http://www.miami.com/mld/...335307.htm

Posted on Fri, Apr. 02, 2004



Jam and Lewis may be old school, but they're still teaching hits

JEFF BAENEN

Associated Press


MINNEAPOLIS - Ever the sports fanatic, Jimmy Jam draws a comparison
to the sporting world when he talks about his two-decade-long music
collaboration with Terry Lewis.

Jam notes that Hall of Fame coach Joe Gibbs is back with the
Washington Redskins and that 70-year-old coach Hubie Brown has turned
around the Memphis Grizzlies.

"All of the sudden people realize, well, wait a minute, they have
knowledge and experience that really can't be taught. You have to
live it. And we've lived a lot of musical lives," Jam says.

Jam and Lewis are executive producers of Janet Jackson's new
CD, "Damita Jo." It's the latest installment in a partnership with
Jackson going back to her 1986 breakthrough album "Control" that
netted Jam and Lewis their first and - despite numerous nominations
since then - only Grammy as producers of the year.

Jam and Lewis also had a hand in Usher's new album, "Confessions,"
which sold about 1.1 million copies in less than a week and jumped to
the top of the charts, as well as Usher's last album, 2001's "8701,"
which sold more than 3 million copies.

As Jam, 44, points out, he and his 47-year-old partner are old school
but also current. Their producing credits stretch back to the S.O.S.
Band, Gladys Knight and Alexander O'Neal and up to Mariah Carey, Boyz
II Men and new artist Heather Headley.

"I do feel we are elder statesmen, I absolutely do," says Jam, who
generally speaks for the pair (Lewis declined an interview
request). "And I don't think that's a bad thing. I think that
experience is something that can't be taught."

On "Damita Jo," Jam and Lewis took an executive producer role.
Besides tracks produced by Jam, Lewis and Jackson, there are others
produced by Dallas Austin (TLC, Madonna), Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds
and Kanye West (Jay-Z).

The goal, Jam says, was not to compromise Jackson's sound.

"We made sure that the record sounded like Janet," he says.

Jam calls Jackson "the ultimate muse." Her 18-year working
relationship with Jam and Lewis has resulted in big-selling albums
such as "Control" and "Rhythm Nation 1814" and a string of hit
singles.

"We love each other. We get along great," Jam says. "The fun that
we've had making the records has always shown through on the records."

Jam (real name James Harris III) and Lewis have been friends for 32
years. The two met in 1972 at the University of Minnesota in a
program for promising students from urban schools.

Known for wearing fedoras and sunglasses, the two were part of The
Time before Prince booted them in 1983 after they missed a gig
because of a snowstorm in Atlanta. Jam and Lewis then turned to
producing full-time, first in Minneapolis, then in the suburb of
Edina.

After winning Producer of the Year (non-classical) Grammys their
first time out, Jam and Lewis have been nominated for that award
eight more times - including the last four years straight - but have
gone home empty-handed. (They did snag Grammys along with Janet
Jackson for Best R&B Song for 1993's "That's the Way Love Goes" and
for Best Dance Recording for 2001's "All For You.")

Jam says he loves the Grammy nominations. "It costs me a lot of
money, though, because every year that we get nominated, that means
my wife has to find a new dress to wear to the ceremony."

In the last two years, Jam and Lewis have been doing more movie work
in Los Angeles. They did the soundtrack for last year's "The Fighting
Temptations" and are working on the upcoming "Bridget Jones's Diary"
sequel.

Jam estimates he and Lewis are spending 75 percent of their time in
LA. They've set up temporary shop in a Beverly Hills studio
(dubbed "Flyte Tyme West" after their Twin Cities-based production
company) and have bought a building in Santa Monica, Calif., a couple
of blocks from major movie studios.

It's easier being closer to the artists in Los Angeles than flying
them to the Twin Cities, Jam says. For example, singer Gwen Stefani
of No Doubt stopped by for a meeting that led to their writing two
new songs, he says.

"Really, the coolest thing about films is simply that it's something
different. It's just moving on to a different thing," says Jam, a
movie buff. (Plans for what to do with the duo's Twin Cities studio
will be announced in a month or so, he says.)

Making music for cartoons, such as with Sting for Disney's "The
Emperor's New Groove," also gives Jam a chance to connect with his 7-
year-old son and twin boy and girl, who turn 4 at the end of April.

"It's just very cool to me. It's just kind of a bonus of doing
projects that relate to kids," he says.

Becoming a father also has changed Jam's perspective. "The kids don't
care if you had a hit, if you didn't have a hit. I mean, you come
home and it's `Daddy!' and they're happy to see you," he says.

ON THE NET

Flyte Tyme: http://www.flytetyme.com

Janet Jackson: http://www.janet-jackson.com

Jimmy Jam my man!

Prince says: what? they're not here??? ...snowstorm??? awwww hellz naw! They get tha' boot!

mochalox said:

Nah i Think it was much deeper then a Snow Storm! Cause Prince Was MAD!!!!
Listen to the First uncut Version of Old Friends $ Sale in under the cherry moon!
He WAS MADDDD, son talks about them doin coke nd selling Pictures to someone, i believe it was a tabloid with a false story upon it

Old Friends 4 sale
The sun set in the west this mornin'
4 I know, I know L.A. is callin'
Bad news, Steve said, and people are talkin'
They say your kingdom is fallin', yeah
They say U lost your fire
When another musician U hired
Little do they know, U wouldn't have passed go
Unless they could take U higher, yeah
The sun set in my heart this afternoon
4 2 friends of mine got stuck in the snow
In Uptown when winter's alarmin', oh
Cocaine becomes charmin'
But U talk about things U don't know 'bout
I know, no matter how pleasant your past was
Green and white return 2 blue
U're happy as long as your last buzz
And then U think U want something new, yeah
The sun, the sun set in my mind this evening
4 someone who said they would die 4 me
Sold some, they sold some
more pictures and all my little memories
Chump change is 2 unravel the mystery, ah ha
But life is no fun, life ain't no fun without fantasy
Some things are better left unsaid
And some people are better left untrusted
Maybe, maybe, maybe it'll all make sense when I'm dead
When I'm dead
Old friends 4 sale
Get'em while the gettin' is hot
Watch out, they'll kiss U until they get what U got
And they'll show U the friends that they're not
Old friends 4 sale

Luv4oneanotha said:

The cocaine was NOT Jimmy and Terry it was Vanity and the person who sold the pictures was Big Chick to the Enquirer.

dangit! i wuz gonna say that!!! *snaps finger*

Jam and Lewis rule! Janet Jackson should kiss BOTH of their black asses every day of the year. She owes her entire career to them.

They are clearly the most talented of Prince's associates/proteges/bandmembers etc. I'm glad to see that they are getting props and are well respected. They aren't in Prince's league (but very few are), but they have written some very cool and funky songs. god bless them.

.
[This message was edited Fri Apr 2 17:18:22 2004 by RupertZ]

jimmy jam and terry lewis.....wow
that's all i can say. they helped to create an era of music and shaped many of my memories. i love those guys

mochalox said:

DUDE, WTF kinda camera do you HAVE????

JAM AND LEWIS have written so many of my favourite songs! Even Jorden knights "Give it to you" (released in 1999) was cool! When I found out they had a major hand with writing and producing that song, I was amazed that they could still turn it out really cool pop songs!

Remember them in janets "Control" video! Even Jerome and Jellybean Johnson were on stage with her! Thats like Janet jackson with half of the time, as also the song is very much in the vein of the time as well (musically, not lyrically), even the videos opening sequences are straight from the times vibe!

Anyway Jam and Lewis STILL RULE and were part of the famous 3 (of producing teams) of the NewJack era!

>> Remember them in janets "Control" video! Even Jerome and Jellybean Johnson were on stage with her! Thats like Janet jackson with half of the time, as also the song is very much in the vein of the time as well (musically, not lyrically), even the videos opening sequences are straight from the times vibe! <<

As far as the music, that's that "Minneapolis Sound" I referred to in my introductory post...but yes, The Time did add some of their own flair to it. And as for the dialogue at the beginning, when that video first came out, I was pleasantly surprised to see how much of The Time they still had in them.

>> Anyway Jam and Lewis STILL RULE and were part of the famous 3 (of producing teams) of the NewJack era![/quote] <<

And the church said...

(Amen)

Zoot
_____

Negroes from Brooklyn play the bass pretty good, but the ones from Minneapolis play it like it oughtta should.

EverlastingNow said:[quote]

Luv4oneanotha said:

Evidently he was talking about all four of them, because I do remember the Jimmy/Terry snowstorm story, which was well publicized at the time. Or maybe it *was* about Vanity and Big Chick, and "snowstorm" was meant as a metaphor for coke! Hmm...

But as far as the Jimmy and Terry issue, it was deeper than a snowstorm, because if I remember correctly, Prince didn't care for them producing other artists, which is probably what they were doing in Atlanta in the first place...

Get me straight if I'm wrong, because the memory is fuzzy.

Zoot

Terry Lewis and Jimmy Jam were in Atlanta producing music for the SOS Band...they were snowed in, and the song "Just Be Good to Me" that they produced hit it big on R&B stations...and you know the rest.....That's it.

zootjames said:[quote]

EverlastingNow said:

I googled it. I get no credit. But thanks anyways!!!!