I’m glad that we’re always shining the Flash Light on unsung P-Funk instrumentalists like Ron Bykowski.
Ron is definitely one of the more mysterious figures in Parliament-Funkadelic narrative. Apparently passed on in April of 2014. Additionally, there are very few pictures of Ron performing with P-Funk.
This article appeared in Soul Newspaper from 1971. It is perhaps the only article that features a quote from Ron.
And if you look closely, you’ll see that the picture of Calvin is the same one used in the gatefold for the album Tales Of Kidd Funkadelic.
The date of this article is very interesting - Feb 1971 presumably around when Maggot Brain was being worked on and yet Ron implies he was filling in on bass (for Billy, implied) and then he moved to guitar.
Since Tawl is the other guitar player being interviewed this means there must’ve been a fascinating brief period when it was either just Ron and Tawl or Eddie, Ron, and Tawl on guitar concurrently. Also this means Ron’s involvement is much earlier than I thought as he’s not officially credited with Funkadelic until 1973.
Wild!
