http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/eugene-lee-saturday-night-live_us_57bb44b3e4b0b51733a4f9d0??te=TMZ

Like just about everyone in show business, Lee has his own Prince story.

Days before Prince was slated to perform on “SNL” in November 2014, no one had any clue what he was planning. Sometimes artists make special requests for the design of their musical set, and Prince’s team wasn’t communicating. So Lee decided he’d venture out to Paisley Park ― Prince’s famed home and recording studio in Minneapolis ― to find out for himself. It wasn’t his first time there.

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Upon arrival, the gates were locked. One of “Prince’s people” told Lee the elusive singer would be awhile, so Lee whiled away the afternoon at a local museum. When he returned, the gates opened, as if propelled by magic. He saw a door propped open by a cinderblock and wandered inside to find a soundstage with cars, motorcycles, instruments and other props scattered about. Lee “waited and waited” for Prince to show up.

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A few hours later, “boom, there he was,” Lee recalled. “It was like he just appeared.” (This is how a lot of stor...rrivals go.) Prince and his all-female backing band, 3RDEYEGIRL, showcased the songs that would form the electrifying eight-minute medley they performed on the show: “Clouds,” “Plectrumelectrum,” “Marz” and “Anotherlove.” Then Prince took Lee into an elaborate editing suite filled with monitors to demonstrate the visuals he had in mind. “It was great,” Lee said.

CalhounSq said:

I'll never forgive SNL for cutting to him when he realized his guitar wasn't plugged in & he'd already been playing it - they never fixed that, even during that special they did, which was 50% Fred fucking Armisen

Well that's just silly, isn't it? Prince has his own tech people there to take care of things. Guitar techs, keyboard techs, etc. If anyone was to blame, it was his own folks. A guitar tech could have been tuning or restringing his guitar, replaced it on set, and simply forgot to plug it in. It's not the SNL crew going around fucking with an artist's equipment, no more than Prince was backstage giving skits the final approval instead of Lorne. These SNL folks are union people, and everyone has a particular job, and no one else does it. If it's on person's job to move a chair three inches to the left, then only that person does that.

No one on SNL is going to touch Prince's shit without Prince folks being there. You think his shows at the LA Sports Arena, or the Target center, that the guy removing and replacing his guitar pedal board was just some random flunkie that was a local, and not Prince's own hire? Is it a random intern that is catching Prince's guitar when he takes it off and throws it off-stage into the misty dark? Of course not! So one can maneuver in some pseudo-unforgiveness all day if desired, but it's misdirected, and pointless.

What would they have fixed for the special they did? Have someone else dub in his guitar playing? CGI a cord in his guitar, then CGI him doing something else until the guitar was plugged in? I mean, what are the other options that are reasonable and truthful? Because that would be a lie. And we know Prince was all about the truth.

TrivialPursuit said:

CalhounSq said:

I'll never forgive SNL for cutting to him when he realized his guitar wasn't plugged in & he'd already been playing it - they never fixed that, even during that special they did, which was 50% Fred fucking Armisen

Oh man, I ALWAYS point that part out to my friends. But I tell them, "Look at how coolly he handled that. What a pro!"

RodeoSchro said:

CalhounSq said:

You fix it by simply staying on another camera while he plugged in, THEN go back to your main shot. It's a simple editing fix - they should have done it for the West coast broadcast, & definitely should have cleaned that up for the special.

I can see that, but again - it's those human moments we all craved with Prince. He's fallen, he's missed his microphone or knocked it over, etc. I don't think the edit would have been necessary, and obviously, it wasn't. Hell, the NFL didn't fix Beyoncé almost falling on her ass this year when they posted it online or elsewhere. To me, it just doesn't need fixing. It's live TV. Shit's gonna happen, and that's 50% of why people watch it. Who's going to mess up, who's going to accidentally cuss, who's going to roll into fits of laughter? All that makes for TV. Listen, they didn't even try to save Ashley Simpson, who was quite an up and coming singer at the time (and she can actually sing quite well), by editing. Prince's guitar cord is minuscule in ratio to the whole performance.

TrivialPursuit said:

CalhounSq said:

I'll never forgive SNL for cutting to him when he realized his guitar wasn't plugged in & he'd already been playing it - they never fixed that, even during that special they did, which was 50% Fred fucking Armisen

there is also the time in the Lovesexy concert video when the guitar doesn't work... and he plays it off... i think he goes and tells Mico and Levi something... and they finish the song

I was hoping they would show the time when Billy Crystal did Prince doing We Are the World (with Mr T and Hulk Hogan playing his bodyguards)

[Edited 8/25/16 13:07pm]

TrivialPursuit said:

What would they have fixed for the special they did? Have someone else dub in his guitar playing? CGI a cord in his guitar, then CGI him doing something else until the guitar was plugged in? I mean, what are the other options that are reasonable and truthful? Because that would be a lie. And we know Prince was all about the truth.

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Back in 1999 Prince did a promo gig on Dutch TV. Except something went wrong at the start, and there was some kind of audio issue. When Prince found out afterwards he demanded the show wouldn't be broadcast and they had to hand ovcer the tapes. Several weeks later a package arrives in Holland: turns out Prince had re-recorded the audio for the entire performance and dubbed it onto the tapes.

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Oh, and then there's the whole SOTT film.

OnlyNDaUsa said:

CalhounSq said:

I'll never forgive SNL for cutting to him when he realized his guitar wasn't plugged in & he'd already been playing it - they never fixed that, even during that special they did, which was 50% Fred fucking Armisen

there is also the time in the Lovesexy concert video when the guitar doesn't work... and he plays it off... i think he goes and tells Mico and Levi something... and they finish the song

I was hoping they would show the time when Billy Crystal did Prince doing We Are the World (with Mr T and Hulk Hogan playing his bodyguards)

[Edited 8/25/16 13:07pm]

Really? Prince couldn't have checked that shit himself before he started playing? That's Preparing to Perform 101, sweetie. Nobody to blame but Prince.

I mean, the hell, I knew to check my sax before each performance in high school band, so I knew whether to request a backup or nah.

Oh my goodness @ that Billy Crystal sketch. Is there any incident/article to cite that they are spoofing?

StrangeButTrue said:

Oh my goodness @ that Billy Crystal sketch. Is there any incident/article to cite that they are spoofing?

the night of the We Are the World recording Big Chick (I think) beat up a reporter for getting into Prince's car. This was also mentioned in the B-side "Hello"

Yes I think P should have checked that himself afterall we know he rehearsed everything beforehand anyway from other rehearsal TV footage that has leaked out, and I liked it being left in anyway, because it did show a mistake and made the performance more real in a way - that stuff happens even to P and it was interesting to see his reaction to it. I am sick of seeing everything sensored and photoshopped to death - I like the realness of that performance

BartVanHemelen said:

TrivialPursuit said:

What would they have fixed for the special they did? Have someone else dub in his guitar playing? CGI a cord in his guitar, then CGI him doing something else until the guitar was plugged in? I mean, what are the other options that are reasonable and truthful? Because that would be a lie. And we know Prince was all about the truth.

.

Back in 1999 Prince did a promo gig on Dutch TV. Except something went wrong at the start, and there was some kind of audio issue. When Prince found out afterwards he demanded the show wouldn't be broadcast and they had to hand ovcer the tapes. Several weeks later a package arrives in Holland: turns out Prince had re-recorded the audio for the entire performance and dubbed it onto the tapes.

.

Oh, and then there's the whole SOTT film.

Well, this was live TV. SOTT wasn't. And he obviously didn't have an issue with it, since it was left as-is. For me, the unplugged guitar wasn't the same kind of issue that perhaps the Dutch TV issue might have been, or whatever else.

CalhounSq said:

StrangeButTrue said:

yeah I like the whole thing is cool.. he just casualy plugs in ans keeps playing.. thats live TV shit happens...

there is a Prince Fails compilation on YT that shows he deaing with lots of diferent things while performing.. some he handles well and others he isnt too happy about.. but he is always on with the the show and thats what I like about him... Also later in his performances like Hop Farm and Nokia Arena he was full on about the sound instructing the Sound guys .. more sound.. Lights off.. all that stuff.. hes awsome..

[Edited 8/25/16 17:44pm]

[Edited 8/25/16 17:46pm]

Love live tv and also hate it.Esp morning tv.Anything can go wrong and does esp when your working with kids,elderly and pets

pah said:

How about the 1991 VMAs (Gett Off)? When he gets to the mike the pin is still in it, so he can't just lift it off the stand. He looks unamused, but he continues to sing while removing the pin (then throwing it!). I think it threw him off for a moment, and I bet somebody heard about it later, but I have to admit that I didn't notice it until I'd seen the video multiple times. Live is just that. He was a perfectionist, but also a consummate performer.

Oh damn, I need to see that

cool story

BartVanHemelen said:

TrivialPursuit said:

What would they have fixed for the special they did? Have someone else dub in his guitar playing? CGI a cord in his guitar, then CGI him doing something else until the guitar was plugged in? I mean, what are the other options that are reasonable and truthful? Because that would be a lie. And we know Prince was all about the truth.

.

Back in 1999 Prince did a promo gig on Dutch TV. Except something went wrong at the start, and there was some kind of audio issue. When Prince found out afterwards he demanded the show wouldn't be broadcast and they had to hand ovcer the tapes. Several weeks later a package arrives in Holland: turns out Prince had re-recorded the audio for the entire performance and dubbed it onto the tapes.

.

Oh, and then there's the whole SOTT film.

Wow, Bart, you sound like a fangirl!

EnDoRpHn said:

BartVanHemelen said:

.

Back in 1999 Prince did a promo gig on Dutch TV. Except something went wrong at the start, and there was some kind of audio issue. When Prince found out afterwards he demanded the show wouldn't be broadcast and they had to hand ovcer the tapes. Several weeks later a package arrives in Holland: turns out Prince had re-recorded the audio for the entire performance and dubbed it onto the tapes.

.

Oh, and then there's the whole SOTT film.

Wow, Bart, you sound like a fangirl!

RodeoSchro said:

CalhounSq said:

I'll never forgive SNL for cutting to him when he realized his guitar wasn't plugged in & he'd already been playing it - they never fixed that, even during that special they did, which was 50% Fred fucking Armisen

Oh man, I ALWAYS point that part out to my friends. But I tell them, "Look at how coolly he handled that. What a pro!"

Exactly. Prince didn't blow his cool...and neither should we.

pah said:

He was a perfectionist

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NO HE WAS NOT.

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Sheesh.

BartVanHemelen said:

pah said:

He was a perfectionist

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NO HE WAS NOT.

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Sheesh.

why do you persist with this line BVH?

How many professionals from TV, fashion, music etc have come out in droves who have actually worked with him over the years & said without doubt that he was a super pro' with meticulous attention to detail. These are the people that will be listened to & certainly not you. You have observed from afar...yes he made a few mistakes but come on..he is dead..let it go!

PURPLEIZED3121 said:

BartVanHemelen said:

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NO HE WAS NOT.

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Sheesh.

why do you persist with this line BVH?

How many professionals from TV, fashion, music etc have come out in droves who have actually worked with him over the years & said without doubt that he was a super pro' with meticulous attention to detail. These are the people that will be listened to & certainly not you. You have observed from afar...yes he made a few mistakes but come on..he is dead..let it go!

.

That's not the same as being a perfectionist. Sheesh, just listen to the sound quality of his records: that alone tells you enough. A perfectionist wouldn't release brickwalled shite. Go listen to Steely Dan if you want to hear perfectionists; Prince is nothing like them.

BartVanHemelen said:

PURPLEIZED3121 said:

why do you persist with this line BVH?

How many professionals from TV, fashion, music etc have come out in droves who have actually worked with him over the years & said without doubt that he was a super pro' with meticulous attention to detail. These are the people that will be listened to & certainly not you. You have observed from afar...yes he made a few mistakes but come on..he is dead..let it go!

.

That's not the same as being a perfectionist. Sheesh, just listen to the sound quality of his records: that alone tells you enough. A perfectionist wouldn't release brickwalled shite. Go listen to Steely Dan if you want to hear perfectionists; Prince is nothing like them.

I think Prince played from the heart more than almost all other artists. Every single person who is to any extent a perfectionist is only a perfectionist in certain selective areas. One cannot be a perfectionist in everything. I've always been more interested in the quality of the musical creation as opposed to the subjectively arguable sound quality. An artist with music I don't care for in perfect sound quality is of little interest.

I think Prince was a perfectionist in many ways, certainly fashion-wise, certainly in his stage performances and his determination to produce all apsects of music himself.

BartVanHemelen said:

PURPLEIZED3121 said:

why do you persist with this line BVH?

How many professionals from TV, fashion, music etc have come out in droves who have actually worked with him over the years & said without doubt that he was a super pro' with meticulous attention to detail. These are the people that will be listened to & certainly not you. You have observed from afar...yes he made a few mistakes but come on..he is dead..let it go!

.

That's not the same as being a perfectionist. Sheesh, just listen to the sound quality of his records: that alone tells you enough. A perfectionist wouldn't release brickwalled shite. Go listen to Steely Dan if you want to hear perfectionists; Prince is nothing like them.

some of his greatest songs came from not being a perfectionist..as per sound engineers stories from say the SOTT period. Steely Dan..[!]..maybe sonically perfect BUT come on comparing the music/songs to prince?! Lets agree that sonically some [latter albums] weren't sonically perfect BUT in many other areas as highlighted by many others he was a total perfectionist & I of course count too many band members 1st hand experience as solid evidence.