Cordell "Boogie" Mosson, who held down the bass for Parliament-Funkadelic, sadly died last Thursday (April 18). As of press time, no cause of death has been confirmed, but he was 60 years old.
Although Bootsy Collins may be Parliament-Funkadelic's most famous bassist, Mosson's contributions to the funk collective were similarly integral. He toured with the sister groups from the '70s through to the early '80s and performed on a number of their albums from the period.
Mosson grew up in Plainfield, NJ, and he and his friend Garry Shider moved to Toronto and joined the band United Soul. George Clinton produced some of the band's material, and he eventually invited Mosson and Shider to join Parliament-Funkadelic.
After Bootsy Collins launched his solo career, Mosson became the collective's onstage bassist until Parliament and Funkadelic disbanded in the early '80s. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as part of Parliament-Funkadelic in 1997.
A 2011 Facebook post revealed that Mosson was in hospital and in "serious condition." It's unclear if this is connected to his recent passing.
Mosson's real first name was Cardell, but he was incorrectly credited as "Cordell" in many of Parliament-Funkadelic's liner notes, and it's by this name that he's most widely remembered.
We'll leave you with this obituary posted on the collective's website by keyboardist Danny Bedrosian:
CORDELL "BOOGIE" MOSSON, the ultimate FUNK theologian, one of P-FUNK's most pivotal and vital musicians (bass, guitar, drums and vocals), Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member, and one of my teachers, has passed away today. We lost more information, lessons, and vast rare funk knowledge today, then most learn in a lifetime. Much like the last of the samurai, the end of the era of the pyramid builders, and the passing of an age, vast sums of knowledge are now lost. For those few of us to have studied under him (Boog's tenure with P-funk starts in 1971, and his Plainfield NJ roots go back much further, giving him preponderance in the P-Funk histories), we must go on with the knowledge we have been imparted by Boog's far seeing vision of funk theory. Boog's knowledge and understanding of Rhythm, the ONE, the Pocket, and the FEEL of P-FUNK, was UNMATCHED. We in Parliament-Funkadelic, wish to send our prayers to Boog's family, and with extreme sadness, we say our worldly goodbye to our brother, our uncle, our friend, our teacher, our valued, trusted, master of musical expression: CORDELL "BOOGIE" MOSSON (October 16th, 1952 – April 18th, 2013)
Although Bootsy Collins may be Parliament-Funkadelic's most famous bassist, Mosson's contributions to the funk collective were similarly integral. He toured with the sister groups from the '70s through to the early '80s and performed on a number of their albums from the period.
Mosson grew up in Plainfield, NJ, and he and his friend Garry Shider moved to Toronto and joined the band United Soul. George Clinton produced some of the band's material, and he eventually invited Mosson and Shider to join Parliament-Funkadelic.
After Bootsy Collins launched his solo career, Mosson became the collective's onstage bassist until Parliament and Funkadelic disbanded in the early '80s. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as part of Parliament-Funkadelic in 1997.
A 2011 Facebook post revealed that Mosson was in hospital and in "serious condition." It's unclear if this is connected to his recent passing.
Mosson's real first name was Cardell, but he was incorrectly credited as "Cordell" in many of Parliament-Funkadelic's liner notes, and it's by this name that he's most widely remembered.
We'll leave you with this obituary posted on the collective's website by keyboardist Danny Bedrosian:
CORDELL "BOOGIE" MOSSON, the ultimate FUNK theologian, one of P-FUNK's most pivotal and vital musicians (bass, guitar, drums and vocals), Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member, and one of my teachers, has passed away today. We lost more information, lessons, and vast rare funk knowledge today, then most learn in a lifetime. Much like the last of the samurai, the end of the era of the pyramid builders, and the passing of an age, vast sums of knowledge are now lost. For those few of us to have studied under him (Boog's tenure with P-funk starts in 1971, and his Plainfield NJ roots go back much further, giving him preponderance in the P-Funk histories), we must go on with the knowledge we have been imparted by Boog's far seeing vision of funk theory. Boog's knowledge and understanding of Rhythm, the ONE, the Pocket, and the FEEL of P-FUNK, was UNMATCHED. We in Parliament-Funkadelic, wish to send our prayers to Boog's family, and with extreme sadness, we say our worldly goodbye to our brother, our uncle, our friend, our teacher, our valued, trusted, master of musical expression: CORDELL "BOOGIE" MOSSON (October 16th, 1952 – April 18th, 2013)
