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Purple Snow: Forecasting the Minneapolis Sound I've posted this in threads for reissues and Jam & Lewis, but for people who might not have looked at those.
Purple Snow: Forecasting the Minneapolis Sound Bonus 7" limited to the first 500 pre-orders. LP and CD subscribers will get the bonus 7" as part of their subscription.
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In the late 1970s, a peculiar sound began bubbling up from the land of 10,000 lakes. Buried beneath 50 solid inches of annual snow, Minneapolis made a Sound quite different than what the pop world foresaw. It issued forth as a slick, black, technologically advanced fusion, poised to storm the charts. Never known for sizable African-American populations, the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul in fact harbored a tight-knit community of musicians working feverishly through the late ’70s and early ’80s toward a radical manipulation of American dance music, coating futuristic funk with the glamorous sheen of guitar rock. Synthetic ebony and ivory met electricity, with sexed-up results sent shockingly across the pop heavens like violet lightning. . On 4 LPs or 2 CDs, Purple Snow: Forecasting the Minneapolis Sound—the Numero Group’s breathlessly anticipated 50th mainline release—chronicles the scene’s first steps, false starts, and follow-throughs, sourcing the life’s work of known quantities and shadowy figures alike. In the beginning, there was Purple Haze, whose billing as Haze on two obscure albums left the color purple to their city’s incipient sound. Pepé Willie’s 94 East project gave local prodigy Prince Rogers Nelson an early chance to row along with the crew. From there, the story courses past Jimmy Jam Harris’ extroverted Philly throwback Mind & Matter collective, to Terry Lewis and Flyte Tyme, flamboyant precursor to Morris Day’s The Time. . Unearthing basement demos by Prince’s childhood sidekick/departed bassist André Cymone, plus deep cuts from legend-about-town Alexander O’Neal, Numero 050 gathers relentlessly as the sprawling, nonfiction prequel to Purple Rain’s cultural takeover. . Surpassing 30,000 words, our hardbound, full-color book companion to Purple Snow: Forecasting the Minneapolis Sound is a gorgeous, exhaustively detailed, and insight-rich guided tour across two hours of music and a decade of North Star history. Inside, dozens of supporting characters and combos seed clouds for the meteoric rise of a genre formerly known mostly as Prince’s—not to mention unheard product from his top collaborators and fiercest competitors. In game-changing sound and image-rich splendor, Purple Snow: Forecasting the Minneapolis Sound clears a crowded stage, ushering in unsung Twin Cities future-funk talent, to bask for a spotlit moment, out of that persistent violet shadow, and to shine. . About the pre-order bonus 45: . Back in 1985, with the Minneapolis Sound at the leading edge of its music culture takeover, David “T.C.” Ellis—an aspiring St. Paul rapper—dedicated his own rhyming-couplet document to the genre’s founding city. Constructed upon a sturdy drum machine and vocoder bedrock, “Twin Cities Rapp” contextualized and outright flattered the movement’s marquee contenders, threading together Prince, André Cymone, the Time and Morris Day, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, Sheila E, and sundry other Purple Snow honorees. Originally released as a 12” single by Twin Town Records, Ellis’s electro-rap narrative gets into the grooves of a Numero replica 7”—complete with Minnesota silhouette pic sleeve—be included with the first 500 pre-orders on Numero 050, Purple Snow: Forecasting the Minneapolis Sound, as well as with 2013 LP and CD subscriptions. For all the many strengths of the compendious Purple Snow book, its words almost never rhyme. We’ve left that level of artistry to Minneapolis, to Ellis, and to good old 1985. . Side A: . The Stylle Band ~ If You Love Me You can take a black guy to Nashville from right out of the cotton fields with bib overalls, and they will call him R&B. You can take a white guy in a pin-stripe suit who’s never seen a cotton field, and they will call him country. ~ O. B. McClinton | |
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Mind & Matter ~ I'm Under Your Spell You can take a black guy to Nashville from right out of the cotton fields with bib overalls, and they will call him R&B. You can take a white guy in a pin-stripe suit who’s never seen a cotton field, and they will call him country. ~ O. B. McClinton | |
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Cohesion ~ Cohesion / Expense You can take a black guy to Nashville from right out of the cotton fields with bib overalls, and they will call him R&B. You can take a white guy in a pin-stripe suit who’s never seen a cotton field, and they will call him country. ~ O. B. McClinton | |
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Listen to the Stylle band. You'll hear it then. | |
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Thanks a lot for the info, Micky. You're always a great source for new releases. | |
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I buy everything Numero Group does.
I have found they have incredible ears, and compile great unknown stuff.
Buy it. buy the eccentric soul series, the gospel series, the individual albums.
They put tremendous effort in liner notes and tracking down best stuff.
I simply can't wait for this release.
I wrote them to ask for pre order info on itunes. although I probably will order hardcopy also.
Music is the best... | |
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. Mind & Matter 1514 Oliver Avenue (Basement) . Jimmy Jam Harris was just 16 when he began writing and arranging for Minneapolis 11-piece Mind & Matter. Boasting a perfectly calibrated vocal quartet, an aggressive rhythm section, and stacks of Rhodes, Rolands, and Hammonds, the danceable act failed to win favor with frigid Midwest audiences. Tracked in 1977, this bundle of never-before-released basement demos throw Harris’ beloved Philadelphia Sound into an unfinished root cellar, pelting it with Clavinet attacks, disco skats, and infectious hooks. Named for the street address of its underground uptown genesis, 1514 Oliver Avenue (Basement) is James “Jimmy Jam” Harris’ first foray into songcraft and an organic Minneapolis-vintage alternative to a late ’70s Prince songbook gone increasingly synthetic. . 1. No One Else Can Do It To Me Baby You can take a black guy to Nashville from right out of the cotton fields with bib overalls, and they will call him R&B. You can take a white guy in a pin-stripe suit who’s never seen a cotton field, and they will call him country. ~ O. B. McClinton | |
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Numero Group hangs with Jimmy Jam, others September 30, 2013, 11:32 am
. For those following our Twitter trail/Facebook feed, you might have noticed we were in Los Angeles last week engaging “the music industry.” This included many firm handshakes, lengthy dinners, and frequent naps in the back of our $9-a-day Chevrolet Impala rental to supplement the team average four hours of sleep/night. We listened to punk records from Winston-Salem, Aukland, and Johannesburg, drank bourbon that preceded us in birth, and received complimentary mesh caps from Jumbo’s Clown Room. We toasted to the good life at Funkmosphere, where four Purple Snow tests pressings passed the road test with flying colors. Speaking of which, we rendezvoused with Purple Snow anchorman Jimmy Jam, previewing Mind & Matter: 1514 Oliver Avenue (Basement) in extraterrestrial fidelity (below).
The moral of the story is that we had a great time and we can’t thank the people of California enough for use of your sleeping bags, citrus trees, and drink specials. Tell your friends to get with our friends and we can be friends. We could, in all honesty, do this every weekend. Until next time, your friends, the Numero Group. You can take a black guy to Nashville from right out of the cotton fields with bib overalls, and they will call him R&B. You can take a white guy in a pin-stripe suit who’s never seen a cotton field, and they will call him country. ~ O. B. McClinton | |
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Purple Snow unboxing (song: Twin City Rapp By The Twin City Rappers) You can take a black guy to Nashville from right out of the cotton fields with bib overalls, and they will call him R&B. You can take a white guy in a pin-stripe suit who’s never seen a cotton field, and they will call him country. ~ O. B. McClinton | |
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Micky, do you know when this will be released? I've pre-ordered it and sent an e-mail asking about the release date, and I've got no answer. Hopefully, the CD will be much better than the consumer service. | |
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According to the video posted above, Purple Snow supposed to be released Novemeber 13. I think the Mind & Matter album is already out, not sure. Where I live, there's a record store that carry the Numero releases, both vinyl & CD. As far as the pre-orders go, I'm not sure if the bonus TC Ellis 45 comes with the CD or not. You can take a black guy to Nashville from right out of the cotton fields with bib overalls, and they will call him R&B. You can take a white guy in a pin-stripe suit who’s never seen a cotton field, and they will call him country. ~ O. B. McClinton | |
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Thanks. Well, living in Spain, I guess I'll have to wait until December to have it with me. But it'll sure be worth the wait. | |
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This seems just awesome. | |
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Mind & Matter circa 1977 or 78 Mind & Matter performing at Uncle Sam's, the future site of the now-legendary Minneapolis music venue, First Avenue. Features an 18-year-old Jimmy "Jam" Harris III on the honher clavinet and Roland synthesizer (worn as a keytar). The group's full-length debut deferred, 1514 Oliver Avenue (Basement), is now available on CD/LP from Numero Group. Both "Sunshine Lady" and "I'm Under Your Spell" from the Mind & Matter's sought after 45 appear on Purple Snow: Forecasting the Minneapolis Sound (release date: 12/3/13) and were remastered from the original stereo mixes. You can take a black guy to Nashville from right out of the cotton fields with bib overalls, and they will call him R&B. You can take a white guy in a pin-stripe suit who’s never seen a cotton field, and they will call him country. ~ O. B. McClinton | |
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So, has the release date been pushed back to December? | |
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WTF? I've seen on Amazon that this will be released this mont in the UK but next month in the US. That means I've been terribly silly, because I've ordered it on Numero Group's website, which, being US, makes me fear I'll get the US release date. Living in Spain, this turns out to be a terribly silly decision for me. --- But, WTF again, I think I'll buy the copy on Amazon.co.uk and I'll give my US copy to a friend as a present. I'm yearning to listen to it and, moreover, I have to review it soon for a Spanish black music magazine, so I want it NOW. | |
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It must only be Amazon UK, because I just checked Amazon and it has the same December date. Albums are sometimes postponed. I wonder if the 45 comes from purchasing from other sellers or only the Numero site. You can take a black guy to Nashville from right out of the cotton fields with bib overalls, and they will call him R&B. You can take a white guy in a pin-stripe suit who’s never seen a cotton field, and they will call him country. ~ O. B. McClinton | |
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Yes, the European Amazons have a November release date: Amazon UK has November 11 and Amazon FR has November 12. But Amazon US has December 3. If the European release date isn't changed, I'd have the CDs with me by mid-November, therefore one month before I'd get my CD from Numero Group. | |
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Can't WAIT 4 this! LOVE Jam & Lewis' sound, style, production values; love the entire Minneapolis R&B scene in general! Hungry? Just look in the mirror and get fed up. | |
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So Prince isn't the father of the Minneapolis Sound after all. Interesting. "Do you really know what love is?" | |
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