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[b]LiveDaily Interview: Drummer John Blackwell, of Prince's band[/b]
by Don Zulaica
LiveDaily Contributing Writer,
FEB. 19, 3:54 P.M. ET

John Blackwell, Prince's phenomenal 28-year-old drummer, grew up in South Carolina, the son of John Blackwell Sr., a drummer with a groove so deep he was called "Pocket Man."

"When I turned two, my father would wake me up and tell me to come to the living room with him at 6 or 7 in the morning," he recounts. "And he would make me sit down and watch him play drums. He would play for hours, every day, and I would watch him. And after he was done he would give me the sticks, and he would leave the room so I could discover the drums for myself. Instead of telling me, 'Play this,' or 'play that,' he'd let me do it by myself. The first beat I ever played, before anybody ever told me anything, was 'Brick House.'"

Before coming into the Prince fold, the Blackwell spent time playing with Patti Labelle, Billy Eckstine, and Cameo, and he attended the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston.

Prince's latest album, "The Rainbow Children," came out in November of 2001. Blackwell spoke with LiveDaily about the record, as well as landing the gig with the enigmatic musician.

LiveDaily: Tell me about the Patti Labelle concert where you met Prince and Larry Graham [of Graham Central Station, and Prince's current bassist], the one that led to your audition for Prince's band.

John Blackwell: That took place during the Patti Labelle/Chaka Khan tour of '99. The first show with Patti was in Minneapolis, and of course on the opening night, I was pretty much ready to come on stage--the first hit, you just want to go out there and blow everybody away. I wanted to do what I do on drums, and back Patti up, make her sound good. I was so into what I was doing with Patti on stage, I kind of blocked everybody out, anybody who was around the stage. I was aware that Prince or Larry Graham could have been in the building that night, but being in the zone I was in, I didn't let that distract me. Because if I had let that get to me, I probably wouldn't be on Prince's gig right now. I would have tried to showboat or whatever.

And Prince would have known that in a second.

Yeah. So I just blocked everybody out. And of course, they were watching me from the side, but I didn't know because it was so dark couldn't see who it was. So I was just doing what comes naturally.

So the show ends...

I was going to go back to my dressing room, and the next thing you know, Larry Graham comes running over to me and goes, "Oh man, I feel a connection between you and me. Give me your card, please stay in touch." Prince came to me afterwards and said, "You're unbelievable. I'll see you soon." And I was thinking to myself, see you soon? How is he going to see me soon? He doesn't even have my number! [laughs] Little did I know it, of course him and Larry Graham were together, so I kept in contact with Larry. So through Larry, I got invited to Paisley [Park Studios, Prince's Minnesota compound] to jam. They flew me up there when my tour was over, like in September of '99. And I came up and jammed for one day. It was like a dream come true, for me, and actually like a dream. There's me and Larry Graham and Prince, playing. That was an honor--it's still an honor.

And from there you kept getting invited back to jam, and eventually landed the gig. Tell me something about putting together the last album with Prince, "The Rainbow Children."

There was a beat I came up with, for a song called "Everywhere." I was just checking my drums, and the engineer was trying to get a good miking of everything at that moment. And they said, "Okay, snare drum," whatever, "we've got everything miked. Now play everything so we can get a good mix." So I'm just messing around playing some beats, and I did a fast, Latin-type of beat that you would hear Dennis Chambers or Billy Cobham play. They were like, "Man. Keep that going." And I came into the studio the next day and it's a song. It's got vocals in the background, and it was beautiful. I had no idea what it was going to be.

Do the tragedies of Sept. 11 make you think about your future in music, touring with Prince, traveling on planes or whatever? How have you dealt with this?

I mean, I know who created me. I know who my savior is--Jehovah--and I'm learning Him, and getting closer to Him, if I keep on that path, flying or whatever, it doesn't really bother me. I know where I'm going.

Of course, my heart goes out to all the people, everyone--the ones on the plane, the ones at the World Trade Center, that was something that should not ever happen. That was very tragic, but it does not stop me from doing what I do. I mean, that's why music is important. Music brings people together, it always has.

Sounds like words of wisdom from your father.

My dad was the most important...of anybody, and still is. No matter how much older I get, he has something to share with me, a life lesson or a lesson in music.


Originally published: 19-Feb-2002

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he's really unbelievable. Truly an addition to Prince's band.
What leads me to the desire to see one of their shows! PLEASE!

I have talked to him many times and he is very nice guy!!!!