Michael is yet another person saying that PRince didn't have close friends (so anyone saying otherwise is wrong) but for some reason the way he says it makes more sense. Its kinder and more understanding of Prince's need to protect himself from people who may take advantage of him. I still think the early NPG folks and the men in his life should lay off making assumptions about what other people (particularly women) think constitutes a friendship but I am starting to understand what these guys are talking about and in a more general sense they are probably right. HOwever, I do also want to say "Speak for yourselves."

And of course it didn’t have the adverse effect, but we still just cried like babies up there. It was such a fresh wound and a person that we were close to, but he was not the type of person that you could really — he was very personal. So you can only know him to a certain degree. And there’s a lot of people that came out after his death saying, “Oh, me and Prince, we were great friends,” and it’s like, if you really knew Prince, you knew that that was an impossibility for the most part. It’s unfortunate that a person that works their entire life to be successful ends up being isolated and insulated by that success, because as you well know, the better you do in life, the more people you attract who come for various reasons. So I never took his general distrust personally. I got it: everybody wants something from you when you’re on that level. And you don’t want to walk around saying no to everybody, but on a certain level you kind of have to, you know, to keep yourself in tact, you have to leave something for you. I’m sorry, I think I’ve gone off subject to a certain degree.

lucylula said:

Thanks Latin, that was an interesting article

[Edited 6/7/17 15:15pm]

[Edited 6/7/17 15:16pm]

in watching Slave Trade I was surprised at how supportive both Bland and Sonny were of Prince and his debacle in the 90's. I was so used to seeing disgruntled bandmembers and it seems as if Tommy Barbarella had some kind of grudge against Prince and he was part of the same band and says prince rode them unmercifully. Sonny, incidentally, gave some pretty negative recollections in the book Poplife about how Prince jerked him around at the beginning of his career, offered him a job as bassist and then changed his mind without telling Sonny. Maybe Prince decided to make up for that by giving sonny a chance to make some money. Also, Sonny did not sound to me like a guy to diss, Brown Mark surmised the reason that Prince hired him was because Prince knew if he treated sonny like he did Mark he'd get punched in the mouth.

Thanks Latin.

RJOrion said:

Michael Bland has always been one of the best Prince storytellers, of all his bandmembers and associates

ya, very voluble and sharp dude, I'd never heard him speak before slave trade, i think maybe a few quips in prince stories but not much. The band itself were crack musicians, it kinda makes me scratch my head when people and supposedly Prince himself really thought the revolution was his greatest band. Yes they did have a more magical chemistry and coincided and contributed to Prince's creativity very well but as musicians just about any of the ones who came after were not just a little better but much much better.

Prince had his music,relationships revolved around his love for music. His entire life was dedicated to his art. He kept himself busy with creating. I dont think he had time for freindships cos his music came first before his own life even.

........................................................

'I know I shouldnt put my faith in heroes,but I cant c u any other way'

He had some time for friendships. I think he wasn't good at maintaining them and sustaining them. LIke I said, a friendship/relationship that is limited due to the demands of fame, music, and his compartmentalized personality--do we necessarily have to believe its not a friendship of some kind--because males who originated in the early NPG period define friendships differently than women in his life (especially later)? Plus, we all know how Prince was in the 1990's (pretty intense, going by a symbol, and often depressed. He only seemed to lighten up around Mayte>)

Prince was a lyricist as well. I don't think you can believably express anything about the human condition or human experience if you don't at least observe it or participate in it from time to time.

I don't know--maybe--PRince was a hypersensitive and observant man. He didn't need several encounters or several years of friendship to notice something about himself or other people or find inspiration from the people around him. I find it interesting how many mundance little things in his lyrics come from the people around him. Even the title for Face Down comes from Morris Hayes jokingly saying the record industry should kiss their asses. There are a ton of references to the musicans and people around him in his music.

Laydown said:

Prince had his music,relationships revolved around his love for music. His entire life was dedicated to his art. He kept himself busy with creating. I dont think he had time for freindships cos his music came first before his own life even.

........................................................

'I know I shouldnt put my faith in heroes,but I cant c u any other way'

[Edited 6/11/17 9:17am]

[Edited 6/11/17 9:18am]

[Edited 6/11/17 9:54am]

RJOrion said:

Michael Bland has always been one of the best Prince storytellers, of all his bandmembers and associates

.

- Yes, and my fave bandmember, along with Sonny.
You all remember the time Michael went to the org and replied our questions? The threads were called ´Bland is Back´

Electrostar said:

Great stuff Latin! Love the part about Prince fans.

Interesting the part where he mentions the presence of John L. Nelson at the recording of The Grand Progression! Come to think of it the piano segment in that song sounds remarkably like his other work (Father's song for example), so it could be that he contributed it to that track too?

[Edited 6/16/17 15:03pm]

Good interview! Thanks Latin!

purplepoppy said:

Great stuff Latin! Love the part about Prince fans.

Yeah!

Prince-Fans and humour...

That was really funny! And interesting...