The Bernie Worrell Interview
By W. Lamar Miles
January 13, 1999

Bernie Worrel, aka the Wizard of Woo, is the original keyboardist and musical director of the ParliaFunkadelicment Thang, and thus a member of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Bernie's classical training and inimitable style have made him a much sought after studio musician. In addition to a stint on the Letterman show Bernie has recorded with such artists as Talking Heads, Sly and Robbie, the Rolling Stones, and numerous collaborations with Bill Laswell. I've seen Bernie with the P-Funk All-Stars at the Beverly Theater in 1983, with Bootsy's Rubber Band at the Strand in Redondo Beach in 1989, and with his band, the WOO WARRIORS on February 3, 1999 at HSU's Van Duzer Theater and at the Berkeley Community Theater on December 4. On January 13th, 1999, I spoke with Bernie on the phone from Los Angeles, where he was working on a studio project with Herb Alpert.

Lamar: How's the tour going?
Bernie: I'm not on tour yet. I start on the 21st. I'm out here doing a Herb Alpert album with Will Calhoun of Living Colour and Doug Wimbish on bass. So we're doing that and I leave on the 21st for Denver, that's where we start.
L.: Have you been to Humboldt County before?
BW: Um, yeah, I'm sure, many years ago. We were, uh, matter of fact, we got caught in a blizzard on the way to Aspen. I think that was in the early '80s. We got caught going through a pass, me, George Clinton, and our road manager at the time. We made it there and just took a few days off during one of the tours., I forget which tour it was.
L.: For the uninitiated or unfunky, what is Woo?
BW: Woo is the ability to entice a person, an entity; it could be a child, female, grandparents, animals; to entice them into your realm; entice them, to lure them in, to get them into...your thing. And the talent to "Come on, let's get down." Woo can be food, you can be woo'd by food, money, money is a woo.
L.: Tell me about the Woo Warriors; who's in the band?
BW: Besides my protégé, the second keyboardist, Greg Fitz, who I also placed him with Bootsy Collins to take my place with Bootsy when I was doing the Letterman show. Van Romaine, who is a drummer from New York, he also plays with Steve Morse from Deep Purple, which he's doing now, so I have another drummer, Gabe Gonzales, who's played with the P-Funk All-Stars.
L.: He has a band called Enemy Squad.
BW: Yes, and the other people are local talent from the New Jersey area, from the Plainfield area and East Orange, New Jersey. Donna MacPherson on bass, female bass player; B.J. Nelson, vocalist who's done a lot of work over the years with Robert Palmer, and Luther Vandross and different people. Michael Moon Rubin on guitar from Plainfield. These aren't names that people know except for Gabe and Greg Fitz; they're players and they're Warriors.
L.: You mentioned the Letterman show. How long did you stay with the CBS Orchestra?
BW: Nine weeks. It became... I was flying out on weekends to meet Bootsy and play with Boots and then getting the red-eye back to tape, you know, for the upcoming week, and it got to be a little taxing at this stage of the game. Plus it kinda kept me from doing...I do a lot of different things, so...don't get me wrong; it was great except for being too cold in there, but I had other things I had to do and it was a mutual agreement for me to depart.
L.: Sure. You know Bernie, it didn't seem right, though, seeing you hiding back there behind Paul Shaffer, Nothing against Paul, but you're the man.
BW: Right. I know Paul felt the same way. Paul's a big...I'm one of his idols and we've been friends for years. He felt the same way, but I was comfortable that way because that's a taxing job. You know, a lot of people don't know what Paul has to deal with, and my hat's off to him.
L.: You've worked with so many different artists, is there anyone you haven't worked with that you'd like to?
BW: Yes, Jimi Hendrix. But I've already worked with him 'cause I've played his material on the Jimi Hendrix tribute album, so we worked together in our mind and spirit. But I would say I'd like to work with Stevie.
L.: Stevie Wonder?
BW: Yes, we met each other years ago, maybe that'll happen. And I'll work with whoever the Lord sends.
L.: I had been having trouble getting your solo album Free Agent. The only places I could find it on the net wanted like $40 bucks for an import...
BW: Yeah, you know you can get it...um...
L.: Woo-Mart. (on Bernie's web site)
BW: Yes.
L.: That seems the way a lot of artists are going these days, by distributing their own music instead of dealing with the record companies.
BW: That's because.. why should the middleman...we lose enough money as it is because of the red tape and all, the way it's set up; and musician, the artist needs more income coming to himself, to their selves, because it's hard enough as it is. So this is one way you can cut out some of the bull crap.
L.: Right, right.
BW: So you get the live CD yet?
L.: No, I haven't got that one yet, I'm waiting for my school money to come in.
BW: Oh, I hear you. Get your books first! Forget me, get your books first.
L.: So what can we expect to hear at the show?
BW: Well, you'll hear, um, a little bit of this, a little bit of that, I'm talking about some old FUNKADELIC oldies but goodies, but not necessarily old because they still stand up today. Then you'll hear a couple of things from the Free Agent album, and there'll be some improvisation, of jazz, of anything that I pull, pull out of my Woo hat...and cartoon music, and a little comedy, it'll be a fun, uh, we like to have fun. You'll get at least an hour and 45 minutes to 2 hours. We're supposed to play a hundred minutes, but it never happens, you know, we put our heart, even if there's 10 people, or a thousand; it's 10 people we still play the full 2 hours, and play hard because we're dedicated..
L.: What are you working on these days, and what's coming out later this year?
BW: Okay, right now, like I said, the Herb Alpert project, and the tour, the Woo Warriors tour, then I go back in the studio to finish the Woo Warriors first studio CD. And that'll be available through the net also. And you can also purchase via credit card now, we have, that's hooked up, cause that's easier for people than sending money orders and what not. And then, after that, probably be some more touring. And I'm exploring the possibility of doing a Duke Ellington tribute, with basically Hammond Organ and some horns. I'm still thinking about that one.
L.: I heard there's gonna be another Third Rail record coming out.
BW: There probably will be. I haven't spoken to Bill Laswell or James "Blood", cause you know, we've all been busy, and out of the country and stuff. But, uh, it's probably true. I haven't spoken to Bill, like I said, in a while. I dropped my keyboard off by his studio because he needed my Rhodes (laughs).
L: Yeah, you've recorded a lot with Laswell. Seems like he works almost as much as you do.
BW: Uh huh. He uh, that's one of the things that I guess attracted us both, because the way he works in the studio is kinda like P-Funk did, and the other part of it is he does different types of musics, different genres, like I do, so it was a mutual...meeting of the minds.
L.: Um hmm...This one's for the homies: On some of the old Parliament albums (like Funkentelechy vs. the Placebo Syndrome..) it says "P-Funk Fan Club, Oxnard, Ca. Did you guys hang out there?
BW: Probably, I can't, probably so, I can't pinpoint right now, but probably some of the other guys remember...What city is that near?
L.: It's between Santa Barbara and LA .
BW: Oh yeah, that's...(laughs)..yeah.
L.: (laughs) Yeah, we'll just leave it at that.
BW: Right! (laughs)
L.: I noticed you play melodica on a couple of songs on Free Agent
BW: Yes.
L.: Do you play it in concert?
BW: On a couple of songs I play it, when I can reach it in time. Like "If You Don't Like the Effects..." from the America Eats Its Young album. I play it on that song. Depends on how large the stage is and where my gear is located, if I can, cause I'm playing one keyboard and I have to reach for the melodica to get ready to play the part, sometimes I can't reach it in time, depending on location.
L.: I really dig the melodica...it's one of my fave instruments..I have one...I really the melodica on "I'd Rather Be With You" (from Ahh..The Name is Bootsy, Baby.)
BW: It's got a great quality about it, it's kinda like a harmonica-type sounding instrument. And, you can, if you know how, use a vibrato with it. It's...you can make it sound lonely. What do you call that, Clint Eastwood movies, the music?
L.: The "Spaghetti Westerns"?
BW: Yeah, yes...yeah it's great.
L.: Besides the Hammond B-3 and the Moog synthesizer, How do you get your trademark sound?
BW: The Arp Pro Soloist, and of course, the clavinet.
L.: And you run the B-3 through Leslie cabinets?
BW: Yes, but all the clubs can't get it for me now, so I have a Hughes-Ketner Leslie unit that they gave me in Germany, and it's the closest thing of the new generation of trying to simulate Leslies. And this is the closest unit that I've heard to the Leslie sound. So I use it on an organ patch of my little Kawai synthesizer that Bootsy bought me. And um, that's that; pedals, effects pedals.
L.: Tell me a story about Eddie Hazel.
BW: Okay, like (laughs) what kind of stories; different kinds; we don't want any sad stories.
L.: First one that pops in your head.
BW: My baby brother, my crazy baby brother, extremely talented, another, not another Hendrix, but in the same realm, and that didn't get the, uh, should have had more credit than he got, probably. That's neither here nor there, but those who know know. And I miss him dearly, but he's still with us.
L.: What do you think about the NBA?
BW: I was just watching Michael, oh, (laughs) tears come in my eyes. I'm happy for him; and as far as the lockout and everything, I think everybody has to take into consideration the fans. If you really take a look at it, that should be, on both sides of the fence, what they should be thinking about: the fans. 'Cause it's the fans that pay all of their salaries, the players and the owners. Without the fans, neither side has anything. So...let's wait and see what happens.
L.: Are you ready for Y2K?
BW: What's that? I'm not up on it?
L.: The millennium computer...
BW: Oh, the computer glitch. Well it depends on what area it hits. They say it might hit the ATM machines also. I guess we'll have to wait and see.
L.: Your gear will still be working though.
BW: Oh yeah, we're still gonna keep on if we have to...whatever happens we have to confront it and work around it. If you have faith, God'll make a way.
L.: Tell me the first thing that pops in your mind when I say these song titles.
BW: Okay.
L.: "Balance" (from America Eats Its Young)
BW: A mother (laughs)...A Mother thing.
L.: "Wake Up"
BW: Call.
L.: "I'm Never Gonna Tell It."
BW: ...Unless it should be known.
L.: "How Do You View You?"
BW: Very well.
L.: Is there any chance of seeing the whole U.S. Funk Mob with yourself, Bootsy, Maceo, and all the Original P back on one stage?
BW: Well, we did July 4th and 5th in Central Park, The Second Coming in "96. I left again right after that because our man messed up business-wise again, and I can't go through that anymore. So it's on George, you know, it's on the business man.
L: Do you have any advice for aspiring musicians like myself?
BW: Stay in school first of all. Learn your rudiments, because pushing a button is, that's...new technology is here, but I feel if you don't have hands on whatever instrument you play...or you should play an instrument and learn the rudiments of music so you can, when you creating and composing, you have that much more information to work with; and use that in conjunction with new technology, sampling and all that. Anybody can push a button, but a lot of them push the button, they don't even know what kind of chord it is. They have hearing, good ears, but you could know so much more, and really come up with some different shit...stuff.
L.: Well, Bernie, thank you very much, this has been a dream come true. You're definitely one of my heroes.
BW: You coming to the show?
L.: Oh you know I'll be there. I've got a copy of "All the Woo In the World "(Bernie's first solo album) I want you to sign.
BW: Okay, great. Oh, I don't even, somebody stole mine! That's great, man, bring it.
L: Thanks again, Bernie. Have a great time in Cali, good luck with the tour, and we'll see you on the 3rd.
BW: Thank you, God bless.

Interview originally published in the Lumberjack newspaper January 20, 1999.

Photos & interview ©1999 W. Lamar Miles