William "Billy Bass" Nelson, the original bassist for George Clinton's pioneering psychedelic funk crew Funkadelic, has passed away. According to Ultimate Classic Rock, Clinton's Facebook page erroneously reported Nelson's passing last Monday and then confirmed it on Saturday. No cause of death has been reported. Three days earlier, Nelson turned 75.
William "Billy Bass" Nelson grew up in Plainfield, New Jersey, and he worked in George Clinton's barbershop as a teenager. At the time, Clinton was the leader of the R&B vocal group the Parliaments. When their 1967 single "(I Wanna) Testify" became a crossover hit, Clinton put together a touring band, and he got Nelson to play bass. Nelson brought in a friend, the guitarist Eddie Hazel, who went on to immortality for his long, stunning showcase on the title track of Funkadelic's Maggot Brain album.
Nelson is reportedly the person who coined the name "Funkadelic" for the band. They relocated to Detroit. In 1970, Clinton split his operation into two groups, Parliament and Funkadelic. The latter focused on freeform, rock-inspired music and became the blueprint for a ton of the music that followed. Nelson played bass on Funkadelic's first three albums, all of which are classics: Their 1970 self-titled debut and Free Your Mind... And Your Ass Will Follow and 1971's Maggot Brain. Nelson co-wrote a number of Funkadelic songs, including "Music For My Mother" and "You And Your Folks, Me And My Folks," and he sang lead on the latter. In addition, Nelson played on Parliament's 1970 debut Osmium.
Billy Bass Nelson left Funkadelic because of a money dispute in 1971. He was the first member to quit the group, which changed membership many times over the years. Clinton replaced Nelson with the former James Brown sideman Bootsy Collins, who would become his most iconic sidekick. Nelson went on to play bass on records from acts like Chairmen Of The Board, the Coasters, Wilson Pickett, and Johnnie Taylor. He and Eddie Hazel also got back together to play on the Temptations' 1975 single "Shakey Ground," which Hazel co-wrote.
Over the years, Billy Bass Nelson returned to the Funkadelic folk many times. He briefly rejoined the group to play bass on their 1975 track "Better By The Pound." He released the 1994 solo album Out Of The Dark under the name O.G. Funk. He toured with various Parliament-Funkadelic lineups in the '90s, as well as with offshoots like Sons Of Funk and 420 Funk Mob. His work has been sampled many, many times.
Below, check out some of Billy Bass Nelson's contributions to the funk canon.
