get Up, Get Into It, and Get Involved. I’ve learned to lay with each of them.
“It’s like having two different girlfriends – you talk one way to one, and another way to the other. One chick will want to jump in the backseat real quick and get it on, and the other might require more foreplay. The end result is the same, so you play with the instruments like that.
“You have to vibe with Jab’o a little bit, and then he’s there. Clyde doesn’t need any foreplay – you just jump right in with him!”
For the Superbad soundtrack, authenticity was more important than showcasing Bootsy’s trademark slap bass style, with the demands of the groove calling for the kind of precise, and syncopated fingerstyle playing that he had developed during his time with James Brown.
“With James, it was all about who had the fastest fingers, who could play the most syncopated fingerstyle grooves. They thought I was on fire with that.
“Now I don’t try to play so many things or so fast. I just concentrate on making sure the groove is there, and that the notes I play feel right. I try to avoid the obvious and put notes where nobody else would.
“It’s not something I think about – once you start thinking, you’re shot. It just happens, and that difference creates my style.”
