He was married to Prince's cousin and formed that band 94 East and Prince was supposedly in awe of him. I've also read that he and Pepe fell out but I don't know why.

So what's the deal with this dude? He's before my time.

Did he discover Prince and Andre or something?

HotGritz said:

He was married to Prince's cousin and formed that band 94 East and Prince was supposedly in awe of him. I've also read that he and Pepe fell out but I don't know why.

So what's the deal with this dude? He's before my time.

Did he discover Prince and Andre or something?

Sorta.He hired them in 1975 to do session work for his band 94 East.I believe that these recordings (which he has released and re-released numerous times) are the first studio recordings that Prince appeared on.

HotGritz said:

I've also read that he and Pepe fell out but I don't know why.

In 1986,Pepe released the album 'Minneapolis Genuis',around the same time that Prince released his own 'Parade' album.Prince was pissed about this,but Pepe claims that he had the right to release these recordings,since he owned it.That's why they don't get along.

HQGetty Images

...and he has never been heard of since 1986. He seems to have no interest in repackaging these 94 East tracks, and if it wasnt for us on here, no one would know Prince was even on that record.

Go figure

Probably somewhere trying 2 figure out how 2 repackage those 94 East tracks at least one more time.

SoulAlive said:

HotGritz said:

I've also read that he and Pepe fell out but I don't know why.

In 1986,Pepe released the album 'Minneapolis Genuis',around the same time that Prince released his own 'Parade' album.Prince was pissed about this,but Pepe claims that he had the right to release these recordings,since he owned it.That's why they don't get along.

HQGetty Images

WOWWWW!!! Now this was long before he fell out with Warners. You would think Prince would have learned something from this experience. Masters, masters, masters! Own your shit or somebody else will. Damn Pepe was pimpin' back then.

I think 94 East may be the one P recording I don't have. Oh, I don't have his very first album either.

This is intriguing thank you.

Not sure what he has been up to but we met him at The Revolution Reunion concert back in Feb.. Really nice guy..

Check:

http://www.pepemusic.com/

http://itunes.apple.com/n...d425799048

http://open.spotify.com/a...IuHovMebWj

[Edited 6/13/12 16:39pm]

HotGritz said:

SoulAlive said:

In 1986,Pepe released the album 'Minneapolis Genuis',around the same time that Prince released his own 'Parade' album.Prince was pissed about this,but Pepe claims that he had the right to release these recordings,since he owned it.That's why they don't get along.

HQGetty Images

WOWWWW!!! Now this was long before he fell out with Warners. You would think Prince would have learned something from this experience. Masters, masters, masters! Own your shit or somebody else will. Damn Pepe was pimpin' back then.

I think 94 East may be the one P recording I don't have. Oh, I don't have his very first album either.

This is intriguing thank you.

That 94 East album is actually pretty good,if you like 70s funk/R&B music.The only problem is,Pepe has re-packaged and re-sold it so many times that most of us are now bored with that project

HotGritz said:

WHATEVER HAPPENED TO PEPE WILLIE??

I am worried too: it's now been almost a year and a half since he re-released the 94 East songs for the last time... He must be sick or something or he'd have re-released them again by now...

10CD box set's out soon. A bonus track on one of the CDs is the sound of a barrel being scraped.

Mong said:

10CD box set's out soon. A bonus track on one of the CDs is the sound of a barrel being scraped.

aw that's cold!

He has said in interviews that he has only released the collections twice. one as Minneapolis genius and then as a double CD collection called Symbolic beginings. different people have released it, over and over again, after buying the rights to it.

therat said:

He has said in interviews that he has only released the collections twice. one as Minneapolis genius and then as a double CD collection called Symbolic beginings. different people have released it, over and over again, after buying the rights to it.

So did he get rich off of the collection? He is the one that sold it so I am assuming he made a handsome profit. Does Prince get any royalties from those recordings?

He was at the Celebration in 2000 or 2001 (which one had Common and Badu?)....he was inline with the rest of us. lol!!!! He was talking to someone ahead of us (I was right behind him) and they were talking about running into other bandmates. I know he said "I ran into Tony at the carwash..."