Gary 'Mudbone' Cooper

Gary "Mudbone" Cooper (born 20 August 1957; Washington, D.C., United States) is an American singer, songwriter and percussionist. An original member of Bootsy's Rubber Band and a longstanding part of the Parliament-Funkadelic family, Cooper went on to become one half of the 1980s duo Sly Fox.

Early Life

Cooper grew up in Baltimore, Maryland, roughly fifty miles from his birthplace of Washington, D.C. He began singing publicly at the age of three and went on to graduate from Baltimore City College.
 

Career

Cooper's professional career began when he connected with bassist William "Bootsy" Collins, formerly of James Brown's backing band the J.B.'s. The pair, together with other collaborators, formed Bootsy's Rubber Band in 1976, a touring and recording offshoot of George Clinton's wider Parliament-Funkadelic collective; it was Collins who gave Cooper the nickname "Mudbone" around this time.

Cooper recorded simultaneously with Parliament and Funkadelic, beginning with the 1975 album Chocolate City and continuing through the "Atomic Dog" era, contributing vocals, percussion and drums to the P-Funk catalogue, including drums on Parliament's 1978 single "Aqua Boogie (A Psychoalphadiscobetabioaquadoloop)" from the album Motor Booty Affair.

Alongside Bootsy Collins and George Clinton, Cooper co-wrote "I'd Rather Be With You," one of the most sampled songs in popular music, later interpolated or covered by artists including Dr. Dre, N.W.A, Snoop Dogg, the Sugababes and Beyoncé.

In the mid-1980s, Cooper formed the duo Sly Fox with Michael Camacho, scoring a US and UK Top 10 hit with "Let's Go All the Way" in 1985/86; the pair released one studio album, Let's Go All the Way, on Capitol Records in December 1985, which reached the US Top 40.

Cooper went on to become a widely sought session vocalist and songwriter, collaborating with artists including Prince, Herbie Hancock, Keith Richards, Bob Dylan, the Ramones, Jimmy Cliff, James Brown, Sly Stone, Larry Graham, Lauryn Hill, Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, Bill Laswell, Bernie Worrell, Lenny Kravitz and the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

He contributed backing vocals across Dave Stewart's 1994 album Greetings from the Gutter, and co-wrote the song "Freedom's Coming" with Stewart in support of the Nelson Mandela Foundation. His additional credits include work on the soundtrack for the film Alfie, contributions to the film Pet Sematary, and the French animated television series Funky Cops. Cooper released his solo album, Fresh Mud, in 2006.
 

Personal Life

Detailed public information about Cooper's family life outside of his musical collaborations is limited. His body of work, particularly his contributions to the P-Funk catalogue and his co-writing credit on "I'd Rather Be With You," has left a lasting mark on funk, R&B and hip-hop, with his songs remaining among the most sampled in music history.