The B-52’s Fred Schneider Helps Producer Evan Taylor Make “The Big WOO” a “Wacky” Contribution to Bernie Worrell: Wave from the WOOniverse
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The B-52’s Fred Schneider
Helps Musical Director and Producer Evan Taylor
Make “The Big WOO” a “Wacky” Contribution
To Bernie Worrell: Wave from the WOOniverse
TV on the Radio’s Jaleel Bunton & Kyp Malone
Add Vocals to the Track
Taylor Dives Into the Story Behind the Song
On “The Big Woo,”
From the Parliament/Funkadelic and Talking Head Funk Legend’s
Posthumous Double-Album
Courtesy Fred Schneider
Schneider said, “The Big WOO was meant to be in an homage to Bernie‘s album All the Woo in the World. I felt I had to use Woo as the theme for my song. Working with Bernie on my first solo album, Fred Schneider and the Shake Society, was one of the best experiences in my musical career. What a keyboard genius with great ideas. He was one of a kind for sure.”
But just what does “The Big WOO” mean, exactly? “That was Fred Schneider’s title and concept. I always thought of it like ‘the twist’ or ‘the locomotion,’ like everybody’s doing it,” explains musical director and producer Evan Taylor. “Fred was perfect for this song because it’s kind of wacky, in the best way possible of course. I was so happy to get Fred. We hopped on the phone and he had great ideas. He texted me some screenshots of lyrics and I started mocking up the song in ProTools to save Fred the headache. He was so easy to work with — no ego. I was happy to get his vision right.”
Photographer – Brian Diescher
Photographer – John Nyboer
“The Big WOO,” featuring alongside Schneider are Binky Griptite (Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings), Marco Benevento (multi-instrumentalist/jazz musician), Jaleel Bunton and Kyp Malone (TV on the Radio), and Ana Becker (singer/guitarist/songwriter) and produced by Worrell’s longtime musical director, Evan Taylor, is the sixth track from the Parliament/Funkadelic and Talking Head legend’s posthumous double album Bernie Worrell: Wave from the WOOniverse. The two first worked together when Worrell contributed keyboards, synthesizers, and backing vocals on Schneider’s debut solo album, 1984’s Fred Schneider and the Shake Society, which Worrell also co-produced.
With 23 people — including six featured performers, seven vocalists, seven musicians, three spoken roles, and three hand-clappers — making the magic happen on this song, it’s no wonder that Taylor quips, “‘The Big WOO’ is definitely big. We had so many pieces from so many places that it was daunting when it came time to assemble this puzzle, but we had such a great, and dedicated team,” explains Taylor, who took dozens of Worrell’s unfinished compositions and turned them into new songs. “This was the last song of the lot to be mixed. With our engineer Spencer Guerra being in L.A. and myself in New York, Spencer had to start the mixing session later, so I slept in shifts, checking mixes periodically every few hours or so and providing notes. By the morning, we had our finished mixes, and we were proud, but mostly exhausted by the last-minute sprint.”
It all started when Taylor came across a demo from Worrell’s archives that had just a cool drum groove with a clavinet, a German instrument that looks like a piano but sounds like an electric guitar. “Bernie loved the clavinet, it’s one of his favorite instruments because it’s so dynamic and it functions a lot like a guitar but it’s extra rhythmic and great with effects,” says Taylor. “Bernie’s chord changes were great, and the feel was so funky. There was definitely room to expand upon.”
First on the agenda was to bring in the horn section, Justin Mullens and Shlomi Cohen, who worked their usual magic. “I headed to Charlotte, North Carolina, back to Old House Studios, to get some percussion takes from Steve Scales and then Joleigh Bowden sang some harmonies,” explains Taylor.
“Meanwhile, at Studio G, Binky Griptite (of Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings) joined us, laying down some talk box and ripping an Eddie Hazel-inspired solo. Next, Kyp Malone and Jaleel Bunton (of TV on the Radio) dropped in some backing vocals, along with Janet LaBelle and Natalie Kirch, who also delivered excellent voice acting. Remotely, Marco Benevento checked off a laundry-list of additional keyboard duties—Rhodes, trippy synth, and combo organ; a nod to B-52s. We then had Ana Becker punctuate the ‘big woo’s on the choruses and did so much more, layering three-part harmonies and playing off of Fred masterfully. This track really required collaboration between us.”.
Bernie Worrell: Wave from the WOOniverse was released on Org Music initially on vinyl on Record Store Day (April 20, 2024) and then digitally and on CD in August 2024 at all DSPs (linktr.ee/bernieworrell). The lineup includes Bootsy Collins (James Brown, P-Funk), Jerry Harrison (Talking Heads), Fred Schneider (the B-52s), Mike Watt (The Minutemen, The Stooges), Leo Nocentelli (The Meters) and Sean Ono-Lennon, Leo Nocentelli, Miho Hatori, Steve Scales, Marc Ribot, Fred Wesley, Marco Benevento, Stanton Moore, Steven Bernstein, Daru Jones, Will Calhoun, Buckethead, Norwood Fisher, and many more.
“The Big WOO” Production Credits:
Bernie Worrell: Keyboards
Fred Schneider: Lead vocals
Marco Benevento: Keyboards
Steve Scales: Percussion
Binky Griptight: Guitar
Scott Hogan: Bass
Jared Samuel Elioseff: Keyboards
Ana Becker: Backing vocals
Kyp Malone: Backing Vocals
Jaleel Bunton: Backing Vocals
Joyce Bowden: Backing Vocals
Janet LaBelle: Role of Fred’s therapist, Backing vocals
Natalie Kirch: Role of demanding rich restaurant diner, Backing vocals
Claps: Evan Taylor, Janet LaBelle, Natalie Kirch
Jonathan Wald: Role of Waiter
Justin Mullens: Trumpet
Shlomi Cohen: Saxophones
Horns arranged by Justin Mullens
Engineered by Spencer Guerra, Tony Maimone, Daniel Collins Hodges with Alex Jacobs
Fred’s vocals engineered by Ana Becker at Ise Sound Studio
Mixed by Spencer Guerra
Produced by Evan Taylor
Recorded at Old House Studios, Charlotte, N.C., Studio G. in Brooklyn, NY, Ise Sound Studio
Mastered by Steven Berson at Total Sonic Media, Cedar Park, Texas (digital tracks), and Dave Gardner (vinyl tracks)
art by Raeghan Buchanan
Bernie Worrell: Wave from the WOOniverse track listing:
1. Intro (Reflections on a Bird) – Feat. Nick Montoya
2. Distant Star – Feat. Jerry Harrison, Paul Dooley, Alecia Chakour, Invisible Familiars
3. What Have They Done To My Funk – Feat. Bootsy Collins, Michael Moon Reuben, Ouiwey Collins, Buckethead
4. Heapin’; Bowl Of Gumbo – Feat. Leo Nocentelli, Fred Wesley, Stanton Moore, Lonnie Marshall
5. Re-Enter Black Light (Phase II) – Feat. Sean Ono Lennon
6. The Big WOO – Feat. Fred Schneider, Binky Griptite, Marco Benevento, Jaleel Bunton, Kyp Malone, Ana Becker
7. Greenpoint – Feat. Steve Bernstein, Mauro Refosco, Smokey Hormel, Scott Hogan, Michael Jerome Moore
8. Soldiers Of The Stars – Feat. Daru Jones, Eric McFadden
9. When The Rain Subsides – Feat. Will Calhoun
10. Pedro WOO – Feat. Mike Watt
11. Contusion – Funkadelic
12. Transcendence – Feat. Marc Ribot, Norwood Fisher
13. Wave From The WOOniverse – Feat. Miho Hatori, Sarah La Puerta, Invisible Familiars
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