masaba said:

During the turnaround at the end of SOTT when P is "conducting" Blackwell, every movement of Prince's is perfectly timed with Blackwell's playing. He spins his arm and then drops at, and when it's at it lowest point, John hits the snare. Love it. Also Blackwell's hi hat work is out of this world.

Yesssss. They jam so much EXTRA in that performance. During this period, Blackwell really inspired P. Great combo!

PRNelson said:

funkbabyandthebabysitters said:

john blackwell was a beast on the drums, loved him.

I got to meet John Blackwell before the Tampa Musicology show. They'd wrapped soundcheck and we were allowed in and were seated a while before the show when I saw John walking by. "John! What's up, baby?".... he came over and sat with us for a few minutes, like we already knew each other.

I told him how my baby brother had gotten into drumming and I'd bought him his instructional DVD set. He seemed to genuinely find joy in hearing that. I asked him to sign 1 of the 2 MUSICOLOGY CD's we received for him.

After the show some of the band members were hanging around after, mingling with some fans around the stage barricade. John called out (we were in the 4th row by his side) and gave security his drum sticks to hand to me. Security misunderstood and was going to hand it to some lady but John clarified, "No, hand it to HIM" and pointed my way.

Needless to say, it made my Little Bro's day when I stopped by the next day to give him his gifts. He was such a sweetheart to us that day and I often think back fondly on the Man that is my FAVORITE drummer of all the ones Prince was blessed to have.

I hope they're jamming out in the cosmos together.

[Edited 3/16/21 12:43pm]

Musze said:

I got to meet John Blackwell before the Tampa Musicology show. They'd wrapped soundcheck and we were allowed in and were seated a while before the show when I saw John walking by. "John! What's up, baby?".... he came over and sat with us for a few minutes, like we already knew each other.

I told him how my baby brother had gotten into drumming and I'd bought him his instructional DVD set. He seemed to genuinely find joy in hearing that. I asked him to sign 1 of the 2 MUSICOLOGY CD's we received for him.

After the show some of the band members were hanging around after, mingling with some fans around the stage barricade. John called out (we were in the 4th row by his side) and gave security his drum sticks to hand to me. Security misunderstood and was going to hand it to some lady but John clarified, "No, hand it to HIM" and pointed my way.

Needless to say, it made my Little Bro's day when I stopped by the next day to give him his gifts. He was such as sweetheart to us that day and I often think back fondly on the Man that is my FAVORITE drummer of all the ones Prince was blessed to have.

I hope they're jamming out in the cosmos together.

Great story, loved reading it.

jazzz said:

. I really liked the funky yet sophisticated drumming of John Blackwell with Prince. Much better than the macho sound of Michael B (imo). .

Michael B. for me any day. Blackwell pushes the backbeat and he always sounds like he's speeding up. That's his own personal feel and there's nothing wrong with it, I'm just saying it's not for me. Prince liked it, too, since he was trying to adopt a little of that off-kilter D'Angelo steez, but I prefer pocket and precision.

steakfinger said:

jazzz said:

. I really liked the funky yet sophisticated drumming of John Blackwell with Prince. Much better than the macho sound of Michael B (imo). .

Michael B. for me any day. Blackwell pushes the backbeat and he always sounds like he's speeding up. That's his own personal feel and there's nothing wrong with it, I'm just saying it's not for me. Prince liked it, too, since he was trying to adopt a little of that off-kilter D'Angelo steez, but I prefer pocket and precision.

I like both!

This guy gets it:

https://youtu.be/6T6T_Bqvmkg

[Edited 3/18/21 21:47pm]

thebanishedone said:

Whoever said that jazzy part of Sign O The Times from rnr hall sounds like Sticky Like Glue.John was a nice guybut did u know he got his pay check cut because of his numerous timing problem with drums? A band member from Ona Musicology band told me that and he said poor John Blackwell.

Prince yelled at Him ONSTAGE here in Seattle on the Musicology Tour, "Come on, John. STAY ON THE GROOVE!!"..........in front of 20,000 plus Peoples!!!

Elephants said:

This guy gets it:

https://youtu.be/6T6T_Bqvmkg

[Edited 3/18/21 21:47pm]

Great video...he's really humble and takes time to talk about Prince's next level talent as an arranger.

(I have to watch my tendency to submerge into Prince-world...gotta go shopping)

I would expect that only 5% of that audience had any idea of the majesty/complexity of that piece (Sign of the times @ RRHOF)

Musze said:

I got to meet John Blackwell before the Tampa Musicology show. They'd wrapped soundcheck and we were allowed in and were seated a while before the show when I saw John walking by. "John! What's up, baby?".... he came over and sat with us for a few minutes, like we already knew each other.

I told him how my baby brother had gotten into drumming and I'd bought him his instructional DVD set. He seemed to genuinely find joy in hearing that. I asked him to sign 1 of the 2 MUSICOLOGY CD's we received for him.

After the show some of the band members were hanging around after, mingling with some fans around the stage barricade. John called out (we were in the 4th row by his side) and gave security his drum sticks to hand to me. Security misunderstood and was going to hand it to some lady but John clarified, "No, hand it to HIM" and pointed my way.

Needless to say, it made my Little Bro's day when I stopped by the next day to give him his gifts. He was such a sweetheart to us that day and I often think back fondly on the Man that is my FAVORITE drummer of all the ones Prince was blessed to have.

I hope they're jamming out in the cosmos together.

[Edited 3/16/21 12:43pm]

That is beautiful. ANd I bet he was absolutely truly happy to hear about your brother's drumming.

PRNelson said:

Have you noticed how the instrumental section they add at the end of that performance of SOTT is actually the musical structure for sticky like glue?

Prince loved to air drum in his car to Sticky Like Glue. He said it in one of the rehearsals of the song.

Sticky Like Glue was written about a woman Prince was involved with. They broke up and got back together about five times before 2016. They were in love and had a very dysfunctional relationship. The woman sure wasn't Sheila, Bria, or Andy. RIP Prince, Blackwell, and Lori.

TheTruth123 said:

Musze said:

I got to meet John Blackwell before the Tampa Musicology show. They'd wrapped soundcheck and we were allowed in and were seated a while before the show when I saw John walking by. "John! What's up, baby?".... he came over and sat with us for a few minutes, like we already knew each other.

I told him how my baby brother had gotten into drumming and I'd bought him his instructional DVD set. He seemed to genuinely find joy in hearing that. I asked him to sign 1 of the 2 MUSICOLOGY CD's we received for him.

After the show some of the band members were hanging around after, mingling with some fans around the stage barricade. John called out (we were in the 4th row by his side) and gave security his drum sticks to hand to me. Security misunderstood and was going to hand it to some lady but John clarified, "No, hand it to HIM" and pointed my way.

Needless to say, it made my Little Bro's day when I stopped by the next day to give him his gifts. He was such a sweetheart to us that day and I often think back fondly on the Man that is my FAVORITE drummer of all the ones Prince was blessed to have.

I hope they're jamming out in the cosmos together.

[Edited 3/16/21 12:43pm]

That is beautiful. ANd I bet he was absolutely truly happy to hear about your brother's drumming.

He absolutely was. He lit up, asked questions like "how old is he? How's it going? Did he find it useful?" and told me to encourage him and tell him how happy he was to hear about him.