Court Love Supreme is a production of iHeartRadio. This classic episode was produced by the team at Pandora. Ladies and gentlemen, Welcome to part two of our Jesse Johnson review.
No pun attended.
This is QLs.
Classic from August eighth, twenty eighteen, Part two of our interview with Jesse Johnson on Course Love Supreme.
Hope you enjoy.
Previously on Court Love Supreme, we talked to the great Jesse Johnson about his beginnings in Rock Island, Illinois, music scene in Davenport, Iowa, of all places, and arriving in Minneapolis as the Formation of the Time was just starting.
We also talked.
About who fights and vanity, and also we might have a surprise guest by the name of Angership as Popin First Boss Bill has a question that may be familiar to those who heard the Jimmy jam Miner.
Here it is.
I got a question. Yes, who broke the titty lamp?
Oh God, I glued I know, I glued the ship. I glued the ship. The juice glued that and one day and arm deep in the juice machine. We didn't suck that up too. And that dude that owned that was mister weaver. He was no joke and his brother had clogs on. You remember him shoes clogs and so when you a brother straight and you wearing clogs, you really are no nonsense kind of. But we were like we were moving something a table and the teddy lamp fell on.
For anybody that doesn't know what we're talking about, go back and listen to the jet one of the seven hours of the Jimmy jim.
The first the first two hours I was there, I forgot, brought me way back.
We got.
I came with some Elmer's glue man and had that ship rigged up, and that dude still knew it. He man who broke the titty lap.
I was like, what what are.
You talking about? We glued. I glued that ship so well that you know when you have fine pieces and still fit. And he somehow still saw that shit. He's like, oh, I just need to know who broke the titty. Like, man, I don't know what you're talking about, but I'm gonna ease up to my car right about fighting. No old dude in here.
They used to shooting and choking people. Well, since we're asking who. Eventually, let Prince know what jam and Lewis were really doing in Atlanta.
I don't. I don't think he knew. I don't think he knew for a long time. But something about them missing that because the next day we were in San Antonio.
But I thought they got away with it.
No, no, no, no, no, no, they they were in Atlanta. And it's weird, hard work because it hadn't snowed during fifty years, literally fifty years, and we were in here. We're here in New York. We were here in New York, and we played the place Radio City. Yeah, radio what was the place before Radio City? Where no where? The stage was real short because the first time we played it, David Boy tell of everybody was in Frank Zappa, Grace Jones, it was God, it was before the it was before
Radio Ladium maybe, yeah, ladium, that's what. Yeah, I think it might have been that place. But I but I think what you but shore you're talking about was it played him because he kicked us off of a lot of the major kicked us off of New York Radio City. He kicked us off of the l a day. And I never knew until you get there. You get there for sound checking out and yeah, y'all ain't on this, but we're playing behind the curtain for I'm like, it
just bought a bit. Yeah, I said, just heartbreaking because you never played those places and so your whole dream you're like, oh man, you would, and so it would just break my heart for me. It was just like like like it was one time for the Vanity six year in La I didn't show up to half the set. I did like the brother on a David Letterman, you know, showed me gone and he came on there with no
shoes on the middle of it. I was doing now like, yeah, I ain't even trying to be here for that fuck around kill somebody or but yeah he was.
When when you left, officially, I guess at one point you were deciding whether or not to No, I never know when I left. I left, so there wasn't an increation. There was no before you left the Reserve. You need to talk of you taking over for Morris in the time.
Never never never, because the time was his thing, it was his baby, it was his I respected that one thing. I to this day, He'll tell you, I have major respect for hierarchy. I don't like when I'm with d I'm when I'm a D, I'm D's guitar player, and D's my boss, and so there's a lot of things that have made If I don't agree with something, but because he's my boss, when we're on tour, I don't
say anything. But when we're home, there's been plenty of times when I call him the fucker you can fire me. I'm at home now, blah blah blah. But you know, he he but I respect him greatly. It's his thing. And I never step on anybody's toes during that thing.
After Jimmy and Terry and Monty left, What did it feel like for you have to take over the leads for rehearsals like.
I always you were always yes, I was always kind of in that when Morris wasn't around. He I was like the guy that he didn't have to come to rehearsals if he knew what I did, so how arrangements he wanted to add or whatever or not. I was the guy that I hired all the other new people and blah blah blah blah blah. I was like really kind of that that thing. And I was never officially the guy that runs this and I was never that never had that title.
Okay, So when you're rehearsing though, and each album is six songs each, like, I mean, at what point are you just doing the stuff it's just add nausea, You're not.
It was, it was, it was something that worked. It was it was kind of a busy work plan, but it worked against the boss because it was a busy work plan. To hear. You know, I didn't know it's busy, but you guys got making it sixty dollars a week for the longest and so but we ended up getting because you know, when you go on stage like that, you're you're not only good, but you're pissed. You don't want to It's just like when a fighter says a
whole bunch of stuff about it. I don't know if you saw that last Triple G fight this past weekend and I got hit him good one time and I'm like, dude, you got to really and then he came back and beat that guy like he owe the money or something. And that's kind of like when we would people see it say, y'all.
Man, y'all were amazing, and y'all man, y'all attitude.
They don't know long this was mad for real, and it was the one way and time where you could get it out and it wasn't but it was like he was out there playing ship through grit teeth and meaning it.
How did it feel when he publicly said that The Time was the only band he was ever afraid of?
You know, honestly, it didn't mean shit to me. It's just like when people just like when all this stuff comes out now where he says all this great stuff about me, you know, it's just like it's like a child talking about a parent that passed away. It's like, why couldn't you say that to me when you're here? You know, when I'm here you're talking. Why couldn't you say, Oh, he's you know, Jesse's amazing guitarist. And he couldn't say that to me? And I got one compliment.
For E to say? Did he ever compliment?
One time? Partly because it was when I dropped crazy And if y'all don't even notice, but I'm going to tell you go back and listen to Housequake. That's why he went and cut house with you here crazy in there?
Right? Okay? That my next question?
Yes, you called me this is tramps. This is tramps. I mean and Prince would go out and we're not drinkers, so we would we where we we we we have like a kind of a punk drink, like we would get a clue and cream be more cream because we don't drink.
So so that ship we would be Disney. We would be dizzy as hell off of that, like we would drink five you know, like you know, drunk off.
It's like, no, I turned him onto. I said, you never heard of this, and y'all gonna laugh when I tell you what. But it's like Prince, he's a multi millionaire, but he got a cabinet for Astin's Bumonti because that's for people that don't drink. Because it's like, you know, y'all drink that ship real drink and sink that they head hurting because of sugar content. But we didn't drink like you. We didn't drink like Mors could drink. But you know, Morris wanted to fight everybody up in the
mon one beer. He didn't really drink, you know, So so he's just like I just love to this day he like my cousin. No, it is like major love between Morris and I because that was the three amigos right there, Morris, Prince and I. It's like you, it was you. You saw one, you saw the three of us. There was a period where you never saw and there was other reasons, personal reasons where it was just ended up being just printing eye all the time.
But wait, are you on tricky? Is it you on tricky? Laughing? No? No, I hear three people though.
That's just overdubbing. But I ain't. Oh okay, I thought you were there. I love the songs because the two of That's what I'm trying to tell you. I'll talk to you about after this, about the things that are coming up. But you go, you want to grab these there's some marking my line to them. He there's yeah. I just I did twenty seven hours, twenty thirty two hours of music that you never heard before, and on cassettes,
what remastered of not. But I'm just trying to tell you there's the whole entire for you album right right. But the demo I played a little bit of effort D on the phone. You almost died, I said, you because what you hear like, I don't want people like I didn't want it to go a market and people just, oh, you know, go to some collector and they buy it.
And it's just that it's like if you hear say, for instance, I want to be your lover, the genius, but it's all with a rhythm ace hole out wow, and then you hear sexy dancer, you hear sexy dancer and it's sexy dancer is uh, but the rhythmce goes boom god d b B. The fact that he heard all of that ship and I when I went into the studio with him, I would ask him, how did
you do all those drums? And then he would show me how he did the drums and he would have the machine played double time, so the machine he's going take then he's a exactly And I just was like wondering how he got the drums so super tight like that and he And so when I hear people go I played everything, I'm like, you didn't play everything. You sequence some ship and turn on you do what I'm saying, No,
but you got it. I'm just telling you. I'm telling you, marry you hear this, it's it's it changes you because you hear the genius. They hear like, because I have stuff like that, of Hendrix, Dylan, everybody that I own, because everybody that I admire, I want to see what they were, how they got there, or were they because one of the most one of the only people that walks the planet Earth that was one of the most
perfect writers out of the gate was Curtis Mayfield. The first thing he ever did, going back to Jerry Butler, Oh, this shit was immaculate. And then all of that impression stuff that's you don't they don't, they don't make that to be that is And so I'm I don't know if it was like that or not. But when I first like, there's four or five versions ahead before he got to the one that's like the one, and so when you hear it, you go, this is w this is but and then the same thing with do Me Baby.
There's like three or four versions before he finally got and I mean, the drums are different, the beat is different, the ten. When he finally got to the one, it's like and then there's a version of get it Up, No Guitar that when the guitar solo happens to hear what he actually does on the bass, fucking mind blowing man, and it's like dude was no joke on the keys Man. But you know that's why I'm always telling D. I'm like, Dude, when I put you up there, I'm putting you up there.
And I've been around some really talented people, and so when I tell D he try to tell him you ain't no running the meal Man.
Because how did he even get you? Like how because it's not like you could just call up just D.
Yeah, but I have this. It's really freaky how this happened. Because I always said to myself, I'd only played for two people. I only play with two people in the world, Michael Jackson because of he fucking Michael Jackson, D because they're the album they did to this day. Sonically, you never heard acoustic. You never heard a kick drama and a snare sound like that ever on any record ever now.
I mean people might do it now, but it was that record that you heard a four string bass that low, You heard a kick drama with that much bottom of you know, a real kick drum. And I try to tell tell D the Angel all the time how revolutionary that album was sonically, not just musically, but sonically. You know the sonny you come in real and I don't know if you're playing light or they're fading, but it's
just like man running. I can run off the roll off a cliff listening to that because it's that hypnotic. But people don't understand it's not just the vy. These cats are bad quests on his game Pino D. It's sonically, it's it's not of this earth. It's like and and to think it's real instruments and nobody had ever heard.
Of I'm skipping ahead a little bit, but listening to verbal penetration that your last that was the last time. So I'm not crazy in hearing like a voodoo influence all over that.
You you could say that or say not, but but as a blues player you play behind all the time. But what I don't know is when I did, like say if I did, when I did be your man and I delivered it, be your man is like but if Quest was playing and I'd be behind him, but la cats would be like man, that's not you know, because a lot of is a discreption. You know, there's
a discrepancy in the beat Leonard Albert Kravitz discrepancy. But what people don't know is when voodoo came out, a lot of people didn't and I tried to tell d I said, see you on all of the Marvin Gaye stuff and that, this and that. But what you don't know when what's the album with the leather? What's going on? Look at the reviews, Go back and look at the reviews. What happened that people were like, who what is this?
What happened? But people make it sound like they had open arms, And was like, so when you do music that people don't get? The albums are albums that constantly do this over a period of time. And I kept and I've always told D'Angelo, we make music they ain't on the trend. So we're doing shit that's ahead all the time of what everybody's thinking. We're bored with that. So we're trying to do something that it's not so much ahead or but just isn't on a trend. It's
just something we're pulling out of the sky. Something that you know, uh, that's you got your influences in it, but it's not what anybody knows. But it's on another level. And I think musicianship wise, what they did on Voodoo Requests, d you know, what they did on Voodoo was so that only I remember riding in the car with John McClain. He had just did the deal with the what's the girls say? Yes, he just did all of that stuff because that was all a lot of hitting beach right. So
he was playing me that stuff all day. He was like, Oh, We're riding around for eight hours in the car around LA. He's playing me all this different stuff and I'm like, yo, man, that's cool. Check this out. And I put in voodoo and he's like you like that, Like, man, this is you know, because you know what that was. That was D's there's a riot going on because there's a riote going on with slies. Fuck you to the music industry, which I don't know about. There's a riot going on.
When he delivered it, he was the two biggest artists on Epic at the time. On the black side was Sly, the white side was Johnny Winter. When he delivered there's a ride going on. The record companies like, what the fuck? What is this bullshit? This is garbage?
Dah da da da.
So it was one of those records that captured what was going on at the time, but it didn't just capture verbally. It captured the vibe, the burning.
The heat, the.
Tension, and Voodoo did the same thing.
Thank you. Can I can I assume.
He's not a good receiver of complimens.
It's not me because.
Twice I met Sly and you know he's going so I know, I can't get the answer I went out of him.
But assuming that during.
The Shachadelica period that you spoke to him about Riot and his recollection.
Is there, what was what was just his mind state to making.
That record, throwing everybody out the studio and just doing He he was at the record plane in Salcelito, and he was there so much. They made him. They took the one of the rooms and they made him a bed in it and it was a big old mouth and the mattress was the tongue and they had a they had you know, the mic thing on the wall that plugs in that thing. Yeah, was in the bed. So a lot of the vocals he's doing and he laying down, so just like he's never ever done a
vocal and a headphone. So d D not knowing that does the same thing. You know, d don't wear cans. He has to have them speakers and he and he didn't know that Marvin Gaye did that. Marvin, we you'd walk in the studio like Leon Silvers talks about walking in the studio and hey, Marvin and Marl Hey, you know,
sitting at the border going hey. But the old consoles had where you can knock one of the speakers out of face, so they wouldn't they wouldn't come in and Marvin would be sitting there and Marvin, you know, you don't see no handwritten Marvin lyrics around because he he never wrote anything down. Same thing with James, same thing with sly It was all up here. So he and so Slye. It was just on that straight, just crazy genius shit. And he really didn't need his family or
anybody on a record. It's like, you know, there's a lot of people that did they do that, but I was playing Mark never released you know, the these Summertime thing, which is a beast and he's like and any and he's for one person will always go look my basse, pa like he'll put somebody onse on bab and I'm like, dude, he's killing the bass. But going back to your question,
it's more of a Curtis Mayfield thing. My my thing is Curtis May Eddie Kendricks, and I'm like, it's not like uh D and Prince were into like the stylistics. But D's a real He's a real uh Eddie Kendricks fanatic too. That's why he's got the bigger falsettobo where Prince was really into that. Dude said, that's you buy ally whoever that.
I never really heard you use your falsetto much until verbal penetration.
That's because I wrote all the A lot of the music I didn't write for me. I wrote for another guy that was supposed to sing it, and then he passed away when it was time to do this stuff, so I didn't. I kind of wanted to step away from the mic and just play and not be straddled with all that. I really enjoy it more when it's a rock rock thing, but I know the R and
B stuff. But I just like sometimes it's like to just like even being in D's band, it's just like not nice to just the other thing we did today with Chromeo. Uh just nice to just play guitar, not be Oh, give me a mic. I got a da da da da. I don't never want a mic. I just kind of have them put one on me and we're on TV, so you get paid more. But I don't want that shit.
I want to jump back again. I'm sorry for you. Good.
Do you remember the nineteen eighty four Minnesota Black Music Awards.
For me with me Plan?
Yeah? I think it was a time.
It was a time a time.
I think somebody told me that you were supposed to be singing lead on the on Jungle Love.
I guess Morris had already left the group or whatever.
No, no, but then Prince ran out on stage and did leads for the entire set.
I don't remember that. I think that's a rumor, okay, because I ain't never remember that shit. He didn't do that that I know. But Jungle of No he if you ever hear his version, I mean it was the same song, but if you're here, his vocal, he put his foot in it, and Morris did a great job. But Prince, if you heard, Prince wrote that melody and the lyrics not. But it's just the whole twist. He
dude could sing when he wanted to. And if you ever heard that, I was was always hoping because I don't I had that on a cassette and that froze up like you know, A Land nine thousand a long time ago, and so you know, I don't have a copy of that.
Oh there's a rapid fire, because yeah, we got to stop eventually. Was there ever talk of the time going on tour, on the Purple Raine tour?
No? No, no, no no. But that's what's really sad. We I just originally talked to my manager about that. We we we never reaped the Purple Raine thing. And because we were supposed to go on tour, and when I signed my record deal, very few, if anybody, only John McClean knows, and to know this in Prince, But when I signed the A and M Records, I signed the deal, but I wasn't I didn't have to do a record for a year because I was like, I'm gonna go. Yeah, I wanted to go. And it was
gonna be our first time out without Prince. As was to be on our own merit and you guys are going to do your own thing. Yeah, well that was that was the whole thing. We were never ever ever planning. Prince, was you kidding me? Prince was so sick of us putting our foot in his ass after the nineteen ninety nine tour. He wasn't taking us in a back yard.
I figured because the Purple Range to itself is like basically the movie. So I figured, you know, why wasn't Appolonia six there and why wasn't the time there?
And it would have been because there's a bunch of bullshit all connected with that ship, and I get tired of listening to people lives and about it. First of all, the first Shila album was Vanity six is album, and Vanity kept saying I'm not going to be there. I'm not doing you know, she kept saying, I'm not doing Purple Rain. She was before she moved on Minneapolis, and he just thought she was joking. She wouldn't fucking jo.
That's why all the songs were done by the time.
Yeah, Yeah, and Chilo showed up to do some sessions stuff, and then and then some of the songs from the Vanity sixth album that album went to like the Mannic Monday that was a Vanity six It was like I was there for all of that stuff. I was there recording and doing all that stuff.
So that second time would have yeah, it would have had like Vibrator and.
No whatever the Chile, the Glamorous Life that was Vanity's record, don't. I don't care what anybody trying to tell me. I was there cutting it. I was there cutting the sugar walls and all that ship when she and Easton came in and blah blah blah, oh sh I was there for all of that ship. I was. I was there for though, just it was really just Prince and I because Morris had like ducked out then, so so all
of that stuff was and we were. He was still going back and forth trying to get Denise to do that, and she was like, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope. And that's how she ended up being Vanity because he would never let her use the name Vanity six, and her lawyer, I forget his name, Abe something, but he knew a shit. He said, we don't have to use Vanity six. We used Vanity, and that's how she got to still be van Uh.
The Tomorrow Maringie Cox project, The Tomorrow and the Scene album. Do you have any disappointment that didn't blow up even more? Or was it across.
The boards mash No? No, because that I was just telling telling Bill earlier that that everybody danced It is one of the best sounding records I've ever made. It's like it was mastered here at by George Marino. Got what studio would, wouldn't I want to say, sterling sound? Am I?
Yeah?
Sterling? Yeah he did. He mastered that, and I was like, I never could get that sound again. But it was like something I kind of did, like, you know, like not really thinking that much about it. And then when it came out here and he mastered it because I
never really go to masterings. I just let him do that thing, and and he was mastered out here, and I remember getting back the acetate of the toelesions, like, God, this sh it is on fire when it comes on You're not here, but I could never but no, no, no, you know what it.
Was the bottle.
I think the big thing, the biggest thing to turn me off is she didn't want it. Damn she didn't want it. So when you don't want it, I'm like, what am I supposed to do? If you don't want it, then I didn't I'd have did records on you and I had, And so the what was I think Blueberry Gossip might have been the second round. I did a lot of those tracks, but I didn't do any of them stupid ass lyrics. I didn't do none of that.
I just did the tracks. But so that song Blueberry Gossip and all that stuff, that's all me, and a lot of the tracks are all me but lyrics. Yeah, her and the Southern Cat David Cochrane finished all the record. I wasn't on any of that. I was like on tour at the time, and I wasn't even investing in any of my time in it.
No more say I made you sign that one. Then I said, I'm sorry I made you sign that record then.
Because I I love that means on Blueberry Gossip it's humping. I just don't know what the hell blueberry gossip.
Yeah, I'm still trying to figure that out, Jesse.
Okay, since at the bottom of the barrel, trying to figure out everything. But I gotta know you opened for Luther Vandross. I believe on the Night fl and Love tour. That's what I remember because all my aunts were to that show. Luther is world famous for micromanaging his opening acts.
Let me explain some to you. Just talking, I was talking about that one of the most beautiful human beings ever walked the planet. And let me let me tell you, seriously, let me tell you, let me tell you about Luther. So Luther, he brought me on and I'm in the middle slot and he was so accommodating, so absolutely just wonderful and being that because my shit is louder and they their stuff is more stereo. His his band was a may you know how ridiculous his band, so it
was like shade. It sounded like a giant stereo. It's just amazing. But my stuff was a little bit more raunching. But he upgraded the monitoring system so that I would be He really wanted me on that tour with him, but his audience for the most part. Once we did a week spectrum, right, it is no longer there. We did a week at that's the one year. Yeah, the one we did a week there was us. It was Luther headlining, me in the middle ready for the world and ready for the world, a lot of ready for
the world stuff. People were kind of a thrown back by them because they a lot of people thought that was prevent or me and so when they would open, they would just get like, no, Love and and Philly was death on them when they were open. This is a spectrum, this is sold out the hits, but people listen, you never want your life they were, but you never want your music to be bigger than you, because if your music's bigger than you in the beginning, then your
music it's just a lot of shit. Like people would would tell my girlfriend all the time, oh, like she'd pick up my mail and they go, oh, ye're Sheila.
Oh he wrote, oh Sheila about.
You and they said that they would to this day. That's not me. And I remember being at home on a break on tour and hearing that whatever that beat was for that and thought it was me. I thought it was like a remix, I swear to God, for you know, when you have that half a second thing, you go, that's a remix of it, and then and then that the music and you know like that ain't you know? But it was like, how.
Did you guys feel about? I mean, because coming.
Out Melvin singer, Yeah he was. I was always really encouraging, said, don't let these folks get you down. You just got to keep pushing because trust me, I was because once we left they loved me. Philly and your time. They loved us, they loved me, They showed me a lot. That's why Luther was like, But we went to Baltimore next, motherfuckers was wooden Statue.
It was buppies.
You know, that was a whole bumpy Luther drew like and that's what he was trying to get away from because we don't understand that Luther was so amazing as an artist. He's one of the few black artists that went platinum every time, just on the black charts every time.
So you're saying that you guys were there for the edge.
To bring a different audience in, to bring in a younger audiences. But that's why we murdered because he did some ship in Philly I ever seen before my life Philly. That that week was the most amazing. I was in the dressing room, sitting there, uh, sitting there getting dressed
or something. I was sitting in and my back is to the door, and I'm sitting in front of the mirror and I hear you and my town I motherfucking yay, mister, And I look up and it's doctor j and you know, and that's that's like, you know, that's fantasy ship for us and our air and so for So that was one thing. The other thing is that Luther was he was a prankster, and so Luther would do always play jokes and ship like you. You'd walk in the door like he He'd be in a dressing room few doors down.
And I remember walking in one time and the lights were off, and I turned the lights on as a mannequin with fucked up mask and ship on. You know, your ship drop motherfuckers and drop glasses, and you hear Luther crying. But I heard that when he's he was on tour with other female artists that he would But let me do before you jump to that, this is what it was. I my belief. That's a singing. So when you're famous for being a singer and you ain't
really a singer, singer, you did what I'm saying. You know how we snooty with that ship. It's like you go, oh, come and jam, oh, jam with you all day? Who else is playing?
Oh? Really?
Yeah, I ain't gonna beat it because you you. I just can't play with anybody. I just can't. I can't do it like you can't. Rehearsal and twenty twelve. I played and jammed at rehearsal, and I was just like I was, you know, from the Voodoo record. And so we finally met and I'm trying to compliment him. He walking the door, he's trying to compliment me. I'm trying to compliment, But I was really meant that he's id. I just think he's one of the dopest cats around
and he and it's a mentality in a movement. Oh no, he really. Where you really know he a bad cat is when you watch that. It was a Dave Chappelle thing. Motherfucker is the main stay. He's up. That's when I really knew how bad he was because he's up there. Everybody else is shifting, everybody's bringing, but he's standing there and I'm telling you everything. They throwing it and he pulling it out and he's not pulling uh back, killing it.
And that's when I knew it was bad. Even this is after the Voodoo, right just after Voodoo, but I knew That's what I knew. You know, when people you kind of see them cut their teen, you know, it's like when you probably he's like, oh, Jesse's he ain't did an autu and such and such, so let me listen to verbal and then and I kept telling people, no,
I need to. I was like working with other you know, guitar instructors of a cat named Mark Hammond that wrote the intro to Really Love Yeah, played wrote and played that. But I was taking listens to him because I was like, I can come out all this time and be playing a little you know, I better come and be moving and with some chords and some melody and show some serious growth and all that time. But you know what I mean. But I think I more than sufficed on
verbal Lyrically. It's one of my favorite records because I'm I do poetry and so to take poetry and try to put it to song lyrics that sing. And I keep looking at her because I saw I admire about her. She's like her. Her poetry is Ingrid. You forgot yeah, Ingrid. This is the greatest hand buship on life. And my daughter, my my biggest thing of My daughter loves her. She says face, I tricked her in the sand face today and my daughter loves the way she says faith.
Face are you from?
I grew up in Georgia?
But you didn't know that I.
Didn't know that.
I didn't even know that I was in the presence of greatness for the first hour of this interview bill, Do you have anything else.
I wanted?
I wanted a Roger Trouting story about the Larry one.
I've I knew that.
You guys, Morris and Jerome used to get into it with Larry all the time.
And then Larry's girl came out and she was like, super super bad.
Way out of our league.
Way, yeah, way, she's a woman, not a girl. She's a woman. She's absolutely just breathtaking. But she stood at the side of the stage and we were standing behind her, and whatever her dress she had on. You when the lights came on, you see, everything's like, oh, we're just crying. So we just like he just really well. Roger used to say a lot of stuff to us, like, you go to those white people working for your you think Wonder Brothers is two niggas from over on we work
for the same people. Fuck out here with that ship. But he would say all that stuff, like he would always say that stuff. Then he went up to Prince one day. We were walking Prince walking the stage and he said, you know, we have the same name. Roger because a lot of people don't believe Prince's name is Prince. It looks like he's named himself that, but that ain't his name, and that's his real name. So Princess looks at him crazy and keeps walking like not even says anything.
So they just really kind of didn't didn't like us, and so we would always be messing with Larry. And so Larry, Morris and Jerome tell you that's told yes, and they'll verify. But Larry said, I want to talk to y'all. We went to the dressing room. It was me, Morris, Jerome, we will go to his dressing room with him, and he said, pull out a gun. He said, you.
Motherfucker, you know what this is. So I'm forty two years.
Old, motherfucker, and I'm behind. I'm the last one in the thing.
I might get the fuck.
That's how ignorant. I was, like, get the fuck out of here with that ship and.
Laughed and they were still there listening to him. But Morrison tell you, but he pulled the car. He said, I want to talk to you. We like three fools went in there, like the three stooges, and.
So you know what this is you know what man forty two years old?
So was it just that you guys were prince, No, we were just.
I don't know what he said, say Tony, you had a bunch of hair shooting out of his nose and.
Just disrespectful.
No, but he would say they would say a lot of stuff to us, and then we would throw bullets back. And then he didn't. He just didn't like that. And then I think the last straw and it's that's your girl. Oh man, she bad, And it was something we didn't say. We didn't get more disrespectful than that, which was disrespectful, but we didn't. We just oh, that's your oh man, she bad. And then I think I said something stupid like oh yeah, man, when the lights come on, I
really like her. And he's like, yeah, I need to hollow chut you know, do that finger? Yeah, I need to hollow chiut?
Right?
Can you say?
Can I talk to y'all for me?
You just you thinking? You on tour now? And I always telling I'm always telling the Cats and D's band, the young Dudes. It's like, don't play with nobody, and he said, you'll be casting guy shot on stage performing It's like keep on messing with these these women. Man, I'm like, keep on. But I remember that Larry. Can I talk to y'all for a few minutes on normal ship, you know, because he was a really tall dude.
Yeah, and.
He was older than everybody. He's talk to y'all brothers a minute, and followed him in his dressing room.
Yeah.
Man, I pulled out a nickel plated with a pearl, handling ooh.
About forty two years old.
You think I'm mother fucker to play with And I'm just ignorant. I'm just young. You know, when you're young and you ain't scared, and you in the streets and you got a gun at eight or nine of them to you to get the fuck out with that punk ass. And I swear to God and just to this. And then when so when I got woke up and said he shot, you know, Roger got shot, I was like,
he's probably about Larry. And I was in la at Tommy Jenkins cameo and woke me up and told me that, and I said that sais probably by Larry and went to sleep. And it was like I knew that ship I.
Was supposed to be in dating that weekend when that happened. But really I have more questions. Speaking of Young and Ignorant, can you tell us about Old and Ignorant? The song that became.
Yes, that's a song that Morris did and uh we we we were. It was one of the during that period when Prince was like, yeah, yeah, you can recorded. The whole wasn't shipped there so it ain't no reverb and you know, everything just dry date and speakers and so it was one of the songs that Morrison I cut. But I did this thing on where I'm going to where the beatings like boot boot instead of it like Prince would always go, do do do.
Do do do do do do do.
He just thought that was like the most genius thing. He was playing the baseline in the studio and boom ball and he just kept going while he's recording it where the sunset sound. But we brought out that two inch I mean a half inch, which I still have the two track tape of that, and that's what that's why ice Cream Hustle came from this song that we did call Old and Ignorant, But we would we cut about we.
Are young and we are funky, we are young, we are they did that in rehearsals.
Yeah, you craft that.
Yeah, I'm playing all that ship on there. He he uh was he was playing. I came up with that baseline. All that was that tracked in the warehouse. No sunset sound. We did that sunset So because.
I can hear at the towards the end of ice Cream, I just hear so much.
No a sunset time.
But even with you guys tracking in the studio, I can hear like feet rattling papers.
On the like, because Prince used to take the forty seven and pointed, you know, he would use it properly, like I never use it that way because of you could hear him. He always never worked with an engineer. He always punched himself in and out every vocal you ever heard. Like when I was telling D'Angelo that, I was like, man, pick a song, pick a song, and
this is just to pick a song. He go controversy, wrote, recorded, written, all finished, mixed one day, everything right, recorded, mixed, finished, one day. You know, he never spent more than one day. It was done. We would go out to the club, I think many of the club clothes at one and we go back out to the crib and I'd go to sleep on the couch and he walk up at almost like clockwork, two thirty the next day, like nothing happened, like just after being out all night?
Were you were you impressed with what he was playing you? Or was it weird?
Like if he's playing you, like if he's coming up, like here's a song called do Me Baby and you're listening all seven minutes, like is it weird you guys listening to this or is it I.
Didn't listen to songs like that? They I didn't. I felt weird listening to song like say a dude saying like that, That's what I'm saying, Like, no, no, I didn't. I didn't. I listened to song like he came. I remember physically we went out club clothes. We came home and I was like at this sectional thing in the in the in the living room because he had this gas fireplace that I hated it because you'd be freezing. Then you turn that shit on, now you're a thousand degrees,
then you turn it off night cold. So he we down, came up with the Lets's Pretend were married song finished and in the cap, but Morris went down first. He said, Marris come here this, and Morris went down there and he's like, doom do that's and Morse much we're the hand club said, you know Morrison, you know hand clups. He's like, hey, get train music. And then he comes out and wakes me up and does Jess so you come here this And I was like, oh, yeah, that's nice,
that's cool. I like that because I because I was there when the Darling. I was there for when we did all that purple and stuff. But it was like I went upstairs and Darling Nikki was done, and then he went down. I went upstairs and went to sleep for twenty minutes, and he would go wakes me up and go cause I'm here this and I don't know how he did that, but you know that double bass. Then he's on the toms. It's a real drum set, but he's on the I don't know how he did that,
but I was just amazed. But I'm like he knew that. I would just be like fucked up behind that. I'm like, how did you do it? Because he just had a little drum set out in the patio ors and.
Like even you were still impressed.
Yes, but I but I never like I'm singing on nineteen ninety nine, you know when you go Dan the basic wan on them, I'm playing that, but he ain't. I ain't credited. And then on the end of the song, Jill Jones to tell you it's me, Jill Jones and prints on one mic and we're just going PD and clapping and singing all that shit, and I ain't credited.
I'm on a lot of shit like that. And I was like, the one time I was so happy because when nineteen ninety came, he had the depressing of it and the you know, the for the twelve inch or something, and it said I was but you understand, man, y'all laughing. But that ship I was in First Avenue and he's playing it and I'm like, yeah, and I see the thing and I'm like, finally credited me and that ship wasn't me, it was Jill Jones. And I was just like,
once again, I was just heartbroken. Be I was like totally crack, like, you know, but you feel that's how you feel. You don't feel like fucking you feel like really really.
You know that feeling.
Really, but really that's how you felt. And so that's why I so then I stopped like we were jammed and we would do that that ship right there right. So then I came up on the album as a song and I was like, wow, and I'm not cy so I stopped after that. I didn't just I was done. Was done?
Was that? How did you get bella Saint mark?
Because that was because I played a fort I played as something I did on the four track or a track around the same thing out of the jungle of thing with the ah track, So I'm going and that's one of the main things I saw and I had played him that a few days before and then he I heard that song and I was like, dude, really and he was like, what what tell me? And I was like, I just can't explain it. When you in
that space and you can't really tell him. You can't really tell him because you feel like a punk if you tell him, I can't explain it. I can explain it to today. I can go, hey man, that's my but put my name in.
Greg filling Games was talking talking to.
I said, if I got to tell you fuck you know, and that kind of thing. Because he walked into the where we rehearsing, because where we rehearsed. He had bought this building, and we when you walked in the front door, the time was there. Then you walked through this door, and then his band was We would yeah, we would play. We would rehearse all day first and then when he finished, we finished, then his band would be coming in.
But didn't don't you think he knew that you would never really say anything.
He just to do weird shit like that, like he'd see.
Me with he ain't gonna check me on it.
So no, he I don't know if he really just you know, sublimely didn't know. But I would write some stuff that was sticking to your craw because that whole jungle of that h trac thing you see, that's all there. It's actually funkier to me, but it's all there. It wasn't like, oh did he really do? It's all there. And so when I walk in with just like with the time when we did, I walked in with those songs on two inch, I already finished those.
Nothing.
I walked in with that ship finished. And so the same thing with Blondie, I walked in with those finished. Nobody else is on those songs. I didn't walk in the loose words. I walked in with a two inch tape with those here.
It is, Hey, go ahead, I know.
What sweet what you gonna say?
Baby?
Let that girl get it out there around.
Just gonna say this, Like I heard a small rumor in the mirror.
I didn't even ask you about this, but I heard there's a small rumor that like d'angelo's making music again.
If it's true, no, trust me, if you, Amir, can tell you more about it.
I didn't even ask what he's.
Saiding on fifty or sixty things to make you never want to play music again. You don't even understand.
Are you involved in anything that he's sitting on because.
I mean, uh, I'm on on some stuff, but it's mostly but he's the one that's on everything. Oh yeah, he played me you know the song he did for Lauren Hill?
He played this ship for me.
I had to leave. We were what's the one Henson? And he said, I did this for Lauren?
Here is that what was supposed to be for Voodoo? That that she never did?
No, that was just he and it's it's it's done. It's you don't understand, it's the horns, it's it's you know, he he. I can't even put in a where he's got to me and I ain't talking about five or ten.
No, we talking like fifty at least. Just he's the same way as we have, like we're up to two hundred songs. But you just got to stop and be like here.
But when you tell him stories about Prince making songs in twenty minutes and stuff like.
That, why I was telling him that because I because the day, because I don't get that going in and you know, like Fleetwood Mac would go they made great albums, but they would be in there for a year, and I'm.
Like that forever.
Yeah, I don't. I don't. I didn't come from that. We coming in whatever you got, get, churn it till it you burn it, don't go in there. And I'm gonna go to sleep now forget you ain't thinking about none of that. I'm still like that.
Wait, I swear you guys, this is my last question. Then I'll stop it. Can you please explain the last thirty seconds I don't want to He's going to know the answer to this. Yes, I feel like you do. The last thirty seconds of I don't want to leave you, which is just abruptly good, weird edit and to.
A jam in you can play it please, yeah.
Because I don't. I didn't know when Mark played that not long for me. I didn't even remember that even being on the record.
Okay, so basically, I don't want to think the last you want me to pull it up because I'm playing I got that, So basically, here we go.
I remember that that was That was I think that was from a version of this song makeup. You know, the song makeup, yeah, smoking. It was like there was different versions of that because there there's a before the time had a deal. There was a you you know about the what was it called was Jamie Susan exactly. So that's part of the stuff that I evaluated and remastered and all that stuff, all of their stuff is in there, and there was an actual deal in place
for that. There was a deal in place for that. But that's Jamie's singing all that stuff. I can breathe, But that was a part of the It was part of because there was a different That's that's what I'm telling you. That some of the stuff that's in there, it's like it's got the Vanity six stuff, but Princes singing it. Oh god, it's got It's like there's a whole different version of makeup. And but what blew my mind really was a was the the Prince album the
Wanna Be Your Lover? Why? Why all this shit in demo mode? But he and the vocals ain't really the real vocal yet. So he's on. I ain't got no money, but he can tell it. He's figuring out how he's on. And I'm telling you for anybody that's in the music and to hear how he's putting this shit together. To me, I'm sorry, priceless. I don't I don't want it to go to some collector that got the actual cassette, because you know, he writes on all the stuff, because I
have a ton of stuff. I actually was listening. I was because I'm moving in the process of moving to Las Vegas, so I was opening up a box and it's got these cassettes. You know, when the answer machine had cassetts and if you and if they came on and you picked up the phone, a lot of times they depending on all your ship. So there's conversations with something.
He's like, man, uh, come out to the thing man that you know, come out to the house man, and I'm like, why man, it's like one hundred and forty degrees below zero nuts and you hear these conversations to us. He's like, bad, just come on out. And you always you heard that tape where we're planning to walk and rehearsal and it's like, really, I mean we kicking it boom boom the Prince and I relationship. All of a sudden the song stops. Rehearsal. You hear Prince Jesse, you
should and you can't. I've tried everything to see what I'm saying, but you hear Boris, you hear Mars, You hear me go, Man, did you know what I'm saying? You hear me go? Get the fuck fucking doing that? You hear Brsel you're laughing, And it's like, that's our relationship. And I was like, and I tried everything to have the mastering to figure out what he said to me what was because it's like, bat, we got you need to dance more. Right, We're kicking that ship, is won't you.
Dad?
Thing right, We're kicking that you And all of a sudden it's just abruptly Jesse because he's in He's over here and you, Jesse, you need to.
And you hear me.
It's just so typical because then you would think I was like here and you have it right, Mark, you have it.
Fucking ship go up about four or five octors.
Ain't doing that.
You're more like these two motherfuckers.
You just laughing. And we were just always like, but I'm not doing that. I'm not Jesse, what the okay?
Have we exhausted all our questions? I have one last question.
Did the bill okay? You'll ask question Bill. This is a quick yes or no answer. The song jungle Love was it originally called Dreamer?
No okay? The Jungle Love was written, the music was written for I said that in the demo when I posted it's written for Lenny Williams. Wait what the music? I did the music for Lenny Williams.
Yeah, Lenny Williams.
Lenny was going to do it.
What's going to do with that?
And that's why I said it in the in the thing and then I said it, and then when I posted to demo and then Lenny say, hey, Jesse, what's up man? Because On was working with Lenny and that's who hooked that up. And that's how I wrote that for him and before, but before I played it for him, I was like, Oh, it's in these acting classes with ballet shoes and ship. Get this feeling vulnerable right now. But the reason why they make you really went to
ballet class. The reason I was like, why am I in ballet and doing all this ship with leotard on? Some pins? Yeah, but not the kind that you would see like that, like you know, not the you know but you got but you got your no, but you got regular pain. You got them pants somewhere you got you got those. They're made out of some kind, but they're not that clingy type. But you got to have uh lit when you're doing that ship, because otherwise you will crush your franks and beings.
That's why.
That's why when you see a ballet dance, you go, why does this dude got a cup on? Who's going to tackle him? Because you got because ballet was really written for women and and and design for women. So you got to take all of your ship and go up here like it doesn't exist. So you can because I always wondered why somebody's dude playing football after hours
or something? You got a cup on? So that wasn't what the ballet Whenever you do acting for real and you do true acting, what the ballet is for Like, they never said anything to you. Just okay, ballet class. I don't know, seen me leaving this month, but you're in ballet class. But what it is, they sheot, They teach a routine, and they teach a whole entire movement, all the way to the end. And what they what
it's doing is doing memory for lines. Okay, So if you can remember that whole routine and you know, and they and ballets all in it, one, two, four and all that crazy ship. But just if you can remember that whole routine from the beginning, all the way this movement, all the way to the end and around and back again somewhere else, then it helps you remember your lines. So develops memory, muscle memory, they call it.
I never knew that.
I didn't know that, Ingrid, did you have to do that too?
For that was before she wasn't.
No, I knew. I just figured it was an acting period.
We had to do that. The whole summer was acting and ballet. Acting in ballet, because.
Even if you didn't have lines in the film, you still want to.
Be in there doing some routine. That crazy ass in there too. Yeah, yeah, everybody was in.
Did you have any lines that were cut from the film, because I know Jellybean have to scene where him and the kid get in a fight.
There was a lot of when you do a movie, they they go to LA and they have these special screenings. Because I remember editing being out there editing, uh and talking to Clint Eastwood and he was there screening the Rookie. And so that's why a lot of Purple Rain was reshot because there's a part scene in Purple Range editing, and there were he prince goes up the mors and slaps the spit out of his mouth. But when all
this shit what happened. There's a lot of things in Purple Range that when the testing audience watch is supposed to be like, oh my god, they were Karyan. You know black folks, man, you know black folks. They ain't gonna sit there. They're gonna beat that ship, get the and so a lot of scenes there were supposed to be like, oh man, he wentn't slapped. They had to take that ship out because it was like it's like
Kevin Hart slap up in the rock. It's like, dude, we not ain't believable, and that's why there's so much. There's so much. Okay, okay, okay, No, you know, I'm so grateful about everything in my career. I'm so grateful about all the ignorant shit we did. There was no self there was no cell phone cameras because we used to do the time like we would be on stage.
This is true.
Ship was on stage and and this is the nineteen
ninety nine tour. So the time we'd go up there and play and then dudes will be there with their girls and Ship and the girl would be like you know, yeah, yeah, maybe in front of me and I. One time I turned my back and Jerome was on this platform with Monty and Jerome would be up on the platform doing that clap thing, and Jerome was and as I'm turned facing my back to artist, Jerome goes and I turned like what you know, like you're looking at somebody face
and you're like what what wasn't you turn on nothing? Some As you watch the video, dude took a magnum. It was bad before when they would let people bring shit in the Constabody took a magnum bottle and threw it at me. What and it went and it missed me, but it slid under the Rise of Jerome was on. So but let me how ignorant we were. Let me tell you ignorant we were. We would come off of stage, go put on, go change, come out and start pointing, get that motherfucker and tell you get his punk ass
to it, and the dudes would come backstage. It would be me and Jerome, Yeah, bring that ship back here, and the guy would be talking mad that. The dudes would be talking mad shit to me, he's scaring you, motherfucker. But they didn't know Terry was back there with no shirt on, some church shoes, church pants. Yeah, bring them motherfuckers. They would one guy start crying. And we were so ignorant that we would go back out after turning it out.
Get this motherfucker, Yeah you want to throw bring your punkt and they would be talking shit because would just be me a Jerome walking them back and it would be everybody back there way, Yeah, bring the motherfuckers. And and and when we were on that.
Were like bring people are going lok is the time.
Imagine if there was camera phones back then man, I'm so glad there was none of that ship existed video cameras.
Because I'm I want to see it.
This is going to be the final question, because I'm gonna ask the question that like wraps up the thing.
Are you because I want to you know, we got three hours?
Okay, all right, even Jimmy.
Jam after he didn't put you know, put the record out.
Okay, that's fine after Freedy Bridge, but that's fine. I just all right, he put on after Graffiti Bridge and was like her album never.
Didn't come out.
Because you can't leave.
I'm an electra.
Yeah, I was dollars and nobody still cares spent a million dollars.
Okay, go ahead, and then that's my question.
So as you as we sit here.
Were you on the set when I was had to grab him and all that stuff? And were you in the set when something happened and everybody clear set and Prince was sitting on the floor and they made everybody clear the set. Were you in the set when that happened? What happened, I had to grab him and like man handle him or something, and I didn't wasn't you know, it wasn't really doing that much. But I don't know
what happened. And he sat on the floor and everybody and then they were like every Craig Rice, everybody cleared. Everybody cleared the rice, everybody clear the room. Everybody. They made us. I'm thinking something we part of this ship came. Oh, I'm like really, but I thought something bad because no, no, he There was a lot of times. But yeah, I to remember, I'm talking about doing that my hair as long as hell, but I'm talking about doing that when I go out because it's too much work.
Yeah, well I know.
Yeah, that's why.
I'm like going, No, I'm gonna get there's a place in la that does it, because I want my hair blonde or red or whatever I wanted to be. I don't want it to do that to my own hair, and I don't want to be somewhere in the middle of this place is in Europe. I mean, it's up to date now. But if you went into London and Paris and especially Paris and all that stuff like in the eighties and with no black hair, not ship nowhere,
Yeah you ain't. Still ain't a lot of places. And yeah, and I remember going and trying to find that shit was at a specialty like perfume store. And it was that old remember that mom type ship? Remember Mom? Y'all don't remember Mom. That ship was a yeah. Yeah, it was that kind of ship. And it was like, yeah, I'm like yeah Mom, like yeah, I'm Mom all right? But yeah, no, no, I get it with the because
he had what he was going from. I don't know his actual hair was always long, but he made it longer for the movie or something, but.
It was perfect. It was late.
Yeah, who gives a ship? I mean, I'm like, that's what you're supposed to when you start.
Nobody gives a shit.
But that whole sentence that you said about putting the extra stuff in your hair and dying and stuff like that.
That right on the floor. But my hair can't take it to be right on the floor.
No, I get it.
I should have fallen out so faced so fast it ain't even funny. Man. So now I don't I'm putting some other ship in my hair. So I ain't even got a comb it. I just wanted, can y'all make it where I can just wake up and it still looks cool?
That ship.
That's what I am not lying, dude. I never seen dude's hair messed up.
Yeah, and especially when he went through the fingerway.
No, no, I ain't talking about that. I'm talking about three of the nineteen ninety nine Purple Rank perfectly quaffed.
Fucker will walk out.
Of the bedroom and I just say you, I hate you. He would watch his ship would be I was like, how do you are you sleeping?
Like what do you which makes me think about Purple Ringin and Graffiti Bridge and like, was there ever scenes where the woman got to put her hair?
No, but trust me as a friend, as we were just like we never washed our hair. That's why hair looks so good. You don't know, No, it's the hair ain't funky, but you know, black hair, when you wash it, it takes a long time to get brinks back to it, like when it was looking real cool. Devil should take weeks. So we like so Prince was would have this really back when I really skinny, curling iron and he would be for hours be talking to him. Yeah, man, we
all did. We didn't never have a hairdresser on us.
You just I mean, those sons don't really know.
But we got we got long ass hair. We out there trying to be pretty and ship too. We don't care about what dudes think we did. I always tell dudes all the time. Who was I talking to? I think I was in was Maxwell? I was like, you care about what the dude thinks? Dudes don't buy ship women the one to go buy it. Women to go. Dudes be his dudes. Oh man, you got that copy. That's what dude women. I want the picture. I want to read all the shit in it. I wanted to.
I'm like Dan, and I'm not thinking about what No, dude, thanks Wait, I forgot the most important question that we would have killed ourselves for asking for not.
Asking you, we didn't mention we're pink at all? And there were how many suits pink suits? How many pink suits did you own?
And like, no that it's a story behind it though, Jamie shut. We were rehearsing on a Sunday the time, and Jamie Hue came out with Uh. She met us out with Prince because Andre's my own sister up until UH from the nineteen ninety nine tour, and she made all of the clothes Andre's older sister or older sister, Sylvia,
Sylvia Anderson. She made all our clothes and so the day that they brought out the swatches, to look at the swatches, and so if you've ever seen any video of the time, we used to call it the Shrek light. We used to call it because what we used to call it the Hulk because it wasn't no Shrek then. But well, he's knew when we was kicking ass because that green all the lights will go off and to just be this green light and motherfuckers be looking like Martians, right,
you think it's just tossing now. So if you watch videos from the very first tour, you never see me because I was like, I'm cool. I got around black little. I know, my black ass wasn't saying either. So when they brought into swatches, uh, they're Jamie showing us his watches and it's like this real cool swatch of this fusia mohair, you know it like changes colors. And I said, Prince, you should wear that, and he, honestly the stack of bibles,
he said, oh man, I wouldn't wear that. People already say enough stuff about me, And I said, fuck that, I'll wear it. And that's how that came to be, and that's how I wore it. And then it worked out perfectly because no matter how much dark he put me in, you saw my ass. You saw my ass in the dark. When I walked on stage in the dark, you could hear him. On the day, I was like, yeah, you see, mom, you can't put the light out on my black ass. Now I got on this pink white
and a white shirt. Yeah, yeah, before I didn't consider I'm telling you, he really beat the shit out of our assets on the first tour because we didn't know anything yet. We was like getting he was you know, he was on the top of the speaker doing all of that and jacking off the guitar and this and that and that, and we were just like getting our ass handed to us. You know, anybody only knew a
couple of songs on the record. And second tour, shit fuckers came out clean, ready, came out with some step and had it hard, and so then he was like and it was weird. And then we saw the tide turn where I was telling Inger today how we would outsell him on merchandise because a dude ain't gonna wear no shirt I belonged to Prince, you know, ain't gonna you know, unless he you know, different and wanted to belong to prints. But most dudes ain't gonna wear that.
But our shit said, ain't nobody bad like me? I'm so cool, and so so we would. Midway through the nineteen ninety nine too, we'd always sold over a million dollars at merchandise because I should appeal to both men and women.
Well how did you up keep it?
Though?
Because the thing is is that the pink thing? I mean, yeah, because you do a show, you're sweaty as hell. I don't know how many.
I'll tell you. I don't for some reason, on sweat like that.
He's too cool.
I never I never have.
I don't drinks.
I don't. Yeahs D sweats more than D sweats before he even starts the seriously as an athlete, because he just I mean, I never seen anybody sweat like that. But I'm just saying, but no, I know what you say that you have to take care of it every night. Yes,
on the time tour because you got it. But you gotta watch the beginning of the tour if you see the things, because I got cuffs and everything that's you know, before we had professional clothing makers, like the clothing makers that take the material throw it in a vat of water pre shrinking and all that didn't make the clothes. But see, we didn't have that. We just had somebody's sister making us some stuff. And she wasn't didn't know all about that. Then, like these people that may close,
you can be completely wet, you won't see it. You like the cat that made all the clothes for Purple Raine and stuff. He grew up in the same we were from the same hometown Rock Louis. Lewis Wells for Louis and Vaughan that made all the ship for Purple Rain and num was princes those was Lewis Wells patterns Prince War to the end of his life. That's all Lewis Wells. He designed and cut all that ship. But
they knew their ship like they would know. They have them the wash, the silk, and so you know how when you sweat you won't see it. I don't They're just magicians that the ship or something like how your counts be on stage three four? Hey, what y'all got invisible counts? And breaking in the bad ship. Don't tell nobody no keys doing this ship all. Now, I'm like y'all don't breaking the bad ship. Don't even you ain't gonna okay, yeah, job I went.
That was the key.
They was killing ship. And y'all got invisible keys like the count Okay, got you your classics are flat, We went to your Jesse keys. Those were more I wrote those for Morris Case. I can't sing you. But if you look at the very first videos, my pants are nice, cool, got the pleats, got cuffs. But look as a tour, going up is higher, not a cuff is gone, is shrinking higher. And yeah, that's that. So that was one suit. But when I did the first album, then there was like three or four of those.
But I would have.
Like twelve shoes, and then I would always have my door open to my room and so girls would come in the room, my door would try and be wide open, like and no, they just would be chilling, but they were ninja's. I would go on tour like twelve pair of white boots, right, come home with three because they were taking a ship.
How do you I just saw you, yeah, you know, and you're like, how did you do that?
Yeah?
But once again going back to you know, the camera phone thing, it's like scary to do a self with somebody because even now, because the era come from, if somebody got a selfie with you, you were somewhere selfie with them, and it's like meaning somebody can you know, like say, if you go to court somebody said he did this to me, I don't even know her. Why y'all on this like that while y'all you know, dollars
just scares me. I he never went through that. But I'm watched enough enough crime shows, like when Patrisa O'Neil said he he would go buy a stick or com and go okay, okay, so he won't be because because I'm lazy, you don't want to throw the pepsicn the PEPs can't rapist and ship.
I'm like you, just you.
I love him to death so much. I miss him. So he Jesus a great guy. Absolutely. That's why when I think it's Faison Love said that Dave Chappelle is and funny, and I'm like, he might not be funny if you're not intellectual. Dave Chappelle is genius. Dave Chappelle is from the George Carlin. He's from that even you know, not to be whatever. But his comedy is very very brilliant Bill Cosby back in the day, and he's Dave has all of that and more. He's like, he's scary Wallace. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,
because George Wallace said something that to me. He said, you ever noticed when you move? He say, my wife is darker than me. And he said, we were moving, found a bottle of sun tann locean. We looking at each other like, you know what that type of humor that I you know, And then I saw I men
we played Vegas. He would come on after us, and I saw him cut some kids out and everything, and he said he was allowing people in the joke in the audience to say some jokes and his kids, the little kids to them.
Saying, yo, mam is so fat that blah blah blah. And he said, well, what are you doing down there? You have your ass and it so wout.
Your fat ass.
Mama, your mama, your mama so ugly. The birds fly upside down so you have the ship.
On it like because.
Right, I loved George.
I fucking loved Georgia, who was all in the memories on the same floor in the dressing room, and that's where I ran into Regina King when she was doing that Southland and she was killing that pixie she had that I was, she was killing that ship. I was like, girl, it's like it's like when I saw Gabrielle Union tonight. I was telling question no, but she.
Was having a heart attack and she's like she's I was.
Wondering, I wonder if she remembers me, because I met them all they were like, you know, they're right on that Cus twelve thirteen, and so you're like it was her, Kim, Phil's and Janet they were all like best of friends. And so I met her way back then when they were the little kids, and they were like, ohs a crush and I was just wondering to know. I was like it was like this big and I'm like ah and then I no, no, I.
Just her back with Stuarts. But she was looking at me like she's so beautiful.
It's beautiful. But whenever you how you know, I'm not how you know where I'm coming from. Elsa is a beautiful kid, you know, like I say to her, her young, beautiful kid, her too, it's a beautiful kid. And then that means you know that I'm looking at her like that and not as like some perverted.
Oh you a area too, you know.
No, but I'm telling you because I had girls so young, I just good for you daughter. I have enough of them, that's damn sure. I feel like in some way, no, no, no, because I'm they they He'll tell you they're they're they're together girls.
They're having a daughter means that he needs to learn some lessons about his life before he.
Had no because I had him so young, I was didn't know anything about life when I was a young father, like at fifteen sixteen, married and all that shit. So I had girls early, and so they just you learn a lot of things. Like I hear guys say they might only have one to have a boy and say, oh, you know the best thing for man a it's a son. And that's bullshit because a father and son it's a yin yang. So if the son and mothers like insuperable and and my father is like, the daughter can come in.
So I killed eight people, they must have been fucking you know, And and that's a that's an amazing and important relationship.
Well we uh initially thought we were just getting an hour.
And a half. Well y'all got to know and now we have a double episode. So, uh, I'm sorry, Steve. How you doing, I'm good, I'm good. How many episodes did you do? Doing these two episodes?
One a nice tour of Electric Lady for the for the Sugar Network. But you never asked a question that you said was going to wrap up the whole cause like you interrupted you so you had some larger you had some question that was that was gonna everything up?
Well it was.
He kind of mentioned his kids, which was based on It's true, I've never I've never been in prison.
I've never I've never been a heroin autics. There's so much bullshit out there about me, but no, there's never been in prison, never been a heroin addict, never did drugs, never drank, never did none of that.
Ship.
That's all a bunch of bullshit.
Well, my wrap up question was what do you want your legacy to be?
Just what James Brown and West Montgomery, you Hendrix, You you leave great music because that should all outlive everybody Like I would get to upset when people say, James, but no, we're all gonna fucking eat it. You just hope that you live. You leave something that's a mark for your children to get their train, because as songwriters and artists, that is your that is your your land, you know, because think about it how the land thing
really works. You pay taxes on it the money you buy it with, and then you pay tax on the rest of your life. This ship that you're leaving them, this music and every that intellectual property is like to me, the real deal ship. So it's just like, even even as tragically as losing uh somebody like like Prince, but at least what that catalog like when pep wan to hear people go, I don't like that, want to help
me do that? I'm like, yeah, but if I got a catalog, he can't play for three hours and you know the B sides because he got a catalog like it's Lasi brothers can go play a four hour show and it's all hits.
You know, are you making sure yours is protected?
Because I wonder, in the American idol sense of things, even though you.
Know, I choke somebody to death isn't even about you no more. It's about the It's about your your children and and and so you do make sure. That's why I stopped making records like the verbal record was supposed to be on Universal, was supposed to be on Where's Angie Said label? Angie Stone was on uh J Records. You No, it was when she did the baby record that label. It was supposed to be on that label, but they want to it's It wasn't Jay. It was out of like We're Laila Hathaways on.
That label Concord exactly, and.
They wanted to own the masters and ship and all that, and I ain't doing it no more, I said, So I said, anything I do, I'm going to own it from here on out, going back to bear my nekeds own. So that was my first foray into independent. I think I printed one hundred thousand through BMG. They sold them all.
And so now I'm on eBay right now watching a copy unopened and it's one hundred and twelve dollars and I'm like me, I ain't paying that for that, but I just want to see how crazy there's even an unopened copy on Amazon for like two hundred and some dollars. But I would admit I had to go buy and I had to pay forty dollars apiece for that shit because I burnt. I sold every copy I made.
And yeah, I tend to lose records too. Yeah, have you ever thought about putting those two albums out digitally? Because they're not the the I couldn't find they are. I couldn't find Bear my nakeds Home.
Yeah that's on purpose, but I am it's part of the there's a whole thing that I'm going to do that I'm actually that's why I'm moving to Vegas. I'm not moving to Vegas because I'm moving to Vegas because I'm just getting away from everybody and everything and I'm ringing the crib. Nobody's gonna Vegas. No, no, no, but not that I know. I don't know anybody that I'm moving in. No, he lives Miami and things, but I'm moving. I'm moving there. Farmhouse in the middle of nowhere, studio,
no furniture, just the gear, the guitars. The studio are bad, and a TV. And I have these three records that you don't even know about. He'll tell you that they're all new ship and they're just crazy shit and and I'm having this campaign behind them. And then after those are all done in the campaign's moving, then that's when I'll finish the audio book. Because there's so much ship that y'all don't know.
The ugly shit. It's like he really choked the line.
When can we expect the first of these three projects to come out? The first of the first of the three projects. They're all coming out the same time. It's gonna be a three tier thing, and it's not it's not a kickstarter or something to finance.
Everything will be done. It's a pre sale thing because now the way records are now, you know, folks renting music and shit, so you and and and they're negative not gonna be CDs. That's the all antiquated thing. So it's going to be a twenty four bit ninety six k every version and saying then and also the same versions and you know, wax if I the part of the campaign if it reaches a certain number most death
out of doubt. Yes, So it's got the it's it's three album and it's a three tier thing, but it's more involved in it. It's like each there's gonna be a photo booklet, a colorful lit book booklet that you
will have in person and the poster. But the color booklet will detail everything about the records, like what pedals with me playing what I'm doing, what the chords are a whole shot like that and I and I'm just trying to decide if I want to do it physically or if But I know I'm never making a CD again because I can't even listen to Verbal on CD. It sounds if you hear it in the studio on you know ninety six twenty you know twenty forbid ninety six K, it's a totally different record. I can't even
listen to the CD. It sounds so garbage. And so what is you spend all these tens of thousands of dollars that come up with this bad ship and then diither it down to some antiquated bullshit. I'm done. That ain't never happening. Then when people like you know I see people we want the CD way, you know what, get an a track while you at that shit too, because I'm not making that, but you will have the ability when you get your card you can burn all you want. But I ain't making that ship no more
because I can't hear it. I'm telling you it's terrible sounding. It's like I didn't know it would be that bad. But because Verbal was cut high deaf and I should have put out a high deaf as well as a and I think I'm still going to do a vinyl of it, but I'm just gonna pick certain things and do it on the vinyl.
There you go, Well, Sarah Johnson, I thank you very much for your conscience long over there.
Thank you guys too for being dreaming so wonderfuhy, I answered all the bad questions.
You answered everything to Shout out to my uncle Jesse rest in peace.
Yes, oh that's the one you. Oh yeah, I want to think you know how. I want to give a shout out to and and well wishes to his mothers. Mike Mike Garcia. Oh really yes, he's a Baltimore might love to you man. He's always been just really really wonderful and ever you put in the paper regarding all of us, he's just been like really okay, shout out well Deanna, love you baby.
Yeah.
She was gonna come and she got tired, so she went back to Philly.
Yeah.
Now I'm just gonna thank Inger for coming and thank you all for bringing it.
That cheesecake.
That cheesecake was great.
Shout out to Fanicolot's countertops right now in North Carolina, and uh, there's there's two other members of this team missing today.
Later, I want to talk to ingri Off, like about what it's like to be a woman in this environment and not be able to really talk too much? Or can you because I don't know because we didn't get to talked about her about.
That questions, But yeah, I mean I can come up.
With fool year. She's a boss.
I know she is. That's why I wanted her to be able to over.
How about I come back?
Okay, where do you live?
I live in New Hampshire.
I live a few hours.
Yeah, you come back?
Yeah, anytime now that we know you're here.
Yeah that I'm still alive.
Yes we are. I do have a new record coming out, you do?
Yes, I do?
You do?
I'm coming out, should be out by the end of summer, okay.
And then you have like, what three albums already?
Yeah?
Are you calling it? January twenty first?
It's going to be called Memories of Flying.
So what was May nineteen, nineteen ninety two.
It was just a date that we picked that was around the time that we were, you know, creating the album artwork and stuff. But it was just meant to be like a lot of my records are are like journal, you know, entries, and that makes sense, you know.
Okay, all my songs, so it's like journal. We will do a proper ingroage.
And now that we know you're here, all right, y'all, that that makes for another exciting conclusion. Quest Love sagree with Jess Johnson, would also like to think of vez we were stopping them, Drew dropping a lot of duels, uh, the Apple Sugar, Steve and Boston Hill and Laia and the rest of the QLs family. And thank you for listening, and we will see you the next episode on the next Goverram all right, see you later. Quest Love Supreme
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