djThunderfunk said:

I'm pretty sure Chronic did not intend for us to descend into bitching about the negative aspects of Prince. Can we not go into any of that for a couple weeks, please? Just sayin'...

Thanks for sharing Chronic! Sorry about how it all ended. It seems bitterness has not overcome the positivity for you. Very cool!

[Edited 4/24/16 15:54pm]

Agreed. I'm glad he's upbeat despite that trouble. Probably/hopefully doing fine in his life.

.

This thread is great. Hopefully other Purple employees will come forward in time. I love hearing new stories about P.

Thank you so much for sharing your feelings with us. I only wanted to meet one person and that was Prince. You are very blessed to have worked with him.

Thanks. I'm probably not the first to say this but it would be great if you and other employees got together to write a book about your stories.

chronicfreeze said:

My biggest regret in life is that I was accused for something I would never ever do to my favorite artist in the universe and its the most painful thing thats ever happened to me. I always dreamed that Id get a chance to finally defend myself to him but alas that dream will never come now.

I like to think that P knows the real truth now.

Im sorry I didnt mean any negativity. I get a bit defensive when someone brings up bootlegs. Just like you all, I loved him very much and would do anything to protect him. Those of us working closely knew how worried he was about people stealing his music. Im still worried about it, even more so now.

Lets all pray as fans and as funk lovers that we have the opportunity to hear some jems out of the vault mixed and in hi fi! Lets all cross our fingers that it gets released on vinyl! Lets hope that the condition of the material gets preserved. Theres a lot of old tapes in the vault. I hope something is being done to preserve them provided it was in Prince's wishes. Im still at a loss and its been nice to talk with some old friends as well. There were a few of us there that were serious funk and soul heads. Most of the staff were rockers. I was just talking to an old funk head who is having so much trouble right now (whose own story of getting fired is much better than mine, but I digress) He was telling how he missed his converstions w Prince about Lenny White and EWF. Everyone seems to be greiving so differently its nice to talk about old times.

chronicfreeze said:

Im sorry I didnt mean any negativity. I get a bit defensive when someone brings up bootlegs. Just like you all, I loved him very much and would do anything to protect him. Those of us working closely knew how worried he was about people stealing his music. Im still worried about it, even more so now.

Lets all pray as fans and as funk lovers that we have the opportunity to hear some jems out of the vault mixed and in hi fi! Lets all cross our fingers that it gets released on vinyl! Lets hope that the condition of the material gets preserved. Theres a lot of old tapes in the vault. I hope something is being done to preserve them provided it was in Prince's wishes. Im still at a loss and its been nice to talk with some old friends as well. There were a few of us there that were serious funk and soul heads. Most of the staff were rockers. I was just talking to an old funk head who is having so much trouble right now (whose own story of getting fired is much better than mine, but I digress) He was telling how he missed his converstions w Prince about Lenny White and EWF. Everyone seems to be greiving so differently its nice to talk about old times.

chronicfreeze said:

lolife said:

Dave, it's been a long time! I was just talking to Tom Garneau about the crazy days of the three of us doing almost all of the studio work at Paisley Park. We pushed each other just as hard as Prince did. There was a lot of cool stuff going on at Paisley Park at that time. I too am grateful to have been a part of it. Prince was a major influence in my life. We lost an indominitable icon and I think it hurts everyone more than we would have thought.

I hope everyone can tell their stories now and share their bootlegs!

M.

I dont own any bootlegs. I dont have a copy of anything I did there. I got my ass kicked out of there after 9 years of loyal service because I followed Paisley Park records orders and gave away cds that were given to me by Julie Knapp (office manager of paisley park records) of the 1800newfunk record to people that worked at the studio we booked in Paris. It was common for the record company to give us gifts to pass out when we went traveling to work. The record company had asked me to give them out as gifts as they were just released but Prince caught wind that I had given out cds, didnt ask what they were and just plain dumped me. Funny thing was no one even came to my defense. Hans told me years later that I was investigated but guess what. They didnt find anything because there wasnt anything. Im not a bootlegger, never have been, never will be. My biggest regret in life is that I was accused for something I would never ever do to my favorite artist in the universe and its the most painful thing thats ever happened to me. I always dreamed that Id get a chance to finally defend myself to him but alas that dream will never come now. Nice to hear from you Mike and congrats on all your successes in Mpls!!

I'm sorry that you won't get better closure and being unjustly released from Paisley employment. It sounds like a bad way for it to be handled and that was ultimately Prince's fault. But maybe he just wanted a change and that was a convenient excuse to do it. Very few people ever stayed there that long, so wouldn't be a statement on your work. 9 years is an incredibly long time and got to feel good about that. But I get why you were hurt by how it went down, especially because you were innocent of the charges.

chronicfreeze said:

It's personal messages such as yours that help us somehow process and hopefully ultimately come to terms with this incredibly difficult situation.

[Edited 7/11/20 22:18pm]

Thanks to you two (and who knows who lurks?) who worked for Prince to write here and help us keep our spirits up. You are celebrities to us too!

Thank you chronicfreeze for sharing with us.

djThunderfunk said:

I'm pretty sure Chronic did not intend for us to descend into bitching about the negative aspects of Prince. Can we not go into any of that for a couple weeks, please? Just sayin'...

Thanks for sharing Chronic! Sorry about how it all ended. It seems bitterness has not overcome the positivity for you. Very cool!

[Edited 4/24/16 15:54pm]

Thank u.

chronicfreeze said:

lolife said:

Dave, it's been a long time! I was just talking to Tom Garneau about the crazy days of the three of us doing almost all of the studio work at Paisley Park. We pushed each other just as hard as Prince did. There was a lot of cool stuff going on at Paisley Park at that time. I too am grateful to have been a part of it. Prince was a major influence in my life. We lost an indominitable icon and I think it hurts everyone more than we would have thought.

I hope everyone can tell their stories now and share their bootlegs!

M.

I dont own any bootlegs. I dont have a copy of anything I did there. I got my ass kicked out of there after 9 years of loyal service because I followed Paisley Park records orders and gave away cds that were given to me by Julie Knapp (office manager of paisley park records) of the 1800newfunk record to people that worked at the studio we booked in Paris. It was common for the record company to give us gifts to pass out when we went traveling to work. The record company had asked me to give them out as gifts as they were just released but Prince caught wind that I had given out cds, didnt ask what they were and just plain dumped me. Funny thing was no one even came to my defense. Hans told me years later that I was investigated but guess what. They didnt find anything because there wasnt anything. Im not a bootlegger, never have been, never will be. My biggest regret in life is that I was accused for something I would never ever do to my favorite artist in the universe and its the most painful thing thats ever happened to me. I always dreamed that Id get a chance to finally defend myself to him but alas that dream will never come now. Nice to hear from you Mike and congrats on all your successes in Mpls!!

I don't remember the exact content of ur original Q&A session message back then but you had made it very clear that there had been a misunderstanding that had cost you your job and that you hoped Prince would get the message that contrarily to what he seemed to have believed, you hadn't done him wrong at the time. He may have not gotten back to you but your Q&A session made enough noise at the time that you can be assured that he checked it out and got your message (apparently Prince always checked out what former associates say publicly, according at least to W&L and another engineer from 2003). Maybe he hasn't replied but he got the message, this I'm certain of. In that sense you said what you had to say and I think you can get a sense of closure from having been able to do so: you spoke your part, it wasn't in your hand anymore. What happened to you was outrageously unfair though now that you have revealed all the details. I guess as said above no one came to your defense because, from everything I've read about those years, at that time it was easy and quick to be fired from PP for no valid reason (ask Michael!). However Prince, as all of us, was more than just "good" or just "evil" and I'm truly sorry some people used your testimony for unecessary disrespect with such radical words as were used.

Another thing is that for all those years you were instrumental in bringing Prince's wonderful work to us. You worked on those songs we've listened to a zillion times. That's something you can be mighty proud of and I thank you deeply for your contributions to this marvelous adventure that has changed my life, and so many others, forever

databank said:

Another thing is that for all those years you were instrumental in bringing Prince's wonderful work to us. You worked on those songs we've listened to a zillion times. That's something you can be mighty proud of and I thank you deeply for your contributions to this marvelous adventure that has changed my life, and so many others, forever

ur the best 4 sharing that, u really didn't have 2 but we are all glad that u did and hope that u continue 2 help us get through this with more of ur memories thank u thank u

[Edited 4/27/16 4:52am]

Thank U 4 sharing stories of your time with Prince

chronicfreeze said:

....

I can't believe I hadn't heard that story. I wondered how/why you made your exit from Paisley. I think almost all of us have unresolved issues of some sort! I still have a Prince dream/nightmare every so often.

I didn't mean to bring up a sore spot about bootlegs but this is my personal opinion: Prince's part in his story is over. His control over his image, however laudable, is over. Each of us has to make our own decisions about how we tell our own story about living in Prince's world. I think the more stories that come out and the more music that comes out, the better.

Cheers,

M.

Love these stories.

Dauphin said:

The Gold Experience is still one of my favorite SOUNDING releases. From speakers, to headphones, to the club. Thank you for your work, as well. Did you do the mix on Pussy Control? Any stories about that?

If I told you anything about pussy control Id have to terminate you right after, lol!!!!

lolife said:

chronicfreeze said:

....

I can't believe I hadn't heard that story. I wondered how/why you made your exit from Paisley. I think almost all of us have unresolved issues of some sort! I still have a Prince dream/nightmare every so often.

I didn't mean to bring up a sore spot about bootlegs but this is my personal opinion: Prince's part in his story is over. His control over his image, however laudable, is over. Each of us has to make our own decisions about how we tell our own story about living in Prince's world. I think the more stories that come out and the more music that comes out, the better.

Cheers,

M.

Indeed Mike! and Im SO glad Im not the only one w the dreams. Its always in the studio with him. Sometimes Im hearing the most amazing music being made and never want it to end and sometimes I wake up and say "I just worked my ass off and got yelled at for 8 hours and didnt even get paid!" lol!! anyways take care mate, Im sure youre still making amazing tunes and beerwise hopefully you might even brew up a special paisley edition! Please say Hi for me to all the old cats you come across in the next few weeks.

This was very sweet and touching. Thanks for sharing your amazing experience, damn you so are lucky! We are all lucky to have experince the genius and legend that was Prince, may God rest his soul, thanks again OP.

Thank you so much for sharing your experiences and memories with Prince, good and bad. I think his fans are well aware that he was not perfect, and definitely difficult at times, but we still love him like crazy.

chronicfreeze said:

You know what though....He does know NOW. We get to see everything.

I am not suprised no one defended you though. That is how people are..worry about their own a**es**

Curious...can I ask why you never wrote to him to explain what really happened..even if years later???

chronicfreeze said:

lolife said:

Dave, it's been a long time! I was just talking to Tom Garneau about the crazy days of the three of us doing almost all of the studio work at Paisley Park. We pushed each other just as hard as Prince did. There was a lot of cool stuff going on at Paisley Park at that time. I too am grateful to have been a part of it. Prince was a major influence in my life. We lost an indominitable icon and I think it hurts everyone more than we would have thought.

I hope everyone can tell their stories now and share their bootlegs!

M.

I dont own any bootlegs. I dont have a copy of anything I did there. I got my ass kicked out of there after 9 years of loyal service because I followed Paisley Park records orders and gave away cds that were given to me by Julie Knapp (office manager of paisley park records) of the 1800newfunk record to people that worked at the studio we booked in Paris. It was common for the record company to give us gifts to pass out when we went traveling to work. The record company had asked me to give them out as gifts as they were just released but Prince caught wind that I had given out cds, didnt ask what they were and just plain dumped me. Funny thing was no one even came to my defense. Hans told me years later that I was investigated but guess what. They didnt find anything because there wasnt anything. Im not a bootlegger, never have been, never will be. My biggest regret in life is that I was accused for something I would never ever do to my favorite artist in the universe and its the most painful thing thats ever happened to me. I always dreamed that Id get a chance to finally defend myself to him but alas that dream will never come now. Nice to hear from you Mike and congrats on all your successes in Mpls!!

Also, thanks for sharing your stories! I like to believe he doesn't mind all this sharing now that he is not here on this plain, to have to hear or see things about him. He's above worrying about all of that now.

Besides, it seems the world pretty much kept quiet about his bad moments as well as his good moments. That's alot of dedication.:)We are all human. No one is perfect.

These stories, your stories, help the fans , 'get through' this. What I like best, is that besides the crap news sites, most of the feedback has been fantastic, even with little issues (such as yours)....The good seems to be the message most times, as was yours depsite what happened to you. Your story was not negative btw. Bad things often happen to good people.

Besdies someone setting you up as mentioned, we have to remember also that out of 1000 people, how many were 'real friends'. I am sure he got distrusting and 'hardened' to staff issues because so mamy before you perhaps disappointed. Even if you did nothing wrong.

Thanks again for your stories. WE appeciate them all. Please give us more...Even if you want to make another account and tell it from an unknown moniker:)

[Edited 4/26/16 7:46am]

Thank you Chronic Freeze and Michael K for coming here and sharing your stories. It's really appreciated and I hope you guys know how much love and respect we fans have for your roles in Prince's story.