Bootsy and Charlie, funk and country, honor troops

CINCINNATI _ Rock and Roll Hall of Famer and funk musician Bootsy Collins, country star Charlie Daniels and other performers have teamed for a CD honoring soldiers killed in Iraq and to raise money for a memorial.

"You might think me and Bootsy run in different directions, but that's a misconception," said Daniels, a fiddler-guitarist best known for the hit "The Devil Went Down to Georgia."

"There's not as many degrees of separation in music as you might think," Daniels said. "As different as we are, we've just got such respect for each other's music."

Daniels performs a song he wrote, "The Last Fallen Hero," on the CD "Fallen Soldiers' Memorial" that Collins produced for his own company, Bootzilla Productions. It's being released Thanksgiving Day, and a DVD will be available in February.

"I remember a time when patriotism was strong, and people who had gone to war were treated with such tremendous respect," Daniels said. "We can't do enough for them."

Collins, a Cincinnati native who has played bass for James Brown and Parliament/Funkadelic, said he was inspired by the work of the Yellow Ribbon Support Center, which has sent thousands of boxes of snacks, toiletries, magazines and games to soldiers.

The center was run by Keith and Carolyn Maupin in suburban Cincinnati throughout the four years they waited for word about their son, Staff Sgt. Matt Maupin, who was captured and killed by insurgents in Iraq. Remains belonging to the Batavia, Ohio, native were found in March about 12 miles from where his fuel convoy was attacked near Baghdad.

Keith Maupin is continuing the work, "even though Matt is home," Collins noted.

"He's still going at it because there's soldiers over there still dyin'," Collins said. "I just really felt like I need to step in here and help do something. It's a good feeling. A good feeling."