nah not racist, but im sayin..... u never saw him, u never heard him...

he be onstage and everybody be "lit " up but him.....whats up wit dat, for real?

camera "misses" him at even at the most opportuned time.

Nvncible1 said:

and yo yo yo bruva man, he aint get to say shit in Purple Rain - e'ery body else in the band got at least one line..yo yo yo

BlaqueKnight said:

BrownMark/Mark Brown sure doesn't


.
[Edited 11/12/05 7:42am]

actually his line ended up on the editing room floor with the other deleted scenes. He mentioned that back in 88 while being interviews on Video Soul

But being that he was the only african american member of the revolution it did appear as if he was at times getting the "back of the bus" role.P may have gotten caught up with the crossover success and done the brotha unfairly at times.
I have at times wondered why orgers seem to want to clown the brotha when Z was clearly the weakest link in the Revolution Chain. But Prince clearly respected his musicianship. It has been stated that the arrangements of songs for the Purple Rain tour were kept simple cause W&L and Z couldn't stretch. Also he was the only Revolution member allowed to bring in and have an outside project distributed by P.

In spite of all that "was to have happen" he's probably still closer to P now than any of the others.

JQuad said:

Which is weird cuzz he seemed pisse dabout getting kicked into the drum risers by Prince

BlaqueKnight said:

That's an older white man's "street talk"

Howard Stern does that all the time.
[Edited 11/12/05 13:54pm]

Terilicious said:

That's right,don't you speak jive?

JQuad said:

Well Prince didnt direct, produce, or write Purple Rain so blaming Prince falls into the cvategory of yet another unresearched and unsubstantiated prince.org presumption.

JQuad said:

It has???? When, where, and by whom?

I've never heard or read that.

I believe Z probably couldn't stretch, but W&L are pretty amazing musicians.

Very good catch. Yeah, I've thought the same thing. I first noticed this on the Controversy tour. I had hellified seats and I could see everything that was going down on stage. P would shun Mark onstage. During "Why You Wanna Treat Me So Bad?" when Dez and Mark stand on either side of P during the guitar duo, P kept looking at Mark like, "Move over Mark. Damn." When it was clear that Mark was doing what he was told to do. I picked it up again on the 1999 tour, but not as much. The first time I ever saw P give it up to Mark was First Ave when he debut some "Purple Rain" shit. While he introduced the band, he said some shit like "And that cutie pie over there, that's Brown Mark." In my opinion, Mark was P's best bassist ever, cuz not only could he play whatever P came up with on bass, but he took it to another level. Plus, he could hang with P step for step during the live version of "When Doves Cry". All the while, slanging on the bass.

JQuad said:

Wouldn't it have more to do with Mark's looks? Wasn't P often annoyed at Miko too cuz he attracted the ladies' attention?

JQuad said:

Wendy and Lisa and Z couldn't stretch??? There was no weak link in the Revolution, any group of session players could sound like the bands he's had since, but NO ONE can sound like the Revolution. Now I'm off to go listen to my Parade show from Hamburg.

EverlastingNow said:

I asked Jqaud to back up his statement.....no reply as of yet....
[Edited 11/18/05 7:42am]

That quote is from a Musician magazine back in 88 and it is mentioned in the Poossessed book. As the story goes the arrangements for majority of the songs on the PR tour were kept simple because W&L and Z could strectch. The only tune that was stretched(jammmed)on was "baby I'm a star". Reports stated Fink and BMarx were the only ones that could stretch.

Looking at what the bands after the Revolution did with arrangements and tunes both sources make a strong agrument. I really can't see W,L and Z doin' after show gigs jamming on "skin tight", "Soul Sacrifice,Irrestible Bitch, etc. They were strong in the "rock" vein of tunes. But beyond that....they may have had problems.

JQuad said:

Check out the PR tour live then....

They "stretched" out Take ME With You..... Did a James Brown tribute in Irresistible Bitch/Possessed.... etc.

Plus P has said no one plays rhythm guitar like Wendy.

So that soudns like a lot of BS.

The Musicology Tour in contrast sounded rehearsed and arranged to a T

I think Brownmark happens to be Prince's best bassist, and it is ashame that we don't heard that much about him anymore.

Why are you getting defensive, all Jquad just did was backing up his sources?
But overall, I found this thread to be very interesting.

GaryMF said:

I checked the PR tour out....."Take me...Irrestible/Possessed....When doves...." all were extended....around Brownmarks bass!!!!! Eric Leeds added to Possessed. Wendy,it has been reported, hated the fact that the Revolution went from a "rock band" to "r&b revue" however the music was starting to sound funkier once the Revolution expanded. Check any Parade era live show audio or video....that was the starting point that P was expanding musically. It has also been stated that Parade was P's least favorite. Cuz it wasn't that funky.

None of this diminishes W&L,Z's talent. But inspite of BMarx's talent....P at times had the "crab in the barrell syndrome" when dealing with him.

JQuad said:

All that is true and BMArk is the man! I want to know what he have done since he quit Prince and wondered what he is doing now? Also it was report that Wendy wasn't please with the direction of the band start to sound like a r&b funk band. Also she didn't like the fact she wasn't the only guitarist anymore. Yes the counter revolution seemed like segration band based on race. All that says in Possessed. Also wendy and lisa and z are talented but I don't see what is the big deal of their skills. Z can't drum beyond it's complexity and W&L maybe added weird sound influences to some of prince's songs but Like my mama says Different doesn't necessary means appealing.

I wished Brownmark stay around at least through SOTT because i know SOTT would be even funkier with his tight ass bass lines.

larryluvlife said:

@ "jive"

First, I'm not saying Brownmark wans't talented....nor do I disagree that he wasn't featured very prominenty during his tenure in the Revolution.

I'd say he's my favorite Prince bassist too.

But I am a stickler for accuracy..... and when someone said W&L couldn't hang with Irrisible Bitch my point was..... the funkiest version ever of IB included them (and BM of course!).

2nd, Wendy's comment about the "R&B Revue" were about the expanded "counter-revolution" which included more people including her sister. It had nothing to do with the extended jams referenced above.

And it's kind of ironic to bring up "defensive" in this thread, considering the title!

GaryMF said:

Well I don't have anything to do with the title of the thread, tell that to the original poster.

I just reread Possessed book today and it did mention that yes Wendy was upset that Prince expanded the Revolution but YES she was also upset that the new version of Revolution was SOUNDING like an everyday R&B band, like JQuad said, because I believed she wants the Revolution become like the Beetles musically and you can tell by listening to ATWIAD, one my least fav Prince's album. So reread the book.


Back to the original topic, Brownmark's bass playing can outdo just about any bass player that I know but I can't decide between him and Larry Graham. Hey since they are both JW and all maybe they could hookup sometimes musically.

JQuad said:

You right the Parade shows were funkier and they were enjoyed to watch. I have a couple shows in my collection and they were classic and I like to listen to the live shows better than listening to the album because the live shows were funkier. Too bad I can't say the same about the album version because besides Kiss and Girls and Boys, the album is wack. Also it was sad that Brownmark was hardly seen at times and it made me wonder was he actually there performing? And it does seem like Brownmark was Prince's competition just like the Time was.

dewalliz said:

My point was just that her comment had to do with the Expanded revolution sound, NOT the PR tour band..... which DID play Irrisible Bitch which the poster doubted they could play.



As you say, that is what you "believe". She never said anything about wanting to sound like the Beatles. That is your inference.

GaryMF said:

Again reread Possessed book because it did mention she wanted the band to be like Beetles not another funk band as the direction was heading during that period. When I said "I believed she wants" I meant based on what I remembered of reading Wendy wanted the band to be like the Beetles. We can argue all night and day whether if that she wanted because we both weren't there at the time to clarify it and therefore unless otherwise I'll have to go based on what the book said.

I never said her comment included PR tour, I always stick by her comment was referred to the fact how the live band changed musicially after the expansion and I also agreed that W&L couldn't stretch the funk during PR like Brownmark can and that is based on my opinion so don't tried to debate it .

I thought this topic about Prince's treatment toward Brownmark and Brownmark's talented bass skills not about what Wendy said or didn't say?

dewalliz said:

Debate or not Wendy was just as funky as Brownmark ANY day!

EverlastingNow said:

Nice try but as a funk lover, I think Wendy's funk skills were weak. She was a good guitarist to Prince and he was lucky to have her, but there were areas she was good and there was other areas she was weak. Any true funk lover agrees. Overall u have u wendy, I have my brownmark! hehehehe!!!!!
[Edited 11/21/05 14:19pm]

Overall, I think Brownmark was being like a Jackie Robinson of how he took Prince's shit and I know most people wouldn't. And Brownmark was a true soldier too and he could have easily left shortly after Purple Rain, when he started to get fed up but he choose to swallow his pride and stick around. Didn't Prince dropkick Browmmark for missed a bassline or something?

I tried to find some information like interviews about Brownmark on the net because I really like to get to know more about him but it is hard.

dewalliz said:

Hey you're not the only funk lover believe me I know my funk and that girl was BAD!! Prince and Miko both commented on her funk skills. You can honestly listen to the Parade show and think that's weak?