Puttin' a Dip in My Hip with Professor Bootsy

What if you could be You, but distilled down to your essence, then super sized, and turned up to 11?

And what if that turned-up-to-11 You was such a badass that you founded an online university so that people could essentially learn how to do what you do, and be more like you?

Sounds crazy?  Not if you're Bootsy Collins.

My parents listened to a lot of the current pop music of the 70's, so I grew up with some great music.  My dad was and is partial to jazz, and he's  always had a special fondness for bands with a great horn section like Chicago, and Blood, Sweat, and Tears.  So I did up with some music that had some zowie to it.

But what I don't recall having around the house is funk.

(I'm sure my sister will chime in if I'm wrong.  She has by far the better memory.)

So, as I've been going along on my bass journey, my teacher has been doling out songs with really clear, easy-to-pick-out bass lines.  So far, those have included some soul, reggae, Motown, and now funk songs. What a blast!

This week's project is  the classic "Mothership Connection" by Parliament Funkadelic,  helmed by George Clinton, with Bootsy Collins handling the low end. 

"Put a dip in your hip

a glide in your stride

and come on up to the Mothership"

And the more I hear and see Bootsy Collins, the more fascinated I become. Whatever else he is, when he's on stage, he's all Bootsy, turned up to 11.

It makes me wonder...If you could reinvent yourself, as You x 10, who would you be?

 

And the best news of all...

Did you know that you can actually matriculate at Funk University?

It's true. 

Bootsy himself has set up an online school of funk called, naturally, or Funk U.

Check it out.