R.I.P., Jack Bruce! (George Clinton on patching up things with Cream)

Jack Bruce (Photo: Christian Sahm / licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license)

John Symon Asher „Jack“ Bruce passed away yesterday (Saturday, October 25, 2014) at age 71. In his just-released autobiography „Brothas Be, Yo, Like George, Ain’t That Funkin‘ Kinda Hard on You?“ Parliament/Funkadelic’s George Clinton (73) remembers running into Cream’s founder member in the spring of 1993 – before and during the band’s induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame:

(…) Cream was inducted, which was a kind of brain twist: I got to watch two of my most important influences [Sly Stone was there as well – PJ] and think about the way that I had built Funkadelic on the intersection between their two bands. Jimi Hendrix had it right when he said that Cream was quitting just as everybody else was getting started. I also got to watch how a band acted when they put old rivalries and infighting behind them.

Question to Bootsy Collins: Did The J.B.’s Understand James Brown?

A short excerpt of a phone interview I did with Bootsy Collins today:

I may post more clips during the weekend.

Funky Luftbrücke from New Orleans nach Hamburg

Wenn Moderatoren im Radio ihre Hörer grüßen, assoziiere ich das eher mit NDR-2-Sendungen, in denen Oma Martha den Enkeln, die nie anrufen, trotzdem alles Liebe wünscht. Kürzlich jedoch durfte ich mich selbst über einen solchen Gruß freuen – wobei die Freude besonders groß war, da sich hier eine meiner ältesten Passionen, nämlich Old-School-Funk, mit diesem neuen weltweiten Datennetz verband, von dem man heute so viel hört.

Sooo neu ist das natürlich nicht, denn per elektronischer Post habe ich seit Mitte der 90er Jahre Kontakt mit Melissa A. Weber (aka DJ Soul Sister), einer afroamerikanischen DJane in New Orleans. Sie und ich betrieben damals Websites, die sich um unsere Lieblingsmusik drehten: P-Funk (George Clinton / Parliament / Funkadelic / Bootsy Collins & Co.).

The Funky Farmer: George Clinton Home Story (1986)

This is the English translation of a George Clinton home story which I did in 1986 when I was working as a music journalist (original German version):

One morning at 5 a.m. on the funky farm: sputter – sputter – zang – boom – crash. Strange sounds are emanating from the hall. A few minutes later George Clinton stands in the living room: „Damn, not even 4000 points! When I’m that bad, I know that it’s time to quit. Good night!“ A last disappointed look at the Galaxian video game, and Clinton disappears into the bedroom. In the neighborhood the first cocks are crowing.