[Jimi Hendrix] was my hero--the only artist whose poster I had hung up in my room. To this day he goes with me wherever I go. Even though I had all the respect in the world for James Brown, the push for independence and wanting to be free, to express ourselves on stage and dress differently, was too great. We were supposed to be in suits, shoes, well-groomed, and we wanted to do the wild thing. And we knew we couldn't do the wild thing with James Brown. It was his way or the highway. George [George Clinton] was like, "Whatever you can bring to the party, bring it". I would never have rode in the car with James Brown, with three chicks in the back seat, getting high. Anything and everything was possible with George. That was one extreme to the other. You need both in your life--the key is to combine the two.
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