Sometime back (early 1990s I think) Jerome Benton did a public access TV interview here in Mpls (Fancy Ray for those who know it) where he stated that after Purple Rain he was invited to audition for the movie Platoon – he didn’t say which role. He said he turned it down because he was gonna do Under the Cherry Moon and be in the Revolution etc. Ray asked if he regretted turning it down and he said, no, because Prince was so huge at the time which gave him great exposure and he was getting a major role with UTCM and that the role in Platoon wasn’t as big and wasn’t guaranteed, etc. Can ya'll imagine Jerome in Platoon!? Too cool that he was recognized for his acting talents.

My question is what other associates do ya’ll know about that have turned down gigs to stay with Prince? I know Mark Brown turned a lucrative tour gig down...

***In 1986,BrownMark turned down a tour with Stevie Nicks.She was prepared to pay him three times what he was making in the Revolution.Out of loyalty,Mark stuck around for the 'Parade' tour,even though he was having serious "issues" with Prince.

***This is something I read in Black Beat magazine and I don't know if it's true,but....In the early 90s (after Diamaonds and Pearls),Rosie Gaines turned down both Michael Jackson and MC Hammer! Both of those guys wanted to sign her to their production companies/record labels,but Rosie decided to stay with Prince.

simm0061 said:

in one hand we have a chance at a credible acting career...on the other, perpetually playing prince's or morris' bitch.


of course he is going to justify his wretched decision.

sosgemini said:

sosgemini said:

I can dig it, sos.

SoulAlive said:

Yeah, I was just about to post the one about Mark and Stevie.....And then Mark bounced after the Parade tour anyway....Should have taken the bread with Stevie...He had played with P during the best period of P's career so why stick around just to leave less than a year later? Mark was the best bassist to ever get down with P.

blackguitaristz said:

What about Sonny T?

Geminix99 said:

And Andre!?

Foley turned down prince for bass playing gig twice

GoActive said:

Nah....u know Andre's my boy and Sonny was like an icon to P when P was growing up BUT neither one of them could fuck with Mark as a bassist. Hell, Prince himself couldn't fuck with Mark when it came to bass playing. It wasn't shit Prince couldn't do on bass that Mark could do and then he would take it to another level. Mark was a TRUE bassist. A PURE bassist. P, Andre and Sonny were cats who were good on bass but were essentially multi-instrumentalists. Mark, although he did play other instruments, his true calling was the bass. Just like I think P's true calling is the piano. To be honest, Andre isn't the bassist P is. Especially when it comes to funk. Sure... Sonny, Andre and Prince all came from the same school of Larry Graham. Most cats did during that period. Larry was THE MAN when it came to bass playing. But P and Mark both also comes from Bootsy Land as well. Although Bootsy was heavily influenced by Larry, Bootsy had a certain type of bottom that was definately different than Larry. Larry's playing was basically church styled funk. Where as Bootsy's was more thuggish, street. He dragged his notes more, giving it more emphasize on the bottom. His tone was much deeper than Graham's as well. P did that, tone wise, on Let's Work. It was still Larry type playing but with more of a Bootsy tone. It was even more evident on his 1999 album. Mark was tailored made for that period for P. P and Mark BOTH have that Bootsy drag, as I call it. Andre didn't. Listen to Mark's lines on I Guess It's All Over from MZ. That bass line is STRAIGHT Bootsy. That's a good example of what I'm talking about when it came to the Bootsy drag. When Mark played with P, he put that on top of P's lines and actually made P's music even funkier. Mark's bass addition to When Doves Cry live on the PR tour was brilliant. He's dancing step for step with P all the while thumping his ass off. He was totally slangin' on that bass. Musically, (next to P's guitar solo to PR) that's my favorite part of that whole concert is when Mark plays bass on WDC.

blackguitaristz said:

As much as I respect AC, I have to admit that Mark did have more fluency in Bass playing. So your statements are dead on it.

Cat was offered David Bowie's Glass Spider tour at around the same time she was offered Sign O'the Times. She chose to go with Prince.

blackguitaristz said:

Great insights BG. That's going to make me go back and dissect Bootsy a little more. I think after his stint with JB the cartoon elements of George and company overshadowed his playing. But like you say he has that "Gangsta Groove".

http://www.youtube.com/wa...cOfAoDQbQk

http://www.youtube.com/wa...wR1U6k05Sg
[Edited 4/5/08 5:30am]
[Edited 4/5/08 5:35am]

To Brutha B..THANK U!!!! You don't know how many arguements I've gotten into (with other bassists) about Brown Mark's bass playing. Ol' boy held it down. His breakdown bass groove in the live 81 version of "Head" is slammin'. It's deep and in the pocket. Andre (to me) was more of a melodic bassist and never really funked it up too much for me..plus you could really tell he was a guitarist like you said. Mark could slap the shit out of that bass and still groove. Didn't P say if he lost Mark he'd eliminate bass from his music?

SPYZFAN1 said:

Brown Mark IS the truth isn't he? Check out those Purple Rain tour performances for those examples.

Oh yeah. He threw down on the "P.R." tour. I like your avatar of Kidd Funkadelic!