#bernie worrell

[tiahnaparisart]

Stop Making Sense (1984)

I actually started this piece before the announcement, but since the cat’s well and truly out of the bag RE the upcoming A24 4K re-release of the film, there’s never been a better time to share. This drawing started out as a fun, pressure free side project, and eventually spawned an entire side foray you’ll see in the next posts!

I love the textures achieved here with the mixed medium- cardboard really lent itself to the otherworldly structure of the big suit, and the neon pencils provide great contrast to the industrial watercolour.

[lobbycards]

Stop Making Sense, German Lobby Card. 1984

[charliejaneanders]

It's today! Bandcamp Friday is happening! If you buy music on Bandcamp today, the artists *get all the money*.

I just bought so much great stuff: some Bernie Worrell I hadn't already owned, the new Problem Patterns songs, a new mashup album by Vixoria Drift, and some old-school funk compilations.

[thatrickmcginnis]

BERNIE WORRELL, Toronto, 1987

I became a Parliament-Funkadelic fan before I heard a note of their music. It was 1977, and I was reading my brother-in-law's copy of Rolling Stone, which contained a concert review of the P-Funk Earth Tour at the back of the magazine. I saw the costumes and the spaceship and despite Toronto radio being nearly completely P-Funk-free at the time, I thought this looked like it must sound amazing. When I finally found my way to hearing something by George Clinton and his band(s) - I think it might have been "Flash Light" but I'm not sure - I wasn't disappointed, and when I started taking photos I made it my mission to get a portrait of anyone who was involved in the P-Funk universe. First up, and quite without expecting it, was keyboardist Bernie Worrell.

I had, of course, seen Bernie Worrell as part of the extended Talking Heads filmed by Jonathan Demme for Stop Making Sense. P-Funk were on something of a hiatus in the '80s, so various members of the group were appearing in all kinds of situations, and Worrell showed up in Toronto as part of the Golden Palominos - drummer Anton Fier's art rock/indie supergroup. Worrell was born in New Jersey and was an accomplished musician, studying at Juilliard and the New England Conservatory of Music before a meeting with George Clinton inspired him to move to Detroit and become part of the collective of musicians recording and touring as either Parliament or Funkadelic or both.

I shot precisely four frames of Bernie Worrell, who I nervously approached during soundcheck at the El Mocambo, a Toronto club, knowing that I only had a third of a roll of 120 film left in my Mamiya C330. The stew of influences I was processing as a young photographer included Francis Wolff's work on the covers of Blue Note albums, and while I might not have been able to explain it at the time, I was definitely paying homage to (or ripping off, depending on how you look at it) Wolff's work on records by John Coltrane, Bud Powell and "Baby Face" Willette. I'm not sure these photos - the whole of the shoot, as of this post - have ever been published outside my old blog. Bernie Worrell died of cancer in 2016.

[pynkchampagne]

Les & Bernie

[soulmusicsongs]

Hold On - Bernie Worrell ‎(All The Woo In The World, 1978)

[zef-zef]

Drum and Bass meets Jazz .

Method of Defiance featuring: Paradox, Toshinori Kondo, Buckethead, Bernie Worrell, Bill Laswell - Humanoid From Method Of Defiance - Inamorata (Ohm Resistance, 2007)

[ausetkmt]

Bernie Worrell - Let Me Ride (Mothership Connection) / Cosmic Slop

[djevilninja]

Got to be… Got to be the freak of the week. You'se a fine mutha fonka, And I’m at my sexual peak. Freakin’, speakin’, and peakin’ - I got to get some of that love. You were sent from above, So can’t we just push and shove?

Boosty Collins and Bernie Worrell - You Got Me Wide Open

*man, look… this song had me open from first listen

[krispyweiss]

Friday Flashback: Garcia, Grisman are Friends of the David on “Letterman” in 1993

- Old & in the grey friends sit in on “As Tears Go By” during commercial break

Jerry Garcia and David Grisman had just finished playing a warm and comforting version of “Friend of the Devil,” when the camera catches Garcia smiling - beaming really.

He looks happy to be alongside his old pal. Humble. Satisfied with a strong performance.

It was September 1993 and the former Old & in the Way bandmates - reunited as an eponymous duo - were appearing on “The Late Show with David Letterman” backed by the CBS Orchestra including Bernie Worrell on melodica.

This “Devil” is half the 1970 studio version - in that it’s acoustic - and half the Grateful Dead’s live version - in that it’s played slowly. Garcia sings it sans harmony support and cedes the majority of solos to Grisman and his mandolin. It’s exceptionally well-done and the musicians - as evidenced by Garcia’s facial expressions when it ends - know it.

Whomever is responsible for this video rounded it out with audio of Garcia, Grisman and the orchestra playing an instrumental version of “As Tears Go By” during commercial. Exquisite. And one needn’t be a Dead Head to notice it.

Friday Flashback is an occasional series in which Sound Bites flashes back to memorable musical moments on television

9/30/22

[georgefarmer]

[tiahnaparisart]

STOP MAKING SENSE

Stop Making Sense is a Talking Heads concert film directed by Jonathan Demme (you may know his some of his other work, including 3x Oscar winner Silence of the Lambs) featuring the debut of the Big Suit as a soon to be cultural institution spoofed and styled for decades to come. I love Talking Heads and their particular brand of New Wave absurdism is very much up my alley and a great source of inspiration.

These illustrations are available for purchase, either on merch at redbubble (link also in bio) or by DMing me for a digital copy! I have found some of the official merch to be lacking the creativity of the show it promotes, so the goals with this one were to make something as fun, loud, and loose as the music!

[one-album-wonders]

Group Stage: Pool 5 - Group H (1970s)

Vote now in Pool 5 of the group stage of America’s Greatest Rock Stars Tournament.  Remember:

The artist does not have to finish first in the group to advance.

Consider the artists’ full careers when voting.

Be kind to everyone, even the artists you don’t like and the people who vote for them.

Read the America’s Greatest Rock Star Tournament Masterpost for full details on how this works.

[kosmik-signals]

Parliament Funkadelic - 1971

Parliament Funkadelic - 1974

[spilladabalia]

Parliament - Up For The Down Stroke

[bungitonthen]