Funk legend Bootsy Collins unveils his 23rd studio album, Album of the Year #1 Funkateer, due out October 25.
Premiered by Rolling Stone this morning alongside an exclusive interview with Bootsy, the single “Album of the Year #1 Funkateer” is a funk-filled jam, which Rolling Stone praised, "with Collins' bulging low end and the heavy rhythms he and his bandmates keep 'on the one,' the track echoes the party-starting funk Collins recorded throughout the Seventies with Parliament-Funkadelic and his own Rubber Band."
Listen to the single “Album of the Year #1 Funkateer” https://ffm.to/aoty-funkateer. Pre-order Album of the Year #1 Funkateer https://ffm.to/aoty-album
Bootsy told Rolling Stone, "I wanted to give the people what they wanted back in the Seventies: a sense of hope, joy and freedom."
On his 23rd studio album Album of the Year #1 Funkateer, the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer finds himself in a new position – that of coach and above all, producer. Crafting a sound that sonically runs the Bootsy gamut from bedroom Bootsy, to space-alien adventures to unexpected rock, Collins has drawn together a network of collaborators from Snoop Dogg, Dave Stewart, Wiz Khalifa, October London, Fantaazma and many more who light the fire in him and helped him make the album of the year.
“When I start on a project now, it's about getting the energy from people around me,” says funk maestro Bootsy Collins. “Then I proceed to gather transmissions from the universe to know what to talk about. It's important to me to see who the universe brings to me, and I've been really blessed that every time I want to do a new record, I get these incredible musicians around me, right on time. That's what this album helps me do—Transmitting & receiving with different musicians and artists that have the same desire I had when I was their age.”
Album of the Year #1 Funkateer (Visualizer)
From his early work bringing a youthful vigor and refreshing James Brown’s backing band as a founding member of the J.B.’s and learning the Power of the One to his seminal work with George Clinton and the Parliament-Funkadelic universe, playing on most of their landmark albums over the next decade and co-writing such classics as "Up for the Down Stroke," "Tear the Roof Off the Sucker (Give Up the Funk)," and the chart-topping "Flash Light." He also led the side project Bootsy’s Rubber Band, recording multiple gold-certified albums and the Number One R&B hit “Bootzilla,” and began contributing to recordings by artists including Keith Richards, Iggy Pop, and Herbie Hancock. When Rolling Stone put together their list of the Greatest Bassists of All Time, Bootsy was ranked in the top five.
He collaborated with dance superstars Deee-Lite on their 1990 smash “Groove Is In the Heart,” provided the lead vocal on Fatboy Slim’s Grammy-winning 2000 hit “Weapon of Choice,” and acted as the narrator on Silk Sonic’s 2021 platinum album An Evening with Silk Sonic (he even gave Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak the name for their project).
Album of the Year #1 Funkateer - Track Listing
- “Album of the Year #1 Funkateer” feat. Myra Washington and Bootdullivan
- “So Soopafly” feat. Ouiwey Collins, Kokane, and Daz Dillinger
- “The Influencers” feat. Westcoast Stone, Wiz Khalifa, Dave Stewart, Snoop Dogg, and Fantaazma
- “Bubble Pop” feat. Ice Cube, FANTAAZMA, and Brother Nature
- “Fishnets” feat. Myra Washington, Kurupt, and Daz
- “Satellite” feat. Dave Stewart and Brother Nature
- “The JB’s Tribute” feat. Harry Mack, Clyde Stubblefield, John (Jabo) Starks and Fred Wesley
- “Ubiquitous” feat. Casper the Funked up Ghost and Kid Talk (Explicit)
- “Hondo P” feat. FANTAAZMA and Snoop Dogg
- “Chicken & Fries” feat. Soopafly, Myra Washington, BABY TRIGGY, and FANTAAZMA
- “Anybody Out There” feat. Myra Washington and Brother Nature
- “Pure Perfection” feat. FANTAAZMA, Giz, and Bedroom Bootsy
- “Barbie T & Me” feat. Barbie T and Zillatron
- “BeWild” feat. Alex Belle, Isis V, and Brother Nature
- “Alien Flytrap” feat. Dave Stewart and Bootdullivan
- “I.Am.AI” feat. Tobotius, I.AM, and Kid Talk
- “Reach the Zone” feat. October London, Musiq Soulchild, and Bedroom Bootsy
- “2Nite We Rise” feat. Da'Dreion Murrell, FANTAAZMA, ZGM Precious Praisers, and Casper the Funked up Ghost
Fender Jack White Triplecaster Telecaster Electric Guitar - Black
Fender Limited-edition Jack White Triplesonic Acoustasonic Telecaster - Blacktop Arctic White
There are very few guitars that can claim to be as instantly recognizable and iconic as Jimmy Page’s 1969 EDS-1275 Doubleneck. The photos of him playing it on stage with Led Zeppelin are indelible to rock ’n’ roll history. While Gibson has been making doubleneck electric guitars since 1958, Jimmy was the player who defined the EDS-1275 from the day it was delivered to him. Introducing the Jimmy Page EDS-1275 Doubleneck VOS, now part of the Gibson Custom core lineup and built to the exact specifications of Jimmy’s iconic EDS-1275 Doubleneck.
The Jimmy Page EDS-1275 features a double-cutaway one-piece mahogany body that provides exceptional access to the full length of both the12-string and six-string mahogany necks. Both necks have long tenons and are hide glue fit, and the neck profiles are recreated from 3D scans of the necks on the original guitar. The necks are both capped with bound Indian rosewood fretboards. Each fretboard is equipped with 20 authentic medium jumbo frets and adorned with aged cellulose nitrate parallelogram inlays. The fretboards of both necks have a 12” radius, which is perfect for both playing chords as well as for string bending while soloing. The 18 tuners are Kluson double line, double ring style, just like those found on the original guitar, and even the headstocks feature the correct 17-degree angle and specific logo stylization found on Jimmy’s EDS-1275. The electronics are just as authentic and deliver all of the sonic character of Jimmy’s legendary EDS-1275. Two uncovered Jimmy Page EDS-1275 Custombuckers with double black bobbins and Alnico 5 magnets are used for the two six-string pickups, while a covered pair is installed on the 12-string neck. Of course, the two volume and two tone controls use CTS potentiometers and period-correct ceramic disc capacitors, and the pickup select switch, neck select switch, and output jack are all from Switchcraft.
Here is your opportunity to own a clone of Jimmy Page’s famous EDS-1275, identical to how it appeared on the day that Jimmy first received the guitar. A Gibson Custom hardshell case is included, along with a vintage leather strap, and a certificate of authenticity with a photo from famed photographer Barrie Wentzell.
Jimmy Page EDS-1275 Doubleneck VOS '69 Cherry
Recreation of the EDS-1275 used by Jimmy Page made using 3D scans of the original guitar, one piece mahogany body, mahogany six and 12-string necks with custom Jimmy Page profiles, Indian rosewood fretboards, Jimmy Page Custombucker pickups with Alnico 5 magnets and double black bobbins, Gibson Custom hardshell case
Reader: Daniel Switkin
Hometown: Oakland, California
Guitar: Doublecaster
I've been using a multitrack looper with a guitar and an octave pedal, which was okay for simple bass parts, but didn’t give me thick strings and I couldn’t slap with it. So I decided to build a double-neck prototype specifically for looping, with a 6-string guitar and a 4-string bass.
Since building the necks would be the hardest part, I looked around for instruments with bolt-on necks I could reuse. Squier makes an Affinity Stratocaster and a Mini Precision Bass which were affordable and had matching fretboards, so I bought those. It was also cheaper to reuse the electronics and hardware that came with them, rather than buying everything separately.
Using two precut instrument bodies saved the burden of having to route cavities for the electronics.
My plan was to design my own body from scratch. As I debated which neck should go on top, how far apart they should be, and whether to line up the nuts or the saddles, I realized there was actually enough wood there to make a double neck body, which saved me the work of recreating the neck pockets, etc. Putting the guitar on top made barre chords much more comfortable, and the 28.6" bass scale meant I could still reach the first fret easily.
After stripping the paint with a heat gun, I ran both bodies through a table saw, glued them together, and thinned them to 1 3/8". Then I created an offset body shape, a new arm bevel, and reshaped the three cutaways. The pickguards are both original, with the guitar side cut down to make a yin and yang shape. The controls are volume and tone for each neck, using the original knobs. I moved the jack to the back and upgraded it to stereo so the guitar and bass signals can run through separate effects chains.
Note the location of the jack on the back of the extended-shape body. It’s unconventional but practical.
My top concerns were weight and ergonomics. Many doublenecks are around 12 to 13 pounds and 18" wide. I knew I would never play something that big, no matter how good it sounded. To that end, I saved weight everywhere and tracked everything to the gram in a spreadsheet. (That’s also the reason I chose a fixed bridge instead of a vibrato.) I ultimately used a wipe-on gel stain to keep the weight down further. Stripping the paint from the factory saved 5 ounces! The final playable weight is 9 pounds, 5 ounces, and 15 1/4" wide at the lower bout. This has been pretty manageable, however, there is some neck dive because of the tuners. I’m taking everything I’ve learned from this prototype and designing a new doubleneck, which will be headless. I believe I can shed another pound and eliminate the neck dive that way. You can watch my entire build on YouTube.