ebonyrhythmbuddha said:

myrtobelly said:

Thanks for answering Michael...Sorry for my bad English, I meant how is he doing these days. Not touring with Giorgia?
I wish the combo could play in Paris but I guess I have to come Minneapolis someday!

See you

Myrto

Hay Mike Mike,,,,this is your Drum Tech / friend.....McGoo,,,Yes I log on every once-n- a while....I haven't talk to you since I got off the road with DC (Destinys Child). I'll give you a call sometime this week...OOOOooo and yes P will b calling u and my boy Sonny T back soon, 4 the long haul.

G.B.U

God Bless U

Goo.

Michael B
thank U so much 4 taking the time 2 answer these quuestions. I have a few more 4 U if U don't mind.

1) 94/95 U guys played with LOADS of triggered Samples and loops. Who was triggering those? Was it U or MOrris? Was that harder than just playing live? How did U see all those little trigger pads/keys in the dark?

2) Whenever I saw U live at a club or even at a stadium, I could FEEL your drums!! Is this due 2 how hard U HIT THE SKINS or is it the drums U use or the mics or a combination of all three?

3) Early in his career Prince did a lot of his own drum programming but it seems2 my ears that during the years U and Sonny were with him U took over. This seems especially evident because as U left his records really suffered from LAME unfunky, simple drum patterns. How much input did u have (Ure sampling set gives a good indication)?

4)When you showed up on Prince projets in the years after you left was this just stuff U had "in the can" or was it recorded *new*. 2 Xamples im thinking of R "Love 4 One Another" (Larry Grahm) and "Baby Knows".

Again - thanks 4 taking the time 2 answer these question here on the ORG. U R by far my favorite drummer. As far as a human, the few times I met U, U could NOT HAVE been NICER. Thanks 4 that as well.

ps
LEVI - was called 4 the tour also. 4 real.

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thaCONcept said:

1. i, personally, had glow in the dark tape in the center of my pads.. morris memorized the positions on his keyboard controller.. and tommy wrote out actual music that told him what key had what sample on it, until he memorized it..
usually, i had the drum loops.. morris had all dialogue and background vocals, and tommy had all orchestral, horns, and rhythm guitar samples.. but we often inherited each others territory, if our hands were already full..

2. my sound seems to be consistent, regardless of the type of microphone, or the type of drums.. i just kinda sound like me, i guess..

3. input? prince let us stretch out alot.. he helped me refine and define myself as a musician.. as far as the drumming and drum programming after..
to be fair, i was there for 7 years.. it takes time to recover from losing people you've invested in for that long. it couldn't have been easy. i was there at the cusp of the technology changing in a big way.. i had to find my own way and internalize alot of things that weren't easy to execute.. there was NO WAY ANYBODY could have walked in off the street and sat down comfortably in my place.. my methods were too unconventional..

4."baby knows" was the first session i did for prince since we got fired.
"love 4 one another", i think, was "billy jack bitch".. prince just recycled the drum track.. i don't remember, exactly..

hope this info helps-

michael b.

altavista said:

i don't think any of the other cats really have the kind of time or interest i do in actually sitting down and logging on, and finding random people to chat with.. i guess it's something i miss, sometimes.. i used to spend alot of time with the fans. sonny and i even went to a couple of fans houses, back in the day... y'know, stuff like that. we had fun. so, every once in a while, until somebody starts asking me about prince's shoe size, i hang around here.. LOL

michael b.

plus, the M.D. that hired me got the axe.. so i fly home, they send me a sizeable severance check, and i spent madonna's money all summer..

michael b.

Hey Michael B.,

Just wanted to say "hey" to you as a big fan of yours. The period of Prince's career with you in his band is my favorite of his, and you're a big reason for that. I feel fortunate I got to see the band a few times during those years. I also remember going to see Paul Westerberg in '96 in Atlanta and out walks Michael B. to the drum kit! This was before I knew Prince had changed up his band so you can imagine I was quite surprised. Gave the night a little something extra, as a Paul Westerberg fan and a Michael Bland fan both. I don't have a specific question, but I guess I am curious as to your thoughts on the Chaos and Disorder material, and also I'm curious as to how much of the unreleased material you referenced features the more "guitar" side of Prince. I really dug that era ('93-'95?) where you guys really seemed to be pushing Prince to new avenues of his playing. You and Sonny T. = Hells yeah!

Thanks for all of the great playing and musical contributions from those years, as well as reading my measly words!

outtakes....
Hmmmmm (wiping the drool)
U no how when Homer Simpson hears the word "pork-Chops" or "Chocolate"??!!

: )

with the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction Ceremony comming up I started thinking about the Grand opening Concert in 1995.

U guys were scheduled 2 play at that event. It was a concert held in Cleavland beamed all over the world. Insted U guys played a set at Paisley for about 200 people. How come?

Re: the previous question about samples and loops. Was that harder to play than just hittin the skins? I have 2 imagine especially for Tommy and Morris it must have been nerve racking.

Who created the phat loops 4 trax like "space","days of wild", "pheromone", "acknowledge me" ?- sounds like ure stuff 2 me.

Why is Julius the only MPLS musician 2 never show up on a Prince record? Everyone from the combo has appeared on a P record at least once. Even Billy Franz was on a record. Is Prince jealous of Julius? : )

Finally, A Question I ALWAYS wanted 2 ask. Why was "Days of Wild" pulled from "the Gold Experience"??? U guys ALWAYS played this live and it was amazing but U never released a Studio version, how come?

thanks again 4 all your time.

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And the winner is.....thaConcept.....what do you choose.....Door # 1.....Door # 2.....Or whats in the trunk of King James's car?????

Your Good.

goo said:

Cool! Hey Goo, this is Liza, MD of Robin Power and the Uptown Dames. We were there March 1991. Were you the one taping our rehearsals at the Arizona space?

Hey Mike B, I don't know if you remember me - I was there for about three minutes.

artpal said:

hi liza- you're right.. i don't recall you, by name, but if i saw you, there would be a better chance of me recollecting some type of memory, most likely..

michael b.

And the winner is.....thaConcept.....what do you choose.....Door # 1.....Door # 2.....Or whats in the trunk of King James's car?????

Your Good.

JesseDezz said:

sonny and i made a record similar to what you're describing with a guitar player named jef lee johnson.. it has that band of gypsies vibe, but it's a little more expansive, musically.. not just funky blues music. we even cover some duke ellington on it.

the band is News From The Jungle- the record is available on universal france jazz.

michael b.

ebonyrhythmbuddha said:

That's cool. I only saw you once - at a rehearsal with Robin Power. Prince invited all of us to see his rehearsal. I barely remember you myself. The only name I remembered was Rosie - probably cuz she's a woman. I also met Tommy but didn't remember his name until the orgers here reminded me of it. I vaguely remember a couple of rappers. We had a grueling rehearsal schedule and didn't have much time to make friends, unfortunately.

Another memory I have that might involve you was a blond woman who was a drummer. Prince kept threatening to replace our drummer with her. I vaguely remember her sitting near you at that rehearsal. Do you remember anything like that?

My main impression of you guys was that your rehearsal was extremely disciplined. When you finished playing a song, there was not a peep out of anyone during the silence. In other bands I've played in, there would be people fiddling with their instruments and talking and you had to yell to get started again. Very impressive.

Y'all were great!

Liza

This just in.....

Liner notes:

3121:
Drums: Michael B
Bass: Sonny T
Hornz: Maceo, Candy, Greg and Ray


oh yea baby! Michael B, didn't U guys record more than just this one track? I assume how a session works is: U record and record and then U get paid. Usually U have no idea if it was 4 a specific project or not. Close?

Re:Julius - I was halfway joking. I know there R tons of MPLS musicians that have NOTHING 2 do with Prince.

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[Edited 3/10/06 10:17am]
[Edited 3/10/06 10:19am]

ebonyrhythmbuddha said:

any chance U could get this up on your site or at fetus? I can't speak French (Sh*t, I can barely speak proper english) and that link U sent us 2 is all in French. Yea I know the site is "France Jazz" but .....Uh I want it.
Thanx

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Well I guesss there have been one to many impostor coming on here and people take things with a pinch of salt but if it is you it's great to be able to chat to you and know what you are up to.
Actually I have a question I went into my local record store the other day and picked up a copy of MINNEAPOLIS an album whhich you and Sonny T worked on with Michel Portal, to be honest I never even knew this existed,how did this come about, by the way love your drumming

dori said:

this came about through a french record producer named jean rochard.
he was working on making a jazz album with michel, who apparently had a habit of making one every seven or eight years.. i can't recall exactly.
michel heard me on some recordings and wanted me to play on the record.
they decided to make it in mpls, because there is a growing contemporary jazz thing happening here.. bad plus, casino royale, happy apple, etc.
jean has made several albums involving jazz musicians from paris with ones from mpls. he also does a festival here, every fall, called "minnesota sur seine"..
anyway, jean came down to meet me, and hear me play at bunker's.. we had talked on the phone about who should play bass.. of course, i threw sonny's name in.. sonny happened to be playing that monday with me and the combo, so jean heard us together and decided that this was the right solution..
the whole time, i kept asking him why michel portal, a french jazz musician, sought me out. i don't play jazz, and really thought i was not qualified. but he assured me that we weren't making a "jazz" album, just making music.. and that's essentially what we did.. free associate, somewhat, and also write separately and together.. we also ended up recording some live gigs in france, which came out as a companion to the studio record..
it was during these sessions that i mentioned jef lee johnson to jean, and the fact that he, sonny, and i were planning on doing some sort of trio.. he went right away to his friend at universal france and got them to agree to finance the release, and distribute it. that's how "news from the jungle" happened.

michael b.

Michael B
thanx again 4 being so gracious and answering all of these questions.

One Question just came 2 mind that I have had 4 years.

Who is the female voice on the "Gold Nigga" CD?

She sings/speaks on most of the Segues and I think all the Parts
of the song "Gold Nigga"

There is also a (different?) female on "Johnny"

that album is great 2 hear because of all the *live* instruments.

She is Uncredited on the cd.

Also - U spoke a few times about how U record much more than U release.
Is there any specific song that U *KILLED* in the studio but NEVER saw the light of day?

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