“I was playing stuff I don’t think James Brown understood. He told me, ‘You have to play the one – you’re playing too much’”: Six years after he quit touring, Bootsy Collins reflects on James Brown and George Clinton, and what he gets out of playing today

Bootsy Collins.

In the ’60s, Bootsy Collins took an LSD trip to the stars, learning to dial in “the one” for an ever-demanding James Brown. After that, he joined George Clinton, who Collins describes “a freaking madman,” but also someone who urged the bass player to branch out on his own.

Collins has never looked back. He’s played alongside everyone from Bernie Worrell to Snoop Dogg. “This will probably sound crazy,” he says of his experiences. “But I think Buckethead is qualified to be up there in ‘the one’ column. And Sly Stone, I think, is a better musician than people think, or thought.