This is an absolute excellent thread. One of the best I've seen on the org since I've been here.

Thanks so much for posting the pictures, some of which I have never seen.

OldFriends4Sale said:

Cool. Thanks for all your work.

This threas has been a very interesting read thanks people! Keep it comin'!

tricky2 said:

ooooohhh I've never seen ^^^^ that one with Andre Dr Prince & Dez
[Edited 3/18/10 17:10pm]

tricky2 said:

wow Tricky, very cool item, thanks for sharing your knowledge.

JUST AS LONG AS WE'RE 2GETHER

1976
Husney, Prince, and attorney Levinson got on a plane for Los Angeles and visited the swank offices of five labels: Warner Bros, CBS, A&M, RSO, and ABC/Dunhill. The manager and attorney made the initial pitch, after which Prince came in and said just a few words. The approach worked; after hearing the demo tape, the executives were curious to see the teenager who had pulled this off, and they were mesmerized by his oddly quiet manner. CBS then booked time at Village Recorders Studios and asked Prince to undertake an audition of sorts. He recorded "Just As Long As We're Together," one of the songs on his demo, as the executives looked on.

summer 1977
Ostin agreed, and Prince was flown to Amigo Studios in Los Angeles. Waronker and other officials discreetly drifted i and out as Prince recorded another version of "Just As Long As We're Together." As Husney recalled, "He thought these people were janitors." The executives, after watching Prince play every instrument as he constructed the song in the better part of a day, decided it would be folly to force a producer upon him; an artist this talented and headstrong would simply have to learn on the job. "Okay, we're going to have to burn a record on the guy," Waronker grumbled to Husney after the session.
-Possessed: the Rise & Fall of Prince



[Edited 3/19/10 10:55am]

PRINCE: Well, you know, it's like...I worked a long time under a lot of different people, and most of the time I was doing it their way. I mean, that was cool, but ya know, I figured if I worked hard enough and kept my head straight, one day I'd get to do this on my own...and that's what happened. So I feel like...if I don't try to hurt nobody...and like I say...keep my head on straight...my way usually is the best way.

MOJO: Growin' up in Minne-wood, as it's been now called, simply because that is the hot point on this planet right now.

PRINCE: Well, it's been called a lot of things, but it's always Uptown to me.

MOJO: Uptown?

PRINCE: Yes.

MOJO: What was it like growin' up Uptown?

PRINCE: Pretty different. Uh, kinda sad, to be exact. (laughs) I mean, the radio was dead, the discos was dead, ladies was kinda dead, so I felt like, if we wanted to make some noise, and I wanted to turn anything out....I was gonna have to get somethin' together. Which is what we did. We put together a few bands and turned it into Uptown. That consisted of a lot of bike riding nude, but ya know...it worked. We had fun. That's why I wanted to come here on my birthday...'cuz I wanted to give them a little taste of where we live and get a little taste of where you all live. To me, this is like my second home. If I could spend the night at somebody's crib, I would...'cuz this hotel.... They're real nice to us, but, this bed is hard!

Electrifying Mojo Interview with Prince 1985

For U-Prince keyboardist Gayle Chapman

Is there an actor/musician in the wings, a now-unrecognized future star that will someday rival the artistry of Prince, whose January 1979 concert at the Capri is ranked as one of his five best, and at which he signed his first recording contract?

http://www.thecapritheate...hp?paged=2



The Capri Theater
2027 West Broadway
Minneapolis, MN 55411



1.6.1979 Capri Theater Minn

That's a cute little house. I'm wondering how long he lived in it. And Edina, is that in Minnesota?
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[Edited 3/19/10 13:37pm]

OldFriends4Sale said:

That's what that is/was I have a mix with that interview as a intro. I always wondered what that was. When I 1st bought this album, I felt like I struck gold. It's one of my most favorite albums.

Thanks for posting ...

Prince & Dez Dickerson 1979

Dec. 5. 1980 Washington D.C.

Prince unknown female Andre Cymone

tricky2 said:

I like those pics of her
funny she reminds me of the mother of Carrie in the movie Carrie
she has that 1970's look about

Prince & camp at the ROXY

it's cool to see pictures of the people that you read about during those times with Prince

She does favor that crazy heffer.

The picture of her in the satin shorts earlier in this thread, she kinda resembles Teena Marie a little.

"I remember it like it was yesterday", recalls Pepé, "everybody working together for a common cause."


How did Pepé and Prince initially get together? Pepé recalls . . .
I was introduced to Prince in 1974 by my fiancée', Prince's cousin, Shauntel. She was excited about Prince because he was a very talented musician. She knew I really knew about the business of music and she wanted me to talk to Prince. He was playing at a ski party in Minnesota when we met. I remember thinking,"Boy, he's got a big Afro."

Pepé moved to Minneapolis and began working with Prince in 1974-75. It wasn't long before he realized that Prince was more than good, he was a phenomenal musician, and a singer as well. He also showed a deep desire and serious determination to make it. It was at this point that Pepé committed himself to passing the THE KNOWLEDGE to Prince; and Prince listened and listened.

Like Prince and the group he was in, Grand Central (a.k.a. Grand Central Station), most local musicians were performing cover tunes and not even thinking about writing and recording original material. Prince was about to change all that. He was about to start the ripple in the water that eventually grew to become internationally recognized as the "Minneapolis Sound."
Pepé had been working with Grand Central on a regular basis. He remembers some of the rehearsals they held in an attic in South Minneapolis:

Prince was on guitar, André Anderson (now known as André Cymone), was on bass, Morris Day (later of The Time) was on drums, Linda Anderson (André's sister) was on keyboard and William Doughty was on Percussion. I remember asking them to play one of their original songs. It was a disaster. Of course, there was raw talent there, but when they began to sing, everyone was singing something different. Prince was singing "she", André was singing "he", the rest of the group was singing something else; and the name of the song was You Remind Me of Me (written by André). I couldn't believe they didn't take the time as a group to learn the words. So I had them put down their instruments and start learning the lyrics. You know , it was like Song Construction 101 had begun. Of course, my No. 1 student was Prince.

Prince and Pepé spent the next several months working intensely with Grand Central. As Pepé recalls it . . .

I taught them about song construction, singing together, the best ways to rehearse together, but I didn't have to tell Prince anything more than once. Even though the members of Grand Central were talented musicians, they were still 'kids' and they often acted like it. These guys would laugh and tell jokes all the time. Prince would show-off doing gymnastics in our living room. Man, that was great! They especially loved to tease Wendell Thomas, the bass player from 94 East by writing funny little names and comments about him on the chalkboard.

Grand Central had made quite a bit of progress when Pepé decided to bring them into Cookhouse Recording Studios in 1975. Prince was so excited! Arrangements had been made for Grand Central to play for a co-owner of Cookhouse. He was fairly impressed with their original material, but then asked them to do one of their cover songs, an Earth, Wind and Fire tune. Unfortunately, they played Earth, Wind and Fire better than they played Grand Central. They were not ready. Back to practice


In the meantime, Pepé had begun recording his own demo material at Cookhouse. Pepé decided to hire Prince to record with him. Prince was very eager to participate (plus getting paid, too!). Pepé describes him as being 'like a kid in a candy store'. Prince recorded lead and rhythm guitar along with the musicians who later formed the group, 94 East. From this came the five songs referred to as the 'Cookhouse Five'.


All the members of 94 East except for Pepé were from Minneapolis and St. Paul. Wendell Thomas, bass player, had been a long time friend of Pepés. He was essentially in from the very beginning. His younger brother, Dale Alexander, was recruited to play drums and Pierre Lewis joined as keyboard player. Dale and Pierre were both as young as Prince AND blessed with a great deal of talent for such a young age. Later, Dale Alexander became drummer for Prince's group, Madhouse.

With the completed Cookhouse songs in his possession, Pepé and Wendell, the bass player for 94 East, flew to New York in April of 1976 and literally beat the pavement until 94 East was signed with Polydor. 94 East had to prepare to go in to the studio and record a single. By this time, Dale Alexander had lost his position as drummer with 94 East and was replaced by Bobby "Z" Rivkin. Bobby later became the drummer for Prince's first band, the Revolution. When Prince began working on his own demo recordings at Sound 80, André Lewis, Pierre Lewis' younger brother was given the task of learning all of Prince's guitar parts.

Even though the Cookhouse Five songs got 94 East the deal with Polydor, two other songs were actually recorded for the single. They were Fortune Teller and 10:15. These two songs were co-produced by Pepé and producer, writer, A&R man, Hank Cosby. Hank Cosby wrote Fortune Teller and Pepé wrote 10:15. Hank Cosby brought in a singer by the name of Colonel Abrams to do the lead vocals. In an unfortunate turn of events 94 East's contract was cancelled and their single was never released. It was devastating to the group and what struck Pepé was how personally Prince took this loss. Prince was upset and the only retaliation we had was to go right back in the studio and do some new recordings. That's when we rehearsed and recorded Dance To The Music Of The World – the practice session on our own 4-track recorder. The very next day, Prince, André Cymone and Pepé were in Sound 80 Recording Studios, recording new material.

From these sessions came Dance To The Music The World, Lovin' Cup and Just Another Sucker (the song Pepé and Prince co-wrote). If You Feel Like Dancin' and One Man Jam were recorded at a studio in New York. That trip proved to be an excellent experience for Prince and André (Cymone). They got the kind of professional studio exposure that would prove invaluable to them in the future.

These five songs really show the fast-growing maturity and versatility of Prince since the Cookhouse Five recordings. On Just Another Sucker, Lovin' Cup and Dance To The Music Of The World, Prince not only played guitar, but also drums, keyboards, and did vocal work. André Cymone played bass and Pepé played rhythm guitar. On If You Feel Like Dancin', Prince is on keyboards and guitar. One Man Jam, André Cymone is on bass and Prince "went crazy" playing everything else. Pepé added synthesizer parts in the overdub. We guess Prince really wanted to "show them" for Pepés sake.

The songs, Love, Love, Love and You Can Be My Teacher are from our 1/4" tape collections. The music tracks were done on a 4-track tape recorder. The beat was done on a Korg rhythm machine (this was before there were drum machines). On Love, Love, Love, Prince is playing bass and guitar. Pepé is playing keyboards. Marcy Ingvoldstad is singing vocals. On You Can Be My Teacher, Prince is playing bass and Pepé is playing guitar. Pepé talks about their collaboration . . .

It was great how Prince could play off my style of writing. We worked well together.

We decided to add Dance To The Music of the World – the practice session – to give you an indication of how intense practices could be. After 94 East's contract with Polydor was cancelled, the only remaining members were Pepé, Marcy, and Kristie. So in this practice tape, you'll hear Prince on guitar playing bass parts. Pepé on rhythm guitar, and Prince, Pepé, Marcy, and Kristie on vocals. You'll enjoy hearing Prince cracked a joke before they start to play ("I was out with my old lady and she said jive sucker I'll kick you too."). Everyone laughs, of course, and in Prince's characteristically shy way of speaking, he responds, "I'm embarrassed." (Yeah, right.) Really listen to Prince's falsetto note in the harmonies. He has an amazing vocal range.
By now, Prince had started his association with Owen Husney, whom he later hired as his manager. Soon after, Prince was recording his own demos at Sound 80 with the financial support of Husney and the engineering skills of David Z (Bobby Z's brother).

The demos Prince recorded at Sound 80 landed him a contract on the Warner Bros. label. Pepé continued his close relationship with Prince, advising and assisting Prince and Owen Husney when needed. Not surprisingly, Prince auditioned his first band members and rehearsed them for six months in the basement of Pepé's home. His first concert as a professional took place at the Capri Theatre in North Minneapolis in January 1979 and was produced by Pepé's company, Pepé Music Inc. The rest, shall we say, is history.

We the members of 94 East recognize that we were extremely fortunate to have played and worked with a musician like Prince. We think these historical recordings are a classic addition to anyone's music library. We sincerely hope you will enjoy these recordings as much as we do, especially when we dusted them off and listened to them for the first time after all those years. It was a once in a lifetime experience to have been the first to have worked with a phenomenon like Prince at such an early age.
Congratulations!! You made it!! The END!



94 East -- Minneapolis Genius - The Historic 1977 Recordings (1987)

Incredible piece of Jazz/Funk/Disco from Prince and his bestest childhood buddy André Cymone. Recorded one year before Prince's solo debut, For You, at the tender age of just nineteen this record has that definite Minneapolis sound.


Track Listings
1. If You Feel Like Dancin'
2. Lovin' Cup
3. Games
4. Just Another Sucker
5. Dance to the Music of the World
6. One Man Jam

Track Listing side 2
1. If You See Me
2. Games
3. I'll Always Love You
4. Better Than You Think
5. If We Don't
6. You Can Be My Teacher
7. Love Love Love
8. Dance To The Music Of The World
9. If You See Me First
10. Better Than You Think


[Edited 3/23/10 5:46am]

OldFriends4Sale said:

Could that unknown female be Sue Ann Carwell?

Really nice thread.

Excellent thread

vainandy said:

Edina is a suburb south of minneapolis.

thanks for posting this album is not really talked about around here it's nice that its being shown some apprecition for once

tricky2 said:

I don't know this is her below with Terry Lewis in the pre Time/For U years




[Edited 3/24/10 10:49am]

It's Gonna Be Lonely

We've been 2gether 4 quite some time
I'd think by now U'd know
It'll take 4ever 2 get U off my mind
If ever U decide 2 go
I guess I got a little insecurity
When it's concerning U
I guess I'm just afraid that if U ever leave
I'd be in a messed-up state of blue

And I'd be so lonely
Without U loving me, I know it's gonna be lonely
Without U giving me every little single thing that I need
Lonely

Whatever's in your kiss, it really turns me on
Till I go right out of my mind
And who could ever resist your accent from gay Paree
It gets me every time
I betcha thatcha never knew that in my dreams
U are the star
The only bummer is that U always want 2 leave
Who do U think U are?

Don't U know it's gonna be lonely?
Without U loving me, I know it's gonna be lonely
Without U giving me every little single thing that I need
Lonely

It's gonna be lonely
Without U loving me, giving me everything that I need
Oh pretty baby, can't U see it's gonna be lonely?

Without U loving me
I know, I know it's gonna be lonely

Oh, whatever's in your kiss
I never could resist
Oh baby, don't go!

We've been 2gether 4 quite some time
It would take 4ever 2 get U off my mind
Oh girl!

Without U loving me
I know it's gonna be lonely

Without U by my side
Don't U know that I could die, baby?

Without U loving me
Can't U see it's gonna be lonely?

It's gonna be lonely, baby
So lonely, baby

© 1979 Ecnirp Music Inc. - BMI



[Edited 3/26/10 5:55am]