I'd Rather Be with You

Collins, Clinton and Gary "Mudbone" Cooper wrote it, and at 5:03 it is track 4 of the album. The 1976 single reached 25 on the R&B chart and missed the Hot 100 and the dance chart. Songfacts calls it a slow funk ballad: Clinton did not write romantic songs for P-Funk, so the Rubber Band gave Collins a place for love songs. Collins plays wah-wah guitar and bass and sings throughout, including a spoken-word section at the end, with Cooper and Robert "Peanut" Johnson on vocals, Bernie Worrell on melodica and keyboards, Garry Shider on guitar and Cordell "Boogie" Mosson on drums. Culture Sonar calls it the album's standout and a decent-sized radio hit.

Its legacy is largely its sampling lineage. Wikipedia lists Childish Gambino's "Redbone" (2016), which is based on it with Collins, Clinton and Cooper among the credited writers, Beyonce's "Be with You" (2003), Adina Howard's "Freak Like Me" (1995), Tupac's "Ratha Be Ya Nigga" (1996) and Too Short's "Gettin' It" (1996). Setlist.fm shows it as the most played song among the Bootsy's Rubber Band setlists, with 11 plays, ahead of "Psychoticbumpschool" and "Stretchin' Out" at 10 each. We found no video, no artist account of its meaning and no covers.