I would looooove to put my hands on these recordings..

(Found this interview with Eric Leeds in 'The Last Miles')

Eric Leeds :

"(...) My relationship was a little bit more from a player's standpoint. Because of the tremendous drummer and percussionist that Sheila is, [it meant] that relationship was very important. Some of the more interesting and more enjoyable music from my point of view was when Sheila, Prince, Wendy and Lisa and I would just go into the studio and just jam. I've got quite a few tapes of sessions like that. Purely ad lib, instrumental sessions, where we'd go in and just make a lot of music. None of it was going to get released; it was for our own enjoyment. Wendy and Lisa don't really come from a jazz background [but] they shared in the ability to be very spontaneous. Our ability to go in and spontaneously play some music and at the end of an hour come out with some music that at least we could say has some kind of musical validity and continuity. It may not have the harmonic sophistication of a straight-up jazz band, but the ethic was very similar. When Prince wanted to be spontaneous, he could be very spontaneous! (...)"

you can read all of it here : http://www.thelastmiles.c...-leeds.php

That would be good to hear.

Anyone befriended with Eric Leeds maybe ? )

Is there a way to get to Eric Leeds ? Where does he live now actually, and what does he do ?

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

Questlove and his crew may have some of these tapes, as well as a few other hardcore collectors...

Maybe one day some of these sessions will see the light of day, officially or otherwise... but I don't think it's a good idea to harrass poor Eric for copies

Yeah, if you're putting a team together, that's the one you want.

Sounds like he's describing some of the Flesh stuff actually. I'm positive there's plenty of stuff we don't know about it could be - but it fits the bill too.

Vannormal said:

Anyone befriended with Eric Leeds maybe ? )

Is there a way to get to Eric Leeds ? Where does he live now actually, and what does he do ?

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

Just go to any fDeluxe gig and you'll get to meet him in person. He and the entire band are very fan friendly.

HonestMan13 said:

Vannormal said:

Anyone befriended with Eric Leeds maybe ? )

Is there a way to get to Eric Leeds ? Where does he live now actually, and what does he do ?

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

Just go to any fDeluxe gig and you'll get to meet him in person. He and the entire band are very fan friendly.

I got to meet Jellybean, St. Paul and Eric. They are so cool...boy, if I had a chance to talk to Eric again...I'd sure ask about them recording....

HonestMan13 said:

Vannormal said:

Anyone befriended with Eric Leeds maybe ? )

Is there a way to get to Eric Leeds ? Where does he live now actually, and what does he do ?

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

Just go to any fDeluxe gig and you'll get to meet him in person. He and the entire band are very fan friendly.

This is true, I met and talked to Paul, Susannah, Eric and Jellybean after their London show.

28 December 1985
Prince gets together with Eric Leeds, Sheila E. and Levi Seacer Jr. to jam at Sunset Sound.
The quartet recorded a highly spontaneous "Paisley Jam" session. Eric played saxophone, Sheila drums, Levi bass, while Prince alternated between guitar and piano. Eight instrumentals were committed to tape:


"Slaughterhouse"
"U Just Can't Stop"
"Run Amok"
"Mobile"
"Madrid"
"Breathless"
"High Colonic"
"12 Keys"


They were given titles simply to facilitate their identification. Accordingly "Madrid" was named so because it had a kind of Spanish feel, while "Mobile" (referring to Mobile, Alabama) was a bluesy piece. Similarly "12 Keys" featured mmany key changes (the song incorporates a portion of the melody of "The Question Of U"). Eric went into the studio the next day to record saxophone and flute over dubs on some of the "Paisley Jam" tracks.

30 December 1985
Fired up by the results of the "Paisley Jam", Prince is back in the Sunset Sound studio with Eric, Sheila and Levi. They recorded "U Gotta Shake Something", "Voodoo Who" and "Finest Whisky" during another highly relaxed session. By now, Prince was beginning to realise that the music they were creating was highly exciting and perhaps worthy of release.

5 January 1986
Lisa Coleman, Wendy Melvoin and her brother Jonathan, join the line-up of Prince, Eric, Sheila and Levi in the Sunset Sound studio for an exhausting seven-hour session, the so-called "Everybody's Jam". Six of the pieces hat were recorded were given titles:


"Groove in C Minor"
"Slow Groove in G Major"
"Groove in G Flat Minor"
"Junk Music"
"Up From Below"
"Y'all Want Some More?"


During this session, Prince played primarily drums, while Sheila and Jonathan played percussion, Lisa piano and Wendy guitar and bass.

22 January 1986
An album is assembled from the instrumental sessions held in late Dec. 1985 and early Jan. 1986. Around 20 minutes of the 45 minute "Junk Music" was going to make up side one of the LP, while "Up From Below", "Y'all Want Some More?" and "A Couple Of Miles" were planned for side two of the LP. No test pressing of The Flesh LP was ever made, however, and the album was shelved when Under The Cherry Moon and other activities demanded Prince's full attention.

// So the tracklist for the LP was sequenced:

Side A:
1. Junk Music

Side B:
2. Up From Below
3. Y'All Want Some More?
4. A Couple Of Miles [This was recorded as a tribute to Miles Davis in late December]

//

Featuring largely improvisional music, the Flesh sessions allowed Prince to stretch out musically and develop his musical vocabulary. The Flesh can be seen as a forerunner to Prince's later Madhouse project in more wanys than one.
Much like Madhouse, the musical focus of The Flesh was on instrumental music, basically funk jams with a distrinct jazz flavour added by Eric Leeds, who was given the opportunity to contribute more actively to Prince's music. And much like Madhouse the plan was ro release The Flesh album "anonymously" with few details about the participants and certainly no mention of Prince's involvement.

The Flesh instrumentals remain unreleased, although part of the melody for "Madrid" was later re-used by Eric for "Andorra" on his 1991 Times Squared album. Additionally, some 30 seconds of "Junk Music" made it into Under The Cherrymoon as background music (in the scene where Tricky and Christopher are arguing over what type of man Mary Sharon prefers).

U Gotta Shake Something is an unreleased track (mostly instrumental with some chants) recorded on 30 December, 1985 (the same day Eric Leeds added overdubs to A Couple Of Miles and that Finest Whiskey and Voodoo Who were recorded) at Sunset Sound, Hollywood, CA, USA. The track is introduced by a DJ (played by Eric Leeds) stating "You are listening to WOOL, your alternative music station. Here's the brand new one by The Flesh, 'U Gotta Shake Something'". It was not, however, included on the 22 January, 1986 configuration of The Flesh album, which was ultimately abandoned. The track has an audience sound dubbed onto it throughout the track. Other than the similarity in title and the chanted phrase "you got to shake something", this track is unrelated to Shake!

OldFriends4Sale said:

28 December 1985
Prince gets together with Eric Leeds, Sheila E. and Levi Seacer Jr. to jam at Sunset Sound.
The quartet recorded a highly spontaneous "Paisley Jam" session. Eric played saxophone, Sheila drums, Levi bass, while Prince alternated between guitar and piano. Eight instrumentals were committed to tape:


"Slaughterhouse"
"U Just Can't Stop"
"Run Amok"
"Mobile"
"Madrid"
"Breathless"
"High Colonic"
"12 Keys"


They were given titles simply to facilitate their identification. Accordingly "Madrid" was named so because it had a kind of Spanish feel, while "Mobile" (referring to Mobile, Alabama) was a bluesy piece. Similarly "12 Keys" featured mmany key changes (the song incorporates a portion of the melody of "The Question Of U"). Eric went into the studio the next day to record saxophone and flute over dubs on some of the "Paisley Jam" tracks.

30 December 1985
Fired up by the results of the "Paisley Jam", Prince is back in the Sunset Sound studio with Eric, Sheila and Levi. They recorded "U Gotta Shake Something", "Voodoo Who" and "Finest Whisky" during another highly relaxed session. By now, Prince was beginning to realise that the music they were creating was highly exciting and perhaps worthy of release.

5 January 1986
Lisa Coleman, Wendy Melvoin and her brother Jonathan, join the line-up of Prince, Eric, Sheila and Levi in the Sunset Sound studio for an exhausting seven-hour session, the so-called "Everybody's Jam". Six of the pieces hat were recorded were given titles:


"Groove in C Minor"
"Slow Groove in G Major"
"Groove in G Flat Minor"
"Junk Music"
"Up From Below"
"Y'all Want Some More?"


During this session, Prince played primarily drums, while Sheila and Jonathan played percussion, Lisa piano and Wendy guitar and bass.

22 January 1986
An album is assembled from the instrumental sessions held in late Dec. 1985 and early Jan. 1986. Around 20 minutes of the 45 minute "Junk Music" was going to make up side one of the LP, while "Up From Below", "Y'all Want Some More?" and "A Couple Of Miles" were planned for side two of the LP. No test pressing of The Flesh LP was ever made, however, and the album was shelved when Under The Cherry Moon and other activities demanded Prince's full attention.

// So the tracklist for the LP was sequenced:

Side A:
1. Junk Music

Side B:
2. Up From Below
3. Y'All Want Some More?
4. A Couple Of Miles [This was recorded as a tribute to Miles Davis in late December]

//

Featuring largely improvisional music, the Flesh sessions allowed Prince to stretch out musically and develop his musical vocabulary. The Flesh can be seen as a forerunner to Prince's later Madhouse project in more wanys than one.
Much like Madhouse, the musical focus of The Flesh was on instrumental music, basically funk jams with a distrinct jazz flavour added by Eric Leeds, who was given the opportunity to contribute more actively to Prince's music. And much like Madhouse the plan was ro release The Flesh album "anonymously" with few details about the participants and certainly no mention of Prince's involvement.

The Flesh instrumentals remain unreleased, although part of the melody for "Madrid" was later re-used by Eric for "Andorra" on his 1991 Times Squared album. Additionally, some 30 seconds of "Junk Music" made it into Under The Cherrymoon as background music (in the scene where Tricky and Christopher are arguing over what type of man Mary Sharon prefers).

U Gotta Shake Something is an unreleased track (mostly instrumental with some chants) recorded on 30 December, 1985 (the same day Eric Leeds added overdubs to A Couple Of Miles and that Finest Whiskey and Voodoo Who were recorded) at Sunset Sound, Hollywood, CA, USA. The track is introduced by a DJ (played by Eric Leeds) stating "You are listening to WOOL, your alternative music station. Here's the brand new one by The Flesh, 'U Gotta Shake Something'". It was not, however, included on the 22 January, 1986 configuration of The Flesh album, which was ultimately abandoned. The track has an audience sound dubbed onto it throughout the track. Other than the similarity in title and the chanted phrase "you got to shake something", this track is unrelated to Shake!

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