Yesterday was
Jimi Hendrix Winterland Day in San Francisco - it was kind of just a CD release party at Amoeba in San Francisco for the (almost?) complete Winterland concerts from 1968, but the special guest was Bootsy Collins! He was the voice reading letters and documents by Jimi Hendrix in the recent Voodoo Child documentary.
I decided to take my new favorite envelope filter, the
3Leaf GR2, for him to sign (in addition to buying his new album - it was kind of a CD release party for him too). I thought the staff might be uptight about him signing other stuff, but no one was around, and Bootsy was totally into it! He asked what was distinctive about it and I tried to explain the effects loop and how it lets the clean sound of the bass trigger the envelope, but I was kind of nervous - I WAS TALKING TO BOOTSY COLLINS!!! He did say thought that he was really interested and had to write the name down, so while he was signing it I jotted it down on an old receipt I had in my pocket.
(That's Janie Hendrix in the background - Jimi Hendrix's adopted half-sister who also happens to be CEO of Experience Hendrix, the group that controls Jimi's legacy)
My wife has been learning bass on and off - I told Bootsy and that she really liked funk - she has been on a quest to find the best funk bass tracks - so he said she should enroll in
Funk U! Even though I'm more familiar with his music, she was more excited to meet him - it took her hours to calm down. Here's a shot with all of us, including Bootsy's wife/manager, "Peppermint" Patti:
And finally, here is my signed envelope filter - I feel like I have been annointed...
One more thing - I posted on the 3Leaf thread at TalkBass - that's the company that makes the GR2 - the owner/builder Spencer just posted this morning that Bootsy already emailed him!
