Jerome Brailey

Jerome Brailey
Background information
Birth name	Jerome Eugene Brailey
Also known as	Bigfoot Brailey
Born	August 20, 1950 (1950-08-20) (age 66) Richmond, Virginia, U.S.
Occupation(s)	Drummer, Songwriter, Producer, Vocalist
Instruments	Drums, Percussions, Vocals
Years active	1968 to the present
Labels	Casablanca, Arista, Westbound, Columbia, Rykodisc, P-Vine
Associated acts	Parliament-Funkadelic, Mutiny, The Five Stairsteps, The Chambers Brothers, The Unifics

Jerome Eugene "Bigfoot" Brailey (born August 20, 1950) is an American drummer, best known for his work with P-Funk, which included the bands Parliament, Funkadelic, and numerous related projects. Brailey is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, inducted in 1997 with fifteen other members of Parliament-Funkadelic.^[1]

Career

Jerome Brailey started performing around 1968 with the R&B group The Unifics continuing with The Five Stairsteps and The Chambers Brothers. Jerome played on the original studio recording of the classic R&B song "O-o-h Child" by The Five Stairsteps, later joining George Clinton's P-Funk collective in 1975 and appeared on many of their most popular recordings label as the impact years of Parliament/Funkadelic. He co-wrote one of Parliament's biggest hits, “Give Up the Funk (Tear the Roof off the Sucker)", with George Clinton and Bootsy Collins. Samples from that body of work have since appeared on hundreds of hip-hop and contemporary R&B songs. After leaving P-Funk in 1978 due to bad financial management decisions by George Clinton, Brailey started working closely with Glenn Goins who also left the P-Funk unit and started production for the funk group Quazar featuring Kevin Goins. Brailey and Glenn Goins started working on the concept of Mutiny as they entered the final completion date for the Quazar album on Arista Records but Glenn's untimely death in 1978 placed Jerome in the position to finalize the production work on the Quazar album because the recording was not completed. After the Quazar album was completed, Brailey continued on with the concept and the group Mutiny was formed and sign to Columbia Records.

“Mutiny on the Mamaship” includes some of Jerome’s most creative recordings while working alongside guitarist Donald “Lenny” Holmes and bass guitarist Raymond Carter. The recordings were outlined in a way not far removed from the classic P-Funk style, with emphasis placed on dual lead guitar work similar to other Funk & Rock bands. They released their debut album Mutiny on the Mamaship 1979, followed by Funk Plus the One in 1980. The first album was seen as very successful in musical terms, though some critics complained about the lack of originality connected to that body of work. Brailey has appeared as a session drummer with a diverse group of artists, including Keith Richards, Bill Laswell, James Blood Ulmer, Dave Stewart, and Lucky Peterson. The connection of Bigfoot Brailey’s drum style & techniques has led him and other members of the Funk Mob to The Smithsonian National Museum of African American History & Culture Center which opens on Sept. 24, 2016 in Washington DC. The most iconic stage props: The P-Funk Mothership will be on display at The Smithsonian Museum alone with footage of its history and other monumental outlines related to African American History. Jerome Brailey is a close relative of Matt Brailey, who lives in the UK.

Selected Discography

Parliament / Funkadelic (Impact Years) (1975 - 1979)

• Parliament - Mothership Connection (1975)

• Funkadelic - Tales of Kidd Funkadelic (1976)

• Funkadelic - Hardcore Jollies (1976)

• Parliament - Clones of Dr. Funkenstein (1976)

• Fuzzy Haskins - A Whole Nother Thang (1976)

• Parliament - Funkentelechy Vs. the Placebo Syndrome (1977)

• Bootsy's Rubber Band - Ahh...The Name Is Bootsy, Baby! (1977)

• Eddie Hazel - Games, Dames & Guitar Thangs (1977)

• Live: P-Funk Earth Tour (1977)

• Fred Wesley and the Horny Horns featuring Maceo Parker "Blow for Me, A Toot to You (1977)

• Funkadelic - One Nation Under a Groove (1978)

• The Brides of Funkenstein - Funk Or Walk (1978)

• Fuzzy Haskins - Radio Active (1978)

• Bernie Worrell - All The Woo In The World (1978)

• Parlet - Pleasure Principle (1978)

• Fred Wesley And The Horny Horns - Say Blow by Blow Backwards (1979)

Mutiny

• Mutiny on the Mamaship (1979)

• Funk Plus the One (1980)

• A Night Out with the Boys (1983)

• Aftershock 2005 (1996)

• How's Your Loose Booty? - (compilation) (2000)

• Funk Rd. (2013)

• Mutiny (2-CD Deluxe Edition) (2015)

Chambers Brothers

• Right Move (1975)

Five Stairsteps

• (Buddah) Ooh Child (1970)

The Unifics

• Sittin In At The Court Of Love (1968)

Contributions / Compilations

• Billy Bass Nelson - Out of the Dark (O.G. Funk) (1993)

• Liu Sola - Blues in the East (1994)

• Buckethead - Giant Robot (1994)

• Parliament - Greatest Hits 1972-1993 (1994)

• Bootsy - Back in the Day: The Best of Bootsy (1994)

• Tawl Ross - a.k.a. Detrimental Vasoline (1995)

• Parliament - Best of Parliament: Give Up the Funk (1995)

• Dave Stewart - Greetings from the Gutter (1995)

• Jah Wobble - Heaven and Earth (1995)

• Peter's Rock Mass Choir - Message from the Rock (1995)

• Fred Wesley And The Horny Horns - Final Blow (1995)

• Mothership Connection Newberg Session - (1995)

• Funkcronomicon ( Axiom Funk ) – (1995)

• Various Artists - Altered Beats: Assassin Knowledges (1996)

• Parliament - Live, 1976-1993 (1996)

• Material – Intonarumori (1998)

• Eddie Hazel - Rest in P (2000)

• Parliament - The 20th Century Masters (2000)

• James Blood Ulmer - Blue Blood (2001)

• Bootsy Collins - Glory B da' Funk's on Me! (2001)

• Parliament - Funked Up: The Very Best of... (2002)

• George Clinton: Parliament Funkadelic - Mothership Connection – DVD (2002)

• Snoop Dogg - Under-Cover Brotha (2003)

• Dawn Sheppard - The Dawn Of A New Day (2003)

• Lucky Peterson - Black Midnight Sun (2003)

• Funkadelic - Whole Funk & Nothing But the Funk Definitive (2005)

• Parliament - Gold [Original Recording Remastered] (2005)

• Funkadelic - Motor City Madness: The Ultimate Funkadelic Westbound Compilation (2006)

• Parliament / Funkadelic - The Mothership Connection Live 1976 (2008)

• Glee: The Music, Volume 3 Showstoppers (Soundtrack Album) (2010)

• Parliament - ICON (2011)

• Funkadelic – Cosmic Funkers (2011)

• A Different Kind Of Christmas - Various Artists (2012)

• Jonathan Hay, Mike Smith, King Tech and Various Artists - When Music Worlds Collide (2015)

References

External links

• Jerome Bigfoot Brailey @ www.drumsoloartist.com