BIO Channel brings viewers inside the ground-breaking story of one man, his music and the world that embraced him with the two-hour documentary special “Jimi Hendrix Voodoo Child,” premiering on Thursday, August 26 at 9PM ET/ 8PM CT/ 10PM PT.
Bootsy Collins’ newly-established Funk University, the first ever online guitar school for bassists, will make you into a funk legend — or at least teach you the basics through video lectures and daily lessons from guest professors such as Les Claypool and John B. Williams. We emailed Professor Bootsy — who along with 15 other members of Parliament-Funkadelic, was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame back in 1997 — and University Director Cory Danziger to learn more about the upcoming semester at FU and determine once and for all the meaning of “the funk.”
Walking, talking embodiment of the slap-bass Bootsy Collins has declared, “The state of funk today is kind of funked up”—and while that's something we say around the A.V. Club offices, like, every single day, Collins has announced that he plans to do something about it by establishing his own Funk University. Sort of a University of Phoenix for people who hang out at Guitar Center a lot, the web-only Funk U.—a partnership between Collins and former child actor Cory Danziger—will feature exclusive video lectures from Collins and guest teachers such as Flea, Les Claypool, John B. Williams, and Victor Wooten on funk history and how to make the funky most of your bass, with funky periodic staff reviews of student performances.
He laid the low-end foundation for '70s James Brown and prime George Clinton. He invented, if not perfected, a new way to play the bass. He wears shades shaped like stars. He has a brother named Catfish. He is Bootsy Collins, and he is the funkiest man alive.
Sometimes, though, even the most righteous of soul brothers can go astray, and establishing an online bass school constitutes exactly that. Read Write Web has informed us that July 1st will see the first day of classes for those enrolled in Bootsy's online Funk University.
Bootsy Collins is fed up with young people not knowing the history of funk music - and he's doing something about it.
The bassist for James Brown in the early '70s and then George Clinton's Parliament-Funkadelic through 1980 is opening his own school of higher learning -- Funk University, an online bass guitar school he is co-creating with actor-entrepreneur Cory Danziger.
"The state of funk today is kind of funked up," Collins told ABC News in a report published Monday.
Bootsy Collins Launching Funk University
The Trailblazing Bass Pioneer Wants to Spread the Gospel of Groove
"The state of funk today is kind of funked up."
Professor Bootsy Collins discusses the philosophy behind F.U.
Such a dire musical proclamation comes from no less a groove guru than William Earl Collins. Better known as Bootsy, the trailblazing bassist for James Brown in the early '70s and then George Clinton's ...
- The Tavis Smiley Show, August 6, 2010 (Podcast)
- 06 Aug 2010 04:00:00 GMT
- Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Author Wafa Sultan, CBS Reporter Byron Pitts, Legendary FUNK bassist Bootsy Collins
The legendary musician whose anthem is "One Nation Under a Groove" is now offering a degree in funk. This summer, Bootsy Collins is launching Funk University. Bootsy laments that kids today can't tell their James Brown from their George Clinton. So the online school, or FU, will offer classes in bass guitar from Professors Flea, Victor Wooten and others. Anyone aiming to get an A will surely be chanting: Feet dont fail me now.
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