Funkadelic Foundation
Billy "Bass" Nelson
‘I’d hung around George Clinton’s barbershop since I was a little kid, and I started to work there when I was 15. Eddie Hazel inspired me to learn guitar, and when the Parliaments would go on the road, I would play rhythm guitar and work out the arrangements for the house-band rhythm section. We played mostly Motown hits. When we moved to Detroit, I met James Jamerson, who taught me how to play bass. ‘Music for My Mother’ is a good example of how he taught me to stay in the lower register. I used an Ampeg bass on that song. I was also really into the Beatles and the Jimi Hendrix Experience, so my style became a combination of those influences mixed with my natural tendency to aggressively attack every note and every show with 100 percent of my energy.
“George eventually assembled a backing band consisting of me on bass, Eddie Hazel on lead guitar, Lucius ‘Tawl’ Ross on rhythm guitar, Ramon ‘Tiki’ Fulwood on drums, and Bernie Worrell on keyboards. There was a definite rift between the vocalists and the backing band, and the band came up with that funky rock sound. One day, Eddie and I were tossing ideas back and forth when we came up with the name ‘Funkadelic,’ which perfectly fit the psychedelic funk music.
“I always played an assortment of basses. It surprises people to find out that I sometimes used a Hagstrom 8-string, which produces an almost synth-bass tone when played with a pick. You can hear it on ‘I Got a Thing, You Got a Thing, Everybody’s Got a Thing’ and ‘Free Your Mind … and Your Ass Will Follow.’ We were touring primarily with Kustom amps until one very important gig opening for the Vanilla Fudge in 1968. We were forced to use their Marshall guitar amps and Ampeg SVT bass amps, and the sound was so huge. We already had the look and the material, but it was at that moment that the true Funkadelic sound was born.
“Due to credit, compensation, and various other issues, the entire band split in 1971. I’m very outspoken, so I was the most vocal about being unhappy. That’s when George grabbed Bootsy Collins and his band to replace us, but the sound wasn’t nearly the same, because those guys were from the James Brown funk school. They didn’t take what we were doing seriously, especially the look, and they lasted on the road for only about seven months before George wisely began to split the thing into Parliament and Funkadelic.
“I moved on to play with Ruth Copeland. We spent almost two years opening for Sly & the Family Stone, so I picked up a lot from Larry Graham, as he did from me. I freaked him out because instead of slap-and-pop, my technique is more like ‘hit-and-pinch,’ where I use my thumb or index finger to hit the low note, and then use my thumb and index finger to pinch. The attack is more aggressive that way. I did session work for Motown, too, and you can hear me using that technique on the Temptations’ hit ‘Shakey Ground’ from A Song for You.
“I sat in with P-Funk when they came to Pittsburgh in 1994. George really dug having me play on the old tunes and asked me to come on the road, which I did from November ’94 until last year. I’m not a happy P-Funk camper right now because of monetary and credit issues, and because I’m disappointed it became a settle-for-less organization. Despite the shortcomings, I really enjoyed coming back and working with the band again. I have more confidence in my abilities as a professional bass player than ever before.”
Personal File
Tenure 1967–71, 1994–2004
Style Raw and rockin’ with a robust tone and a Motown influence
Can be heard on Funkadelic’s Free Your Mind … And Your Ass Will Follow, Funkadelic, and Maggot Brain [all on Westbound]; Parliament’s Osmium, [Invictus], “The Placebo,” from Funkentelechy Vs. The Placebo Syndrome, [Casablanca]
Classic gear Fender Jazz Bass, Fender Precision Bass, Fender Telecaster Bass, Ampeg AEB-1 bass, Hagstrom 8-string, Dunlop CryBaby wah, Arbiter Fuzz Face, Ampeg SVT head, Ampeg 1x18 + 2x12 cabinet, Marshall bass head, Marshall 4x12 cabinet
Current gear Warwick Thumb Bass 5-string, B.C. Rich NJ5EBTR Eagle 5-string, Markbass HQ Series T902 head, Dean Markley Signature Series strings, two Markbass STD 151 1x15 cabinets, two Markbass STD 104 4x10 cabinets
Status Finished a ten-year stint on the road with
P-Funk in 2004; currently living and gigging in
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
George Clinton says
“Billy set a high standard for everything that followed. His Funkadelic work is still among my all-time favorite stuff because he had the Motown
flavor with an aggressive rock attitude.”
