Everytime I see this it's so enlightening and sad. I met Bernie Worrell when I was 10 backstage at my first P-Funk concert! Year's later I became one of the drummers for P-Funk a dream come true. Through that I became reacquainted with the master himself in 87' while laying tracks down for Otis Day and the Knights on their album at The Legendary United Sound Systems studio in Detroit ground zero for most of George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic's hits offshoot groups etc. After touring with them I branched off to do my own thing. Then one day I got a call to fill in for the drummer of his group The Woo Warriors. I had no time to rehearse because it was a last minute situation and also at The BET Soundstage so I was nervous but it went over well and I became the drummer for his group for the next 5 years. I met all of these folks from working with Bernie. Unfortunately we ( the group) were cut out of most of the footage on the road in this documentary but I can hear us . The crew followed us around for a whole tour! Rest in peace BW thanks for all your lessons!
Bernie was my friend he believed in me and encourage me to pursue my music and he was never to busy to call me and see how I was doing.... I'm blessed to have become your friend and you would say No I'm blessed to know you Lady Emerald...I must do what you said and go after it....like you tell me all the time I got that thing I got that thing... I'm going to miss you love you
I was with Bernie at his last tribute concert in Nyc we had to pick him up in his wheelchair to get him in the door in the rain I’ll never forget that night his very last show
It's a damn shame a man has to die before he gets the proper recognition he deserves. Dr. WOO was a under appreciated underrated Musical genius. R.I.P. Dr. WOO 1 love
At some point in time right under our noses Bernie was abducted by aliens & snuck back on the earth. It was more than likely the same ones who visited George & Bootsy that night driving back home. Who knows Bernie may be there now. Fly on BERNIE.
On the contrary. Bernie Worrell was a giant in the musical world and highly respected. However, his accolades did not necessarily bring him monetary reward.
He went to "The School of Sun Ra Arkestra!!!" "His mom tried to protect him from the street vibe. She did her best". But swing low, the Mother Ship got him and low and behold he was funkatized and became a Funkadelic!!! Hey hey!!!🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰👍😝🥶😱🤣✨🎇🎆
".......it's not even a note." I remember hearing that tone for the first time as a kid in the 70's and I too said "what is that" with awe and instant love.
I believe bernie saw things, felt things, could hear things in dimensions that humans havent learned to vibrate with yet. he was born with multiple frequencies, where as most are hard wired for only one. just like death can not live. life can not die, we are so much more than we understand and we are all only passing through this brief life, bernie is alive and surely has a wonderful audience.
Nicely said noel winslow. George Clinton was very very fortunate to have him in his group. As well as some other musicians. Ed Hazel, Bootsy, Glenn Goins, Tiki Fulwood, Gary Shider. So many. RIP BW
"All the Woo in the World" - criminally underrated solo album. so crazy hardly ANYONE knows about it! "I'll be with you" - that to me is one of the best funk tunes ever. ever. timeless and sounds so fresh today.
@@AlexisEverywhere It's wild that almost every member of p-funk had some kind of side project/solo thing. All the Woo is only second to "game, dames, and guitar thangs" for me (and probably tied with the first Bootsy record). Such a rich universe of cool/incredible musical genius!
@@alangunn3850 I will be checking out "game, dames, and guitar thangs" now... I've been going through the deep cuts of a lot of Funk and WOOOOWW... the Bar-Kays too BAD...Bustin Loose is probably one of the greatest Bridges in music and was only reintroduced largely on the Nelly record, Hot in Herre... sad but glad
Ive been looking for this documentary for YEARS!! THANK YOU FOR POSTING IT! The sad part is that a lot of these musicians who were still booking gigs and making records couldve helped Bernie out with getting him on tour, or on record. I could be wrong but the only people/musicians i am aware of that did in fact get Bernie out there gigging and recording during those hard times were Bill Laswell, Les Claypool, Buckethead, and Warren Haynes..
The phrase "genius" is bandied about way too much. But if anyone deserves that moniker, it's Bernie. Knew that the first time I heard him on the song 'A Joyful Process'. It's still my favorite composition of his.
I AM & WILL ALWAYS BE MOST THANKFUL 2 GOD 4 CREATING BERNIE WORRELL & HIS COSMIC KEYBOARD COMPOSITIONS THAT BLASTED US OUT INTO THAT VAST & BEAUTIFUL UNIVERSE!!!!! R.I.P. DR. WORRELL! MUZICIAN!
it is rarely mentioned but Bernie often played piano tracks on funk records....how many artists could make a piano fit in music dominated by electronic instruments (check out Funkentelechy for example).... also rarely mentioned is his use of chromatics in his solos (check out Dr. Funkenstein live off P. Funk Earth Tour).....this man was an amazing artist
To create and compose music than find out your royalties and rights been sold and then to hear everything you created and composed sampled and covered by different genres of artists and then realize you ain't gonna never get paid is a living hell on earth Bernie should have been making appearances on talk shows, and going on yo MTV raps and rapcity doing lectures Bernie should have been on TV telling stories about how he helped influenced hip hop
Rest-In-Power to Brother Bernie. Another victim of systemic discrimination & racism that is pervasive throughout every facet of life in AmeriKKKa. As a fellow musician... You'll are (unknowingly) denigrating this man's efforts by calling it PLAYING music. HALT, STOP, & PAUSE. This man was PERFORMING & putting-in-WORK. Please put some RESPECKT ON IT.
@@alansilverman8500 Brother Alan, I love the music as much as you. Sonny Ra is reaching for the infinity chord. Sometimes Sonny was more dissonant. Yet, he discovered electronic instruments roughly 20 years roughly, before everyone else. There's even a picture of Bernie with members of Sonny's Arkestra. Sonny became experimental with the funk. "Lanquidity" is more of a funk outing. "Space is The Place", became more of a Funk / Hip Hop excursion. If we gonna tell the story, let us be bit more open. Thank you Alan. Peace and wellness. Basheer
I'm halfway in and really enjoying. Amazing footage. Good indepth interviews/snips with musicians etc. that really know what they're talking about Mos Def, Bad Brains, Byrne.
Got the opportunity in the late nineties to open up for Bernie and I sat backstage with him and we talked for over an hour about all kinds of things. He was on another level. I just sat there and listened and took in everything he had to say to me. I will always cherish that evening. Thanks Bernie!
After having the pleasure to work very closely with Larry Young (Khaiid Yasin) and Sun Ra, Bernie Worrell was also in the group of keyboard players who changed the world!!
The George Washinton Carver of Galatic Funk music, & free Spiritual communication inovation. Peerless, but close to Billy Preston, and Steve Wonder as noted by some knowledgeable observers. Yet to be fully appreciated, & understood like Jimmy Hendricks, and Miles Davis, just mention a few Avantguard Creators in space, and time.❤😮❤❤
As time goes on bernie will ne discovered and people will.see how great he was it took years for hendrix to get accepted by the black.comminity who he tried to reach bernie will be discovered and people will be amazed his creations will live forever
Great descriptions: 4:09 - 4:12 "Hendrix on keyboards" (Bootsy). 6:06 - 6:12 ".. microphone in the universe.." (Will Calhoun). And in his OWN words: 15:18 to 15:47.
03:27 - 03:31 you see how he stretches his hand ? Carpal tunel syndrome i think.....because he keeps his hand tense while hitting the keys. Dentists, scupltors and lots more develop this while working intense and for a long period of time
God put his favorite, Lucifer, in charge of all the music, and the music drove Lucifer mad. If I had the opportunity, the question for Bernie would have been "Do you think Lucifer went mad because he tried to control the music?".
Very dark film it shows bernie struggling with life as an obscure musician while his sound has been influencrd while he remains way to the point of nonexistence it seems like bernie sold his soul and tje music pocesssed him
He didnt sell shit to no one. Bernie freed himself from the material and focused on the spiritual. The sad truth is that in todays world were being grown to "worship" the material, the music industry became empty and focuses on money instead of the soul and emotion, and that led Bernie to be cast aside. What he and pfunk did does not matter to the music industry anymore because it doesnt generate money. their music is complex and meaningful and today people look for simplicity and shortcuts.
It's like being told there's a ghost, in the room.. and you notice it from then on, but it had always been there, and the room, couldn't be called haunted, without him.. it would just be a room
