“James felt the fines would make you work harder. He was using that reverse psychology on us, and we didn’t understand at the time”: Bootsy Collins on why James Brown’s fines worked for his musicians

James Brown (1933-2006) performs live on stage with the J.B.'s, including bass guitarist Bootsy Collins on left and guitarist Catfish Collins (1943-2010) behind on right, in East Ham, London in March 1971.

Bootsy Collins – one of the greatest bass players of all time – has a new record out soon, the modestly-titled Album Of The Year Number 1 Funkateer, and has been speaking about his time playing with two titans of funk: James Brown and George Clinton.

In a new interview with Rolling Stone, Collins, now 73, talked about The Godfather of Funk's policy of fining band members who missed a note and suggests that it was a positive thing.