Eric and Alan Leeds

Ricky and Paul Peterson

Bobby and David Rivkin

Wendy and Susannah Melvoin

Could it just be a concidence that Prince used so many Caucasian family pairs throughout his career?

Interesting observation but I don´t think that there´s a pattern. He´s worked with so many non-siblings that working with a couple of siblings is something that is bound to happen. Besides, not all of the siblings were bandmembers.

Most of his bandmates or associates were people he got to know because of other people, whether it´s siblings or cousins or bandmembers from friends´ bands.

Yes, I talked about this in a different thread.

Prince in 1998 said the people he had in his band and camp were a community to him.

.
And you look back and it was like an extended family(it did fall off after the 1986 period) and then became more of a true hired business situation.

.

Bobby Z and David Z

Andre Cymone

Susan Moonsie who was high school girlfriend of Prince whose family Prince was intimately connected.

Morris Day

Matt Fink who was friends with Bobby Z, whose mother was frequently around

Bobby Z's wife who worked in the stylist dept

the Time overall who all were friends (except for Jesse who came from out of town)
Jerome and Terry Lewis who were brothers

Bobby was also friends/working with Chris Moon

Lisa Coleman and her brother Davide Coleman, who also became friends with Prince

Wendy who was friends with the Coleman family from childhood, who became friends with Prince

of course Wendy & Susannah Melvoin who were twins

Brenda Bennet who worked in the camp(styling dept I think) who was the husband of Terry Bennett the best state lighting guy in Prince history

Sheila E who overall knew everyone in her 1984-1986 band from life, not to mention Juan Escovedo her brother-percussionist in her band.
Eddie M who was friends with Sheila E

Jill Jones whose uncle Earl Jones was Prince's hair stylist

and many others

OldFriends4Sale said:

Yes, I talked about this in a different thread.

Prince in 1998 said the people he had in his band and camp were a community to him.

.
And you look back and it was like an extended family(it did fall off after the 1986 period) and then became more of a true hired business situation.

.

Bobby Z and David Z

Andre Cymone

Susan Moonsie who was high school girlfriend of Prince whose family Prince was intimately connected.

Morris Day

Matt Fink who was friends with Bobby Z, whose mother was frequently around

Bobby Z's wife who worked in the stylist dept

the Time overall who all were friends (except for Jesse who came from out of town)
Jerome and Terry Lewis who were brothers

Bobby was also friends/working with Chris Moon

Lisa Coleman and her brother Davide Coleman, who also became friends with Prince

Wendy who was friends with the Coleman family from childhood, who became friends with Prince

of course Wendy & Susannah Melvoin who were twins

Brenda Bennet who worked in the camp(styling dept I think) who was the husband of Terry Bennett the best state lighting guy in Prince history

Sheila E who overall knew everyone in her 1984-1986 band from life, not to mention Juan Escovedo her brother-percussionist in her band.
Eddie M who was friends with Sheila E

Jill Jones whose uncle Earl Jones was Prince's hair stylist

and many others

Also: Susan Moonsie's Sister was in the Group The Hookers (w/Susan & Jamie Shoop). This was b4 Vanity 6

woogiebear said:

OldFriends4Sale said:

Yes, I talked about this in a different thread.

Prince in 1998 said the people he had in his band and camp were a community to him.

.
And you look back and it was like an extended family(it did fall off after the 1986 period) and then became more of a true hired business situation.

.

Bobby Z and David Z

Andre Cymone

Susan Moonsie who was high school girlfriend of Prince whose family Prince was intimately connected.

Morris Day

Matt Fink who was friends with Bobby Z, whose mother was frequently around

Bobby Z's wife who worked in the stylist dept

the Time overall who all were friends (except for Jesse who came from out of town)
Jerome and Terry Lewis who were brothers

Bobby was also friends/working with Chris Moon

Lisa Coleman and her brother Davide Coleman, who also became friends with Prince

Wendy who was friends with the Coleman family from childhood, who became friends with Prince

of course Wendy & Susannah Melvoin who were twins

Brenda Bennet who worked in the camp(styling dept I think) who was the husband of Terry Bennett the best state lighting guy in Prince history

Sheila E who overall knew everyone in her 1984-1986 band from life, not to mention Juan Escovedo her brother-percussionist in her band.
Eddie M who was friends with Sheila E

Jill Jones whose uncle Earl Jones was Prince's hair stylist

and many others

Also: Susan Moonsie's Sister was in the Group The Hookers (w/Susan & Jamie Shoop). This was b4 Vanity 6

right, and Susan was friends with Brenda and Jamie

I remember to add Alan Leeds Prince's manager and Eric Leeds + Atlanta Bliss who was Erics friend

Brown Mark has a few inside connections too but I cannot recall

But of course Mazarati were his buddies

there are some other studio techs from the 1980-1988 period I'll have to get the names

woogiebear said:

OldFriends4Sale said:

Yes, I talked about this in a different thread.

Prince in 1998 said the people he had in his band and camp were a community to him.

.
And you look back and it was like an extended family(it did fall off after the 1986 period) and then became more of a true hired business situation.

.

Bobby Z and David Z

Andre Cymone

Susan Moonsie who was high school girlfriend of Prince whose family Prince was intimately connected.

Morris Day

Matt Fink who was friends with Bobby Z, whose mother was frequently around

Bobby Z's wife who worked in the stylist dept

the Time overall who all were friends (except for Jesse who came from out of town)
Jerome and Terry Lewis who were brothers

Bobby was also friends/working with Chris Moon

Lisa Coleman and her brother Davide Coleman, who also became friends with Prince

Wendy who was friends with the Coleman family from childhood, who became friends with Prince

of course Wendy & Susannah Melvoin who were twins

Brenda Bennet who worked in the camp(styling dept I think) who was the husband of Terry Bennett the best state lighting guy in Prince history

Sheila E who overall knew everyone in her 1984-1986 band from life, not to mention Juan Escovedo her brother-percussionist in her band.
Eddie M who was friends with Sheila E

Jill Jones whose uncle Earl Jones was Prince's hair stylist

and many others

Also: Susan Moonsie's Sister was in the Group The Hookers (w/Susan & Jamie Shoop). This was b4 Vanity 6

Hey, thats a good one - I totally missed it

jazzz said:

. Not mentioned yet: Jonathan Melvoin, who even was in the live setup of the band “The Family”. . [Edited 9/8/20 20:03pm]

Yes I forgot about Jonathan he appears on the ATWIAD and Parade albums too

Agree with others that he just simply met people through other people.

Also P was wise to bring people into his circle who were referred, and keep his daily private life the way he wanted it for the trust factor. Like John F Kennedy.

AMERICA1ST said:

Eric and Alan Leeds

Ricky and Paul Peterson

Bobby and David Rivkin

Wendy and Susannah Melvoin

Could it just be a concidence that Prince used so many Caucasian family pairs throughout his career?

For some reason I missed this part...

it's just coincidence

Mexican/Creole - Sheila E and Juan Escovedo
African-American - Jerome Bennett Terry Bennett
Mixed - Jill Jones and Earl Jones

I think after the 80s period, Prince took a more business route

But there is still the Twinz, Joshua & Hanna

OldFriends4Sale said:

AMERICA1ST said:

Eric and Alan Leeds

Ricky and Paul Peterson

Bobby and David Rivkin

Wendy and Susannah Melvoin

Could it just be a concidence that Prince used so many Caucasian family pairs throughout his career?

For some reason I missed this part...

it's just coincidence

Mexican/Creole - Sheila E and Juan Escovedo
African-American - Jerome Bennett Terry Bennett
Mixed - Jill Jones and Earl Jones

I think after the 80s period, Prince took a more business route

But there is still the Twinz, Joshua & Hanna

Also Alan's wife Gwen, who worked on tours and at Paisley.

rednblue said:

OldFriends4Sale said:

For some reason I missed this part...

it's just coincidence

Mexican/Creole - Sheila E and Juan Escovedo
African-American - Jerome Bennett Terry Bennett
Mixed - Jill Jones and Earl Jones

I think after the 80s period, Prince took a more business route

But there is still the Twinz, Joshua & Hanna

Also Alan's wife Gwen, who worked on tours and at Paisley.

Right, I forgot about that connection too

For some reason I think I'm missing a Time band connection

OldFriends4Sale said:

rednblue said:

Also Alan's wife Gwen, who worked on tours and at Paisley.

Right, I forgot about that connection too

For some reason I think I'm missing a Time band connection

Don't think I can help with that one, but will think on it. : )

Going way back, there's Andre's sister and Prince's cousin in the band. Morris Day's mother as manager, too.

And late 80's into '90s, Duane Nelson heading security. Also read that Tyka worked for Prince at some point.

Then, of course, Prince describes and credits collaborations with his father.

You could say Mayte had a reverse Prince-world timeline, as the two married after they'd been working together for several years.

Anyway, maybe the OP was thinking more of Prince hiring multiple members of other families, vs. P's own family members contributing to the family theme.

OldFriends4Sale said:

Brenda Bennet who worked in the camp (styling dept I think) who was the husband of Terry Bennett the best state lighting guy in Prince history

LeRoy, not Terry, was his name and the husband, Brenda was the wife. She was in the wardrobe department before being snagged for Vanity 6.

TrivialPursuit said:

OldFriends4Sale said:

Brenda Bennet who worked in the camp (styling dept I think) who was the husband of Terry Bennett the best state lighting guy in Prince history

LeRoy, not Terry, was his name and the husband, Brenda was the wife. She was in the wardrobe department before being snagged for Vanity 6.

Right, thanks, for some reason I felt something was wrong about that lol

Then there's Pepe Willie, who was married to Prince's cousin.

Speaking of cousins, the person ("fu-fu guy") who would amazingly transform tour hotel rooms...he was a cousin in a family that's big in the purple world. I'm lucky to once have been able to take a trip to MN and see Paisley Park, First Avenue, and lots of other landmarks. Went to an event where this person spoke.

Was SO great to hear the thoughts and stories he shared. It's ridiculous that I'm not 100% in my memory of which family, but I think it was the Rivkins. Will reach out and verify with the person who arranged the event.