Dez was a great influence for Prince. Not only on guitar, but also when it came down to writing lyrics. Read Dez's book "My Time With Prince", it's all there. I've read it a few times already. I enjoy it every time.

David1974 said:

Dez was a great influence for Prince. Not only on guitar, but also when it came down to writing lyrics. Read Dez's book "My Time With Prince", it's all there. I've read it a few times already. I enjoy it every time.

I haven't read it. Can you PM( send a msg ) me the tidbits ( stuff you wouldn'y hsve known unless you where right there) about Prince from Dez'z point of view or yours. It's so hard to find a copy for the right price. Thanks David1974!

David1974 said:

There are so many things. But here's something:

"To top things off, the mark of the organization was becoming, increasingly, disorganization and double - mindedness. Things were hurry up and wait, and again/off again."

and

"I was also growing weary of soundchecks. We had it down by now - we were traveling with the same gear, crew, ect. every show. It only took a few minutes to come up on stage, get a look at the hall, listen to the monitors (the crew knew what we liked in our mix as well as we did), and get out of Dodge. Prince, though, had now developed a routine of jamming from the time the P.A. system was up, until just before the doors opened. This was too much like a bad rehearsal flashback for me - I couldn't take it! I asked to be excursed from soundchecks.
Remember what I said about fame changing you, but it happening in such a way you don't know it? Well, gues what, it was sure changing me! I was becoming a walking ball of internal conflict. My desire to pursue the solo career as a sideline was beginning to morph into a possible escape from what was becoming a less than happy situation. (...) When you get into that mind space, personality differences become magnified, and people that you truly love beging to get on your last nerve. (...) We were also still very young - DANGEROUS combination."

[Edited 12/16/11 2:09am]

David1974 said:

thebanishedone said:

David1974 said:

There are so many things. But here's something:

"To top things off, the mark of the organization was becoming, increasingly, disorganization and double - mindedness. Things were hurry up and wait, and again/off again."

and

"I was also growing weary of soundchecks. We had it down by now - we were traveling with the same gear, crew, ect. every show. It only took a few minutes to come up on stage, get a look at the hall, listen to the monitors (the crew knew what we liked in our mix as well as we did), and get out of Dodge. Prince, though, had now developed a routine of jamming from the time the P.A. system was up, until just before the doors opened. This was too much like a bad rehearsal flashback for me - I couldn't take it! I asked to be excursed from soundchecks.
Remember what I said about fame changing you, but it happening in such a way you don't know it? Well, gues what, it was sure changing me! I was becoming a walking ball of internal conflict. My desire to pursue the solo career as a sideline was beginning to morph into a possible escape from what was becoming a less than happy situation. (...) When you get into that mind space, personality differences become magnified, and people that you truly love beging to get on your last nerve. (...) We were also still very young - DANGEROUS combination."

[Edited 12/16/11 2:09am]

very interesting ,thank you,so dez hated jamming before concerts

i don't blame him. who the hell wants to be jamming up to the minute before a show? you already expend so much energy during a performance, it's important to have your quiet time to get centered, relax, and build up to what you need to give to the audience once you're onstage. sound checks are basically just checking with the sound engineer to make sure your equipment is working correctly and that all your individual equipment is at its correct setting for your voice and instrument, and that's it. love prince's music, but that little man must've been out of his damned mind ...as tight as his 1999 sets use to be (i actually attended those concerts as a teen), he didn't have any damned business forcing those folks into jamming during a sound check. that's just tyranical

David1974 said:

There are so many things. But here's something:

"To top things off, the mark of the organization was becoming, increasingly, disorganization and double - mindedness. Things were hurry up and wait, and again/off again."

and

"I was also growing weary of soundchecks. We had it down by now - we were traveling with the same gear, crew, ect. every show. It only took a few minutes to come up on stage, get a look at the hall, listen to the monitors (the crew knew what we liked in our mix as well as we did), and get out of Dodge. Prince, though, had now developed a routine of jamming from the time the P.A. system was up, until just before the doors opened. This was too much like a bad rehearsal flashback for me - I couldn't take it! I asked to be excursed from soundchecks.
Remember what I said about fame changing you, but it happening in such a way you don't know it? Well, gues what, it was sure changing me! I was becoming a walking ball of internal conflict. My desire to pursue the solo career as a sideline was beginning to morph into a possible escape from what was becoming a less than happy situation. (...) When you get into that mind space, personality differences become magnified, and people that you truly love beging to get on your last nerve. (...) We were also still very young - DANGEROUS combination."

[Edited 12/16/11 2:09am]

This sounds very honest. That he is able to admit his ego, unprofessionalism and childishness led to his leaving the band I find very cool.

In interviews he sounds very cool and down to earth.

That's why I like the book so much. When you read it, it's like a story that's being told to you and there's an answer to every question you want to ask. Really worth the $29.99 and you even get a signed copy with a personal message.

i don't see how not being a part of soundcheck help his chops.

V10LETBLUES said:

David1974 said:

There are so many things. But here's something:

"To top things off, the mark of the organization was becoming, increasingly, disorganization and double - mindedness. Things were hurry up and wait, and again/off again."

and

"I was also growing weary of soundchecks. We had it down by now - we were traveling with the same gear, crew, ect. every show. It only took a few minutes to come up on stage, get a look at the hall, listen to the monitors (the crew knew what we liked in our mix as well as we did), and get out of Dodge. Prince, though, had now developed a routine of jamming from the time the P.A. system was up, until just before the doors opened. This was too much like a bad rehearsal flashback for me - I couldn't take it! I asked to be excursed from soundchecks.
Remember what I said about fame changing you, but it happening in such a way you don't know it? Well, gues what, it was sure changing me! I was becoming a walking ball of internal conflict. My desire to pursue the solo career as a sideline was beginning to morph into a possible escape from what was becoming a less than happy situation. (...) When you get into that mind space, personality differences become magnified, and people that you truly love beging to get on your last nerve. (...) We were also still very young - DANGEROUS combination."

This sounds very honest. That he is able to admit his ego, unprofessionalism and childishness led to his leaving the band I find very cool.

In interviews he sounds very cool and down to earth.

What's so unprofessional and childish about being excused from the sound checks when he gives a reasonable and understandable explanation, and as Ottensen has further analised?

Ottensen said: you already expend so much energy during a performance, it's important to have your quiet time to get centered, relax, and build up to what you need to give to the audience once you're onstage. sound checks are basically just checking with the sound engineer to make sure your equipment is working correctly and that all your individual equipment is at its correct setting for your voice and instrument, and that's it.

Dont be critical of Prince heavy handed bandleader ways. Its of legend. Its what made the beloved Revolution and others bands of his the whipsnap sharp machine they were. Including The Time. All because of work...hard work in practicing thweir skills and songs.

Yall would have ended up with an The Eagles like loitering on stage type of concert experiences.

Plus it keeps people from wasting their downtime using drugs and such. Remember..Purple Rain (the movie) was touted not only for its music and spectacle, but it was mentioned about the work ethic regarding The Time, Revolution bandmates in the film as well as the missing element of drugs in the mix. Refreshing for a youthful rock n roll film.

We've seen through the years that Prince has an enormous energy to continue playing on and on, and that's a great thing for people being able to watch him jam on after a main show. If you seriously practice day in day out your skills, then it's not such a major thing to have some rest and focus-time just before getting on stage.

So it's obviously a common thing that every artist who's not putting all their energy into a sound check (just before the doors open) is doing drugs during downtime?

I've seen a live dvd from singer Gino Vannelli's "Brother To Brother" Tour in 1979. Yes, you'll see that Gino takes the sound check very seriously. Being sure that all instruments and musicians are prepared to the max. And then there's the moment of silence, focus and concentration. Then the concert starts and believe me, the result is far from that Eagles-example.

Shango said:

V10LETBLUES said:

What's so unprofessional and childish about being excused from the sound checks when he gives a reasonable and understandable explanation, and as Ottensen has further analised?

Ottensen said: you already expend so much energy during a performance, it's important to have your quiet time to get centered, relax, and build up to what you need to give to the audience once you're onstage. sound checks are basically just checking with the sound engineer to make sure your equipment is working correctly and that all your individual equipment is at its correct setting for your voice and instrument, and that's it.

Because, If it's your job, and are expected to do it, and you expect to pick up a paycheck, you should probably do it.

By his own admittance of how fame changes people, he owns it. He admits he reacted poorly.

He now has his own business and can see if from the other side. I see this change in mindset all the time. It's called "growing up"

Despite that he admits to have reacted poorly, i still believe that pre-show down/focus-time is a good thing to concentrate for getting ready on stage, despite that he was expected to attend the full sound checks.

Shango said:

Despite that he admits to have reacted poorly, i still believe that pre-show down/focus-time is a good thing to concentrate for getting ready on stage, despite that he was expected to attend the full sound checks.

Not necessarily. Do you know what a lot of stage actors (including me) do before performances? We walk our blocking before the house opens and run lines in the dressing room. For scenes that require a cracking pace, it helps make the performance sharper if you've done it a couple times beforehand. It also gets you into performance mode better than lollygagging around.

I would imagine playing a concert is no different. Prince was probably just trying to get everyone on the same page - and get the energy up so they'd hit the stage in full stride.

Genesia said:

Shango said:

Despite that he admits to have reacted poorly, i still believe that pre-show down/focus-time is a good thing to concentrate for getting ready on stage, despite that he was expected to attend the full sound checks.

Not necessarily. Do you know what a lot of stage actors (including me) do before performances? We walk our blocking before the house opens and run lines in the dressing room. For scenes that require a cracking pace, it helps make the performance sharper if you've done it a couple times beforehand. It also gets you into performance mode better than lollygagging around.

I would imagine playing a concert is no different. Prince was probably just trying to get everyone on the same page - and get the energy up so they'd hit the stage in full stride.

Okay, i see and that makes sense. Thanks for sharing your experience and point of view.