Teena being one of my all-time fave female vocalists, "You So Heavy" is my favorite song of hers. Off of her "Emerald City" album from 86, which is also my fave album of hers, "You So Heavy" dedicated to Rick, is the shit. With this sexy, slow ass funk groove, it goes to another level when the late, great Stevie Ray Vaughn jumps in with a heavy Hendrixian solo. He cuts up on the guitar all the way untill the song ends, leaving him being the only one playing, doing his best Hendrix "Slight Return" vamp. I knew Teena was bad before, but when she hit with this, I knew I was in love! Anybody else dig "You So Heavy"?

A jam indeed...
The whole album is great...

funkpill said:

Hell yeah. She's got Bootsy on it, hell, whole Side One is killin'!

Exactly!!!

Bootsy was the reason I bought it at first....
But the whole album has killer jams!!!
[Edited 4/27/05 13:42pm]

blackguitaristz said:

She couldn't go wrong w/having Bootsy touch on the cut. Talk about so serious funkin.

Hotlegs said:

funkpill said:

Man, she had a cat in her band at the time called "Bendrix"! He co-wrote some shit with her on that album. Honestly, I was digging what Teena was doing, "Lips 2 Find U" is the shit, more than what P was doing with Around The World and Parade. Although she did bite off of P's imagery on her album cover. I know p doesn't own the keys to paisley print, BUT, Teena having paisley on her guitar was a nod to P.

blackguitaristz said:

That's deep.

Hotlegs said:

The way Teena looked on the cover, she could have EASILY been in The Revolution, circa 84-85. Man, that's THE person P should have done a song with, or wrote an album with and produced with, is Teena Marie.

blackguitaristz said:

yep!!!

YEP! YEP!! 2 x I heard Teena say in an interview that she was listening to a lot of Prince when she wrote "Lovergirl". It's quite apparent that she's a fan and he's had some influence on her music. IMO, she's more like Prince than she's like Rick James.

This belongs in another thread, but what the hell-When "female producer" is mentioned how can someone forget Teena Marie who paved the way for women who DO IT ALL in the music industry {singer, songwriter, composer, producer & musician}. People just do not know what they're missing when they sleep on her...GO TO ONE OF HER SHOWS AND YOU CAN BEST BELIEVE YOU WILL BE HOOKED 4 LIFE...A lot of people know that she can play the guitar & piano, but I"ve seen her play the drums and all I could say was,"DAYUM! How can one little lady have so much TALENT...I also heard that she's an artist, too--Lady T loves to paint. Can U believe that!!!

Teena on Prince's Dirty Mind Tour




[Edited 4/27/05 19:12pm]

I LOVE THIS SONG!!!! LOVE IT LOVE IT LIVE IT!!!

i had totally forgotten that was Stevie playing guitar....such a shame he had to fade....

a lot of men around Teena have passed on....such a shame.

blackguitaristz said:

Teena Marie and Prince working together would be a dream come true for me

Sarai said:

Very nice pics. Yeah, I agree, Teena is more like P than Rick. Big difference though, Teena was able to florish with Rick, where if she was with P, it would have been some problems. P would had tried to hold Teena back, where Rick was confident enough to let Teena do her thing, freely. And Teena was/is one of those artist that has to have freedom.

blackguitaristz said:

The closest P ever got to working with Teena was through Jill Jones, who was Teena's backup singer on P's Dirty Mind Tour.

blackguitaristz said:

blackguitaristz said:

blackguitaristz said:

Teena was so cute. She's an ole Venice Beach girl. She went to Venice High. In these pics, she resembles Gayle Chapman.

I think Teena's still cute at 49. Yep, she's "an ole Venice Beach girl". I heard that when she was a itty-bitty young girl she had a habit of climbing out of her bedroom window to hang out with the black kids in her neighborhood BTW, who's Gayle Chapman?

-If photo isn't clear, refresh page for full quality-

-Teena w/fans at Queen Mary in Long Beach '04-


[Edited 4/29/05 13:24pm]

Sarai said:

Nice pic. Gayle Chapman was a keyboard player in P's o.g. band lineup. She was replaced by Lisa Coleman.

blackguitaristz said:

That was SRV!!?? I always tghought it was Teena. Lawd U So Heavy is my song. That whole EC cd but YSH is moody heavy metal. How it builds up!

I remember thinking whaoh what is Teena doing with her style.

I remember Lenny saying this one was his fav of hers.

I think we're all pretty much on the same page with "Emerald City". And yes, "You So Heavy" was the SHIT, for real!!! One of my favs from the album, too. The "Ivory Queen of Soul" definitely rocks out on this one ! I knew that Teena was/is like a sponge-absorbs everything, and it really showed on "EC". It didn't do well commercially because a lot of us were scratching our heads in confusion-It was like, "Where's the Teena Marie that we know"? The soulful powerhouse behind the heart on your sleeve like ballads that we had grown accustomed to from her. That Teena had taken a vacation on "Emerald City". On "EC" we had a Teena wrapping her honey-dipped voice around the driving funk of "Lips To Find U", who head-banged like a hard rocker on "You So Heavy" & who also summoned back up her style of a torch singer on "Sunny Skies", and she did it all with conviction. She's a GREAT TALENT, no question about that...No, "EC" didn't do well commercially, but as far as showcasing her musical abilities then IMO, its easily one of her best albums. However, I must admit that it had taken me a while to truly appreciate it. I remember standing in the middle of the record store floor observing the dark & eerie cover and I knew right there in the middle of the floor that this album was going to be something VERY different...I was right
[Edited 4/30/05 11:02am]

EMERALD CITY is my FAV Teena Marie CD...I also love YOU SO HEAVY...I know a lotta people were confused when this CD came out but I just can REALLY appreciate an artist that can dip into various forms of music and do it confidently and competently whether or not it hits commercially!

Teena with her guitars from the 80's & 90's & Today

-If photos aren't clear, refresh page for full quality-

A young Teena at the LA Music Store


"Black Rain"

She plays "IVORY" now

DiamondGirl said:

Nah, it was SRV. I WISH it was Teena on axe. If Teena could get down like that, I would have definately tried to marry her!