“Jimi Hendrix was my superhero, and so I threw a bit of his style into the bassline”: How a young Bootsy Collins took the James Brown bass chair to its busiest level on this Bootsy-fied recut from 1970’s Sex Machine

American soul singer and songwriter 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. .

When James Brown passed away in 2006, popular music lost a true icon; the so-called ‘Godfather of Soul’ was a giant of the groove. Alluding to the major musical upheaval of the '60s, one mourner offered, “James Brown was to rhythm what Bob Dylan was to lyrics.”

Although they played together for less than a year, James Brown became somewhat of a father figure to bassist Bootsy Collins, pushing him to become a better musician with each show and take.