i just got through listening to a couple of jesse johnson songs and i think the man is f'n amazing. i mean his guitar solos are very well done and he has that original minneapolis sound funk in his songs that drives me nuts the songs i love the most is free world,can you help me, and be your man

Hi Jamie!


You will soon discover that there are many Jesse Johnson fans here.I have his first three albums ('Let's Have Some Fun','Shockadelica' and 'Every Shade Of Love') and I think his music is incredible.There are real funk classics on those albums! My favorite songs are...

"She (I Can't Resist)" (1986)
"Do Yourself A Favor" (1986)
"Special Love" (1985)
"Be Your Man" (1985)
"Addiction" (1986)
"Burn You Up"(1986)
"Love Struck" (1988)
"So Misunderstood" (1988)
"I'm Just Wanting You" (1988)

Jesse is the single best Prince "protege" - better than Wendy and Lisa (bring on the attacks) and Morris Day and Sheila E.

I like all of Jesse's albums. You can not sleep on "Bare My Naked Soul" He's truly an underrated musician and writer. For some reason P liked digging at him.

jamiestarr69 said:

I like Jesse Johnson. Your picks are my favorites, too. They bring back happy memories of 10th grade and my first highschool boyfriend who I'm still friends with to this day.

Funny you should ask.....To me, Jesse has no equal. As much as I love Prince, if Jesse and Prince had a concert on the same night in my town, I'd be front row to see Jesse. No disrespect meant for Prince who I "adore" (no pun intended), and maybe it has something to do with the fact that I've seen P in concert before but not Jesse. "Can you help me" is quite simply my fav song of all time. I can listen to that song over and over again (and I have for almost 20 years now!)
Man, has it really been 20 years that I've been digging Jesse? Seems like yesterday when I first heard "Can you help me". Certain songs define times in your life and that song, for me, is the theme song for the first 34 years of mine. New artists/songs come around all the time but it's gonna take somebody or some song that pretty special to ever replace "Can you help me". Jesse may not be a God, but to me he's no mortal man.

Peace

Chevon said:

As a true Jesse fan, I could've said any better myself. You hit it right on the head.

Jesse is the fucking man. We all know that Prince rocks in concert, but I wish he would make a straight out balls to the wall rock album like Bare my naked soul. One of the great regrets of my life is I didn't see him in concert solo or with the Time. lets just hope that new years show wasn't some one off

I have never seen him play live but I have copies of b-legs and he his TOO MUCH!
P don't have nothing on him.
[Edited 2/2/05 21:35pm]

If it came down to it, I'd go see Jesse over Prince -- not because he's a bigger showman, but because of his musicianship -- Jesse's awesome!

I think Jesse is awesome as well. I am so glad to hear such positive words about the man as he is an incredible musician. I recently just re-purchased all his albums on CD and have been going through a real "Jesse" period, rediscovering all those amazing tracks.

"Free World" rocks, "Can You Help Me" is great and Shockadelica is the bomb. Right now I am loving "Everybody Wants Somebody To Love" and I think "My Life" is definitely one of his greatest songs.

I would love to see Jesse live and hope for some new music soon.

newpower4ever said:

bring on what attacks? your just stating your opinion...it only applies to you....

at anyrate...oddly enough ive added some Jesse Johnson tracks to girlbros. radio and they have all been getting low ratings.....i love him and cant figure out why...

Very cool--"Baby Let's Kiss" is one of my favorites! (especially the long version).

sluvah said:

That's quite a statement to make. I'm not very familiar with jesse's music so I would't be a very good judge but saying he's better than prince is very intriguing to me.

jacktheimprovident said:

I meant P does not possess the AX skills of JESSE. Besides P always seemed threatened by Jesse for some reason.
[Edited 2/4/05 0:34am]

sluvah said:

-----
I don't know if P could feel threaten by a total druggie. I love Jesse but you can't beat showmanship.

laurarichardson said:

"Total Drugggie"??? Where's that commin' from? I know that in the past that Jesse's had some personal problems, which he's admitted to. I'm not aware that dope was one of them, and I've followed his solo career pretty closely from the onset. I ask again, where did you get this info?

As far as his guitar playing goes Jesse is comming from out of a different space than Prince. I wouldn't go so far as to say one cat is better than the other, but in terms of pure balls, I prefer Jesse's playing. Also I could see myself talking shop with Jesse if I ever met him. Prince? Forget about it!

kstrat said:

her delusions...


[Edited 2/4/05 15:11pm]

sluvah said:

I beg to differ...Prince can take Jesse toe to toe on the guitar any day. Do you homework - dig that Hall of Fame jam and The Undertaker video and then come talk to me

Whatever man! Jesse is better on the AXE! I've heard P had some heavy drug usage back in the day too.
[Edited 2/5/05 0:41am]

newpower4ever said:

Homework has been done!

jamiestarr69 said:

http://www.prince.org/msg/5/117042

http://www.prince.org/msg/5/117879


GGD:penguin:

Being a guitarist myself, this has been discussed in GREAT detail before over in the non music section. What started it was a thread I ran called "Best Black Rock Guitarist Ever Besides Hendrix". Anyway, Jessie is someone I hold high regard for. I won't even get the "he's better than Prince, no he isn't" thing because that's a matter of taste. I rank Jessie up there with the greats. I've seen Jessie 4 times live. Twice with the o.g. lineup of The Time (early 82 and early 83) and twice as a solo artist (85 and 89).

For me, Jesse Johnson is the baddest thing to come out of the Prince camp, second only to Andre Cymone.

Prince, Andre, Jesse, Fink, and Dez.....it don't get no better.
[Edited 2/7/05 20:55pm]

vainandy said:

Enuff Said Vain.

Kick ass guitarist who should have had a better solo career than he's had.

kstrat said:[quote]

laurarichardson said:

"Total Drugggie"??? Where's that commin' from? I know that in the past that Jesse's had some personal problems, which he's admitted to. I'm not aware that dope was one of them, and I've followed his solo career pretty closely from the onset. I ask again, where did you get this info?

As far as his guitar playing goes Jesse is comming from out of a different space than Prince. I wouldn't go so far as to say one cat is better than the other, but in terms of pure balls, I prefer Jesse's playing. Also I could see myself talking shop with Jesse if I ever met him. Prince? Forget about it![/quote
-----
Lot's of talk right on this board about Jesse drugs issues. In addtion, back in the 80's he held his wife hostage and was kicked out of the re-formed Time.

Let's not be naive about a talented musician disapearing from the face of the earth for a long period of time.

sosgemini said:

-----
Well maybe it was in my dreams when I read about this on Prince.org. Just because you are the moderator it does not make you a know it all. I will see if I can find something on the web and post it.

Get off your hero worship and get in touch with reality people use drugs.(LOL)

sosgemini said:

-----
Nothing in here about drugs but he does talk about lying under his ex's car with a gun. Does not say that he went to jail for doing this but from what I have read he did and the story goes that this was due to drugs.

Ex-Time Guitarist Bares His Soul
The name may not instantly ring a bell with you, but believe me - you know who
Jesse Johnson is. Most people are familiar with Jesse from his work with The
Time, the "other band" that was Prince's rival in the films "Purple Rain" and
"Graffiti Bridge." The Time, which fused Prince-inspired funk with Jesse's
blistering blues-rock guitar work, had hits with such songs as "Jungle Love,"
"The Bird" (both of which were co-written by Jesse) and "Jerk Out."


When The Time became an on-again-off-again project, Jesse stepped out on his
own and became a successful R & B artist with such albums as "Jesse Johnson's
Revue" and "Shockadelica." Having proved commercially successful in this arena,
Jesse then began exploring other avenues such as songwriting and producing
(working with such artists as Paula Abdul, Janet Jackson and After 7) and
film-scoring (Jesse's music can be heard throughout last summer's "A Time To
Kill").


Sixteen years after the first Time album, Jesse is finally where he belongs.
His latest album, "Bare My Naked Soul," is a phenomenal work of guitar art that
finally showcases the blues-rock guitar playing that Jesse has only been able
to hint at in his past musical journeys. I recently caught up with Jesse, who
was in New Orleans rehearsing for his "Brand New Day" tour which is slated to
begin at the end of this month, to find out more about this truly talented
individual.


Jesse has been playing guitar since he was 17. "My father was from Mississippi,
and he was into (blues guitarists) Lightnin' Hopkins and Muddy Waters and all
that kind of thing, so I picked it up from listening to him. My really strong
influences, as far as contemporary musicians, are Jimi Hendrix and (Funkadelic
guitarist) Eddie Hazel. My first album that I learned guitar to was a copy of
Hendrix's "Band Of Gypsies" that my father gave me. Eddie came out the same
time as Hendrix did, but he was definitely doing his own thing on tracks like
'Free Your Mind.Õ He's an original to me."


While Jesse has long been associated with being a part of the influential
Minneapolis scene of the early to mid '80s, Jesse's roots originated a bit
south of Minnesota. "I was actually born and partially raised in Rock Island,
Illinois. When I was in Rock Island, I was playing rock-and-roll in this biker
bar called The Yankee Clipper. After a couple years of being essentially the
'house band,' I said 'you know, it's time for a change.' I thought about going
to Los Angeles or Florida, but I ended up going to Minneapolis because I heard
that there was a really strong music scene and quite a potpourri of different
styles there. So, I just hopped on a Greyhound and went there, not knowing
anybody."


Once he arrived in Minneapolis in late 1980, Jesse quickly made friends. "Once
I got to Minneapolis, I started playing with this band whose drummer was Morris
Day. He left the band the next day, and a couple of days later he said to me 'I
know Prince. Would you like me to introduce you to Prince?' and I said, 'Who's
Prince?' since all I ever played and listened to was rock-and-roll."


Morris introduced Jesse to Prince just before Prince embarked on his "Dirty
Mind" tour, during which Morris was Prince's cameraman and was in charge of
filming each show of the tour. "While Morris was out doing that, he and Prince
had begun working on the first Time album. About three months after I'd been in
Minneapolis, Morris called me from the road, saying 'Stay in Minneapolis! We're
gonna do this thing, you and I, when we get back!' At first, it was just gonna
be Morris and I. It was gonna be, stylistically, like a Hall and Oates thing,
and we were just gonna hire a band to back us. However, Morris ended up picking
(local band) Flyte Tyme, which was already a band, so it became a band
project."


"Actually, The Time was originally called The Nerve. I still have the very
first test-pressing of the album, and it says 'The Nerve' on it. However, some
people had already owned that name. So, we originally picked 'The Time' in
about two seconds. As we got going, we found out that a gospel group somewhere
in North Carolina actually owned that name. So, we ended up leasing the name
from them, and years later Prince ended up purchasing the name."


Even though The Time ended up splitting apart right before the release of
"Purple Rain" (due to Morris' dissolution of the band after Prince fired Time
members Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis), Jesse has no regrets about what he and The
Time might have missed had they stayed together. "We wouldn't have been on the
'Purple Rain' tour. He (Prince) definitely did not want us on that tour with
him. He had made that pretty clear." This may have something to do with the
fact that The Time often upstaged Prince on tours that the two bands had shared
in the past.


Rising up from the ashes of The Time, Jesse embarked on a phenomenally
successful career not only as a solo artist, but also as a songwriter-producer
for hire. "I pretty much did that out of necessity. It was my way of dealing
with the knowledge that I had acquired over the years. Looking back, I'm glad
that I did it, but it's not what I want to do today."


As a fan of both Jesse and Prince, I often wondered which project was created
first: Jesse's 1986 album "Shockadelica," or Prince's 1987 B-side of the same
name. "The honest truth in the matter is that I definitely came up with that
first. I had a record called 'Shockadelica,' and I was really kinda sick of
seeing albums that were named after one of the songs on it. So, 'Shockadelica'
had been released and a single off of it ('Crazay') was already out, and Prince
had just gotten back from Paris. He called me and said, 'I got this song for
your record. It's called 'Shockadelica.Õ 'I said to him, 'I'm really honored,
but the album's out already.' He said, ÔJust put it on the album's next
pressing.' I said, 'I wouldn't do that! If I was somebody who bought the first
pressing and all of a sudden there's a new song on the album, I'd be pretty
pissed about something happening like that so soon.'"


"So Prince said - and this is an exact quote - 'If you don't put it out, I will
put it out and every time when people think of 'Shockadelica' they will think
of me!' What am I gonna do, sue him? I don't bother what that sort of stuff
because if you're doing something that's karmically wrong, you're gonna have to
answer to someone way, way, way mightier than me."


Another issue that I wanted Jesse to set the record straight on happened back
in 1990, when Rolling Stone magazine ran an article that recounted an incident
involving local police finding Jesse outside his ex-wife's house lying under
her car and holding a gun on himself. Surprisingly, Jesse is rather candid and
up front about this episode. "It was just basically one of those personal
things that just got ugly. It was one of those personal situations where you
and a person decide that this is what you're gonna do, and everybody agrees,
and when you split up, that person calls you every day for damn near three
months and just says really mean stuff to you. For the first two months, you
just kinda say 'Oh s--t, I'm hearing this again.'"


"After a while, for me personally, it just kinda got to me and I just wanted it
to be like 'You know, just leave me the f--k alone!' Generally, I think that 90
percent of the people out there are nice. But, if you actually go and give the
Pope some crap, I think he's gonna give you some crap back. One of the things
that I walked away and learned from that is that I made a really clear choice
and now I don't ever shortchange myself."


This new-found attitude may be why Jesse has finally made what he describes as
"the music of my life" on "Bare My Naked Soul." Jesse says that "with this new
record company that I'm with (Dinosaur Entertainment), I'm allowed 100 percent
artistic freedom. The fact that with this label, I can sell 200,000 albums and
make what I'd make if I signed with any major label and sold a million and a
half copies allows me the musical freedom to do exactly what's in my heart,
which is why I waited so long to make this album."


The "artistic freedom" that Jesse speaks about shines through on every track on
"Bare My Naked Soul." From the crunching electric guitars of "My Life," "Let Me
In," "Brand New Day," and the title track, to the fluttering acoustic fretwork
of "Mr. Heartache," and "Bella Bella," to the traditional blues of "You Don't
Love Me The Same," to the Curtis Mayfield- influenced "I Miss," one can almost
feel the happiness that Jesse's experiencing come flowing right out of the
speakers. As Jesse told me, "I'm gonna stay true to everything. I know I did
this time around."


Although "Bare My Naked Soul" sounds like a full-band live jam, almost all of
the album's guitar, bass, and vocals were done by Jesse. When Jesse comes to
town to perform the album to the masses, he'll have a three-piece band
comprised of a drummer, a bass player, and Jesse handling all of the guitar
work. Jesse and his band will be in New York City at Wetlands on March 6, "but
we won't be doing any music from yesterday, not one song from yesterday. This
dude does only the new s--t!" However, Jesse does promise that if you go see
him at this show, "You'll leave the club staggering. I promise you, you will.
Trust me, You will not be disappointed. It's gonna be the heaviest s--t to hit
New York in a long time."