Jellybean Johnson has known Prince since he was 13 years old when they were attending Lincoln Junior High School in Minneapolis. He has known Morris Day since he was 12 years old. The journey that would take him from his childhood through a whirlwind of success including performing with The Time and within the movie Purple Rain, would return him home to Minneapolis and the music scene that found him. Things are a lot different for Jellybean now, but the music still matters and flows through him to his audience with power and passion. Jellybean Johnson is a soft-spoken man who plays guitar like lightning and still performs as the drummer with The Time when touring outside of Minneapolis. When Jellybean looks back at his role within the spectrum of what was the "Minneapolis Sound," he speaks of being a peacemaker. When egos flared and old school friends grew famous, Jellybean walked softly through the mayhem and offered a stable disposition to the dynamic. You can see the reason Jellybean was welcome in the circle that was turbulent at times with movies, concerts, fame and fortune always tugging at the seams. He has an old soul, a comfortable way about him, and a strong and trusting look in his eye. He doesn't seem to rattle when confusion stirs around him, and from atop his tall frame he never looks down upon those around him. A confident man, yet humble, he seems to be at peace with where he's been and where he is. Jellybean shared some thoughts with us one evening just before a gig with his band The Routine at the Minnesota Music Cafe on Payne and Seventh avenues in St. Paul.

TONE: How did you get the name Jellybean?

Jellybean: We were playing at the Flame Bar on Nicollet Avenue in Minneapolis, and Robert Martin said, "We sound like a buncha jellybeans!" The next day they got me a T- shirt that said Jellybean on it, and it stuck. We used to play there six days a week as Flyte Time and the Standelles. Cynthia Johnson was the vocalist in the band until she left to sing "Funkytown" for Steven Greenberg around 1980.

TONE: You guys played in '77 at my Eden Prairie High School prom at the Marriott Hotel. You guys wore orange jump suits. You got the entire group of us kids in a circle and we did the Soul Train thing: everybody takes a turn dancing in the middle. We had a great time!

Jellybean: Yeah, that was our P-Funk phase, when we wore the tuna suits.

TONE: I recall running into, I think, Terry Lewis at Berns Music in Bloomington in '80, an old house full of music stuff in a back alley. I told him we really enjoyed the prom. I asked him what clubs to look for the band at, and asked if they were playing a lot. He told me that it was hard because club owners didn't like the kind to of clientele the band brought in. Was there racism that was obvious! What was it like trying to find gigs!

Jellybean: Right about that time,'77-'78, we played a lot at Acirema, which was America spelled backwards. We were young and black. We used to play hotels, black sorority houses, The Fox Trot, and the Flame Bar downtown used to have us. We were a nine- or ten-piece band with horns and keys. Originally, there was a big rivalry between Flyte Time and Prince's band, Grand Central. We'd play at festivals in Wheatley Park all day and all night. That's where it all started.

TONE: Prince was developing his talent, evolving.

Jellybean: I remember going to see him do a concert at the Capri Theater. It was a movie theater in North Minneapolis. It was packed. It was strange to see your friend Prince up there, girls screaming all over the place. I was impressed, with how far he'd come, his talent. In '78, he came out with "Four You."

TONE: Was it "4U," or "Four You."

Jellybean: "Four You.

TONE: So he actually spelled s**t back then!

Jellybean: (laughing) Yeah.

TONE: As he was making it, what were you doing?

Jellybean: In '79-'80 1 was at the U of M studying speech communication.

TONE: What did you want to be?

Jellybean: A DJ or sports announcer or radio announcer.

TONE: But you became a musician.

Jellybean: I was originally a drummer. Morris Day, who is a phenomenal drummer, and a lefty, and I used to set our drums up next to each other at his mom's. I started messin' around with guitar. Drums are very physical. Guitar is a spiritual and emotional thing for me.

TONE: Tell me about when Prince hit and what that meant for The Time.

Jellybean: I'I1 never forget it. After I saw that concert at the Capri, we were in the studio trying to cut our own deal. He would tell us that he'd like to help us but he couldn't do anything yet. We'd seen him make it, watched him establishing himself. We're spending money on this demo, a bunch of snotty-nosed Northside guys. Prince and Morris had a deal. He had been touring all around the country looking for musicians for a movie. He found Jesse Johnson in Illinois. Then there was the fateful meeting, and I wasn't invited! Finally, Prince comes to us and says, "This is what's going to happen." Jesse Johnson moved here from Illinois, Bobby Z was his drummer, and Prince and Morris wrote a song called "Party Up." His gift back to us was to put together a band. It was, at the time, Flyte Time with Alexander O'Neal. After the meeting, Alexander O'Neal pretty much said, "If there isn't going to be a bunch of money, then I'm not in."

TONE: O'Neal went on to some success, didn't he?

Jellybean: Yeah, he has three gold records. The Time has four albums, three gold and one platinum.

TONE: So how did The Time shape up after Alexander left?

Jellybean: Morris was going to be lead singer, Terry Lewis on bass, Jesse Johnson on guitar, and Monty Moir and Jimmy Jam on keyboards. I played drums.

TONE: And this all for the movie Purple Rain?

Jellybean: Yeah. We started taking acting lessons everyday.

TONE: what was that like?

Jellybean: We were taking ballet, pirouetting and s**t across the floor. In a weird way, it was quite exciting, at 5 a.m. we're on this movie set, which was killer, until 6 or 7 p.m. in the evening, for three months, non-stop!

TONE: Tell me about working with Prince.

Jellybean: He and I had a fight scene that got edited out of the movie. He accidentally hit me. He was quite apologetic. The scenes were fun. During the shooting of "The Bird," Prince was making us shoot it over and over again. There was a lot of just hangin' around at First Avenue and The Union Bar.

TONE: Wasn't there another big "real" fight that happened?

Jellybean: This has been written about in other books, but yeah. A couple, I mean. I was always in the middle. Prince used to always treat Jimmy the worst. Because they're both geniuses, they clashed. Now, in hindsight, Jimmy deserved most of that s*'t. Prince fired Jimmy and Terry when they missed a gig. It wasn't their fault. I quit, and Prince asked me to come back. I was having my first child, Bianca. Jesse said, "C,mon let's do this thing." So I came back, but Jimmy and Terry didn't. I was asked to fix it, but it was years later that Prince, Jimmy and Terry mended fences. The other fight was between Morris Day and Prince. It was during filming, a fistfight, and I had to break it up. These are two enormous egos, and eventually it came to a head. There was one big show at First Avenue that was supposed to happen. After the show, Morris was OUT the back door into his waiting Porsche with his girlfriend and GONE! The Time disbanded. The next time I saw Morris (laughs), he was talkin' about the "Oak Tree."

TONE: What happened after Purple Rain and all of that was over?

Jellybean: Prince kept me on. I just followed him around on tour. He was engaged to Suzanna, Lisa's (guitar player for Prince and the Revolution) sister. He was putting together a group called The Family with Paul Peterson, Jerome, Eric Leeds and me. I was just hangin' out. It was a bit funand sad.

TONE: Tell me about The Time now.



Jellybean: There are four original Time members still with the band; Monte Moir, Morris Day, Jerome Benton and me. Jellybean Johnson still tours with those four original members of the Time periodically, recently performing in New Orleans. His other band, The Routine, performs Tuesday nights at the Minnesota Music Cafe in St. Paul. He also plays guitar with the TC Jammers at Bunkers on Washington Avenue in Minneapolis on Thursday nights.

TONE: Wasn't there another big "real" fight that happened?

Jellybean: This has been written about in other books, but yeah. A couple, I mean. I was always in the middle. Prince used to always treat Jimmy the worst. Because they're both geniuses, they clashed. Now, in hindsight, Jimmy deserved most of that s*'t. Prince fired Jimmy and Terry when they missed a gig. It wasn't their fault. I quit, and Prince asked me to come back. I was having my first child, Bianca. Jesse said, "C,mon let's do this thing." So I came back, but Jimmy and Terry didn't. I was asked to fix it, but it was years later that Prince, Jimmy and Terry mended fences. The other fight was between Morris Day and Prince. It was during filming, a fistfight, and I had to break it up. These are two enormous egos, and eventually it came to a head. There was one big show at First Avenue that was supposed to happen. After the show, Morris was OUT the back door into his waiting Porsche with his girlfriend and GONE! The Time disbanded. The next time I saw Morris (laughs), he was talkin' about the "Oak Tree."


Ha! I knew that eventually someone would step up and not make Prince the heavy for every single crappy thing that happened with The Time.

Good read. Thanks for posting. What year was this from?

Ifsixwuz9 said:

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It did not say but, someone posted this about a year ago. I knew sooner or later someone would come out and tell the other side of the story. Looks like Jimmy is not a saint.

how cute that jelly was soo excited telling the story that he got lisa confused with wendy..










fromcuttocuteedit....
[Edited 2/8/05 13:58pm]

Jellybean must have really been nervous...it was "For You" not "Four You"...

sosgemini said:

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I doubt if most of the guys in The Time give a crap about W&L. I don't know too many funk fans that do care.

laurarichardson said:

Jesse might be the only one.

laurarichardson said:

Show's how much you know then I've had conversations with Jimmy, Jerome and Jellybean about Wendy and Lisa and they all had a lot of respect for them. Even good ol' Billy Sparks went OFF about how cool those girls were and how they were great people when I talked to him at Paisley at the first Celebration.

Jellybean said:

I used to sit and watch Prince and the whole crew during these lessons. I only remember watching Prince though and I didn't know Jellybean was also in class. I'm going to tease him when I see him again about that.

Interesting article, I'm bookmarking so I can come back.

EverlastingNow said:

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Well that was to you in a personal conversation. I never see them mentioning W &L in the media and I can tell you they don't mean anything to most hard core funk fans.

laurarichardson said:

but could that be because the people who interviewed them didnt bring it up?


based on your observations here are some things of note:

1) Fact (per you)- The Time members havent dicussed Wendy & Lisa in print....

2) all else is your personal opinion and holds no weight outside your brain....


[Edited 2/10/05 11:09am]

sosgemini said:

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Just shut the hell up. You are trying really hard to pick a verbel fight with me. It is not going to happen. Last word on W&L.
I don't think the media every asked anybody from the P camp about W&L because I don't think anyone in the music media cares about them.

I don't care for the carpet munching duo and that is my opinion. You don't have to like it but that is my opinion.

I made you look like a fool before and now you don't need by assitance.

laurarichardson said:

Judge, exhibit B in our claim of "delusions"..





anyone else notice how laura declares "your trying really hard to pick a verbel fight" and then goes off on a rant?




what was that again about taking things too serious? just breath in and breath out....realize that you are amoungst friends sharing your views....think of that the next time you type...then you wont have people countering you in a fashion that raises your blood pressure...

and use some damn logic when posting.....dont make me post all the recent articles where the media mentions wendy and lisa on gwen stefani's latest album...

but your right, the media doesnt care about them...why dont you try not to use big themes? just simply state, "i dont care about wendy and lisa"...cause then nobody can prove you wrong..cause it seems thats what really raises your blood pressure, being proven wrong..


[Edited 2/10/05 12:56pm]

laurarichardson said:

Calling them that isn't very nice.

sextonseven said:

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I know I just get tired of the W&L worship on this board. You can pick up any music mag and never see two mentions of these two yet according to some people Prince would have never made it if they did not work with him.

You always find with black artist that someone white was responsible for their success.

This is sad and bigoted.

wow,this thread has gone downhill really quick

Lets face it - Wendy and Lisa dont matter anymore. They were overrated in the first place. The only reason anyone remembers tham is because of the Purple Rain movie. The same can be said for Apollonia. What have they done of note that was not with Prince? They merely had more lines and screen time in a movie that is a cult classic and thus they are remembered primarily for that. This is not to say that they did not contribute. People like Dez Dickerson and Jesse Johnson contributed as much or more but do not get the credit because they are not ingrained in people's memories by the movie.

newpower4ever said:

I will agree that Dez and Jesse are just as accomplished musicians as Wendy and Lisa, (Apollonia is not a musician, however) but Prince generally didn't start accepting contributions from others until after Purple Rain. By then Dez and Jesse were long gone from his circle--no doubt mostly because they weren't allowed to contribute to Prince's music (aside from a guitar solo here and there) like Wendy and Lisa later on.

newpower4ever said:

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C0-Sign. I am glad someone else can see how overated they are.

laurarichardson said:

what a rock critic had to say about neil finn:




now other critics have declared Finn his generations best songwriter..now read what Finn has to say about wendy and lisa... :



so...go figure..to each its own.....

by the way, google wendy and lisa and see how many times they are discussed by the likes of seal, finn, qwen stefani...heck, even joni mitchell (who prince adores) has worked with the girls three times..three more times then prince....

sure, to you they may be overrated...and thats fine...but to people who have actually made it, THEY ARE THE SHIT!!

Isn't this a really old interview ?

I'm sure I've read this on here or in Uptown before ?

.

newpower4ever said:

Dez did have VERY fleeting split second scene but Jesse is remembered for far more that it.
[Edited 2/20/05 13:17pm]

Damn y'all...