Hear “My Mind Set Me Free”
“Got my diamonds out of hock and I’m ready to funk!” says Bootsy Collins, who has launched his own label Bootzilla Records, the new home for Bootsy’s personal archives and current projects. For over 50 years, Bootsy has collected music, collaborations, interviews, films and more, from his time with James Brown’s Original J.B.’s, Parliament-Funkadelic, Bootsy’s Rubber Band and beyond. On June 28, Bootzilla Records will release Bootzilla Records Archives, Volume 1, part of an ongoing series.
Watch the previously unreleased video for “Bootsy Play-Cation” (featuring the Rubber Band), recorded and filmed in 2012, Cincinnati.
“We’ll be sharing unreleased music from the past, music from the present, and music far into the future,” says Collins. “Let’s just say that the Star-Gate has been opened, and the fountain of youth is pouring love, health and Bootsyful motivation across this nation. Stone-cold, funked-up history in the making!”
Bootzilla Records Archives, Vol. 1 track listing
Crushin’ on U (featuring Ouiwey) – Recorded in 2018
Bootsy Play-Cation (featuring The Rubber Band) – Recorded in 2012
Z-Declassified (with Buckethead, Catfish Collins, Bernie Worrell,
Razor Sharp Johnson, Fred Wesley)
When I’m Dancing – Recorded in 2006
Nothin’ but U (featuring Chew Fu)
My Mind Set Me Free: The House Guests Meet The Complete Strangers
& Bootsy, Phelps & Gary
Forthe first time ever as an official release, the House Guests’ complete recordings will be available on August 23 (Cincinnati’s Shake It! Records). The nine-track collection of obscure singles titled My Mind Set Me Free: The House Guests Meet The Complete Strangers & Bootsy, Phelps & Gary will be released as a limited-edition LP and all formats.
An invaluable if unsung piece of funk history, The House Guests – Bootsy with Phelps “Catfish” Collins (guitar), Frank “Kash” Waddy (drums), Clayton “Chicken” Gunnells (trumpet) and Rufus Allen (vocals)- are the link between the Original JB’s and Funkadelic.
Many, many ecstatic concertgoers, as well as two of the greatest bandleaders in the history of R&B, soul and rock, have wanted the House Guests, albeit not necessarily by that name. When James Brown wanted them, they were called the Pacemakers; when Brown employed them on some of his most important and influential hits, they were known as the Original JB’s; and when the Motor City visionary George Clinton recruited them, they came to be known as Funkadelic. Later, they developed a groundbreaking school of psychedelic space-funk as the Complete Strangers and, finally, Bootsy’s Rubber Band.
But for a brief, fleeting moment of divine semi-obscurity, at home in funk-rich Ohio and on the great American road, they were the House Guests. “Couldn’t nobody tell us we weren’t doing it right, because we didn’t really care,” Bootsy recalls today, bursting into one of his spirit-filling laughs. “We just loved what we were doing, we loved each other and we loved traveling. We were just having a great time. And it all showed in the music.”
The House Guests track listing
My Mind Set Me Free
What So Never to Dance
Fun in Your Thang Pt. 1
Fun in Your Thang Pt. 2
House Guest Girls
Be Right Back
Say Something Good
Together
Love and Understanding
More information on The House Guests can be found here.
