altavista said:

yeah, i have a couple of particular stories from the days of Nell's, but i really can't tell either of them here.. this is not the place.. LOL

michael b.

Ure killing me on that Phillip C - no comment thing.
It's so silly but it always bothered me - where did that guy come from?
Anyway.....


Re: "What's My Name"
I assume that is Prince on BASS and not sonny correct?
It sounds like U on drumz prince on bass and most likely also
prince on effects/sirens/keys?

Do U have an recollection of the Pret-a-porter after party gig U guys did at Roseland ballroom NYC?

That was a really crazy show the way I remember it. Prince seemed in a horrible mood. He lit the stage on fire - literally. The security staff seemed really pissed at this. He also got mad that someone had thrown a bunch of flowers on stage. He kicked them and said "clean this sh*t up"! At the end of the show he was so unhappy with the sound he slammed his mone eyed bass in2 the pedals and it got stock-causing plenty of feedback. Also this was the only time i EVER remember seeing and hearing Poet 99 on stage.this show just always stuck in my head because of all the weird things that went down - do U recall any of this?

Finally- what was your opinion of the NPG Exodus promotional tour where U were told 2 "pretend" Prince was not invloved and/or that someone named Tora Tora was in the band.Was it ridiculous and annoying or was it more of a fun "joke" 2 the members of the band? That is a great album by the way that showcases the NPG well!

as always - thanx 4 ure time

7

ebonyrhythmbuddha said:

Drat. Now I KNOW you have quite a few emblazoned in your memory. Guess I'll never know.


Do you come up to the NYC area much? I'd love to check you out when you're here. I'd buy you a beer.

Hello Michael B.

I wish you were back in NPG.

Things seemed like fun when you guys were around.


What's the story on The Undertaker sessions?

What young drummers are you checking for?

How did u guys go about writing Shh from Gold?

Hello again Michael!

3 more questions that are burning a hole in my skull-

Did Prince ever re-record his entire Warner Brothers catalog like he indicated in interviews, and if so, how far did he get and how much of it included you?

#2
Was Gold Nigga worked on in L.A. during the 3 night run at Universal Ampatheatre (April 16, 1993). Were Black MF, What is Hip, Gold Nigga and a Blues Jam all recorded in a session or were they started elsewhere and what was your recollections of everyones involvement. If not there, what do you remember about those sessions?

#3
Who was your favorite guest musician in the studio with you and Prince and can you tell us a little about the song and the session (where/when) and who else was involved?

Thanx again.
[Edited 5/5/06 8:12am]

Hi Michael, greetings from France!

I've just discovered this thread (and the previous one) and i'm impressed! Thanks for sharing all this with us. As most of the questions i've had to ask you have already been posted (and responded, thanks for that!) i may go into more detailled things now

U told in a previous post that you can not really tell what was Mayte's influence in the music. How do u recall her when she arrived in the band, i guess it was around December 1991? I mean:
1. did she arrive one day and say "Hi, i'm the new dancer and i'm gonna join your band?". Have u ever met her in person before she arrived at Paisley Park?
2. did she came at first only as a new dancer, or did u knew from the beginning she would be "someone different" from the rest of the band?
3. did she participate in all the rehearsals / practice sessions, or she would only show up when Prince was around?
4. Did Prince ever told the band one day that she is engaged to him, or did u just discovered that they had a romance and said something like "ok, well, here it goes" lol

Ok that doesn't do much with the music, so there's another bunch of questions:
5. did u use to have recordings of rehearsals or shows during your spare time, in order to listen to them and practice, or thinking of a change? (no, i won't ask you for a copy lol)
6. Prince is known to videotape all the shows. Did u sometimes made video parties all together to rewatch the shows or was just Prince looking alone at his previous shows and he decides of the changes to make for the next?

On a really different matter: after playing with Prince for 7 years or so, you joined the band of french singer France Gall and made a tour with her. How do you recall it? Didn't you felt somehow like it was holidays after that hard labour with Prince?

Well that's all for now

madhouseman said:

there were never any guests recording in the studio with us. the rhythm section remained consistent. any "guests" might have been there watching, but never participating. the closest thing to a musically contributing guest might have been eric leeds. and in that case, yes, he would be my favorite of all time. but his involvement with us was not limited to any particular occasion.

michael b.

Hi again Michael B!

I know I said I'd just ask one question but I just wanted to say something eles. The preformance that NPG did with Prince in Jan. of 1991 called the "Rock in Rio" show/festival/whatever in Brazil, I really thought that was a spectacular show. Do u remember it? I thought your drum solo on "Bambi" was ....

I read later that alot of the people in the audience were shouting at Prince and yelling obsenties at him in Portugeues...I saw the tape of the show and I have to say I never saw that...was that indeed happening? I can't remember where I read that but I was like Huh? I didn't see that.

Anyway, you guys put on a GREAT show!

ebonyrhythmbuddha said:

I thought that occasionally people like Lenny Kravitz, George Clinton or Mavis would be involved in your sessions. I think Lenny Kravitz mentioned that he worked on a track with Prince. Does that sound familiar, or do you know anything about that?

Thanx

y'all got a way of bringing this type of stuff back to my attention... over and over again... LOL

This is Susan Rogers' very thoughtful response to a interviewer's question about
whether or not she knew anything about Prince's music. Prince is on record as saying Susan Rogers, did not know anything about his music - only he did.

-----
Yes, Prince is correct on this, but only in one sense. In another sense, namely the experience of listening to music created by another, Prince knows his music the least. Because creating music and consuming music are two distinct processes.

When a chef prepares a new meal, he knows everything that goes into it, including how he intended it to taste. So when he sits down to eat it, he already knows something about it, and that affects how it tastes to him. The customer who knows nothing about what went into the meal will taste it from a different perspective, one that the chef will never be able to experience. So the customer knows something about the meal that the chef will never know.

Prince fans know how his music makes them feel, regardless of whether or not he intended the music to move them that way. Only he knows what inspired a song or he wanted his music to say but there is a gap between how it felt to make it and how it feels to listen to it. Like a lot of things, it is a two-sided experience. Science isn't science until it is published; food isn't food until it is eaten; and art isn't art until it is interpreted.

I can't believe you're still answering questions for us...thanks, Michael! I have a few questions:

1. Do you think Prince is still challenging himself (and his fans) musically?

2. Did Prince ever talk about/admire the band Living Colour for playing rock while knowing they wouldn't get support from black radio? I've always thought a collaboration between P and Vernon Reid would be brilliant. Any thoughts on this or the band in general?

3. What music currently moves you? Are there any artists out there today that could "ssume the throne" when Prince hangs it up?

4. Do you have a favorite studio or tour moment with Prince that sticks out so much that you know you will share with your future children and grandchildren?

5. Finally, other than practicing what advise would you give to musicians that are looking to take their playing to the next level?

Ronny said:

interesting thesis, but i'm not sure i totally agree..
i suppose it depends on what school you come from, philosophically.
part of this is really nothing more than, "if a tree falls in the forest.."
this is a pronounced flaw in the common critical thinking skills of humans.
we always presume that if we are not there to bear witness, then nothing happened. things happen all the time.. most often when we're not around, whether we like it or not.. music is obviously music, even if YOU haven't heard it yet. so, why must science be published before it is science?
the truth is not limited to our understanding, or our experience.. which most of us should be happy about.


yes, it's fair to say that the advantage for the chef lies in knowing the ingredients. BUT, to a sophisticated palette, the ingredients can be known in their entirety, simply by tasting a mouthful.. however, the aspect that's being left out, or ignored, is the fact that certain tastes draw a specific response. i know lemon when i taste it.. i know butter when i taste it.. a tough piece of meat is difficult for anybody to chew, straight across the board. to a degree, things taste the same to all people. it comes down to what you like, and whether or not you've had something before.

prince's work has always been an amalgum of pretty specific influences..
anyone who knows anything about music history, from 1958-1985 should have a relatively firm grip on what they're listening to, when they put on a prince album.. any prince album.. prince is the type of artist that attempts to draw a very particular response from the listener, which is why people usually love his music or hate it. it's overtly manipulative. i think the gap you speak of, between the writer and the listener, may be wider in more interpretive forms of music. but, prince has left very little to the imagination, as an artist. there aren't alot of unanswered questions in his repertoire, lyrically or musically.
i mean, if you speak english, and have heard a james brown record, a sly stone record, a beatles record, a fleetwood mac record, a gary numan record, a rufus featuring chaka khan record, a james cleveland record, a santana record, a little richard record, a jimi hendrix record, a betty davis record, a joni mitchell record, a duke ellington record, and the firebird suite by stravinsky, no mysteries should really exist..

some people love onions, and others can't stand them. it doesn't mean they don't know what they taste like.


michael b.
[Edited 5/9/06 5:55am]
[Edited 5/9/06 6:08am]

ebonyrhythmbuddha said:

Hi Michael, me again

I agree one hundred percent with the first paragraph of your response, but I think what Susan is trying to say is that when the music is heard by a person other than it's creator, it completes a certain cycle. In a roundabout way, it sounds like she's saying that someone as insular as Prince seems to be may not be all that mindful of the ripple effects when others are exposed to his art.

Take TRC for example, Prince obviously intended to raise questions and spark dialog, but I'm not sure he envisioned it taking the direction it eventually took. I can see him being nonplussed by some fan's reactions. I know I was. I think that's the gap Susan is referring to.

Prince always says he wants to be known through his music and I would agree that if you take that approach, you'd find him to be one of the most open and expressive people around. The catch is, you have to listen very carefully. People not willing to pay close attention will never know what the hell is going on with Prince. Many longtime die-hard fans don't know what he's talking about half the time. I find it amazing that so many people still think of him as mysterious, but I see it quite a lot. What do you think?

Ps...are you coming to Vegas?

the one i was thinking of most recently was during the recording of "the morning papers".. i was wearing hats, constantly... live, in the studio, in a restaurant, etc.
i usually fit the head phones around my hat, when we were recording.
there's a spot in the outro of the song where i stop, and then, come back in.
i wasn't supposed to.
the take was going perfectly, and all of a sudden, my headphones slipped off, and hit the floor.. i stopped to grab them and put them back on. it just happened to work, musically.. prince immediately said something like, "cool!! i'll do something with that break.." he's funny like that. spontaneity turns him on, when he's recording. he kinda even seemed pleased that it happened.

I can't believe that, at last, we've been that close to resolve the Philip C. mystery &... didn't

Hey Michael B! Cool of you to keep in touch.... Loved your era of the NPG - I think my favourite ever Prince show was the second aftershow you guys played at the Emporium club in London - remember that, the whole of the undertaker session recreated, eric leeds doing his madhouse thang, then a trunk-o-funk for hours. Sonny was acting crazy all nite....

One story I always wanted to get behind happened a couple of years later - I remember you guys all came over to London for a hyped club show for a band called Genaside II. I think you played 4 tracks all night, which were recorded and released as a bonus live disc with their first album. What was that all about - just another gig or something more? Remember going home dead disappointed that having been billed as 'NPG' and y'all turning up in full costume, all we got was some backing tracks and a snatch of the bass riff from Gold Nigga!

Michael, Can you tell us what sort of kit and effects were used to create the drum sound on "Billy Jack Bitch" that makes it so unique?

shaomi said:

Oh, for the love of...Philip C. was his hairdresser from that time period. Look at the credits on your tourbooks.

Michael, Can you tell us what sort of kit and effects were used to create the drum sound on "Billy Jack Bitch" that makes it so unique?