Musician Billy Bass Nelson was about to turn 75 just two days from now. However, the Parliament-Funkadelic bassist has died this morning, according to a
post from George Clinton, the band's leading visionary.Videos by Wide Open Country
The post has since been privated or deleted, and Clinton did not specify the cause of Billy's death. However, Clinton has credited Billy with being an instrumental part in the group's formation, specifically the "funkadelic" portion.
The group Parliament-Funkadelic emerged from a doo-wop vocal group from the 50s. However, it was actually Billy Bass who contributed the "Funkadelic" part of the name. For a while, the "Parliament" and the "Funkadelic" portions acted as separate groups that would come together, due to legal reasons, according to the group's website.
Then, in the mid-70s, they more or less merged their efforts to form more of a "collective." At this time, several mercenary musicians joined the crew, and stage shows became big productions. Oftentimes, there were dozens of people onstage. The group was "inspired by Motown's assembly line of sound" and often wore "freaky costumes."
Nelson was essential to the group's formation, but later collaborated with artists like Lionel Richie, Smokey Robinson, and Lenny Williams. However, he is fondly remembered for playing a part in the making Funkadelic's self-titled album, as well as other projects.
Bass Was Behind the Musicality of "I (Wanna) Testify"
In his 2014 autobiography, Clinton recalls one of his favorite memories with Billy, which is the making of the Parliaments' hit, "I (Wanna) Testify". The song was released in 1967, but was created while Clinton was working as a barber at the Silk Palace.
While Clinton was straightening hair, Billy was playing guitar in the back. Clinton already had the line "I just want to testify what your love has done for me" in mind, but Billy's playing helped bring it out in the song. In his autobiography, Clinton shared that, "It was so infectious, and even there in the barbershop I could tell that there were so many turnarounds you could do once you got to vamping."
The song would go on to reach #3 on the Billboard R&B Charts and #20 on the Pop Charts at the time.
