Patryce Choc'Let Banks (Former Gram Central Station Singer)



Has a book out & .....

DEJA VIEW (excerpt)

"Can you handle it?"...the bass is thumping, David's guitar rides the rhythm, Willie beats the drums into submission, hanging with Larry stroke for stroke. Butch and Hershall on both ends of the stage, fingers flying, capturing every note on the scale.

Fonk is so thick in the air, you can smell it. The crowd is grooving hard, faces reflecting their struggle to hang, as Graham Central Station relentlessly drives on. "Can you handle it?" ...the lyrics ask. In my mind, I ask myself the same question.

Here I stand in front of thousands of people as the female lead singer of the premier funk band, Graham Central Station. Larry Graham is the leader, and my man. The crowd sees me, the funk diva. My outfit is "Glam Funk" all the way. Silver sequined gown with a plunging neck line stopping just above my belly button...hair cascading to my waist...silver and rhinestone, custom made platforms...turquoise and silver rings on every finger, silver bangles on both arms up to my elbows --- and dark sunglasses.

What they can't see is the blackness surrounding my right eye, competing with the blackness of the lens of the glasses.

A fake smile attempts to convince the audience of "Fonkateers", that it's all good. I want them to think the shades are hiding how high I am. I would rather they think I was too high, than know the truth. The ring of bruises and blackness, is the result of an assualt --- a violent, abusive act committed by the same hand playing the thundering bass, the hand of the man I loved.

http://patrycechocletbanks.com/

http://www.youtube.com/wa...wVL5RdEROM
[Edited 4/28/10 3:45am]

I dig her a lot and glad to see her doing well but
is this all a effort to sell the book.

this is not new news. it new for all of you guys.anyway prince dosent treat women any better than larry or anybody else. so just gett off larry back and have a nice day.

I

1) Had no idea Larry Graham was in a relationship with C-H-O-C-L-E-T, Choc'Let
2) Had no idea Larry Graham was abusive.

Does this story take place before or after his conversion to JW?

phunkdaddy said:

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I don't think so. She has been on KPFA a few times talking about this book but she did not go into the details. In addtion, most funk fans know that Larry was as strung as Sly and even P talked about Larry changing from his ass-kicking 70s thing to the person he is today on Tavis Smiley.

laurarichardson said:

Now we know why Sly wants to kill Larry at one time. The Family Stone wasn't big enough for two drug-infested abused pimps.

Just saying.

Somebody needs to sell a book.

If anybody judged me on what I did just ten years ago I'd be in deep trouble personally. I've made a lot of mistakes. I wouldn't want someone writing about them a decade later, though of course this is their right. I don't think that transgressions are definitive though.That they represent the sum total of a persons life.

I abhor abuse of any kind, but there is no evidence Larry continued with this, nor that he had done it before. In addition, we do not even have any evidence Patryce is telling the truth, nor that she is conveying events accurately. Necessarily she will write from her own perspective.

Did Larry do anything good by any chance?

Or is this more to do with the sci-fi fantasy many Prince fans have about Larry Graham brainwashing a poor, defenseless Prince, who is unable to make decisions for himself? I think so.

this is not new news. it new for all of you guys.anyway prince dosent treat women any better than larry or anybody else. so just gett off larry back and have a nice day.

aintnoboutadoubtit said:

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"Or is this more to do with the sci-fi fantasy many Prince fans have about Larry Graham brainwashing a poor, defenseless Prince, who is unable to make decisions for himself? I think so."

No I think this is just her story in her book. It really has nothing to do with Prince or Larry in the present day.

Like I said she was on KPFA “The History of Funk” and she did not really push the book that much. I do find it a little disturbing that some you are almost making excuses for his behavior if he was a battering people back then so be it. You can't always hide from your past.

Look, there are two sides to every story and this is hers.

It is well-known that Larry Graham was wild and on drugs early in his career with GCS. Then he turned his life around. The man described here existed in the early '70's, not now.

All books need a selling point, a conflict, otherwise they are simply not interesting to read. Having said that, if she was abused it is inexcusable, but that does not necessarily reflect the situation now. Have you ever made a mistake and regreted it? Perhaps a huge mistake of the kind you can never take back? Would you wish your life to be defined by that? Or given another chance?

Have you bothered to question Choc'let's choice in revealing this information now, nearly forty years after the event?

I saw Larry and Tina last Sunday and Tina didn't look 'battered' to me. As well as providing an explosive gig he was actually very humble, kind and gracious.

Of course it's very easy to be negative about Larry Graham. That's all some people here want to do and this has given them ammunition.

Look, there are two sides to every story and this is hers.

It is well-known that Larry Graham was wild and on drugs early in his career with GCS. Then he turned his life around. The man described here existed in the early '70's, not now.

All books need a selling point, a conflict, otherwise they are simply not interesting to read. Having said that, if she was abused it is inexcusable, but that does not necessarily reflect the situation now. Have you ever made a mistake and regreted it? Perhaps a huge mistake of the kind you can never take back? Would you wish your life to be defined by that? Or given another chance?

Have you bothered to question Choc'let's choice in revealing this information now, nearly forty years after the event?

I saw Larry and Tina last Sunday and Tina didn't look 'battered' to me. As well as providing an explosive gig he was actually very humble, kind and gracious.

Of course it's very easy to be negative about Larry Graham. That's all some people here want to do and this has given them ammunition.

OperatingThetan said:

True.
Not to say it couldn't have happened but it's 40 years later and
Larry is a totally different person now. He unlike Sly has learned
from his earlier mistakes.

savoirfaire said:

Does this story take place before or after his conversion to JW?

I hate abuse but if he did abuse her, I hope it was after his conversion just to show that they all aren't the goodie goods they claim to be.

laurarichardson said:

Excuses are made because at the end of the day.. most men have the potential or have beaten women and they'd rather lie and/or have the women they've beaten pretend it didn't happen or keep their secrets. My mother advice to me when I got married, don't every lie or pretend your life is one way when you know it's another, tell everyone and anybody the real deal. She is right.


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[Edited 4/29/10 8:22am]

I hate abuse but if he did abuse her, I hope it was after his conversion just to show that they all aren't the goodie goods they claim to be.

vainandy said:

They aren't. Trust me on that. However, I don't think Larry has ever claimed to be a 'goodie goods'. In fact,in concert he preaches less than Prince. And demonstrates a good deal of humility and kindness.

What I have a problem with here is that people are rushing to judge Larry on a statement made 40 years after the event. If this were Prince, the responses would be different. People want to believe this about Larry because it justifies their perceived dislike of him.

Battery is a strong claim. As is the suggestion here that Larry continues to be an abuser of women. It is slander without evidence or credibility. All that's happening here, is people choosing to totally accept without reservation one side of the story because it suits them better.