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Live in Louisville 1978

Bootsy's Rubber Band - Live in Louisville 1978 Audio CD

A fair review of the Bootsy's Rubber Band "Live in Louisville 1978" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Bootsy's Rubber Band reviews here, or go back to the Bootsy's Rubber Band tabs.

Band: Bootsy's Rubber Band
Title: Live in Louisville 1978
Rating:

Release Date: 2001-10-23
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Intro-Maceo 2: Bootsy? (What Is the Name of This Town) 3: Rubber Duckie 4: Psychoticbumpschool 5: Pinnochio Theory 6: Hollywood Squares 7: Roto-Rooter 8: Very Yes 9: Can't Stay Away 10: Stretchin' Out (In a Rubber Band) 11: I'd Rather Be With You 12: Aah the Name Is Bootsy, Baby 13: Bootzilla

Time to turn this mother out!
I agree with other reviewers that this shows a much groovier, funkier side of Bootsy in comparison with the clean, antiseptic, and occasionally slightly-too-mellow studio albums Bootsy put out. It's an absolute shame this disc is not still in print. This recording just takes it over the top.

"What's the Name of this Town" gives us a hint of the bass tone to come with a huge, fuzzy, single note bass line that mutates into a great, off beat funky groove. Great guitar work by Catfish Collins. "Rubber Duckie" dishes out a great (albeit short) groove that leads right into "Psychoticbumpschool" which turns the studio recording on its head with a new bassline hitting heavily on the dominant 7th. Bootsy is the consummate showman and involves the crowd on "The Pinocchio Theory", duly dubbed "the world's funkiest singalong". "Hollywood Squares" follows from the Player of the Year album and the bass/guitar groove smolders to great effect. "Roto-Rooter" is a manic, wild incessant groove with fantastically rhythmic Bootsy vocals (it is a pleasant rarity when Bootsy actually does straight ahead singing, which he is actually quite good at). "Very Yes" is a mellow, funky classic, and a special highlight is Catfish soloing through an envelope filter. "Can't Stay Away" ditches most of the studio song to highlight Maceo Parker playing a wild, almost completely insane (in a good way) sax solo through an Echoplex. Then into the classic from the album of the same name, "Stretchin' Out", the highlight of which is the extended midsection with a huge, but simple groove. It gets into your head. . . trust me, after a few days you will have "we like to party!" stuck in your head. The album's emotional climax is at the next track "I'd Rather Be With You", which features some of the most ridiculously obscene spoken vocals from Bootsy, but the subtle interplay of the guitar and keys is fantastic in the softer sections, and Bootsy's fuzzy bass solo is awesome and tremendous. Then for the end, we hit a great (albeit short) version of "Aah, the Name is Bootsy, Baby", and then into the closer of "Bootzilla" that includes snippets of "America the Beautiful" (curious Hendrix reference I suppose).

All in all, every last one of these songs is rendered with more energy and vibrancy than the studio versions. This album is a must have for any student of funk, or heck, any musician or lover of music with a good groove. .

This should never have gone out of print
It's a shame as this is truly one of the Rosetta stones of live funk. I have owned this CD since it was released and I found out it is now out of print. Take 3 healthy portions of James Brown's live albums, a pinch of Funkadelic at Meadowbrook, and pour in this Bootsy's Live in Louisville and you will end up with one massive serving of the power of Living on The One.

Bootsy's studio albums are a curious affair. He's obviously funky, but something about the recordings are just slightly off, they are so clean, so studio. You would think he sat in a symphony hall when he taped his tracks. The infamous Space Bass is also usually mixed very low, sometimes you can barely hear it or it simply sounds thin. The albums are definitely more Parliament sounding than they are Funkadelic, perhaps even more antiseptic sounding than any Parliament studio CD, in large part to the mix.

Just one listen to Bootsy's Rubber Band in Louisville will put to rest suspicion that he was in any way lacking in the funk. The mix on this show is just TREMENDOUS. Probably not the highest fidelity but it is definitely a clean recording and most importantly, the bass is off the charts. I suppose there is no way to know for sure if the engineers of this release tweaked the levels, but there's no reason to doubt Bootsy's prominence, the crown hangs on every flick of the 4 string. The level of intentional distortion is simply amazing, and the band really knows when to exploit this as well as when to reel it in. They go through all their hits, really destroying and transforming the uptempo songs and yet keeping the slower songs very simple and all the more incredible to listen to.

Two highlights:
"Psychoticbumpschool," where Bootsy unleashes the true power of the Space Bass and drops a monstrous, new bassline throughout the track. So, THIS is the Space Bass everyone talked about: it growls, it roars, it rumbles, it stomps your face in, it's just ridiculous. Pure funk decadence.

"I'd Rather Be With You," the band slows it down, real easy, or so it might seem. This starts out innocently enough, especially having just come off two somewhat downtempo tracks in a row, Very Yes and I Can't Stay Away. But where I Can't Stay Away seemed to ramble on just a minute or two too long, "I'd Rather Be With You" is just shocking in it's marathonic razor sharp funk precision. What seems like the wind-down of the show suddenly focuses when Bootsy hits a ridiculous Space Bass solo followed by an incredible series of new choruses and vamps from the band made just for this song. It extends 10-minutes plus and it is still far too short. I did not know a bass could do this. . .

Hopefully they will re-release this in some form soon. If you see a used copy on the marketplace for this CD under $20, buy it immediately.

Funk Is It's Own Reward
Bootsy Collins. . . . One of the greatest bass players of all time does an exceptional job on this rare import. The cuts were taken directly from the GMBC's Music Archives 0f 78'. . . . Live and direct from the mixing board.

Most of the tracks were from Bootsy's 1978 album "Bootsy. . . Player Of The Year?" with the same band members. . . Bootsy,P-Nut,Maceo,Frankie Kash Waddy,Fred "JB" Wesley,Joel "Razor Sharp" Johnson,Rick Gardner,Richard "Kush" Griffith,Gary "Mudbone" Cooper & Bootsy's big brother Phelps "Catfish" Collins. The cuts "What's The Name Of This Town","Hollywood Squares","Roto-Rooter","Bootzilla" & "Very Yes" are all here! There are also a number of other hits that were equally satisfying.

Let me be honest about my rating. . . . . I would have given this album a 3-4 star rating ONLY because I am NOT a big fan of live albums but I just had to give it a 5 after hearing how great Bootsy's Space Bass sounds live. If you have never heard anything else live by this band or seen a concert, This will definately satisfy your hunger for raw,live funk/soul.

I scoured the planet trying to locate this disc and once I listened I was hooked! Like I said I don't really care much for live albums but something about this one just magnetizes your senses.

I have loved Bootsy's playing ever since he was with The Godfather James Brown & The JB's on through to his Parliament/Funkadelic thang. Great player of that thing called a Bass. His playing ranks up there with the best of them. . . . . "Larry Graham,Mr. Mark from Slave (extremely under-rated) and a few other well known but underated bassists.

Cop this disc if you love funk, Player Of The Year or any of Bootsy's stuff. Well worth every penny.

Peace.

Bootsy at his Best ! ! !
Bootsy might have been the bad boy of the JB's (supposedly James Brown fired him because he dropped some acid one night and ran off the stage thinking his bass turned into snake. . ), but when it came to P-Funk, Bootsy sho'nuff had it together. . . There's a tightness in the Rubber Band that you're not going to find at a rockier more tripped out P-Funk show. . . The Horny Horns hit those high notes and the rhythm section is tight, poppin' and crackly - - musicianship aside the sound quality is fantastic (straight from the board and well mixed !) - - you really feel yourself gettin' bopped in the head when the bass, clav and horns hit on this recording. . . When you hear Bootsy's wacked out "space bass" you know there's a party going on - - He's great with the dance floor albums, but can deliver on slow jams just as funkily. . . and there are even some great solos on the CD too. . . (Check out Catfish's guitar solo on Very Yes, not to mention a screaming trumpet solo on Roto-Rooter - - and that's just the icing on the P - - oh yeah, and Maceo Blows !) - - Plain and simple, if you've haven't heard this recording, and like Bootsy you're missing Bootsy at his best. . .

The line up - - Gary "Mudbone" Cooper, Robert P-Nt, Catfish, Maceo, Richard Kush Griffith, Rick Gardner, Joel "Razor Sharp" Johnson, and Frankie "Kash" Waddy. . .

If you like this CD check out a bit of Chuck Brown (who's also been known to utilize the P-Funk horns) - - Check out THIS IS A JOURNEY and LIVE at the 9:30. . . Funk on bobbah.

You can see a complete list of all Bootsy's Rubber Band discography, or go back to the Bootsy's Rubber Band tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.