September 23, 2012

Link

Condensed and edited from the NY Times:

You once wrote that Michael Jackson stopped working with you because he felt threatened by the credit you were getting for his music. Considering he was never able to repeat the success he had with “Off the Wall,” “Thriller” and “Bad,” how much credit do you deserve?

Well, what do you think?

I don’t know. I wasn’t in the studio.

You heard the albums, didn’t you? That’s nothing to do with any one person. That’s the combination of the two of us. You’re looking at one of the most talented kids in the history of show business. Michael was very observant and detail-oriented. You put that together with my background of big-band arranging and composing, we had no limitations.

Did he really never personally tell you he was moving on?

He didn’t, no. It’s O.K., man. It’s not like I’m gonna roll over and die. He told his manager that I was losing it, that I didn’t understand the business because I didn’t understand in 1987 that rap was dead. Rap wasn’t dead. Rap hadn’t even started yet.

You arranged and conducted for both Sinatra and the Rat Pack. A lot of the Rat Pack banter is hard to listen to now. Sammy always seems to be the butt of their jokes, like their black mascot.

Sammy was playing along with it. He used to sign his telegrams to Frank as “Smoky.” That used to be a bad name, like “darky.” But Vegas was so racist. I had no idea, man. They would not allow Nat Cole and Lena Horne in the casino. Frank by himself changed that, for Basie, for Sammy. When I went there with Frank in ’64, we weren’t allowed, but Frank put a bodyguard on each one of us. I saw it.

Sammy got a lot of grief when he married the Swedish actress May Britt in 1960. All three of your wives have been white. Have you had any trouble?

Never. What you have to understand is that a lot of the jazz guys, that was part of their revolution. Nobody can tell me who I can socialize with. Charlie Parker’s wife Chan was white. All the cats was doing that, man. The richest white ladies in America, like Nica Rothschild, who lived at the Stanhope, took care of all the jazz guys, Arthur Taylor, Thelonious Monk, everybody. She had apartments where they could have jam sessions, she carried them around in her Rolls-Royce.

Do you have a girlfriend?

A lot of girlfriends.

During the “We Are the World” session, great singers like Smokey Robinson didn’t even get solo lines. How do you tell Bette Midler, “Kim Carnes gets a solo, but you don’t”?

It was not easy. If you’ve got 46 people and only 21 solos, you’re gonna have a problem. That’s why we did all the background lines before I told them who would sing solos. If they did the solos first, they’d all disappear.

Your daughter Kidada was engaged to Tupac Shakur when he was killed. How does a father react to a potential son-in-law with such a dangerous reputation?

I wasn’t happy at first. He’d attacked me for having all these white wives. And my daughter Rashida, who was at Harvard, wrote a letter to The Source taking him apart.

I remember one night I was dropping Rashida at Jerry’s delicatessen, and Tupac was talking to Kidada because he was falling in love with her then. Like an idiot, I went over to him, put two arms on his shoulders and said, “Pac, we gotta sit down and talk, man.” If he had had a gun, I would’ve been done. But we talked. He apologized. We became very close after that. Once, I was having a date at the Hotel Bel-Air, and he came by and told the waiter that he would be back, he was going home to put on a tie.

A tie? You’re destroying his thug legacy.

Ask my daughter! She was there!

Do you know about that conspiracy theory that says you ordered the hit on Tupac?

I know. The people who say I wanted to have sex with him. Man, this is the biggest age of haters I have ever seen in my life. I’ve been called a blonde-lover, a pedophile, gay, everything. I don’t care, man. Imagine my daughter being engaged to Tupac and me trying to make love to him? And I’m not into no men, man. I’m a hard-core lesbian. Are you kidding? All my life, all my life.

interesting interview he's very candid

I have lost allot of respect for him, ever since he bashed MJ in an interview after his death.

It's better that he not be ashamed to speak with candor about the past while he has the opportunity. As a consequence, there's likely to be less room for speculation about his true feelings when he dies.

He hates Prince, I do know that.

2freaky4church1 said:

He hates Prince, I do know that.

I wonder if he posts in P: music & more?

2freaky4church1 said:

He hates Prince, I do know that.

How so? Admittedly, I've not been following what he's had to say about the little fella very closely, but I remember him reading an interview not long after Back on the Block came out, in which he seemed to have P's back over the We Are the World incident - saying that P seemed shy and just wanted to be in the background and play guitar on the track, but Q didn't want any guitar in there. IIRC, he also said they'd asked him to participate on the BOTB album, but, again, P didn't want to be in the middle of something; instead, he said he'd like for them to do a whole album together.

That was more than 20 years ago, but it sounded like there was mutual respect at that time. Is there a subsequent part of the story that I've missed?

[Edited 9/24/12 8:18am]

deebee said:

2freaky4church1 said:

He hates Prince, I do know that.

How so? Admittedly, I've not been following what he's had to say about the little fella very closely, but I remember him reading an interview not long after Back on the Block came out, in which he seemed to have P's back over the We Are the World incident - saying that P seemed shy and just wanted to be in the background and play guitar on the track, but Q didn't want any guitar in there. IIRC, he also said they'd asked him to participate on the BOTB album, but, again, P didn't want to be in the middle of something; instead, he said he'd like for them to do a whole album together.

That was more than 20 years ago, but it sounded like there was mutual respect at that time. Is there a subsequent part of the story that I've missed?

[Edited 9/24/12 8:18am]

Then there was the lollipop incident.

My opinion is it was quite funny but P had no business being on the stage if he was going to be a boob. Somebody will elaborate.

Marrk said:

deebee said:

How so? Admittedly, I've not been following what he's had to say about the little fella very closely, but I remember him reading an interview not long after Back on the Block came out, in which he seemed to have P's back over the We Are the World incident - saying that P seemed shy and just wanted to be in the background and play guitar on the track, but Q didn't want any guitar in there. IIRC, he also said they'd asked him to participate on the BOTB album, but, again, P didn't want to be in the middle of something; instead, he said he'd like for them to do a whole album together.

That was more than 20 years ago, but it sounded like there was mutual respect at that time. Is there a subsequent part of the story that I've missed?

[Edited 9/24/12 8:18am]

Then there was the lollipop incident.

My opinion is it was quite funny but P had no business being on the stage if he was going to be a boob. Somebody will elaborate.

Ha! I hadn't seen that until today. (Or perhaps I'd repressed the memory......)

Ahh, Princey, you're a tit but you're our tit and we love ya.

[Edited 9/24/12 9:29am]

q certainly is bitter about mj, that seems obviously. it's personal. mj was barely in his crypt when q was out giving interviews and badmouthing him. you don't rip on a man's children w/o it being personal. this is only the most recent example of his vitriol against someone who's not here to defend himself, which sucks. yeah, q gets to be candid but it's really dick move when you could have said this 25 years ago instead of pretending to appreciate mj's talent.

for my two cents, whether 'bad' and 'thriller' sold more than 'dangerous' or 'invincible' isn't the point. it's whether you like the music that's on them. in the mj thread, someone has posted a link to a critic who didn't think bad was all that good of an album. i have to say, i agree. i didn't think it measured up to 'thriller' which didn't quite measure up to 'off the wall'. i like 'invincible' more overall and it wasn't nearly as successful as the other albums.

this interviewer in more interested in feeding q's ego, since most critics felt that w/o q, mj was nothing. in other words, these two people are on the same page: q also felt/feels that way, too.

i can see why mj may have thought it better to move on, and not b/c of some argument over incorporating rap into his music. i think that's q's stupid explanation and that there was likely more to it.

i've read that mj had to fight for co-producer credit on 'don't stop till you get enough'. apparently, mj's demo isn't all that different than the final mix which calls into question why q should have been given sole credit as the producer on the song. i would have fought that if i were mj, too. when mj was alive, q gave an interview in which he claims he couldn't be around that much when 'bad' was being produced due to his health. but now it's success due to their "collaboration"?

if i had to venture a guess, i would say that mj likely did not appreciate being viewed as a puppet by both the critics AND q, so he moved on.

I recall Mr. Jones in an interview ( I want to say it was Essence years an ago) he was asked about the fallout of dating white women. I recall him staying then, he caught grief from all sides and on numerous occasions he and Peggy Lipton were stopped by LA's "finest". Maybe Mr. Jones was speaking of not being hurt professionally. Any-who.

I don't recall Mr. Jones being anything other than direct when you asked him a question. Whether you agreed with him or not; Jones never left room for error so you could interpret what just came out of his mouth. As far as his comments about Jackson, the man didn't say anymore are less than what had been said then or now.

As far as the music those two created. I think all artist have "a run" for whatever reason or reasons it ends, sooner or later. In their instance, both men needed each other to created a body of music neither one could've done individually. Enjoy.

-----------------------------------

[Edited 9/24/12 12:01pm]

Quincy talks so much shit. Love him for his artistry, but as far as his persona goes (what I've read in interviews) he's just so ugh.... He was talking badly about MJ in a recent interview, when he came to sweden

Q certainly get's 2 the point.

I dig that.

TD3 said:

I recall Mr. Jones in an interview ( I want to say it was Essence years an ago) he was asked about the fallout of dating white women. I recall him staying then, he caught grief from all sides and on numerous occasions he and Peggy Lipton were stopped by LA's "finest". Maybe Mr. Jones was speaking of not being hurt professionally. Any-who.

I don't recall Mr. Jones being anything other than direct when you asked him a question. Whether you agreed with him or not; Jones never left room for error so you could interpret what just came out of his mouth. As far as his comments about Jackson, the man didn't say anymore are less than what had been said then or now.

As far as the music those two created. I think all artist have "a run" for whatever reason or reasons it ends, sooner or later. In their instance, both men needed each other to created a body of music neither one could've done individually. Enjoy.

-----------------------------------

[Edited 9/24/12 12:01pm]

Its a little different when he is making statements that Michael was his brother and insisting that Michael bleached his skin when the autospy states he had a Skin Disorder.... if Michael were alive he would not have been saying that along with all the other bullshit that comes out of his mouth....

I dont believe a word this man says....

mjscarousal said:

TD3 said:

I recall Mr. Jones in an interview ( I want to say it was Essence years an ago) he was asked about the fallout of dating white women. I recall him staying then, he caught grief from all sides and on numerous occasions he and Peggy Lipton were stopped by LA's "finest". Maybe Mr. Jones was speaking of not being hurt professionally. Any-who.

I don't recall Mr. Jones being anything other than direct when you asked him a question. Whether you agreed with him or not; Jones never left room for error so you could interpret what just came out of his mouth. As far as his comments about Jackson, the man didn't say anymore are less than what had been said then or now.

As far as the music those two created. I think all artist have "a run" for whatever reason or reasons it ends, sooner or later. In their instance, both men needed each other to created a body of music neither one could've done individually. Enjoy.

-----------------------------------

[Edited 9/24/12 12:01pm]

Its a little different when he is making statements that Michael was his brother and insisting that Michael bleached his skin when the autospy states he had a Skin Disorder.... if Michael were alive he would not have been saying that along with all the other bullshit that comes out of his mouth....

I dont believe a word this man says....

OK.

mjscarousal said:

TD3 said:

I recall Mr. Jones in an interview ( I want to say it was Essence years an ago) he was asked about the fallout of dating white women. I recall him staying then, he caught grief from all sides and on numerous occasions he and Peggy Lipton were stopped by LA's "finest". Maybe Mr. Jones was speaking of not being hurt professionally. Any-who.

I don't recall Mr. Jones being anything other than direct when you asked him a question. Whether you agreed with him or not; Jones never left room for error so you could interpret what just came out of his mouth. As far as his comments about Jackson, the man didn't say anymore are less than what had been said then or now.

As far as the music those two created. I think all artist have "a run" for whatever reason or reasons it ends, sooner or later. In their instance, both men needed each other to created a body of music neither one could've done individually. Enjoy.

-----------------------------------

[Edited 9/24/12 12:01pm]

Its a little different when he is making statements that Michael was his brother and insisting that Michael bleached his skin when the autospy states he had a Skin Disorder.... if Michael were alive he would not have been saying that along with all the other bullshit that comes out of his mouth....

I dont believe a word this man says....

and therein lies the issue. it isn't true that quincy was saying "more or less than what has been said then or now". other people may have been, but now he's going out of his way to be nasty and dismissive toward a man no longer here to defend himself, and who never publically assailed quincy for any reason. mj might have had just as much beef as q, but apparently he was the bigger man.

if q felt that way about mj, fine. he's allowed not to like mj. but be a man and say it instead of going around telling everyone he was like your little brother and what not like he was doing all those years when mj was alive.

don't fucking go to a ceremony honoring mj at grauman's chinese and publically tell his kids how much you love them and would be there for them when you obviously have withering contempt for the father they adored. it's really, really, really hypocritical.

Sammy got a lot of grief when he married the Swedish actress May Britt in 1960. All three of your wives have been white. Have you had any trouble?

Never. What you have to understand is that a lot of the jazz guys, that was part of their revolution. Nobody can tell me who I can socialize with. Charlie Parker’s wife Chan was white. All the cats was doing that, man. The richest white ladies in America, like Nica Rothschild, who lived at the Stanhope, took care of all the jazz guys, Arthur Taylor, Thelonious Monk, everybody. She had apartments where they could have jam sessions, she carried them around in her Rolls-Royce.

Well it's interesting to know that a member of the Illuminati Family Bloodlines was involved in the early years of the music industry.

Your daughter Kidada was engaged to Tupac Shakur when he was killed. How does a father react to a potential son-in-law with such a dangerous reputation?

I wasn’t happy at first. He’d attacked me for having all these white wives. And my daughter Rashida, who was at Harvard, wrote a letter to The Source taking him apart.

I remember one night I was dropping Rashida at Jerry’s delicatessen, and Tupac was talking to Kidada because he was falling in love with her then. Like an idiot, I went over to him, put two arms on his shoulders and said, “Pac, we gotta sit down and talk, man.” If he had had a gun, I would’ve been done. But we talked. He apologized. We became very close after that. Once, I was having a date at the Hotel Bel-Air, and he came by and told the waiter that he would be back, he was going home to put on a tie.

A tie? You’re destroying his thug legacy.

Ask my daughter! She was there!

Do you know about that conspiracy theory that says you ordered the hit on Tupac?

I know. The people who say I wanted to have sex with him. Man, this is the biggest age of haters I have ever seen in my life. I’ve been called a blonde-lover, a pedophile, gay, everything. I don’t care, man. Imagine my daughter being engaged to Tupac and me trying to make love to him? And I’m not into no men, man. I’m a hard-core lesbian. Are you kidding? All my life, all my life.

I'll remember all of THAT^ the very next time I see a picture of Quincy kissing the ring of Frank Sinatra like his bisexual bitch.

And meanwhile, Quincy has yet to have any f***ing balls to confront Professor Griff and all of the other conspiracy researchers to their faces about these charges concerning 2pac's death, as well as the charges of Quincy setting up underground sex parties used to turn out Tevin Campbell AND Will Smith.

Will that said, Quincy is full of bullshit. Period. End of story.

@ I'm a hardcore lesbian.

He said the same thing about Jimmy Scott.

His autobiography is a jewel, people. Talking shit or not, you'll be entertained and moved if you read his book

why should a baller like Quincy Jones respond to the likes of professor Griff? here is a man who is complaining about the fact that Jews sign his paycheck and he got toss out on his ass. he wanted q to have his back, q wanted no part of it, however, he did give griff a chance to tell his side of the story. as for Michael, he said a lot of things that one would not consider flattering while Michael was alive, so what he is saying now is just an extension.

jackson35 said:

why should a baller like Quincy Jones respond to the likes of professor Griff? here is a man who is complaining about the fact that Jews sign his paycheck and he got toss out on his ass. he wanted q to have his back, q wanted no part of it, however, he did give griff a chance to tell his side of the story. as for Michael, he said a lot of things that one would not consider flattering while Michael was alive, so what he is saying now is just an extension.

You are missing the point. You don't say all good things about a person, and then wait until their passing to show your true feelings. It's not cool...

2freaky4church1 said:

He hates Prince, I do know that.

I don't see how he can hate Prince . But then want Prince to duet with MJ at the same time. It doesn't make since to me. He supposedly set up the whole meeting of them two. I was shocked not long ago when I heard that Prince said Quincy said he wasn't a good keyboard player. Which is ridiculous.I like Prince's keyboard playing better than his guitar playing......

jackson35 said:

why should a baller like Quincy Jones respond to the likes of professor Griff? here is a man who is complaining about the fact that Jews sign his paycheck and he got toss out on his ass. he wanted q to have his back, q wanted no part of it, however, he did give griff a chance to tell his side of the story. as for Michael, he said a lot of things that one would not consider flattering while Michael was alive, so what he is saying now is just an extension.

Think about it: Quincy admitted in the interview that he knows exactly what people are saying about him.

And if THIS^ is the case, then Quincy knows damn good and well WTF Professor Griff and many other conspiracy researchers are saying about him. And by not calling his accusers out or even considering filing potential lawsuits against anyone (yet?!?) , this basically tells me (as a conspiracy research AND a real truth seeker for that matter.....) that some people are on to Quincy and can see right through his bullshit.

shorttrini said:

jackson35 said:

why should a baller like Quincy Jones respond to the likes of professor Griff? here is a man who is complaining about the fact that Jews sign his paycheck and he got toss out on his ass. he wanted q to have his back, q wanted no part of it, however, he did give griff a chance to tell his side of the story. as for Michael, he said a lot of things that one would not consider flattering while Michael was alive, so what he is saying now is just an extension.

You are missing the point. You don't say all good things about a person, and then wait until their passing to show your true feelings. It's not cool... :-|

Exactly. That's being two-faced and it's definitely not cool at all.

shorttrini said:

jackson35 said:

why should a baller like Quincy Jones respond to the likes of professor Griff? here is a man who is complaining about the fact that Jews sign his paycheck and he got toss out on his ass. he wanted q to have his back, q wanted no part of it, however, he did give griff a chance to tell his side of the story. as for Michael, he said a lot of things that one would not consider flattering while Michael was alive, so what he is saying now is just an extension.

You are missing the point. You don't say all good things about a person, and then wait until their passing to show your true feelings. It's not cool...

Please - the entire worlds media have been completely two-faced about MJ since he died. The last 10-15 years of his life you couldn't find a media story that didn't try to rip him to pieces.

Quincy's anti-MJ comments may have something to do with that book written by a Sony/Epic record executive awhile back.I forgot his name,but in the book,he talks about Michael Jackson during the Thriller era.At the 1984 Grammys,Quincy was set to receive the Producer of the Year Award.Michael didn't like the idea of Quincy getting that much credit."How can we change it so that I get that award instead?",Michael asked I noticed that Quincy began bashing Michael only after this book was released.

SoulAlive said:

Quincy's anti-MJ comments may have something to do with that book written by a Sony/Epic record executive awhile back.I forgot his name,but in the book,he talks about Michael Jackson during the Thriller era.At the 1984 Grammys,Quincy was set to receive the Producer of the Year Award.Michael didn't like the idea of Quincy getting that much credit."How can we change it so that I get that award instead?",Michael asked I noticed that Quincy began bashing Michael only after this book was released.

Whats the title of the book? And what do you think of J. Randy Taraborrelli's book?

It seems every documentary that gets aired these days about MJ, they invite this guy to speak his peace. I'm only familiar with "Call Her Miss Ross".

this is what pisses me off about this whole situation

and when I've read the comments by the majority of current MJ FANS, all I see is the focus on the entertainment value when there was absolutely no reason to do so

but see, Michael was giving the impression he was INVINCIBLE and his fans followed suit when it was crystal clear the man was running on fumes, which Quincy had alluded to time and time again

not only did Michael Jackson destroy himself with the tons of plastic surgery/cosmetic alterations he had (which was yeeears ago because you could see the damage already afflicted during the Bad era), but for 20 years, he had to rely on pain medication to alleviate the affliction all that surgery caused over time

but this reality is never mentioned by his fans, and because of that denial, and that level of indifference, Michael had to shut it down for good 3 years ago

that Pepsi Accident of 1984 was not responsible for that, nor did it lead to it...that's what commercial media has put out there because those sources who wanted to protect the lies fostered his destruction too, so have wiped their hands clean from it

Michael Jackson couldn't even perform freely anymore as we saw him constantly readjusting his appearance during the 2001 MSG concerts.....that's how terrible this is.....

if you're acting on genuine human emotion, anyone would be angry what that man did to himself, feeling he had to do that to be accepted, by whom?....that's the million dollar question, because he was already adored by the public when he was younger and during the beginning stages of his solo career

and if Michael would have seen things different, we wouldn't be having these damn conversations today........we wouldn't have had to anticipate a fake posthumous album or rereleases of work he has already done....the well has run dry.....and IT'S ALL OVER

Quincy Jones started producing/orchestrating music 10 years before Michael Jackson was born, and was already the most prolific producer on the planet before they started their historic run together........

there IS no producer that has lasted in this business that Quincy...nobody even comes close

and I'm sure that man was hurt but what he saw Michael taking his body through

fans didn't want anyone to call this stuff out for what it was, nor bring attention to it because they didn't want their sense of entitlement threatened, and that's why this tale ending so tragically when it could have been the greatest story ever told way longer than it actually took place.....

it's disgusting.......and all this crap continues to exist to protect the original lie that started this entire demise 25 years ago.........

[Edited 9/25/12 4:30am]

Harlepolis said:

SoulAlive said:

Quincy's anti-MJ comments may have something to do with that book written by a Sony/Epic record executive awhile back.I forgot his name,but in the book,he talks about Michael Jackson during the Thriller era.At the 1984 Grammys,Quincy was set to receive the Producer of the Year Award.Michael didn't like the idea of Quincy getting that much credit."How can we change it so that I get that award instead?",Michael asked I noticed that Quincy began bashing Michael only after this book was released.

Whats the title of the book?

Scorp said:

this is what pisses me off about this whole situation

and when I've read the comments by the majority of current MJ FANS, all I see is the focus on the entertainment value when there was absolutely no reason to do so

but see, Michael was giving the impression he was INVINCIBLE and his fans followed suit when it was crystal clear the man was running on fumes, which Quincy had alluded to time and time again

not only did Michael Jackson destroy himself with the tons of plastic surgery/cosmetic alterations he had (which was yeeears ago because you could see the damage already afflicted during the Bad era), but for 20 years, he had to rely on pain medication to alleviate the affliction all that surgery caused over time

but this reality is never mentioned by his fans, and because of that denial, and that level of indifference, Michael had to shut it down for good 3 years ago

that Pepsi Accident of 1984 was not responsible for that, nor did it lead to it...that's what commercial media has put out there because those sources who wanted to protect the lies fostered his destruction too, so have wiped their hands clean from it

Michael Jackson couldn't even perform freely anymore as we saw him constantly readjusting his appearance during the 2001 MSG concerts.....that's how terrible this is.....

if you're acting on genuine human emotion, anyone would be angry what that man did to himself, feeling he had to do that to be accepted, by whom?....that's the million dollar question, because he was already adored by the public when he was younger and during the beginning stages of his solo career

and if Michael would have seen things different, we wouldn't be having these damn conversations today........we wouldn't have had to anticipate a fake posthumous album or rereleases of work he has already done....the well has run dry.....and IT'S ALL OVER

Quincy Jones started producing/orchestrating music 10 years before Michael Jackson was born, and was already the most prolific producer on the planet before they started their historic run together........

there IS no producer that has lasted in this business that Quincy...nobody even comes close

and I'm sure that man was hurt but what he saw Michael taking his body through

fans didn't want anyone to call this stuff out for what it was, nor bring attention to it because they didn't want their sense of entitlement threatened, and that's why this tale ending so tragically when it could have been the greatest story ever told way longer than it actually took place.....

it's disgusting.......and all this crap continues to exist to protect the original lie that started this entire demise 25 years ago.........

[Edited 9/25/12 4:30am]

100% truth.