Superbad, Super Bernie

Just hit it — the three-word philosophy that guides the musical mind of Bernie Worrell. In his universe (or Woo-niverse as he calls it), music is created instantly on the bandstand, where the moment and vibe reign supreme. It’s a far cry from his adolescent days of classical piano lessons at Julliard and study at the New England Conservatory. But it was this classical training, combined with his excitement for the sounds of rock ’n’ roll, that gave him a unique voice in the funk movement. Emerging as a hugely influential member of Parliament/Funkadelic in the ’70s, Bernie would see his cosmic voyage extend further, leading him to work with the Talking Heads and the Pretenders in the ’80s, and establishing him as a revered figure in the jam band scene today. Recently, he reunited with Parliament bassist Bootsy and guitarist Catfish Collins along with the oft-sampled drummers Clyde Stubblefield and Jabo Starks (of JBs fame), to record the funky soundtrack for the summer hit film Superbad, collaborating with composer Lyle Workman. The funk is in fine form, with Worrell contributing most notably on Hammond organ and wah-wah-infected Clavinet. Having just returned from a tour of Japan with bassist Bill Laswell, Worrell sat down to chat with us in the quiet serenity of western New Jersey, an unlikely sanctuary for someone who has torn the roof off of many a bandstand.

You perform with a lot of different musicians these days. Are all the hits spontaneous, or is there any rehearsal involved?
No rehearsing. We might just run over something for the sound check, and that’s it. Just hit it. You listen and you play. There are about three configurations that Bill Laswell has with different musicians. [This last gig] with Bill Laswell was called, “Method of Defiance,” and I love the name. I love to defy, and Laswell’s like that too.

What’s your current live keyboard setup? And when you’ve traveled to perform overseas, like in Japan and Scotland, how accommodating are the promoters with providing the gear you request?
Hammond organ, two Leslies, Clavinet, Minimoog. Sometimes they wind up giving me a Fender Rhodes or Wurlitzer piano, or the Nord Electro. I make use of whatever they give me. Sometimes I bring the Kawai PH50 for the strings. I also have the [Dave Smith] Evolver. I like it, but I still haven’t touched it too much. I use the presets. I haven’t been with my whole setup in a while. Now I just tell them what I want, because with airfare, carrying that stuff, airfreight, overage, I can’t be bothered.

What inspires you these days?
I go out to play the jam sessions. Hit the road to go to New Orleans and Dartmouth College. We hit the stage, and I get inspired then. I [recently] sat in with Derek Trucks. I didn’t want to play, and he called me up onstage and the whole band said, “You’re Bernie Worrell!” Stuff like that inspires me.

Two things I was [recently] inspired by just came to me. I was sitting in with Buddy Guy — it’s been two or three times — and we take to each other like two peas in a pod. He comes over to me, smiling, and we’re playing together. Also, I did the new Burning Spear album, early part of this year. I love reggae. I’ll listen to reggae before funk, rock, and R&B. Burning Spear — that was an experience. They said I am the steadiest keyboard player they’ve played with in a long time. Their music is very percussive, very repetitive. You just play the same thing [over and over], but it’s the groove, the vibe.

Do you work with computers at all, or any home-recording projects?
I’m more computer-friendly nowadays. I have [Cakewalk] Sonar and everything. When I first got it, I did a little bit, but I just can’t sit there man, and figure that stuff out. I’ve worked on sessions and watched the engineer. You can see where you put your mark in, where you want to go back and punch in and whatnot. And it does save time, especially when my hands hurt. I’m used to playing the whole track, [but now they say] “Bernie, just play eight bars of it and we can cut and paste.” But it’s still not the same as playing, because a track breathes and fluctuates when you’re playing a whole part, playing over a whole song instead of playing 16 bars and pasting it. I guess it’s good and bad.

Do you think copying and pasting ruins the vibe?
Yeah, because you play 16 bars, then the machine is doing it. So you have to get instant vibe, like an instant climax. [Laughs.] You know, f**k like rabbits! 16 bars — okay, next song! Especially when you’re overdubbing a lot, putting on the sweetener, finishing the track off. You’re not playing with musicians; you’re not playing together. It’s a doggone machine, man!

When you were coming up and studying classical music, at what point did you realize that there was a different direction for you? Was there a record that came out that spoke to you, or was it just a feeling you had that there was a different path?
This record used to come on the radio. It was called “Rockin’ Charlie.” It was an R&B instrumental [by the Bobby Peterson Quintet — Ed.]. I must have been maybe 14 or 15 years old, and I used to sneak listening to R&B stations because my mom wouldn’t like me listening to it. And I saw the Beatles on the Ed Sullivan Show, and I think that finally did it. They could do different styles, you know. George Martin was a hell of a producer. He covered the whole gamut, the fellows too. He knew what he had — he had a goldmine. Thank God they trusted George.

Different type of music, different genres. That did it. After playing classical pieces at the house or lessons, I’d go off and start playing “Tea for Two,” jazz style. I’m a good sight-reader. I’d go into my lesson for the week, play Schubert or whatever, and then my teacher, he’d say, “Bernie, play me some of that jazz!” He was Hungarian, small in stature, and his fingers were stubby and short, but I learned his technique. Then I found out that anything I could hear, I could pick up; I didn’t know I had perfect pitch.

So you blend classical and jazz influence into your music.
And cartoons! [Laughs.] I play that [sings the Popeye theme] and it just hits me. I love Victor Borge. I can’t play nothing straight, cause I like to f**k with people. You think I’m going here, but I’ll switch up on you. You’ll never know what I’m going to do. That’s me — you think I’m here, watch this! I’ll switch it up, see their reaction. Yeah, take them on a trip. Don’t stay in one place.

What advice could you offer to young keyboardists?
To today’s generation, I’d say practice your rudiments: scales, Hanon studies, your inversions, dexterity, speed, and accuracy. You get all that from your scales, the feel of the scales and your fingerings, which will help you when you’re creating your own material or playing recording sessions, when you’re reading a chart. Your fingers, the rhythm, the motion of the progression — it gets programmed into your mind, if you know your scales and fingering. I feel that will help, in more ways than one. It’ll be different for every person.

And what advice would you give about succeeding in the music business?
As far as the business, I guess experience is the best teacher, but it’s not fair. Read, be up on the business part of this industry as much as you can, and find a true friend that you can trust in business dealings and the like.

When you’re working with groups with prominent bass players, do you still have room to break out your signature synth bass lines?
Oh yeah, there’s already room. You just look for the space. I mean, everything is related; you double the line, then you have three [instruments] on one line. That’s the rock concept, and that’s what I used to talk to George [Clinton] about in the early days of P-Funk. We used to listen to Led Zeppelin and Emerson, Lake, and Palmer. Then after we met Zeppelin years ago, they used to listen to P-Funk. So that one line — double it, triple it, everybody on the same line, guitars and bass — that stuff is big. No rhythm in there yet, even. Add a keyboard player, another guitarist, and you listen. Somebody’s playing a line, you come in with a counter line, and you just fit it in somewhere in the space.

Did you feel a kinship with those progressive British bands when they were coming out, blending stuff in a different way than what you guys were doing here?
Yeah, that’s one thing with the classical training. I can hear all different types of music. That’s one of my gifts; I can mix music. I can play a Gregorian chant along with a Jewish chant mixed with an African chant with a South American rhythm and an Irish mandolin. It’s all in how you hear it. So I feel with the English groups. I hear what they do and mix it with funk rhythms.

Everything is related.

Special thanks to Arne Wendt and Judie Worrell who contributed to and helped facilitate this interview.

Parliament or Funkadelic?

While commonly referred to as Parliament/Funkadelic, the group’s discography will show each classic album as having one band name or the other. This may cause some confusion for the music fan just discovering the extensive back catalog, and understandably so; a combination of record deal legalities and an ever-increasing family of musicians led to myriad band names to choose from. Here’s a short version of how it appears to have all gone down:

The Parliaments: Doo-wop group formed in the ’50s by George Clinton. Moved from New Jersey to Detroit in the mid-’60s, but did not achieve widespread success.

Funkadelic: The seismic stylistic shift. The end of the ’60s saw the backing band for The Parliaments (known then as The Funkadelics) emerge with a style influenced by the psychedelic rock of Jimi Hendrix and the funk of James Brown. Later, members of Brown’s band The JBs would become part of the Funkadelic fold. Worrell joined Funkadelic in ’71, followed the next year by Bootsy and Catfish Collins. The vocal portion of the group would sometimes be billed in the album credits as “Parliament,” making matters even more delightfully confusing.

Parliament: In ’74, Clinton revived the Parliament name, scoring separate, simultaneous record deals for the two outfits, which were largely made up of the same core of musicians. Three significant notes about the new Parliament: 1) They imported more members from the JBs (the horns of Maceo Parker and Fred Wesley). 2) They achieved major commercial success (’75’s Mothership Connection went platinum and “Flash Light” from Funkentelechy Vs. The Placebo Syndrome hit #1). 3) Bernie’s keyboard styles take the forefront, influencing the direction of dance and the upcoming hip-hop movement.

Other Related Projects: Not only were there simultaneous releases under the names Parliament and Funkadelic, but several offshoots and solo albums featured various configurations of the P-Funk family. These included Bootsy’s Rubber Band, the Horny Horns, the Brides of Funkenstein, and Zapp. Bernie released his first solo album in ’78.

A Selected Bernie Worrell Discography

Bernie has appeared on over 100 album titles in the genres of funk, jazz, rock, and hip-hop — and that’s not even touching the recordings on which his work was sampled. Here’s a small but vital sample of titles as a solo artist, with Parliament/Funkadelic, and Talking Heads.

Solo

All the Woo in the World (Arista), 1978
Funk of Ages (Gramavision), 1990
Blacktronic Science (Gramavision), 1993
Free Agent — A Spaced Odyssey (Polystar), 1998

With Funkadelic

Free Your Mind And Your Ass Will Follow (Westbound Records), 1971
America Eats Its Young (Westbound Records), 1972
Standing On The Verge Of Getting It On (Westbound Records), 1974
Tales Of Kidd Funkadelic (Westbound Records), 1976
One Nation Under A Groove (Charly Records), 1978
Uncle Jam Wants You (Charly Records), 1979

With Parliament 

Up For The Down Stroke (Casablanca Records), 1974
Chocolate City (Casablanca Records), 1975
Mothership Connection (Casablanca Records), 1975
The Clones Of Dr. Funkenstein (Casablanca Records), 1976
Funkentelechy vs. The Placebo Syndrome (Casablanca Records), 1977
Motor Booty Affair (Casablanca Records), 1978

With Talking Heads 

The Name Of This Band Is Talking Heads (Sire Records), 1982
Speaking In Tongues (Sire Records), 1983
Stop Making Sense (EMI), 1984

Rumor Mill

As of this writing, there are new developments in Bernie’s Woo-niverse that have yet to be officially announced. However, Bernie gave us fresh tidbits of news. Keep your eyes and ears open for a new recording and touring project titled Bernie Worrell’s BanDWiTh. This group features bassists Doug Wimbish and T.M. Stevens, as well as drummer Will Calhoun. Even with two bassists in the group, count on Worrell to get in on the action for a rare triple-bass attack.

There was also talk of a talent search contest for young “Bernies or Bernadettes,” keyboard-playing prodigies who excel like Bernie did when he was coming up. Stay tuned to www.bernieworrell.com for more on these developments, as well as upcoming tour dates.

Across the Woo-niverse

Worrell’s just hit it philosophy has led to involvement in a wide array of other projects. Check out the video at myspace. com/superbadsoundtrack for a look into the Superbad soundtrack recording session. Here’s a sample of some more artists and groups that have collaborated with Bernie over the years:

Keith Richards
Gov’t Mule
Bill Laswell
Derek Trucks
Mos Def
The Pretenders
CBS Orchestra with Paul Shaeffer
O.A.R.
Buddy Guy
Jack Bruce
Les Claypool (Colonel Claypool’s Bucket of Bernie Brains)