QLS Classic: Jesse Johnson Part 2

In part two of two, Jesse Johnson talks being the man behind the tracks and his latest album, Verbal Penetration

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Of Course Love Supreme is a production of I Heart Radio.
This classic episode was produced by the team at Pandora.
Ladies and gentlemen, Welcome to Part two of our Jesse
Johnson review. No part attended. This is QLs classic from
August eight, two thousand eighteen, Part two of our interview

(00:22):
with Jesse Johnson on Course Love Supreme. Hope you enjoyed.
Previously on Course Love Supreme, we talked to the great
Jesse Johnson about his beginnings in Rock Island, Illinois music scene,
in Davaport, Iowa, of all places, and arriving in Minneapolis

(00:44):
as the Formation of the Time was just starting. We
also talked about who fights and vanity and also uh,
we might have a surprise guest by the name of
akershiz Poppin First Boss. Bill has a question that may
be familiar to those who heard the Jimmy jam Enery.
Here it is. I got a question, Yes, who broke

(01:07):
the titty lamp? Oh God, glue? I know. I glued
the ship, glued the ship the juice glue that one
day and was armed deep in the juice machine. We
didn't sunk that up too, And that dude that owned

(01:27):
that was Mr weaver. He was no joke. And this
brother had clogs on. You remember clogs, and and so
when you a brother straight and you're wearing clogs, you
really are nonsense kind of. But we were like we
were moving something at table and the titty lamp fell on.

(01:48):
For anybody that doesn't know what we're talking about, go
back and listen to the jam. One of the seven
hours of the Jimmy Jam. The first the first two
hours I was there, kid, I forgot, brought me way back.
We got. I came with some Elmer's glue man and
had that ship rigged up, and that dude still knew

(02:09):
what he man, who broke the titty lab? I was like,
what what are you talking about? We glued that ship
so well that you know when you have fine pieces
still fit, and he's somehow still saw that. He like,
I just need to who broke the titty? Like, Man,
I don't know what you're talking about, but I'm gonna

(02:29):
ease up to my car right about fighting? No old dude,
And here they're used to shooting and choking people. Well,
since we're asking who. Eventually let Prince know what Jam
and Lewis were really doing in Atlanta. I don't. I
don't think he knew. I don't think he knew for

(02:52):
a long time. But something about them missing that because
the next day we were in San Antonio. But I
thought they got away with it. No, no, no, no,
no no, they were in Atlanta. And it's weird, hard
work because it hadn't snowed during fifty years, literally fifty years,
and we were in here. We're here in New York.
We're here in New York and we played the place
Radio City? What was the place before Radio City? Where

(03:18):
know where the stage was real short because the first
time we played it, David Boy tell of everybody was
in Frank's Appa, Grace Jones. It was the god it
was before the it was before radio maybe desolutely Yeah,
I think it might have been that place. But but

(03:38):
I think what you but the show you're talking about
wasn't played because he kicked us off of a lot
of the major kicked us off of New York, the
Radio City. He kicked us off of the l a day.
And I never knew until you get there. You get
there for sound checking and yeah, y'all ain't know on this,
but we're playing behind the curtain I'm like at the
spot a bit. Yeah, I said, just heartbreaking because you

(04:01):
never played those places and so your whole dream You're like,
oh man, you would, and so it would just break
my heart from me, it was just like, I'm I'm out.
I'm like, like it was one time for the Vanity
six yew in l A. I didn't show up to
half the set. I did like the brother on a
David Letterman. You know, the show be gone and he
came on there with no shoes. On the middle of that.

(04:22):
I was doing now like, yeah, I ain't even trying
to be here for that. I'm around kill somebody. But yeah,
he would. When when you left officially, I guess at
one point you were deciding whether than that. To know,
I never know when I left. I left, so there
wasn't an in creation. There was no before you left
the Reserve. You need to talk of you taking over

(04:44):
for Morrison the time never never, never, because the time
was his thing, it was his baby, it was his
I respected that one thing to this day. He'll tell
you all. I have major respect for hierarchy. I don't
like when I'm with D. I'm when I'm a D.
I'm D's guitar and he's my boss, and so there's
a lot of things that maybe if I don't agree

(05:05):
with something, but because he's my boss, when we're on tour,
I don't say anything. But when we're home, I there's
been plenty of times when I called you even fired me.
I'm at home now, but you know, he but I
respect him greatly. It's his thing and I never step
on anybody's toes during that thing. After Jimmy, Terry and
Monty left. What did it feel like for you have

(05:26):
to take over the leads for rehearsals like I always
you were always yes, I was always kind of in
that when Morris wasn't around. He I was like the
guy that he didn't have to come to rehearsals if
he knew what I did, so how arrangements he wanted
to add or whatever or not. I was the guy
that I hired all the other new people and blah
blah bla blah. But I was like really kind of

(05:47):
that that thing. And I was never officially the guy
that runs this and I was never that never had
that title. Okay, so when you're rehearsing though, and each
album is six songs, each like, I mean, at what
point are you just doing the stuff which just you're not.

(06:09):
It was, it was, it was something that worked. It
was it was kind of a busy work plan, but
it worked against the boss because it was a busy
work plan to hear. You know, I didn't know busy,
but you guys got taking it sixty dollars a week
for the longest and so but we ended up getting
because you know, when you go on stage like that,

(06:29):
you're you're not only good, but you're piste. You don't
want to It's just like when a fighter says a
whole bunch of stuff about it. I don't know if
you saw that last Triple G fight is past weekend
and I've got hit him good one time and then
like dude, you gotta really and he came back and
beat that guy like he owe the money or something.
And that's kind of like when we would people see
it said, no, man, you were amazing, and y'all many

(06:52):
the attitude. They don't know this was mad for real,
and it was the one way in time where you
could get it out and it wasn't just suck in,
but it was like he was out there playing ship
through grit teeth and meaning it. How did it feel
when he publicly said that, at the time was the
only band he was ever afraid of. You know, honestly,
it didn't mean ship to me. It's just like when

(07:12):
people just like when all this stuff comes out now
where he says all this great stuff about me, you know,
it's just like it's like a child talking about a
parent had passed away. It's like, why couldn't you say
that tell me when you're here, you know, when I'm here,
you're talking. Why couldn't you say, oh, he's you know, Jess,
he's amazing guitarist. And he couldn't say that to me?
And I got one compliment for one time, partly because

(07:38):
it was when I dropped Crazy And if y'all don't
even notice, but I'm gonna tell you, go back and
listen to Housequake. That's why he went and cut housewake
you hear crazy in the right question, why did he
had called me this is tramps? This is tramps and
men and Prince would go out and we're not drinkers,

(07:59):
so we would we would we we we we we
have like a kind of a punk drink, like we
would get a clue and cream be more cream because
we don't drink, so so that ship we would be different. Yeah,
we would be dizzy as hell off of that, like
we would drink five you know, like you know charity.
And it's like, no, I turned him onto. I said,

(08:22):
you never heard of this, and you you're gonna laugh
when I tell you what. But it's like, Prince, it's
a multi mediare, but you got a cabinet for because
that's for people that don't drink. Because it's like, you know,
y'all drink that ship real drink and srink that the
head hurting because of sugar content. But we didn't drink,
like we didn't drink like Morris. You could drink, but

(08:42):
you know Morris want to fight everybody up in this
one beer because he didn't really drink, you know. So
so he's just like I just love to this day
he like my husband. No, it's like major love between
Morris and I because that was the three amigos right there, Morris,
Prince and I. It's like you it was you. You

(09:02):
saw one, you saw the three of us. It was
a period where you never saw and there was other reasons,
personal reasons why it was just ended up being just
print and I all the time. But are you on
tricky tricky laughing, No, I'm not. I hear three people
though that's just overdubbing. But ain't okay though you were there.
I love the songs because the two of that's what

(09:24):
I'm trying to tell you. I'll talk to you about
after this, about the things that are coming up. But
you go, you want to grab these dre's and marking
my line to him he there's yeah. I just I
did twenty seven hours, twenty thirty two hours of music
that you never heard before and on cassettes, remastered on no.
But I'm just trying to tell you there's the whole

(09:46):
entire for you album right right. But the demo I
played a little bit of effort d on the phone.
Almost died, I said, you because what you hear like,
I don't want people like I didn't want it to
go a market and people just oh, you know, and
go to some collector and they buy it. And it's
just that it's like if you hear uh say, for instance,

(10:11):
I want to be your lover the genius, but it's
all with a rhythm, mace whole out and then you
hear sexy dancers, you hear sexy dancer and it's sexy
dancer is uh, but the rhythm mas goes boom, God, dude,
d bent God. The fact that he heard all of
that ship and I when I went into the studio
with him, I would ask him, how did you do

(10:32):
all those drums? And then he would show me how
he did the drums and he would have the machine
play double time. So the machine he's going to take
then he's an exactly And I just was like wondering
how he got the drums so super tight like that,
and he and so when I hear people go I

(10:53):
play it everything, I'm like, you didn't play everything. You
sequence some ship and turn on. You did what I'm saying.
My mom was no, but you gotta. I'm just telling you.
I'm telling your marror. You hear this, it's it's it
changes you because you hear the genius to here, like
because I have stuff like that of Hendrix Dalan, everybody
that I owned, because everybody that I admire, I want

(11:15):
to see what they how they got there or were
they Because one of the most one of the only
people that walks the planet Earth that was one of
the most perfect writers out of the gate was Curtis Mayfield.
The first thing he ever did, going back to Jerry Butler,
oh my ship was immaculated. And then all of that
impression stuff that you don't they don't, they don't make

(11:35):
that to be that is until I'm I don't know
if it was like it or not. But when I
first like, there's four or five versions ahead before he
got to the one that's like the one, and so
when you hear it, you're gonna this is whack. This is.
But and then the same thing with do Me Baby,
there's like three or four versions before he finally got

(11:57):
and I mean the drums are different, the beat is different,
though Tim pulls it. When he finally got to the one,
it's like and then there's a version to get it
up no guitar that when the guitar solo happens to
hear what he actually does on the base, fucking mind
blowing man, and it's like, dude, was no joke on
the keys man. But you know That's why I'm always

(12:17):
telling d I'm like, Dude, when I put you up there,
I'm putting you up there. And I've been around some
really talented people. And so when I tell D, he
trying to tell him you ain't no Running the mill Man,
because how did he even get you? Like? How because
it's not like you could just call up just but
I had. It's really freaky how this happened because I

(12:38):
always said to myself, I'd only played for two people.
I only played with two people in the world, Michael Jackson,
because Michael Jackson, D because they're the album they did
to this day. Sonically, you never heard acoustic. You never
heard a kick dramming a snare sound like that ever

(12:59):
on any record ever now. I mean people might do
it now, but it was that record that you heard
a fourth string base that low, You heard a kick
drawn with that much bottom of you know, a real
kick drawn. And I try to tell tell D the
Angel all the time how revolutionary that album was sonically,
not just musically, but sonically, you know that something goes

(13:22):
you come in real and I don't know if you're
playing like but it's just like running too. I can
run off the role off a cliff listening because it's
that hypnotic. But people don't understand it's not just the vibe.
These cats are bad Quest is on his game Peno D.
It's sonically it's it's not of this earth. It's like

(13:44):
and and and to think it's real instruments and nobody
had ever heard of I'm skipping ahead a little bit,
but um, listening to verbal penetration, that your last. That
was the last. So I'm not crazy in hearing like
a voodoo influence all over that. I could you You
could say that or say not. But but as a

(14:05):
blues player you play behind all the time. But what
I don't know is when I did, like say, if
I did be, when I did be your man, I
delivered it be your man is like but if Quest
is playing and I'd be behind him, but l A
Cats would be like, man, that's not you know, because

(14:27):
a lot of ascription. There's a discrepancy in the beach
Leonard Albert Kravitz. But what people don't know is when
Voodoo came out, a lot of people didn't And I
tried to tell D. I said, see you on all
of the Marvin Gay stuff and this now. But what

(14:48):
you don't know when, um, what's the album with the leather?
What's going on? Look at the reviews, go back and
look at the reviews what happened? People like, who what
is this? What happened? But people make it sound like
they had open arms, and was like, so when you
do music that people don't get. The albums are albums

(15:10):
that constantly do this over a period of time. And
I kept and I've always told D'Angelo, we make music
they ain't on the trend. So we're doing ship that's
ahead all the time of of what everybody's thinking. We're
bored with that. So we're trying to do something that
it's not so much ahead or but just asn't on
a trend. It's just something we're pulling out the sky,

(15:31):
something that you know, Uh, that's that you got your
influences in it, but it's not what anybody knows. But
and but it's on another level. And I think musicianship wise,
what they did on Voodoo requests, uh d pin know
what they did on Voodoo was so that only I
remembered riding in the car with John McClain. He had

(15:52):
just did the deal with What's the Girls say? Yes,
he just did all of that stuff because I was
all out of Hidden Beach, right, So he was playing
me that stuff all day. He was like, are we
riding around for eight hours in a car around l A.
He's playing me all this different stuff and I'm like, yeo, man,
that's cool. Check this out. Put in Voodoo and he's

(16:12):
like you like that, man, this is you know because
you know what that was. That was D's there's a
ride going on, because there's a ride going on with Slides.
Fuck you to the music industry. What y'all don't know
about there's a ride going on. When he delivered it,
he was the two biggest artists on Epic at the time.
On the black side with Slide. The white side was
Johnny Winner. When he delivered there's a ride going on,

(16:36):
the record companies like the Funk, what is this bullshit?
This is garbage? Da da da da. So it was
one of those records that captured what was going on
at the time. But it didn't just capture verbally. It
captured the vine, the burning, the heat, the tension, and
Voodoo did the same thing. Thank you. I can, I can,

(16:59):
I assume, but he's not a good receiver of complic
It's not me because two twice I met Slye and
you know he's going so I know, I can't get
the answer I went out of him. But assuming that

(17:21):
during the shockedilic period that you spoke to him about, right,
and his recollection is there, what was what was just
his mind state to making that record, throwing everybody out
of the studio and just doing he he was at
the record plan and saw Clito and he was there

(17:42):
so much. They made him. They took the one of
the rooms and they made him a bed in it
and it was a big old mouth and the mattress
was the tongue, and they had a they had you know,
the mic thing on the wall that plugs into that
thing was in the bed. So a lot of the
vocals he's doing and he's laying down, so just like
he's never ever done a vocal and a headphone. So

(18:03):
d D not knowing that does the same thing. You know,
d don't wear cans. He does to have them speakers,
and he did and he didn't know that. Marvin Gay
did that. Marvin we you'd walk in the studio like
Leon Silver's talks about walking in the studio and hey,
Marron to Marvel, Hey, you know sitting at the board
going hey, that's but the old consoles had where you
can knock one of the speakers out of face, so
they wouldn't they wouldn't come in, and Marvin would be

(18:26):
sitting there and Marvin, you know, you don't see no
handwritten Marvin lyrics around because he he never wrote anything down.
Same thing with James, same thing with Slide. It was
all up here and so he and so Slide. It
was just on that straight, just crazy genius ship and
he really didn't need his family or anybody on the record.
Is It's like, you know, there's a lot of people

(18:47):
that did they do that, but I was playing um
Mark never released you know, the these uh summertime thing,
which is a beast and he's like and any any
and he's for one person. Always go like he'll put
somebody else on bait and I'm like, dude, he's killing
the basse. But going back to your question, it's more

(19:10):
of a Curtis Mayfield thing. My my thing is Curtis
for Eddie Kendricks. And I'm like, it's not like uh
D and Prince were into like the stylistics, but he's
a real He's a real Eddie Kendricks fanatic too. That's
why he's got the bigger Fossil Prince was really into
that the dude betch you buy Galli whoever that I

(19:30):
never really heard you use your fast much until verbal Penetration.
That's because I wrote all the A lot of the
music I didn't write for me. I wrote for another
guy that was supposed to sing it, and then he
passed away when it was time to do this stuff,
so I didn't. I what kind of wanted to step
away from the mic and just play and not be
straddled with all that. I really enjoy it more when

(19:51):
it's a rock rock thing, but I know the R
and B stuff, But I just like sometimes it's like
to just like even being Indeed's band, it's just like
not used to just the or the thing we did
today with Chromeo. Uh, just nice to just play guitar,
not be give me a Mike, I gotta. I don't
never want to Mike. I just kind of have them
put one on me and we're on TV so you

(20:12):
get paid more. But I don't want that ship. I
want to jump back again. I'm sorry. Do you remember
Minnesota Black Music Awards for me with me? Yeah? I
think it was the time. It was the time of
the time I think somebody told me that you were
supposed to be singing lead on the on Jungle Love.

(20:33):
I guess Morris had already left the group or whatever. No, no,
but then Prince ran out on stage and did leads
for the entire set. I don't remember that. I think
that's a rumor because I ain't never remember that ship
He didn't do that that I know. But Jungle of
No he if you ever here his version, I mean

(20:53):
it was the same song, but if you're here his vocal.
He put his foot in it. And Morris did a
great job a Prince. If you heard Prince wrote that
melody and the lyrics not But it's just the whole
twist he you dude, it's saying when he wanted to
And um, have you ever heard that? I was was
always hoping because I don't I had that on a
cassette and that froze up like a you know, Land

(21:16):
nine thousand, a long time agoing. You know, I don't
have a copy of that. Pen um. Oh well, this
is our rapid fire, because yeah, we gotta stop eventually. Um.
Was there ever talk of the time going on tour
on the Purple Rain tour? No, no, no, no, no,
but that's what's really sad. We just ocently talked to
my manager about that. We we uh, we never reached

(21:38):
the Purple Rain thing. And because we were supposed to
go on tour and when I signed my record deal,
very few, if anybody, only John McClain knows and know
this and Princes. But when I signed the A and
M Records, I signed the deal, but I wasn't I
didn't have to do a record for a year because
I was like, I'm gonna go. Yeah, I wanted to go,

(21:58):
And was there gonna be our first time out without Princes?
Was to be on our own merit and was going
to you guys were going to do your own things. Yeah,
well that's that was the whole thing. We were never
ever ever playing Prince? Was you kidding me? Prince was
so sick of us putting our foot in his ass
after he wasn't taken us in the backyard. I figured,
because the Purple Rain to itself is like basically the movie,
So I figured, you know, why it was an Appalonia

(22:19):
six there and why wasn't the time there and it
would have been because there's a bunch of bullshit all
connected with that ship and I get tired of listening
to people lies and ship about it. First of all,
the Sheila the first she Lay album was the Vanity
sixes album, and Vanity kept saying I'm not gonna be there.
I'm not you know, she kept saying, I'm not doing
Purple Rain. She was before she moved on in the Apples,
and he just thought she was joking. She wouldn't. That's
why all the songs were done by the time she

(22:41):
was yeah, yeah, and she was showed up to do
some sessions stuff and then and then some of the
songs from the Vanity six album. That album went to
like the Manic Monday, that was a Vanity six I
was like, I was there for all of that stuff.
I was very recording and doing all that stuff that
would like, yeah, it would have had like vibrator and

(23:03):
know whatever does she Ley the Glamorous Life that was
that was Vanity's record, Don't I don't care what anybody did,
and trying to tell me I was there cutting it.
I was there cutting the sugar walls and all that
ship when she in Easton came in and blah blah
blah the whole show. I was there for all of
that ship I was. I was there for those just
it was really just Prince and I because Morris had
like ducked out then, so so all of that stuff

(23:26):
was and we were. He was still going back and
forth trying to get Denis to do that, and she
was like, no, nope, nope, nope, nope. And that's how
she ended up being Vanity because he would never let
her use the name Vanity six, and her lawyer, I
forgot his name, Ape something, but he knew a sh
He said, we don't have to use Vanity six, we
use Vanity, And that's how she got to still be
the uh, the the Tomorrow Margie Cox Project, The Tomorrow

(23:52):
and the Scene album. UM, do you have any disappointment
that that didn't blow up even more? Or was it
across the boards mash No, No, because that album that
I was just telling telling Bill earlier that that, um
Everybody Danced as one of the best sounding records I've
ever made. It's like it was mastered here at by

(24:15):
George Marinocott. What studio would I wouldn't I want to
say sterling sounding my yes, Sterling. Yeah, he did, he
mastered that, And I was like I never could get
that sound again. But it was like something I kind
of did, like, oh, you know, like not really thinking
that much about it. And then when it came out
here and he mastered it because I never really go
to masterings and just let him do the thing, and

(24:35):
and he was mastered out here, and I'm ever getting
back to acetate of the tollsions like God, this ship
is on fire when it comes on, You're not here.
But I could never but no, no, no no, you know
what it was the bottle, I think the big thing,
the biggest thing to term me on because she didn't
want it. Damn she didn't want it. So when you
don't want it, I'm like, what am I supposed to do?
If you don't want it? Then I didn't. I'd have
did records on you and I had um And so

(24:58):
the I what was I think Blueberry Gossip might have
been the second round. I did a lot of those tracks,
but I didn't do any of them stupid as lyrics.
I didn't do none of that. I just did the tracks.
But so that song, Blueberry Gossip and all that stuff,
that's all me, and a lot of the tracks are
all me, but somebody else with the lyrics. Yeah, her
and the Southern Cat David Cochrane finished all the record.

(25:21):
I wasn't on any of that. I was like on
tour at the time and I wasn't even invest in
any of my time in. Um so I made you
sign that one. Then I said, I'm sorry I made
you sign that record then, because I did. I love
that music. Blueberry Gossip is humping. I just don't know
what the hell Blueberry gossip. Yeah, I'm still trying to
figure that out. Okay, since then the bottom of the barrel,

(25:46):
trying to figure out everything. But I gotta know. Um
you opened for Luther Vandross. I believe on the night
ifl and Love Tour. That's what I remember because all
my aunts were to this show. Luther is world famous
for micromanaging his opening acts. Let me explain something to you.

(26:06):
Just talking, I was talking about that one of the
most beautiful human beings ever walked upon it. Now, let
me let me tell you, seriously, let me tell you.
Let me tell you a Luther. So Luther, he brought
me on and I'm in the middle slot and he
was so accommodating, so absolutely just wonderful and being that
because my ship is louder, and they their stuff is

(26:29):
more stereo. His band was amaze. You know how ridiculous
his band sound. It was like shade. It sounds like
a giant stereo. It was just amazing. But my stuff
was a little bit more raunchy. But he upgraded the
monitoring system so that I would be He really wanted
me on that tour with him, but his audience for
the most part. Once we we did a week spectrum, right,
there's no longer there. We did a week at the

(26:50):
that's the one once went to. We did a week
there was us. It was Luther headlining, Me in the middle,
Ready for the world and ready for the world, a
lot of ready for the world stuff. People were kind
of a thrown back by them because they a lot
of people thought that was print or me, And so
when they would open, they would just get like no
love and and Philly was death on them when they

(27:13):
were open. This is the spectrum, this is sold out,
but people listen you want they were, But you never
want your music to be bigger than you, because if
your music is bigger than you in the beginning, then
your music it's just a lot of ship. Like people
would would tell my girlfriend all the time. Oh, like

(27:35):
she'd pick up my mail and they go, oh you're Sheila.
Oh he wrote, oh she'll about you. And they said
that they would that to this day. That's not me.
And I remember being at home on a break on
tour and hearing that talking together together whatever that beat
was for that and thought it was me. I thought

(27:56):
it was like a remix, I swear to guy for
you know, when you have at half a second thing
you go, that's a remix of that, and then and
then that the music, and you know like that ain't
you know? But I was like, how did you guys
feel about I mean, because singer, Yeah, he was. I
was always really encouraging, said, don't let these folks get

(28:18):
you down. You just gotta keep pushing because trust me,
I was because once we left we they loved me
Philly and they loved us and they loved me. They
showed me a lot. Was That's why Luther was like,
but we went to Baltimore. Next motherfucker's was wooden Statue.
It was buppies, you know, that was the whole buppy
Luther drew like and that's what he was trying to

(28:39):
get away from because people don't understand that Luther was
so amazing as an artist. Is one of the few
black artists that went platinum every time, just on the
Black charts every time. So you're saying that you guys
were there for the edge, to bring a different audience
into to bring a younger audiences. But that's why I murdered,
because he did some ship in Philly I ever seen

(29:00):
before my life Philly. That that week was the most amazing.
I was in the dressing room, sitting there, um uh,
sitting there getting dressed or something. I was sitting and
my back is to the door, and I'm sitting in
front of the mirror, and I hear you in my town,
my motherfucker. And I look up and it's Dr J
and fuck, you know, and that's less like you know,

(29:22):
that's fantasy ship for us and our air and sovers on.
And that was one thing. The other thing is that
Luther was he was a prankster, and so Luther would
do always play jokes and ship like you you'd walk
into like he'd be in addressing room few doors down
and I remember walking in one time and the lights
were off and I turned the lights on as a mannequin,
would sucked up mask and shoot on you know, you

(29:47):
should drop motherfucker's and drop glasses and you hear Luther crying.
But I heard that when he's he was on tour
with other female artists that he would. But let me
go before you jump to that. This is what it was.
I my belief. That's a singing. So when you're famous
for being a singer and you ain't really a singer, singer,

(30:10):
you did what, you know how we're snooty with that ship.
It's like you go, oh, come and jam, oh, jam
with you all day? Who else is playing? Oh? Really? Yeah,
I ain't gonna beat it because you you. I just
can't play with anybody. I just can't. I can't do
it like you can't. Rehearsal and that's good. I played

(30:31):
and jammed at rehearsal, and I was just like I was,
you know, from the Voodoo record until we finally met.
And I'm trying to compliment him. He walking to do
He's trying to compliment me. I'm trying to compliment, but
I was really meant that he's I just think he's
one of the dopest cats around. And he and there's
a mentality in a movement. You don't know he really

(30:52):
where you really know he a bad cat when you
watch that was the Dave Chappelle thing party. Mother's a mainstay,
and he's up. That's when I really knew how bad
he was because he's up there. Everybody else is shifting,
everybody's bringing it, but he's staying there. And I'm telling

(31:13):
you everything. They're throwing it and he pulling it out
and he's not pulling back killing it. And that's when
I knew it was bad. Even this is after the voodoo, right,
that's after voodoo. But I knew that's when you know
when people you kind of see them cut their teening.
You know, it's like when you probably he's like, yo, Jessie,
he did an album and such, and say so let

(31:34):
me listen to verbal and then and I kept telling people,
know I need to. I was like working with other
you know, guitar instructures. A cat named Mark Hammond that
wrote the intro to Really Love played wrote and played that.
But I was taking lessons from him because I was like,
I can come out all this time and be playing
a little, you know, I better come and be moving
and with some chords and some melody and show some

(31:56):
serious growth and all that time. But you know what
I mean. But I think I more than sufficed on
verbal lyrically. It's one of my favorite records because I'm
I do poetry, and so to take poetry, I'm trying
to put it to song lyrics that sing. And I
keep looking at her because I saw I admire about her.

(32:16):
She's like her her poetry ingrid Shop. You forgot this
is the greatest ambuship life. And my daughter and my
my biggest thing with my daughter loves her. She says face.
I tricked her in the same face today and my
daughter loves the way she says face face. I grew

(32:45):
up in Georgia, but you didn't know that. I didn't
know that. I didn't know that I was in the
presence of greatness for the first hour of this interview, Bill,
do you have anything else? I wanted to Larry. I
wanted a Roger Trouting story, the Larry one. I've I

(33:07):
know that. You guys, there was Boris and Jerome used
to get into it Larry at the time, and then
Larry's girl came out and she was like super super
bad way out of our league. Way. Yeah. Wait, she's
a woman, not a girl. She's a woman. She's absolutely
just breath taking. But she stood at the side of
the stage and we were standing behind her and whatever

(33:29):
her dress she had on you when the lights came on, like, oh,
we're just quiet. So we just like he just really well.
Roger used to say a lot of stuff to us, like, man,
you got all those white people working for you. Do
you think Wonder Brothers is too nink it's from overs,
Like please, we worked for the same people. Funk out

(33:50):
here with that ship. But he would say all that stuff,
like he would always say that stuff. Then he went
up to Prince one day we were walking Prince walking
the stage, and he said, you know, we have the
same name, Roger, because a lot of people don't believe
Prince's name is Prince, and it's like he's named himself
that by day in his name and that's his real name.
So Princess looks at him crazy and keeps walking like
not even says anything. So they just really kind of

(34:11):
didn't didn't like us, and so we would always be
messing with Larry and so Larry Morrison Jerome wa tell
you this to you, they'll verify. But Larry said, I
want to talk to you all. We went to the
dressing room. It was me, Morris, Jerome. We won't go
to his dressing room with him, and he said, pull
out a gun. He said, you mother, you know what

(34:31):
this is. It's I'm forty two years old and I'm behind.
I'm the last one. And then get the funk. That's
how ignorant I wasn't get the funk out. He went
this ship and laugh and they were still that listening
to him. But Morrison tell you, but he pulled I
want to talk to you. We like three fools went
in there, like the three stooges, and so you know

(34:54):
what this is. You know what disney mouth forty two
years old. So was it just that you guys were prince, No,
we were just I don't know what he said, say Tony,
he had a bunch of hair shooting out of his
nose and just disrespectful. No, but he would say they
would say a lot of stuff to us and then
we would throw bullets back, and then he didn't He

(35:15):
just didn't like that and didn't think the last jaw
and that's your girl, Oh man, she bad and it
was something we didn't say. We didn't get more disrespectful
than that, which was disrespectful, but we didn't. We just
I should go, oh man, she bad, And then I
think I said something stupid like oh yeah, man, when
the lights come on, I really like her, and he's like, yeah,

(35:37):
I need to hol at you. You know I do
that finger y'all need to hol at you, all right?
Can I? He said, Can I talk to y'all for me?
Just you're thinking you're on tour thing now now? And
I always telling I'm always telling Kats and D's band
and young dudes. It's like, don't play with nobody. And

(35:58):
he said, you'll me kesting gout shot on stage performing it.
So I keep on messling with these these women. Man,
I'm like, keep on, but I remember that Larry, can
I talk to you for a few minutes on normal ship?
You know? Because he was a really tall dude. Yeah,
and he was older than everybody, and he's like, talked

(36:19):
to your brothers a minute. It followed him in his
dressing room and yeah, man pulled out a nickel plated
with a pearl handling about forty two years old. You
think I'm more fun to play with. And I'm just ignorant.
I'm just young. You know, when you're young and you
ain't scared, and you in the streets and you got

(36:39):
a gun at eight and nine of them too. You
want to get the funk out with that punk? Ask
and I swear to God and just to this. And
then when so when I got woke up and said
he shot, you know, Roger got shot, I was like,
it's probably by Larry. And I was in l a
at Tommy Jenkins cameo and woke me up and told
me that, and I said that it's probably by Larry
and went to sleep. And when it was I knew

(37:01):
that ship. I was like supposed to be in dating
that weekend when that happened. But really, um, I have
more questions. Speaking of Young end Ignorant, can you tell
us about Old end Ignorant, the song that became That's
a song to me Morris dead and we we we
we were. It was one of the during that period
when Prince was like, yeah, yeah, you can record it

(37:23):
the home one ship there so it ain't no reverb
and you know, everything just drive date and speakers, and
so it was one of the songs that Morrison I cut.
But I did this thing on where I'm going where
the beatings like boot boo instead of it like Prince
would always go, do do do do do do do
do do I'm going. He just thought that was like

(37:44):
the most genius thing. He was playing the baseline in
the studio and m ooom boom ball and he just
kept going while he's recording it. Where the sunset sound.
But we brought out that two inch I mean a
half inch, which I still have the two track tape
of that, and that's what That's why I screamed. Aussele
came from this song that we did call old and ignorant,
but we would we cut about we are young and

(38:05):
we are funky. We are young. They did that in
Yeah you cracked it. Yeah, I'm playing all that ship

(38:29):
on her. He was, he was playing. I came up
with that baseline. All that was that tracked in the warehouse.
No sunset sound. We did that at sunset time because
I can hear at the towards the end of ice Cream,
I just hear so much sunset toime. But even with
you guys tracking in the studio, I can hear like

(38:54):
feet rattling papers on the like because Prince used to
take the youth forty seven and pointed. You know, he
would use it properly, like I never used it that way,
because you could hear him. He always he never worked
with an engineer. He always punched himself in and out
every vocal you ever heard. Like when I was telling
D'Angelo that, I was like, may pick a song, pick
a song, and this is the biggest song. He go controversy, wrote, recorded, written,

(39:17):
all finished, mixed one day, Everything recorded, mixed, finished one day.
You know, he never spent more than one day it
was done. We would go out to the club, I
think many of the club close a one, and we
go back out to the crib and I'd go to
sleep on the couch. And he walked up at too,
almost like clockwork, two thirty the next day, like nothing happened,

(39:37):
like just after being out all night. Were you were
you impressed with what he was playing you or was
it weird? Like if he's playing you, like if he's
coming up, like here's a song called do Me Baby
and you're listening on seven minutes, like is it weird
you guys listening to this? Or is it I I

(39:59):
didn't listen to songs like that. They I didn't. I
felt weird listening, So I don't know, like say a
dude sing like that, That's what I'm saying, Like, no, no,
I didn't. I didn't. I listened to something like he
came I remember this is really we went out club close.
We came home and I was like, at this sectional
thing in the in the in the living room because

(40:20):
he had this gas fireplace that I hated because you'd
be freezing. Then you turn that ship on. Now you're
a thousand degrees and then you turn it off. So
he we now came up with let's pretend with married
song finishing in the CA and but Morris went down first.
He said, Morris, come here this. And Morris went down
there and he's like, dude, dude, dude, that's Morse's where
the hand claps said, you know Morrison, you know handclaps.

(40:42):
He's like, hey, get train music. And then he comes
out and wakes me up and there's just so you
come here this and I was like, oh, yeah, that's nice,
that's cool. I like that because I because I was
there when the Darling and I was there when we
did all that purp rain stuff. But it was like
I went upstairs and Darling Nikki was done, and then
he went down. I went upstairs and went to sleep

(41:03):
for twenty minutes and he wakes me up and go
because I'm here this and I don't know how he
did that, but you know that double bass. Then he's
on the Tom's it's a real drum set, but he's
on the I don't know how he did that, but
I was just amazed, but I'm like he knew that.
I would just be like funked up behind that. I'm like,
how did you do? Because he just had a little

(41:24):
drum set out in the patio wars like you were
still impressed? Yes, but I but I never like I'm singing,
you don't when to go at this? Got went on,
I'm playing that, but he ain't. I ain't credited. And
then on the end of the song, Jill Jones will

(41:46):
tell you it's me Jill Jones and prints on one
mike and we're just going pod bad and clapping and
singing all this ship and I ain't credited on I'm
on a lot of ship like that what I said,
And I was like the one time when I was
so happy because when came he had the the pressing
of it and the you know, the for the twelve

(42:07):
inch or something and it said j j but you
don't understand man, y'all laughing. But that ship. I was
in avenue when he's playing it, and I'm like, yeah,
I see the thing, and I'm like, finally, credit at me,
and that ship wasn't me, it was Joe Jones and
I was just like, once again, I was just heartbroken me.

(42:27):
I was like totally, you know, but do you feel
that's how you feel? You don't feel like you feel
like really well really you know, not that feeling really,
but really that's how you felt. And so that's why
I so then I stopped like we were jammed and
we would do that that ship right there right, So

(42:53):
then I came up on the album as a song
and I was like, wow, and I'm not crying it.
So I stopped after that. I didn't just I was done.
Was done? Was that? How did you get a bellow
sat Mark? Because that was because I played a four
I played as something I did on a four track
or a track around the same thing out of the
Jungle Love thing with the h track, so I'm going

(43:17):
and that's one of the main things on the side.
And I had played him that a few days before
and then he heard that song and I was like, dude,
really and he was like, what what tell me? And
I was like, I, guys, can't explain it when you
in that space and you can't really tell him. You
can't really tell him because you feel like a punk
if you tell him. I just can't explain that. I

(43:39):
can't explain it to night today. I can go, hey, man,
that's my but put my name. But he's like talking
talking to I said, if I got to tell you,
fuck you, you know, and that kind of thing. Because
he walked into the where we're rehearsing, because we're rehearsed.
He had bought this building and we when you walked
in the front door of the time was there. Then
you walked through this door, and then his band was

(43:59):
where we would yeah, we would play. We would rehearse
all day first and then when he finished, we finished,
then his band would be coming in. But don't you
think he knew that you would never really say anything.
He just to do weird ship like that, like he'd
see me with He ain't gonna check me on it.
So no, he I don't know if he really just

(44:20):
you know, sublime early didn't know, but I would write
some stuff that would sticking to your crowd because that
that whole jungle of that ah tract thing you see,
that's all there. It's actually funkier to me, but it's
all there. It wasn't like, oh did he really do?
It's all there. And so when I walk in was
just like with the time when we did. I walked

(44:42):
in with those songs on two inch I already finished.
I was like, I walked in with that ship finished.
And so the same thing with Blondie. I walked in

(45:03):
with those finish and there nobody else is on those songs.
I didn't walk into loose roodsim. I walked in with
a two inch tape. So here it is, Hey, go ahead,
I know what sweet what are you gonna say? Girl?
Get it out? Just gonna say this, Like I heard
a small rumor in the mirror. I didn't even ask
you about this, but I heard there's a small rumor
that like D'Angelo is making music again. If it's true, No,

(45:24):
they trust me. If you a beer can tell you
more about it. He's saiding on fifty or sixty things
and to make you never want to play music again.
And you don't even understand are you involved in anything
that he's sitting on, because I mean I'm on a
some stuff, but it's mostly. But he's the one that's
on everything. Yeah, he played me. You know the song

(45:45):
he did for Lauren Hill, he played that ship for me.
I had to leave. We were what's the one Henson?
And he just just for Lauren? Is that? What the
voodoo that she never did? That's just he and it's
it's it's done. It's you don't understand. It's the horns,
it's it's you don't he I can't even put it

(46:09):
anywhere he got And I ain't talking about five or ten. No,
we're talking like fifty at least, just the same we
have like but you just gotta stop and be like here.
But when you tell him stories about Prince making songs
and twenty minutes and stuff like that, That's why I
was telling him that because because the day because I

(46:30):
don't get that going in and you know, like Fleetwood
Mac would go they made great albums, but they would
be in there for a year and I'm like, yeah,
I don't. I don't. I didn't come from that. Were
come in there, whatever you got, get churn it till
it you burn it, don't go in there. And I'm
gonna go to sleep now for you ain't thinking about
none of that. I'm still like that. I swear you, guys,

(46:53):
is my last question. Then I'll stop it. Can you
please explain the last thirty seconds? I don't want nobody's
going to know the answer to this. Yes, I feel
like you do the last thirty seconds if I don't
want to leave you, and which is just abruptly good,
weird edit and too a jam and you can play it, yeah,

(47:20):
because I don't. I didn't when Mark played that not
long for me, I didn't even remember that even being
on the record. Okay, so basically I don't want the
last m M. Do you want me to pull it up?
Because I'm playing to that, so basically, here we go.

(47:54):
I remember that was that was I think that was
from a version of you know, the song Makeup and
a Microphone, you know the song makeup. It was like
there was different versions of that because there there's a
before the time had a deal, there was you you
know about the what was it called? Was Jamie exactly.

(48:18):
So that's part of the stuff that I re evaluated
and remastered and all that stuff, all of their stuff
is in there, and there was an actual deal in
place for that. There was a deal in place for that.
But that's Jamie singing all that stuff. I can breathe.
But that was a part of the It was part
of because there was a different That's that's what I'm

(48:40):
telling you. That some of the stuff that's in there,
it's like it's got the Vanity six stuff, but Princes
singing it. Oh god, it's got It's like there's a
whole different version of makeup. And but what blew my
mind really was was the Prince album, The Want to
Be Your Lover? Uh? Why why you want? All of
this ship in demo mode? But he and the vocals

(49:03):
ain't really the real vocal yet. So he's on. I
ain't got no money, but he can tell it. He's
figuring out how he's on. And I'm telling you, for
anybody that's in the music and to hear how he's
putting this ship together. To me, I'm sorry, priceless. I
don't I don't want it to go to some collector
that got the actual cassette because you know, he writes

(49:25):
on all the stuff, because I have a ton of stuff.
I actually was listening. I was because I'm moving in
the process of moving to Las Vegas, so I was
opening up a box and it's got these cassettes. You know,
when the answer machine had cassetts and if you and
if they came on and you picked up the phone.
A lot of times, the depending on oh your ship
was the conversations was something He's like, man, uh, come

(49:49):
out to the thing, man, you know, come into the
house man. And I'm like, why man, It's like hundred
forty degrees and you hear these conversations to us, He's like, bad,
just come on out. Fun and you you always you
heard that tape where we're planning to walk and rehearsal
and it's like, really, I mean, we's kicking it and

(50:12):
in Princet and I relationship, all of a sudden the
song stops. Rehearsal and your Prince Jesse, you should and
you can't everything to see what I'm saying. But you
hear Morris. You hear Morris, You hear me, go did
you say my line? You hear me go get the
fun fucking doing that? You hear laughing, and it's like,

(50:35):
that's our relationship. And I was like, and I tried
everything to have the mastering to figure out what he
said to me what was because it's like, bam, we
got to dance more. Right, we're kicking that ship is

(51:02):
if I don't think you do? Who bed No, damn dude,
thing right, we're kicking that. You're not said, it's just
abruptly Jesse, because he's in he's over here and you, Jesse,
you and you hear. It's so typical because then you

(51:29):
would think I was like, here and you have it right, Mark,
you have it? Go fucking you shouldn't go up about
four or five actors? Ain you fucking doing that? Year more?
It's just like all these two motherckers again? Are you
just laughing? And we were just always like but it's
like I'm not doing that, I'm not Jesse, you should

(51:52):
but what the fun? Okay? And we saw it all
of our questions. I have for one last question to
the Bill. Okay, you'll ask the question. Bill. This is
a quick yes or no answer. The song Jungle Love
was it originally called Dreamer No but Jungle Love was written.
The music was written for I said that in the

(52:14):
demo when I posted it's written for Lenny Williams. Wait
what the music? I did the music for Lenny Williams.
That yeah, tar power Lenny was going to do. And
that's why I said it in the in the thing,
and then I said it in the one I posted
the demo and then Lenny say, hey, Jesse, what's up man?
Because one was working with Lenny and that's who hooked

(52:38):
it up. And that's how I wrote that for him before.
But before I played it for him, I was like,
it was in these acting classes with ballet shoes and
ship let feeling vulnerable right now, But the reason why
they made really went to ballet class. The reason I
was like, why am I in ballet and doing all

(52:59):
this ship with Leo's hard on and some pants? Yeah,
but you're not the kind that you would see like that,
like you know, not yeah you know, but you got
but you got your know, but you got regular pain.
You got them pants anywhere you got, you got those.
They're made out of some kind, but they're not that
clingy type. But you gotta have h LINTONA when you're

(53:22):
doing that ship because otherwise you will crush your franks
and beings. That's why, that's why when you see a
ballet dancer, what does this dude gotta cup on? Who's
gonna tackle him? Because you got because ballet was really
written for women and and in designed for women, So
you gotta take all of your ship and go here
like it doesn't exist. So you can because I always
wondered why somebody's do playing football after hours or something.

(53:46):
You got a cup on? What the ballet? Whenever you
do acting for real and you do true acting, what
the ballet is for? Like they never said anything to you,
just okay, ballet class. I don't know they seen me
leaving a smoth, but you're in ballet class. But what
it is they shoot, They teach a routine, and they

(54:06):
teach a whole entire movement all the way to the end.
And what they what it's doing is doing memory for lines.
So if you can remember that whole routine and you know,
and they and ballet's all in at one too, four
and sit and all that crazy ship. But it just
if you can remember that whole routine from the beginning
all the way this movement all the way to the

(54:27):
end and around and back again somewhere else. Then it
helps you remember your lines, so develops memory, muscle memory
they call it. I never knew that. I didn't know that.
Did you have to do that too? For that was
before and she wasn't No, I knew. I just figured
it was an acting thing. Period. We had to do that.
The whole summer was acting and ballet. Acting in ballet,

(54:50):
because even if you didn't have lines in the film,
you still want to there doing some routine. That crazy
assent there too. Yeah, yeah, everybody was in. Did you
have any lines of her cut from the phone, because
I know Jellybean has to see where him and the
kid getting the fight. There was a lot of when

(55:13):
you do a movie, they go to l A and
they have these special screening because I remember editing being
out there editing uh and talking to Clint Eastwood and
he was there screening the Rookie and so. But that's
why a lot of Purple Rain was reshot because there's
a part scene in Purple Rain. It in there where
he prince goes up the Morris and slaps the spit

(55:34):
out of his mouth. But when all this ship would happen.
There's a lot of things in Purple Rain that when
the testing audience watch is supposed to be like, oh
my god, they were krying. You know black folks, man,
you know black folks. They ain't gonna sit there. They're
gonna be that shit. And so a lot of scenes
that were supposed to be like, oh man, he wouldn't slapped.

(55:55):
They had to take that ship out because it was like,
it's like Kevin Hart slap in the rock. It's like, dude,
we're not ain't believable. And that's why there's so much.
There's so much I think, okay, okay, okay, no, you know,
I'm so grateful about everything in my career. I'm so
grateful about all the ignort Ship we did. There was

(56:16):
no cell there was no cell phone cameras because we
used to do the time like we would be on stage.
This is true. Ship was one on stage and and
this is so the time we go up there and
play and then dudes would be there with their girls
and ship and the girl will be like, yeah, yeah,

(56:37):
maybe you're in front of me and I One time
I turned my back and Jerome was on this platform
with Monty and Jerome would be up on the platform
doing that clap thing, and Jerome was as I'm turned
facing my back to just go, and I turned like what.
You know, you're looking at somebody face and you're like what,
what wouldn't you turn on nothing? Some as you watched

(56:57):
the video, dude took a magnum. It was before when
they would let people bring ship in the countybody took
a magnum bottle and threw it at me. What and
it went and it missed me, but it slid under
the rise of Jerome was on. So but it means
how ignorant we were. Let me tell you ignort we were.
We would come off the stage, go putting on, go change,

(57:20):
come out and start pointing, get that motherfucker and there
you get his punk as to it. And the dudes
would come backstage and would be me and Jerome, yeah,
bring that ship back here, and the guy would be
talking mad that. The dudes would be talking mash it
to me, but they didn't know Terry was back there
with no shirt on, some church shoes, church pants. Yeah,

(57:40):
bring the mother there was one guy started crying and
we were so ignorant that we would go back out
after turning it out, get this motherfucker. Yeah you wanna
throw bring your punket and they would be talking because
it would just be be a Jerome walking them back
and it would be everybody back there way, Yeah, bring
them motherfucker. And and and when we were one that
we're like you bring people like hawk is the time

(58:06):
there was camera phones back then. Man, I'm so glad
there was none of that existed video cameras because bad
I want to see it. This is going to be
the final question, because I'm gonna ask the question that
like wraps up the thing? Are you? Because I wanted

(58:26):
we got next three hours even though Jimmy Jim the Prince,
after he didn't put the record out. Okay, that's fine
after Creedy Bridge, but that's fine. I just alright. He
put on after Graffiti Bridge and was like her album
never because you can't leave Electra arrived. Yeah that was

(58:53):
rellion dollars and nobody still cares. He spent a million dollars. Okay,
go ahead, go ahead. Then that's my questions as we
sit here. Were you on the set when I was
had to grab him and all that stuff, and were
you in the set when something happened, and everybody clear
that and Prince was sitting on the floor and they
made everybody clear the set where you on the set
when that happened. What happened? I had to grab him

(59:17):
and like man handled him or something, and I didn't
wasn't you know, it wasn't really doing that much. But
I don't know what happened. And he sat on the
floor and everybody and then they were like every Craig Rice,
everybody cleared. Everybody cleared the rice, everybody cleared the room.
Everybody they made I'm thinking something we part of this

(59:38):
chip came. Oh, but I thought something bad because no, no,
he there was a lot of times. But you gotta remember,
I'm talking about doing that my hair as long as hell,
but I'm talking about doing that when I go out
because it's too much work. But yeah, I know, Yeah,

(59:59):
that's why I'm like going, No, I'm gonna get there's
a place in l A that does it. And because
I want my hair blond or red or whatever I
wanted to be. I don't wanted to do that to
my own hair, and I don't want to be somewhere
in the middle of this place is in the Europe.
I mean it's up to date now. But if you
went into London and Paris and especially Paris and all
that stuff, like in the eighties when no black hair,

(01:00:23):
not ship nowhere, Yeah you ain't. Still ain't a lot
of places. And I'm a black woman, and yeah I
remember going and trying to find the ordering and that
ship was at a specialty perfume store and it was
that old remember that mom type ship? Remember Mom, y'all
remember Mom? That ship was a pag. Yeah, it was
kind of ship. And it was like, yeah, I'm like yeah, Mom,

(01:00:46):
like yeah, I'm Mom, alright, But yeah, no, no, I
get it with it because he had what he was
going from. I don't know his actual hair was always long,
but he made it longer for the movie or something.
But because it was perfect, it was laid. Who gives
a ship? I'm like, that's what you're supposed to when

(01:01:08):
you start. Nobody gives a ship. But that whole sentence
that you said about putting the extra stuff in your
hair and dying and stuff like that on the floor,
But my hair can't take it to be right on
the floor. Now, I get it. I should have fallen
out so faced, so fast that it ain't even funny, man,
So no, I don't. I'm putting some other ship in
my hair. So I ain't even got a comb, and
I just wanted can y'all make it where I can

(01:01:29):
just wake up and it still looks cool. That's what
I am not lying dude. I never seen dude's hair
messed up. Yeah, especially when he went to the fingerway. No, no,
I ain't talking about that. I'm talking about through the
purple Perfect would walk out of the bedroom and I said,
I hate you. He would his ship would be I

(01:01:50):
was like, how do you are you sleeping? Like, which
makes me think about Purple Rain and Graffiti Bridge And
was there ever scenes where the woman got to put
her hay No, But trust me as a friend, as
we were just like we never washed our hair. That's
why hair looks so good. You don't know. No, it's
we're hearing funky. But you know black hair, when you

(01:02:10):
wash it, it takes a long time to get back
until it like when it was looking real cool, it'll
deal should take weeks, so we like so Prince would
would have this really back when I really skinny curling
iron and he would be for hours be talking to him. Yeah, man,
we all did. We didn't never have a hairdresser on us.

(01:02:33):
You just I mean most sons don't really, but we
got we got long ass hair, were trying to be
pretty and shipped too. We don't care about what dudes
think we did. I always tell dudes all the time.
Who was out talking to I think I was in
a maxwell. I was like, you care about what the
dude things? Dudes don't buy? Ship women do want to
go buy women to go dudes be his dudes. Oh man,

(01:02:56):
you got that copy? That's what dude women. I want
the picture. I want to read all the ship in it.
I wanted. I'm like dude, and I'm not thinking about
what No, dude, thanks we I forgot the most important
question that we would have killed ourselves for asking. For
not asking me, we didn't mention we were pink at all.
In the three there were how many suits? Pink suits?

(01:03:18):
How many pink suits did you own? And like you
know that it's a story behind it though. Jamie Shoe,
we were rehearsing on the Sunday the time and Jamie
Shoe came out with she she met us out with
prints because Andre s my own sister up until uh
from and she made all of the clothes Andre's older

(01:03:39):
sister or older sister, um, Sylvia, Sylvie Anderson, she made
all our clothes. And so the day that they brought
out the swatches, to look at the swatches and so, um,
if you ever see any video of the time, we
used to call it the Shrek like we used to
call because what we used to call it the Hulk
because it wasn't no Shrek then. But were he knew

(01:04:00):
when he was kicking ass because that green all the
lights will go off in to just be this green light.
Motherfucker's be looking like Martians. I think it's it's tossing now.
So if you watch videos from the very first tour,
you never see me because I was like, I'm cool.
I got around black. Literally no, my black ass wasn't
saying either. So when they brought into swatches, uh, they're

(01:04:22):
Jamie showing us to swatches and it's like this real
cool swatch of this future mohair. You know, it's like
changes colors. And I suppressed you should wear that, and
he honestly the stock of Bibles. He said, oh no,
I wouldn't wear that. People already say enough stuff about me,
and I said, Funk that I'll wear it. And that's
how that came to be, and that's how I wore.
And then it worked out perfectly because no matter how

(01:04:42):
much dark he put me in, you saw my ass.
He saw my ass in the dark. When I walked
on stage in the dark, you could hear him on
the thing ja jazz. Yeah you see, Mom came put
the light out on my black ass. Now I got
on this pink white and a white shirt. Yeah. You
before I didn't consider I'm telling you, he really beat
the ship out of our assets on the first tour

(01:05:05):
because we didn't know anything yet. We was like getting
he was you know, he was on the top of
the speaker doing all of that jagging off the guitar
and this and that and that, and we were just
like getting as handed to us, you know, and anybody
only knew a couple of songs on the record. And
second tour, ship Fucker's came out clean, came out with

(01:05:26):
some steps and had it hard, and so then he
was like and it was weird. And then we saw
the tide turn where I was telling uh Inger today
how we would outsell him on merchandise because a dude
ain't gonna wear no shirt I belong to prince, you know,
ain't gonna you know, unless he you know, different and
wanted to belong to print. But most dudes ain't gonna

(01:05:49):
wear that. But our ship said, ain't nobody bad like me?
I'm so cool and so so we would midway through
the we'd already sold over a million dollars in merchandise
because I should appealed to both men and women. How
did you upkeep it? Though? Because the thing is that
the pink thing. I mean, yeah, because you do a show,
you're sweaty as hell. I don't be guys, I'll tell

(01:06:11):
you I don't for some reason, on sweat like that.
He's too cool. I never I never have. I don't don't. Yeah,
d sweats more than deep sweats before he even starts.
He seriously as an athlete, because he just I mean,
I've never seen anybody sweat like that what I'm just saying.

(01:06:33):
But no, I know that you have to take care
of that every night. Yes, on the time tour, because
you gotta. But you gotta watch the beginning of the
tour if you see the things, because I got cuffs
in averything. You know, before we had professional clothing makers,
like the clothing makers that take the material, throw it
in a vat of water, pre shrinking and all that
didn't make the clothes. But see, we didn't have that.

(01:06:54):
We just had somebody's sister making us some stuff. And
she wasn't didn't know all about that then, like these
people that may clothes, you can be completely wet, you
won't see it. You like the cat that made all
the clothes for Purple Rain, and so he grew up
in the same we were from the same hometown, Rocker
and Lewis, Lewis Wells for Lewis and Vaughan that made
all the ship for Purple Rain and numb was princes

(01:07:14):
Those was Lewis Wells, uh patterns Prince Ward to the
end of his life. That's all Lewis Wells. He designed
and cut all that ship. But but they knew their
ship like they would know they have them. They wash
the silk and so you know how when you sweat
you won't see it. I don't they're just magicians that
the ship or something like how your accounts be on
stage three four? Oh, hey, what y'all got invisible counts

(01:07:38):
and breaking in the bad Ship. Don't tell nobody no
keys all night. I'm like, y'all, don't break in the
bad ship. Don't even you ain't gonna okay, yeah, John
when the flat that they was killing ship and y'all
got invisible keys like the count okay, got you. Your
classics are in the flat. We went to your the

(01:08:00):
Jesse key and all those are more. I wrote those
for Marri's case. I can't sing you. But if you
look at the very first videos of my pants are nice, cool,
got the plate, got cuffs, but look as a tour
going higher, not a cuff is gone higher. And yeah

(01:08:21):
that's that. So that was one suit. But when I
did the first album, then it was like three or
four of those. Thank you. But I would have like
twelve shoes. And then I would always have my door
open to my room and so girls are coming in
the room, my door would try to be wide open,
like you know, they just would be chilling, but they
were ninjas. I would go on tour like twelve pair
of white boots, right, come home with three because they

(01:08:43):
were taking it. How do you I just saw you?
Yeah you know, and you're like, how did you do that?
But but once again going back to you know, the
camera phone thing, it's like scary to do a self
with somebody because even now, because the era I come from,
if somebody got a selfie with you, you were somewhere

(01:09:05):
selfie with them, and it's like meaning somebody can you know,
like say, if you go to court somebody said he
did this to me, I don't even know her. Why
y'all on this like that? Why y'all you know that?
All that's just scares me. I mean, he never went
through that. But I'm watching enough crime shows, like when
Patrice O'Neill said he would go buy a stick of

(01:09:28):
gumb and go okay, okay, so he won't be because
because I'm lazy, you don't want to throw the PEPSI
cannot I'm the PEPSI can't rape. And I'm like you,
I love him to death so much. I miss him.

(01:09:51):
So he Jesus a great guy. Absolutely, That's why when
I think his face on Love said that Dave Chappelle
and funny, and I'm like, he might not be funny
if you're not intellectual. Dave Chappelle is genius. Dave Chappelle
is from the George Carlin he's from that even though
you know not to be whatever, but his comedy is very,

(01:10:12):
very brilliant. Bill Cosby back in the day, and he's
he's Dave has all of that and more. He's like,
he's scary. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Because George Wallace said
something that to me. He said, you ever noticed when
you move? He said, my wife is darker than me,
and he said, we were moving, I found a bottle

(01:10:33):
of Suntanne lotion. We're looking at each other like that
type humor that I you know. And then I saw
when we played Vegas, he would come on after us,
and I saw him cut some kids out and everything.
He said he was allowing people in the joke in
the audience to say some jokes and his kids look

(01:10:54):
kissed him, saying, your mama was so fat that blah
blah blah. And he said, well, what are you doing
down here? You have your ass in it, so we'll
watch your fatass, MoMA, your mama, so your mama so ugly.
The birds fly upside down that I love. I love Georgia,

(01:11:15):
who was all in the memories on the same floor
in the dressing room, and that's where I ran into
Regina King when she was doing that Southland and she
was killing that pixie she had that she was killing
that ship. I was like, it's like, it's like when
I saw Gabrielle Union tonight. I was telling question no,
but she was having a heart attack. She's like, she's

(01:11:37):
I wonder if she remembers me. Because I met them
all they were like, you know they're right on that
cuss third twelve thirteen, and so you're like it was her,
kim Phils and Janet, they were all like best of friends.
And so I met her way back then when they
were the little kids, and they were like, oh I
just a crush, did it? And I was just wanted
to was like it was like this big and I'm
like hi, and then I'd be no, I just her

(01:12:00):
back with stars. But she was looking at me like
she's so beautiful. It was beautiful. But whenever you how
you know, I'm not how you know where I'm coming from.
I was and said, else is a beautiful kid, you know,
like I'll say to her her young, beautiful kid, her too,
it's a beautiful kid. And then that means you know
that I'm looking at her like that and not as

(01:12:21):
like some perverted you know, but I'm telling you, because
I had girls so young, I just good. I have
enough of them, that's damn sure. No, no, no, because
I'm they they He'll tell you they're they're they're together. Girls,
they're together and they just having a daughter means that

(01:12:45):
he needs to learn some lessons about his life before
he will know. Because I had them so young, I
was didn't know anything about life when I was a
young father, like in fifteen sixteen, married and all that ship.
So I had girls early, and so they just you
learned a lot of things. Like I hear guys say
they might only have one to have a boy, and say, oh,
you know, the best thing for man, it's a it's

(01:13:06):
a son. And that's bullshit because a father and son
it's a yin yang. So if the son and mothers
like insuperable and and the fathers like the daughter can
come to I'm sorry, dad, I killed eight people. They
must have been fun and and that's a that's an
amazing and important relationship. Well we uh initially thought we

(01:13:32):
were just getting an hour and a half. Well y'all
gotta know, and now we have a double episode, so uh, sorry, Steve,
how you do I'm good, I'm good. How many episodes
did you do? Doing these two episodes? Nice tour of
Electrical Lady for the for the Sugar Network. But um,

(01:13:52):
you never asked the question that you said was going
to wrap up the whole because lightly interrupted you. You
had some larger you had some question that was that
was gonna on everything up? Well it was he kind
of mentioned his kids, which was basically, it's true, I've
never You're like, I've never been in prison. I've never
I've never been a heroin AT's so much bullshit out
there about me, but now I've never been in prison,

(01:14:14):
never been a heroin attict, never did drugs, never drank,
never did none of that. Ship. That's all a bunch
of bullshit. Well, my wrap up question was what do
you want your legacy to be? Um? Just what James
Brown and west Montgommy, you, HENDRICKX. You you leave great
music because that should all outlive everybody Like I I
would get so upset when people say about James, but no,

(01:14:34):
we're all gonna fucking eat it. You just hope that
you live. You leave something that's a mark for your
children to get their trade because as songwriters and artists,
that is your that is your your land, you know,
because think about it how the land thing really works.
You pay taxes on it the money you buy it with,
and then you pay taxes on the rest of your life.

(01:14:55):
This ship that you're leaving them, this music and and
every that electoral property is like to me, the real
deal ship. So it's just like, even even as tragically
as losing uh uh somebody like like print, but at
least what that catalog like When you already hear people
go I don't like they want to help me do too,

(01:15:17):
I'm like, yeah, but then I've got a catalog. He
can play for three hours and you know the B
sides because he got a catalog like Lacey Brothers can
go play a four hour show and it's all hits.
You know, are you making sure protected? Because I wonder,
in the American idol sense of things, even though you
know I choke somebody to death, isn't it even about

(01:15:39):
you no more? It's about It's about your your children
and and and so you do make sure. That's why
I stopped making records like the verbal record was supposed
to be on Universal, was supposed to be on Where's
Angie's that label? Angie Stone was on uh J Records.
You no, it was when she did the baby record
that label. I was supposed to be on that leabel,
but they want to it's yeah, it wasn't Jay. It

(01:16:00):
was like like where Leila Hathaways on that label? Try
to exactly, And they wanted to own the masters and
ship and all that, and I ain't doing it no more,
I said, So I said, anything I do, I'm gonna
own it from here on out, going back to bear
my neket sold, so I I that was my first
foray into independent. I think I printed a hundred thousand

(01:16:22):
through BMG. They sold them all. And so now I'm
I'm on eBay right now watching a copy unopened and
it's a hundred and twelve dollars and I'm like me,
I ain't paying that for that, but I just want
to see how crazy there's even an unopened copy on
on Amazon for like two hundred dollars. But I but
I would admit I had to go buy and I
had to pay forty dollars a piece for that ship

(01:16:44):
because I burned. I sold every copy I made, And yeah,
I tend to lose records too. Yeah, have you ever
thought about putting those two albums out digitally? Because they're
not the the I couldn't find they are. I couldn't
find ye as that's on purpose, but but I am.
It's part of the there's a whole thing that I'm
gonna do that I'm actually that's why I'm moving to Vegas.
I'm not moving to Vegas because I'm moving to Vegas

(01:17:05):
because somebody. I'm just getting away from everybody and everything
and I'm running a crib. Nobody's gonna know. No, no, no,
but not that I know. I don't know anybody that
I'm moving in. No, he lives Miami and things. But
I'm moving. I'm moving there farmhouse in the middle of nowhere, studio,
no furniture, just the gear, the guitars, the studio a

(01:17:27):
bad and the TV. And I have these three records
that you don't even know about here tell you that
they're all new Ship and they're just crazy shit and
and and I'm have this campaign behind them. And then
after those are all done in the campaign's moving, then
that's when I finished the audiobook. Because there's so much
Ship that y'all don't know, the ugly ship. It's like

(01:17:49):
he really choked them on. When can we expect the
first of these three projects, the first of the first
of the three projects. They're all coming out the same time.
It's gonna be a three tier thing, and it's not
it's not a kickstarter or something to finance. Everything will
be done. It's a pre sale thing because now the
way records are not you know folks renting music and
ship so you and and and they're they're gonna not

(01:18:09):
gonna be CDs. That's the only antiquated thing. So it's
gonna be a twenty four bit n s K every
version and said then and also the same versions and um,
you know wax if I it's the part of the
campaign if it reaches a certain number most deaf out
of doubt. Yeah, so it's got the it's it's three
album and it's a three tier thing, but it's more

(01:18:32):
involved in It's like each there's gonna be a photo booklet,
a colorful of book booklet that you will have in
person and a poster. But the color booklet will detail
everything about the records, like what pedals with me playing,
what I'm doing, what the chords are the whole shot
like that, and and I'm just trying to decide if
I want to do it physically or phone. But I
know I'm never making a CD again because I can't

(01:18:53):
even listen to verbal on CD. It's not if you
hear it in the studio on you know twenty you
know Wenting Forbid nineties K, It's a totally different record.
I can't even listen to the CD. It sounds so garbage.
And so what is is you spend all these tens
of thousands of dollars that come up with this bad
ship and then githerer it down to some antiquated bullshit.

(01:19:13):
I'm done. That ain't never happening. Then when people like
you know, I see people want the you know what,
get an a track while you add that ship too,
because I'm not making that. But you will have the
ability when you get your card, you can burn and
all you want. But I ain't making that ship, no mark,
because I can't hear it. I'm telling you it's terrible sounding.

(01:19:33):
It's like I didn't know it would be that bad.
But because Verbo was cut high deaf, and I should
have put out a high deaf as well as a
and I think I'm still gonna do a vinyl of it,
but I'm just gonna pick certain things into it on vinyl.
There you go, Well, Sarah Johnson, I thank you very much.

(01:19:56):
Why I answered all the bad questions, answered everything to
shout out to my uncle Jesse rest in peace. Yes,
oh that's the one. Yeah. Yeah, I want to thank you. Know.
I want to give a shout out too, and and
and when well wishes to his mother's Mike, Mike go
see you. Oh really yes, he's a Baltimore as I Mike.

(01:20:17):
Love to you. Man. He's always been just really really
wonderful and ever you put pin the paper regarding all
of us, he's just been like really okay, okay, shout
out well. Dianna love you baby. Yeah, she was gonna come,
she got tired, so she went back to Philly. Yeah.
Now I just gonna thank for coming and thank you
all for bringing it. That cheesecake. That cheesecake was great.

(01:20:38):
Shout out to find tikoloose countertops. Right now, what's going on?
And there's two other members of this team missing today. Later,
I want to talk to Ingraf like about what it's
like to be a woman in this environment and not
be able to really talk too much, can't you because
I don't know because we didn't get to talked about
her about that questions. But I mean I can come

(01:21:04):
up with fully. She's a boss. I know she is.
That's why I wanted her to be able to open
her How about I come back? Okay, what do you live?
I live in New Hampshire. I live a few hours.
Ye many time, now that we know you're here, Yeah,
that I'm still alive. Yes, I do have a new
record coming out? You do? Yes? I did you do Wednesday?

(01:21:26):
I'm coming out. She'd be out by the end of summer. Okay,
and then you have like three albums already? Are you
calling it January? It's going to be called Memories of Flying?
So what was it was just a date that we
picked that was around the time that we were, you know,

(01:21:47):
creating the album, hard work and stuff. But it was
just meant to be. Like a lot of my records
are like journal, you know in trees that makes sense,
you know, all my songs, so it's like journal. We
will do a proper ingoros and now the time I
know you're here, all right, y'all? That Uh, that makes

(01:22:09):
for another exciting conclusion quest Loves and Greens with Jess
and Johnson also like to thinks when we're stopping through
dropping a lot of tools. Uh be app Sugar, Steve
and Bossonville and La and the rest of the q
Alls family. And thanks for listening, and we will see
you on the next episode on the next cover. All right,

(01:22:32):
see you later, of course. Love Supreme is a production
of I heart Radio. This classic episode was produced by
the team at Pandora. For more podcasts for my heart Radio,
visit the I heart Radio app, Apple podcast, or wherever
you listen to your favorite shows.