We Remember: Funkadelic’s ‘Catfish’ Collins Dies at 66
Source:
www.eurweb.com
(August 11, 2010) *R&B/Funk guitarist
Phelps “Catfish” Collins,
a veteran of James Brown’s J.B.’s, Parliament-Funkadelic
and his younger brother William “Bootsy” Collins’ Rubber Band,
died of cancer last Friday at his home in Cincinnati, reports
the AP. He as 66.
Bootsy Collins said in a statement that “my world will never be
the same … Be happy for him, he certainly is now and always has
been the happiest young fellow I ever met on this planet.”
Bootsy’s wife, Patti Collins, told the Cincinnati Enquirer that
Catfish “was a father figure to my husband. He’s the reason why
Bootsy is who he is.”
Catfish, eight years Bootsy’s senior, suggested his brother put
bass strings on an old guitar. After being recruited by James
Brown, they played on such classics as “Get Up (I Feel Like
Being a) Sex Machine,” “Give It Up or Turnit a Loose,” “Super
Bad” and “Soul Power.”
By 1971 they had left Brown’s employ, going on to form the House
Guests and then joining Funkadelic in 1972 for albums such as
“America Eats Its Young” and “Cosmic Slop.” Catfish remained
with the group — which also lost guitarist Garry Shider to
cancer in June — until the mid-’80s.
“(Catfish) was a hell of a musician,” keyboardist Bernie
Worrell, who played with the guitarist in Funkadelic, told the
Enquirer. “People seem to forget that the rhythm guitar behind
James Brown was Catfish’s creative genius, and that was the
rhythm besides Bootsy’s bass.”
Below, Catfish with the JBs in Paris, 1971. Bootsy is on
bass.
::LANGFIELD
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