Billy Bass Nelson: A Funk Retrospective

First off, let’s say what needs to be stated. Bassist William Nelson, aka “Billy Bass”, is one of the most important musicians to emerge from the Black Rock musical movement that came after the dissolution of the Jimi Hendrix Experience in 1969. A movement that brought us progressive bands such as the Chambers Brothers, Black Merda, the Bar Kays, and most importantly, Funkadelic.

Once known as the nameless back-up band for the George Clinton-led Parliaments in the late 1960’s, Billy Bass would be the one to invent the name “Funkadelic,” an amalgamation of their musical objective: fusing psychedelic rock with Plainfield, New Jersey-soaked Funk.

The musical identity of Billy Bass Nelson clearly begins with the three Funkadelic albums released in 1970 and 1971. Their self-titled debut, released at the beginning of 1970, Funkadelic is a deep and progressive Blues project with heavy leanings into Funk. The album’s opening track, “Mommy, What’s A Funkadelic?”, features a bass line dripping with deep Funk, as George Clinton announces to the mere mortals of earth that “he is not of your world.”

Billy’s bass explorations on this album are every bit as essential as Eddie Hazel’s piercing guitar work. The album’s 2005 CD reissue finds Billy locking down the rhythm on the Meters-inspired instrumental “As Good As I Can Feel”.

Funkadelic’s sophomore release Free Your Mind And Your Ass Will Follow, finds the band taking a journey through psychedelic and acid Soul, something that music writer Vernon Gibbs once called “Electric Blackness.” On this album, Billy and lead guitarist Eddie Hazel share lead vocals on the only track that was released as a single, “I Wanna Know If It’s Good To You?”  Unlike their first album, Free Your Mind generally doesn’t feature any involvement from musicians outside the group.

Maggot Brain, released at the start of summer 1971, endures as a cornerstone of the Black Rock movement of the early 1970’s. While the title track is well known to lovers of Funk and alternative rock, “You And Your Folks, Me And My Folks” with bass and vocals handled by Billy Bass, stands as an exceptional track in its own right.

Shortly after the release of Maggot Brain, Billy Bass would leave Funkadelic over monetary disputes. Session work with Soul groups like the Temptations and Chairmen Of The Board would define his musical output in the next six years. Eventually, Billy would work with George Clinton’s ever-expanding empire, appearing on albums by P-Funk spin-off acts such as Fred Wesley and the Horny Horns and Parlet.

On July 29^th, 1989, the Black Rock Coalition awarded Billy Bass Nelson with the BRC Lifetime Achievement Award. On this night, he was awarded a custom- decorated bass guitar, designed by BRC Los Angeles member Bill Brown.

Finally stepping into the frontman role, Billy would release his first album under the auspicious title O.G. Funk. Out Of The Dark, first released in Japan under producer Bill Laswell’s Black Arc Series on July 25th, 1993, secured U.S. distribution later in the year. Out Of The Dark brings together P-Funk members Jerome Brailey, Gary Mudbone Cooper, and Bernie Worrell with rapper Grandmaster Melle Mel and guitarist Spacey T. Singleton.

Billy’s first album takes up where Maggot Brain leaves off, gutbucket funk for second and third generation Funkateers.

 

By the early 1990’s, Billy would appear as a surprise guest at numerous P-Funk All-Stars gigs before officially rejoining the band in time for their New Year’s Eve celebrations at the Warner Theatre in Washington, DC in 1994. For this second go-round, Billy would stay with the band for over 10 years, longer than his first stint with Funkadelic. His return to the band would result in a deep dig through the Funkadelic catalog, seeing the band pull out rarely heard classics such as “I Bet You” and “Music For My Mother.”

On May 6th, 1997, Billy Bass Nelson would be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame, along with fifteen members of Parliament-Funkadelic and in 2019, he would be the recipient of Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. Throughout his career, Billy Bass would play a supportive role in some of the most important recorded documents of the last 50+ years. He would help to shape the worlds of Funk, R&B/Soul, and Black Rock with a style of playing that would echo giants such as Motown’s James Jamerson and Billy Cox of the Band Of Gypsys. Indeed, P-Funk will forever be defined by giants: Clinton, Bootsy Collins, Bernie Worrell, Garry Shider, Eddie Hazel and a host of others. Billy Bass Nelson forever belongs in that company of musicians that taught us all how to free our minds.

Fly on, William “Billy Bass” Nelson (January 28th, 1951-January 31st, 2026).

-Tim Kinley

Fait use image from Out of the Dark