The Pacemakers were a late-1960s American
funk group that consisted of
bassist William "Bootsy" Collins, his older brother
Phelps "Catfish" Collins
Phelps "Catfish" Collins (October 17, 1943 – August 6, 2010) was an American musician. A lead guitarist and rhythm guitarist, he is known mostly for his work in the P-Funk collective. Although frequently overshadowed by his younger brother, ...
on
guitar
The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...
,
Philippé Wynne
Philippé Wynne (''aka'' Philippe Escalante Wynn; ''né'' Walker; April 3, 1941 – July 14, 1984) was an American singer, best known for his role as a lead vocalist of The Spinners (a role he shared with fellow group members Bobby Smith and H ...
on
vocals
Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...
, and
drummer Will Jackson (later replaced by Frankie "Kash" Waddy).
The Pacemakers were little-known outside
Cincinnati
Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...
, Ohio, until 1969. After most of
James Brown's band quit over a pay dispute, The Pacemakers were hired in 1970 as replacements. They formed the cornerstone of Brown's new backup band,
The J.B.'s.
References
* David Mills, Larry Alexander, Thomas Stanley, and Aris Thomas, ''George Clinton and P-Funk: An Oral History'' (New York: Avon Books, 1998).
* Patricia Romanski and Holly George-Warren (editors), ''The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll'' (New York: Fireside, 2005).
* Rickey Vincent, ''Funk: The Music, The People, and The Rhythm of The One'' (New York: St. Martin's Griffin, 1996).
*R. J. Smith, ''The One: The Life and Music of James Brown'' (New York: Gotham Books, 2012).
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pacemakers
Pacesetters
Musical groups from Cincinnati