2016 strikes again: Legendary P-Funk Keyboardist Bernie Worrell Dies at 72

[Miles Archer]

http://ultimateclassicrock.com/bernie-worrell-dies/

Worrell was born and raised in New Jersey, and later studied piano at Juilliard and the New England Conservatory of Music. He played in a few bands in his late teens and early twenties — including the R&B group that went on to become “It Only Takes a Miracle” hitmakers Tavares and featured drummer Joey Kramer, pre-Aerosmith — before hooking up with George Clinton and the Parliament-Funkadelic brigade.

Once the collective — which recorded as both the soul-leaning Parliament and the rock-focused Funkadelic — relocated to Detroit, Worrell took a major role in the group, writing songs, playing keys (including the springy riffs that were at the center of many of the bands’ greatest tracks) and arranging horns. He was only the second musician to be given a Moog synthesizer by the instrument’s picky creator.

Like many of his fellow P-Funk bandmates, Worrell appeared on many of the collective’s side projects, including records by Bootsy’s Rubber Band, the Brides of Funkenstein and the Horny Horns, as well as recording a solo album, All the Woo in the World, in 1978 with P-Funk backing him.

When Clinton temporarily put the group on hold and took a break from touring in the first part of the ’80s, Worrell joined Talking Heads for their Speaking in Tongues album, sticking with the group on record and tour pretty much through its breakup at the end of the decade. He was onstage with them when they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2002.

[kwassa]

1. NO!!!!!!!!!!! Not Bernie! What an innovater and important musicisn.

The synth bass line on Flashlight, the best funk tune ever.

He was critical to the music of PFunk, as songwriter and performer, and in the later sounds of the Talking Heads. Highly visible in "Stop Making Sense".