After reading the Possessed book. i started going back over
some of the former associates of Prince's solo work on their
own and got back into playing this cd i got on jesse a few
years ago. It's called: JESSE JOHNSON; the ultimate collection...its put out by HIP-O record company.

i have all of jesse's albums (on vinyl) but this compilation
of his work is DAMN good. And sort of reminded me how BAD
the boy was.

yep i dug the girl bros.'s stuff (especially the first 2
albums) and sheila's albums. plus some of morris's singles
(oak tree & fishnet are good...the albums not so good)
and andre's stuff...but in my view jesse's output was
the better of everyone's.

his vocal style though not as versatile as pRINCE's was
distinctively his (he stayed in a baritone range) his singles and musicianship was first-class.

my fave singles by JJ are:Be yo man...a insistant,intoxicating bass riff throughout the tune...sounds like a typical Time tune...without morris's
campy lead vocal!

can you help me?...kick ass guitar work...i love what the bro's doing on the fade...DAMnnn!!!

lovestruck...with sue ann carwell on backing vox
i digs..."susan rogers,turn up the guitar" slamming!!!

i'm just wanting you...cool ballad...subtle guitar work...
jazzy not like his usual rock energy...very good

all of the other stuff on the Ultimate collection is of
high quality...especially FREE WORLD and the outtake bonus
"vibe" based on the late EDDIE HAzel's style...

vibe sounds like something PRINCE COULD DO...jesse's even
does some falsetto vocals...not bad.

anyway...i wonder if any of you jesse fans have this cd?

and do you think he was underrated?

youngca said:

Jesse is awesome. There is nothing he can't do musically.
I rate him one of the best ever.

jesse has always been underrated cause like prince he did his own thang and not what everybody else wanted him 2 do...but anyway i was on cd now 1n day and downloaded a sample of just wantin u...needless 2 say that 2 weeks later i got the best of jesse johnson and never looked back... aint nobody bad like meee...

I thought and still think Jesse Johnson is the baddest. He was definitely underrated, because he was in Prince's shadow.

I would second that but there is a reason he was in Prince's shadow: he is not quite as good as Prince but he comes as closer than many.

LaMont said:

ditto