Victor is the loving husband and devoted father of four; the youngest sibling of the amazing Wooten brothers (Regi, Roy, Rudy and Joseph), and the bassist in their famed family band; the student in the martial art of Wing Chun and the nature survival skill of Tracking; the teacher of dozens of Bass players at his acclaimed annual Bass & Nature camp; and the master magician.
Victor Lemonte Wooten got to music early, growing up in a military family in which his older brothers all played and sang. By the time he was 3, Victor was being taught bass by his oldest brother Regi, and at age 5 he was performing professionally with the Wooten Brothers Band. He recalls, "My parents and brothers were the foundation. They prepared me for anything by teaching me to keep my mind open and learn to adapt.” Working their way east from Sacramento, the band played countless clubs and eventually opened concerts for Curtis Mayfield and War.
Victor was influenced by bass mentors, Stanley Clarke, Larry Graham and Bootsy Collins, while learning about the music business at a wildly accelerated pace. By the early '80s, with the family settled in Newport News, Virginia, the brothers became mainstays at Busch Gardens theme park in nearby Williamsburg, making numerous connections with musicians in Nashville and New York.
In 1988 Victor moved to Nashville, where he worked with singer Jonell Mosser and met New Grass Revival banjo ace Bela Fleck. A year later, Fleck enlisted Vic, his brother Roy (a.k.a. Future Man) and harmonica-playing keyboardist Howard Levy to perform with him, and the Flecktones were born. After three highly successful albums, Levy departed in 1993, and the band's new trio format enabled Victor to develop and display a staggering array of fingerboard skills that turned him into a bass hero of Pastorian-proportions and helped earn the band a Grammy.
With the Flecktones in full flight, Victor set his sights on a solo career, first forming Bass Extremes with fellow low-end lord Steve Bailey (leading to an instructional book/CD and two CDs, to date), and finally releasing his critically-acclaimed solo debut, A Show of Hands, in 1996. Soon after, Vic took his solo show on the road with drummer J.D. Blair. Momentum and accolades built with successive tours and the release of What Did He Say? in 1997, the Grammy-nominated Yin-Yang in 1999 and the double CD, Live In America in 2001.
Wooten won two Nashville Music Awards for Bassist Of The Year and is the only three-time winner of Bass Player magazine's Bass Player Of The Year. With the honors came sideman calls, leading to recordings and performances with artists like Branford Marsalis, Mike Stern, Bruce Hornsby, Chick Corea, Dave Matthews, Prince, Gov't Mule, Susan Tedeschi, Vital Tech Tones (with Scott Henderson and Steve Smith), the Jaco Pastorius Word Of Mouth Big Band, and the soundtrack of the Disney film Country Bears, not to mention the stellar work with guitarist Greg Howe and Dennis Chambers with the group Howe Wooten and Chambers.
Fresh off sold-out tours with the Flecktones and Bass Extremes (with Bailey, Watson and Oteil Burbridge) in 2004, Victor is re-focusing on his solo side in 2005 thanks to a remarkable new CD, his Vanguard Records debut, Soul Circus. A three-ring affair, the disc boasts such guests as the Wooten brothers, Bootsy Collins, Arrested Development rapper/vocalist Speech, Howard Levy, Dennis Chambers, Saundra Williams, J.D. Blair, Derico Watson, Flecktone Jeff Coffin, and a who's-who of bassists, including Bailey, Burbridge, Will Lee, Rhonda Smith, Christian McBride, T.M. Stevens, Bill Dickens and Gary Grainger.
On Soul Circus, Victor performs his usual high-wire act on a bevy of basses, but the real ringmaster here is his collection of songs: The poignant "Prayer” and Prince-charged flipside "Natives” provide a thought-provoking look at our native Americans. The epic "Bass Tribute” pays homage to great thumpers past and present. "On and On” is an instant soul classic. "Cell Phone” makes a chuckle-filled, cutting-edge connection. "Higher Law” stands as a stadium-ready, rock-funk protest anthem in the best Sly Stone tradition. "Back to India” currys up simmering musical flavors. And the hip hop/jazz title track marks the sonic coming-out of the long-rumored eight-armed character seen on the CD's cover and in the liner notes: Yes, Virginia (and the rest of the world), there is a funktopus!
Victor Wooten has the rare ability to continuously raise the bar, always growing as an artist, and he's excited to have joined the Vanguard roster with the release of Soul Circus.
What Did He Say
Victor Wooten Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Or should I say
She once had me.
She showed me her room,
Isn't it good?
Norwegian wood.
She asked my to stay and told me sit anywhere,
So I looked around and I noticed there wasn't a chair.
Biding my time,
Drinking her wine.
We talked until two,
And then she said,
'It's time for bed'.
She told me she worked in the morning and started to laugh,
I told her I didn't, and crawled off to sleep in the bath.
And when I awoke
I was alone,
This bird has flown,
So I lit a fire,
Isn't it good?
The lyrics of Victor Wooten's song "What Did He Say?" actually come from the famous track "Norwegian Wood" by The Beatles. The song talks about a lighthearted and playful encounter with a woman. The singer is invited into the woman's home and impressed by the decor, particularly singling out the Norwegian wood. However, as the evening progresses, it becomes clear that both the singer and the woman have different ideas about what the night entails. While the woman appears to be more serious about the evening, hinting towards something more physical, the singer is more content with spending time with her and drinking her wine.
There is a hint of tension in the line "This bird has flown" that suggests a somewhat abrupt end to their interaction, with the singer finding himself alone in the morning. However, he still comments on the pleasantness of the experience, lighting a fire and enjoying the ambiance of the room.
The song "Norwegian Wood," which serves as the inspiration for this song, has been interpreted in various ways, from a straightforward love story to a more symbolic representation of individual freedom and existentialism. The song's lyrics have often been analyzed for their ambiguous and multi-layered meanings, making it a favorite among critics and music enthusiasts alike.
Line by Line Meaning
I once had a girl,
At some point in the past, there was a girl in my life
Or should I say
More specifically, I thought I had a girlfriend, but things were complicated
She once had me.
However, it turned out that she had more control in the relationship than I did
She showed me her room,
She gave me a tour of her personal space
Isn't it good?
It was a nice room, and I was impressed
Norwegian wood.
It was made of a type of wood called Norwegian wood
She asked my to stay and told me sit anywhere,
She invited me to spend more time with her and offered me a place to sit
So I looked around and I noticed there wasn't a chair.
I realized that despite the offer, there were no chairs available
I sat on a rug
I made do with what was available and sat on the floor
Biding my time,
I waited for something to happen
Drinking her wine.
In the meantime, I drank some of her wine
We talked until two,
We had a deep conversation that lasted for hours
And then she said,
At some point, she announced
'It's time for bed'.
That it was time for us to go to sleep
She told me she worked in the morning and started to laugh,
As she got ready for bed, she joked that she had to work in the morning
I told her I didn't, and crawled off to sleep in the bath.
I replied that I didn't have any obligations, and made do with sleeping in the bathtub
And when I awoke
The next morning, when I woke up,
I was alone,
I found that she wasn't there with me anymore
This bird has flown,
She had left abruptly, without saying goodbye or giving any reason for her departure
So I lit a fire,
To comfort myself and deal with the feeling of abandonment, I started a fire
Isn't it good?
It was a small source of happiness in an otherwise difficult situation
Contributed by Harper J. Suggest a correction in the comments below.