Love4oneanother Episode 5

A special book reading. MD chapters 1&2. Dream work.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:04):
Welcome back, y'all. This is Jeff Luna and the Love
for one Another Podcast. I want to welcome you back
to this wonderful journey through music life and how we
navigate through it altogether. No, we do not talk about
hate here, but we do not act like we are
blind to those amongst us filled with hate. So strap

(00:26):
yourself in as we take this musical journey and learn
to have love for one another. Welcome, Welcome, everyone. This

(01:07):
is the Love for one Another Podcast. This is number
five and for number five, we're going to do something
special here today, and I hope you are ready. You
know what happened. Everybody was writing books and I was like, man,
everybody's writing books. I gotta buy this book, buy that book.
One of my if you can hear it, I got
my books sitting here. One of my favorite things was

(01:30):
I wanted to know what Morris had to say. I
wanted to know what Sheila had to say. Mi Ta,
I'll tell you here's what happened. I got Mite's book.
I'm not a big book reader. I'm she did like.
I went to the audiobooks where you can people read

(01:50):
them for you or whatever, and I was very interested
because I was like, oh, I want to see what
this is all about, what she's going to say. And
she read the book herself, and I got to say,
that was amazing. That was the way it should be done,
because there was feeling in it. There was there was

(02:10):
this feeling of she's telling her story. And then Sheila's
book I read a little bit. I didn't do the audio.
But then Morris's book I went to go read and
I did the audio and he had some you know
they have whoever read it, and oh my god, what

(02:31):
a difference. It was just like, dude, you should have
read the book yourself. I don't care if you're a
book reader or not. You could add lib, you could
toss stuff in there. It doesn't have to match, but
just having you read it would have been amazing. It
just would have been amazing. Now that's just my opinion,
and my opinion don't mean shit, but you know what,

(02:52):
it's just the way things go, you know, And it's like,
I wish they did this, I wish to did that.
Whatever more it's gonna do mare And that's cool with me,
you know what I'm saying. I'm just like, man, it
would have been amazing. So what I thought I would do.
And now, don't get me wrong, if anybody's listening out there,

(03:14):
go buy Morris's book. And I ain't gonna read you
exactly word for word. And because I don't want to plagiarize,
I'm you know, this is not my own. This is
Morris Day's book. It is called on Time, A Princely
Life in Funk Moore's Day with David Ritz. I don't
know who David Ritz is anyway, but by his book.

(03:38):
I've had his book now, it's been up on the shelf.
I would have liked to have had him sign it.
You know. Out of all the people I talked to
him mad and hang out with and everything, Morris, I've
talked to him a couple of times during one of
a couple of rehearsals. He's a funny dude. He's just funny.
And during the rehearsals he's funny, like they make me man.

(04:00):
I had the privilege of sitting in when they were
rehearsing for the Grammys, and it was the original members
except for Jesse, and that's another thing. And they were
all they were all cool, man. You know, I got
to say Jimmy was cool. Terry was cool with me.
Morris came over, talked and he was cool, and of

(04:22):
course Bean and Tory was there, and Monty, Monty is great.
Monty is a great guy, and of course I love
being But Morris was cool man, and you know, I
would have liked to have picked his brain a little
bit more. But that's not what I'm there for. I'm
not there to bug nobody, and I'm not there to
try and get him from Asian, none of that bullshit.

(04:43):
I'm just there to hang out and do what I
do and do my job. And Morris was cool shit.
And I told him i'd promote his book for him,
and he was like cool. He was like, that's cool man.
You know, it was no big deal. But I would
say I would love for him to have read his book.
I think it would be bad ass. So Morris, if
be listening, do a book read. You know, sounds corny

(05:06):
and all, but I think it'd be bad ass. So anyway,
I want you to go buy his book and we're
gonna read something from it because I think it's kind
of cool. I hope you get a kick out of it,
and I hope it inspires you to go purchase his book,
and I think it'd be pretty cool. So anyway, let's
go to the prelude because I think it's cool what
he says here. And like I said, this is my version.

(05:28):
I'm gonna read it, and I want you to go
buy it and read it yourself. I'm gonna try and
stick to it, and we're gonna jump around and stuff.
I think it's some cool stuff. Everybody that's a Prince
fan probably already read it, probably bought it, probably has
signature all over it before I did. And then that's
kind of funny, but good for you. You get it anyway.

(05:52):
So this is on Time at Princely Life and funk
by Moore's Day, and this is his story. Like you said, book,
go get it, you know. Anyway, Prince's first word in
this book. I placed him first because he's my biggest influence,
the person who most powerfully shaped my musical life. He's
also first because of our brotherhood. See that's some cool

(06:16):
shit right there, because you know, one thing I saw
was emotion with Moore's whatever they went through in their lifetime,
we go. Remember, these guys have known each other, all
of them for a long time. Some of them were
really good friends. Some of them were more acquaintances and
hung out together and did things. Some of them like

(06:36):
you know, there's a lot of stories if you go
to Jellybean's page is and we did a drive around.
We drove through the neighborhood, and he talked about him
and Morris used to practice drums together, and Jelly used
to carry his drums like blocks and blocks. I don't
even know how he carried him that far, to be

(06:56):
honest with you, we joke around about it a lot.
And they used to practice in the kitchen and at
Morris's house, and Morris's mom was cool, but they get
you know, they were all cool together and so so
talk about a brotherhood. Well, there's something special there, and
I'm really happy to hear that, and I'm glad you

(07:18):
put that in here. He says, our bond was something else.
It began strong and got even stronger. Then then strong
change to strange, and strange turned to strained. Yet the
bond never broke. Damn. That's some powerful shit right there.
I'm also putting Prince first, because though he's gone, he's

(07:40):
still here. I still hear his voice in my head.
I can't write this book without his voice. I'd rather
than keep that voice to myself, I'm going to share
it with you. Kind of cool, And that's what I'm
doing right now. I'm sharing Morris's word with you. And
this is straight from Morris, so I have no choice.
Anything else would be cheating Prince. He wants to be heard.

(08:03):
I'm no mystic. I'm not saying that I have the
power of telepathy or can communicate with souls on the
other side. I don't and I can't. But I swear
on my sacred pearl white DW drum set that every
time I sit down to start telling my story, I
hear this motherfucker whispering in my ear. He won't leave

(08:24):
me alone, won't be quiet, won't be left out of
this trip. So I'm taking him along. I'm letting him in,
gonna let you hear the voice that I'm hearing. That's
some cool shit right there. I'm hearing him say, good decision, bro,

(08:45):
And I'll tell you why. More folks are more interested
in reading about me than you see. That's some funny shit.
Like I said, Morris is a funny dude. But Morris,
we want to hear about you too, just in case
you're listening. Like I said, everybody wanna hear about Prince.
I want to hear about Prince. I you know, but

(09:06):
I've heard about Prince for many a year, and whether
it be right or wrong or true or not, I
you know, but coming from you, I guess you know. Okay,
it's a whole different thing. That's why I'm reading your book.
But at the same time, man, I would love to
hear about your life, and I'm sure it's in here,
and we're gonna venture into that. I'm not gonna read
the whole book. We're gonna do this in stages. I

(09:28):
wanna read everybody's book, and I've kind of wanted to
do this book reading a while ago, and I I
thought about it the last time I was doing my podcast,
and I hope nobody takes offense to it, because, uh,
this is just I'm enjoying it. I'm actually enjoying reading
from a book. What the hell. And it's gonna be

(09:49):
some language in here, and I probably already you know whatever,
just deal with it. I'll put explicit on the thing
and let's let's keep going. So he says, agreed, Then U.
So this is kind of like what you're gonna hear
right now, and he puts it into italics and stuff.
Is like Prince and Morris talking, which is cool. So
let's see if we can do so. I ain't gonna

(10:09):
try and act like I'm one of them. But anyway, agreed,
then what are you gonna do about it? That's Prince
right about you, bro. That means you'll be putting up words.
You'll be putting words in my mouth. You'll give me
those words, but that means you get to make up
and twist my words. Promise I'll be true to you. Then,

(10:31):
still nervous about the whole situation. I don't like how
you can write this thing up and any way you wanna.
You got a power I no longer have. Yeah, you
ain't lost none of that power. I feel you. I
know you wrong. No one really knows me shit. I
know you're silly ass as well as anyone. We've been

(10:52):
knowing each other since we were kids. I feel like you're
part of me. There are people who say I made you.
Those people are you. You're the one saying that you
made me? Well? Like didn't I? Well, maybe and maybe not,
but sure to a large extent, to such an extent
that you have no story without me. Truth is, you

(11:15):
can't tell your story without me. So you see my point?
You just being slick, being truthful. But the truth and
my truth. But your truth and my truth are hardly
the same. You're gonna have your say. I'll let you
say whatever you want, not worried about what I say,

(11:36):
worried about what you're gonna say. That was Prince. I'm
gonna give you your props, and not just because I
got your spirit breathing down my neck as I write
this book, going to give your props because you deserve them.
You done changed up the game, You sculpted the sound,
You form the musical universe. I'm lucky to have slipped

(11:56):
into that universe. I believe you. I believe I've been
in your ear ever since you chased me down to
get my band. Hell Man, you asked me, and you
hustled your way in. I had the chops to kick
your drummer's ass. That's how I got in. Point is, bro,
I let you in. Ain't no disputing that. Who's disputing

(12:18):
these days? Before the show starts, I put your pretty pace,
pretty face up on the big screen. That's true. If
you ever been to Morris's show, to a time show,
Morris gives Prince props man. He puts this big picture
up there and they do a whole. They do a
whole beginning with it, and then he talks about you
love Prince. Put your finger in the air. I mean,

(12:39):
it's really cool, and thank you Morris for that, because
that's some that's some down shit right there. Then I
tell the crowd how we miss you, how we love you,
how you're the founding father. But what else she's gonna
say about me in this book that we brothers always
have been? Oh will be. I'm the one cat who

(13:02):
wasn't scared to tell you what I thought, And in
this book that won't change. Gonna be true to you,
but true to me too, or true to me, And
if I'm not mistaken, I do believe that's why you
kept me around. I said that was on my mind.
I said what was on my mind, whether you liked
it or not. Remember when you played when Doves Cry? Yes,

(13:24):
indeed you said, don't play me nothing else unless it's funky.
And if you don't put out that dove song, put
some bass in it. And if you do put out
that Dove song put some bass in it. I told
you guys, I wasn't a book reader. But this is
cool this, You know what? I get more enjoyment reading

(13:44):
it like this. Man, that's some cool shit. Right. Wasn't
trying to kick your ass? Others might have done that,
but not me. Oh, it wasn't trying to kiss your ass. Damn,
I gotta get these words right. You didn't kiss my a,
but when it came to Dove, you had your head up.
Your ass was my first number one pop single. I

(14:08):
don't give a shit, still think it needs some base,
So we're gonna keep arguing. Is that it. We're gonna
do what we're gonna do, which is just what led
to all the fights and the falling outs. Is that
something you really want to get into? Why not brothers
love each other, but brothers fight, brothers fall out. But

(14:29):
our fights and falling out left deep wounds, wounds that
need to heal or not be reopened. They were already
open when you turned me into the arch enemy in
your movie. You made me your foil. Purple Rain made
you famous. Hell, yes, Purple Rain made me fifty thousand dollars?

(14:53):
How many millions did you make bro, you made out fine,
so fine in fact, that you got you get to
do a book. The only problem is that you're using
me to get more people to read your story. Yet
if I told you the story without you, you'd be
pissed anyway you look at it. I'm not about to
let you flip the script to suit your purpose. Settle down, man,

(15:17):
just want to tell it right. Well, if that's your
true aim, you needed to you need me to check
you along the way exactly. So now that we're doing
the same page, let's turn the page. Man. I'm gonna
stop right there for a second, because, like I said,
I want you guys to man, this is some cool shit.

(15:39):
And like I said, I've read this in the past.
I did the book read and I really didn't experience it.
I wish I just would have read it to you
guys like this because it makes me put it in
a different perspective. And this is like some emotional shit

(16:00):
between these two. And I get it that Prince ain't
talking to him right now, but Morris knows Prince and
he's saying the true things that he knows. He's gonna say.
You know, you can't get more better than that. Man,
good job, Morris. You know, do I read each chapter?
Because of that, I don't want to step on nobody's toes. Man.

(16:22):
I want people, like I said, to read. But you
know who's gonna Who's gonna actually click on this and listen, say,
I'm gonna Getchell's version instead of get Morris's version. Buy
the book. It's in the book. But uh, we'll go
through and read a couple of chapters and then I'm gonna.
What I'm gonna do is I'm gonna we'll read another

(16:42):
book after this one. This is really entertaining doing it
this way though, Morris, damn it, I wish you would
have read it yourself anyway, Chapter one, drop the groove.
You know what I'll do is I'm gonna posit right
here before I start this, and uh, we're gonna take
little break and then we'll come back. How's that sound.
This is Jeff with Love for one Another Podcasts. We

(17:06):
are doing a book reading today and one of the
best books. Go get it. This is on Time a
Princely Life in Funk with Mort's Day with David Ritz.
I should have read to see who David Ritz is.
But anyway, it's a good book. Go get it and
we'll be right back. And we are back, and let

(17:27):
me make sure it's recording real quick. Yes it is, okay. Anyway,
so we are doing this book reading and so anyway,
so let's get going. This is chapter one. Drop the groove.
Groove is the main thing, because the groove is what
keeps us going. The groove has always kept me going.
I speak it's a drummer when I say that groove

(17:49):
is born out of the one, the ones, the moment
of the maximum impact, the kick, the hook, the anchor
for me, those first Jackson five records were all on
the one. James Brown was on the one. James Brown's
drummer Jobo Starks and Clyde Stubblefield were on the one.
Tower Powers drummer David GARLBODDI was no doubt on the one.

(18:14):
With their magic sticks. These drummers cracked my head open
the one, The one came early in my life and stayed.
The groove hit me hard. The groove sustained me. Still
does this, Prince. I never doubted your chops as a drummer,
even said so in an interview with Rolling Stone, said
More's Day has big chops on drums. But then right

(18:37):
after you got your record deal, informed the band you
chose a drummer you knew I could out play you
know that song. Then you know we already know what
DRUMMERY picked. So we know who Morris talking about. And
I ain't got nothing. And Bobby's Bobby's Bobby Man. So
but we all heard about Morris. Morris can play. And

(19:00):
I talked to Jelly and he's like, out of the three,
out of Morris, Prince and and Bean, they Bean says
that Morris is the best drummer. And he says Prince
will probably say the same thing. But I ain't even
put nothing nobody's mouth. Get it in Jelly's book, that's
what you gotta do. Uh this, Prince wasn't a matter

(19:23):
of who played better. The band needed a certain look.
I got your I got to your look later. I
recognize your talent. You can go and go on and
brag about it. Not bragging, just saying I found my
groove early on as a kid. It was in school,
in books and church that got got to me. It
was the groove from Jump Street. I was dancing in

(19:46):
front of the TV and my fruit, fruit of looms
and the second James Brown came on American Bandstand Man,
I'd be banging the banging out beats on my mama's couch,
beating on her pots and pants, chasing down the rhythms,
playing with the syncopations the way other kids play with toys.

(20:09):
Hit the beat so hard, I made a big hole
on the arm of the couch. Mom said, either I
gotta get this boy and this little boy drums or
I'll kill him. So Mom, bless her heart, got me
a toy drum set. Got it. When I was four.
My cousin busted up, and I kept playing. I kept
on playing. Let's see, my cousin busted it up, but

(20:34):
I kept on keeping on, kept banging the spot with spoons,
forks and knives, riding those rhythms, and using those rhythms
to hide from a confusing the childhood was born December thirteen,
nineteen fifty six, in Springfield, Illinois. My mother, Levon Doherty

(20:58):
marry Richard silver Vester Day called Dickie when she was sixteen.
My sister Sandy, Oh, I'm sorry, you know what Here's
you guys got bear with me because, like I said,
I'm not a book reader. So I tend to like
skip ahead. I read fast. I've always done that, so

(21:19):
more as I'm sorry, you know, And like I said,
go buy his book. By his book. That way you
can be like Jeff messed it all up. I ain't
trying to mess up his book. I think this is
really cool stuff. So I'm gonna do my best. Man,
let's see, let's read that again, because I messed it up.
He was born in December thirteen, nineteen fifty six, in Springfield, Illinois, Illinois.

(21:40):
My mother Levon Doherty or Darty, that'd be It's not
dultry Darty Mary Richard Sylvester Day called Dickie. When he
was sixteen. My sister, Sandy, eighteen months older than me,
was their other. By the time I came along, though

(22:03):
my parents had divorced. My father had returned from the
Air Force where he was stationed in Germany and hooked
up with a woman named Shirley. He gave me two
half brothers and a half sister and was living in
the culture some forty miles away. Damn saw, I'm on

(22:24):
a couple of short summer vacations, but that was it.
Can't say I'm bitter, can't really say how I feel.
The man just wasn't around, left the void, left Mom
defend for herself in the projects those prints. Are you
really going through all your family history? People want to
get to the park where you met, where you meet me.

(22:44):
Don't bog us down with details. Get out of my
face and let me set this thing up right. When
you first heard the story, I remember you listening hard.
You related. Your daddy issues were different than mine, but
you had them. You had a big time. My big
daddy issues wasn't as much as my biological father as

(23:08):
the dude. Mom married next. They had a son, Jesse Jr.
My little brother and a lifelong best friend. In nineteen sixty,
Jesse Hammer Sr. Was a scary cat. By then, Mom
and herd ged and had gotten to school to become
a registered nurse. She had a good gig, but a

(23:29):
bad husband. He was a drinker, gambler and abused her.
The cops were always showing up to break up the fights. Sandy,
a fighter herself, once smashed a heavy glass ashtray on
Hammer's head. I was too little to do anything except
soak up the terror. Damn. We all been through some
stuff growing up, man, you know, and That's the thing

(23:51):
about the people that we love and people that we admire,
got to remember their human man. They went through some
stuff too, you know, And this is proof of it. Man,
did I lose my spot? I think I lost my spot.
He was scary. Made my life miserable. Oh, he also
had no patience for me. When Mom worked the late

(24:12):
shift and left us alone with him, I'd start crying.
I cleaned to my mother and beg her not to go.
Hamner hated that. He called me a punk, and after
she was out the door, he'd slapped my face. He
was a scary menace, made my life miserable. At the
same time, Mom loved her kids. She dotted on me.

(24:36):
She used to talk about how my granddaddy was a
pimp and maybe with him and mind, she dressed me accordingly.
My Sunday go to meeting's church. My Sunday go to
meeting church outfits were sick two toned shoes, pinstriped suit,
snappy little hat, long chain hanging out the pocket, looking sharp.

(24:59):
Came early and came natural. Now you know why, I
wonder why More stressed the way he does. And then
you know when when he used to watch him do.
I'm off the book right now. But when we used
to watch him do interviews at such a young age,
I always like was like, God, damn, how does he like?

(25:20):
He said, Oh, Prince just said be just be cool. No, man,
you can't see you can't just be cool. You got
to have it already, like you got to have it already.
And one thing, these guys, these cats have the whole
time band. They had it. They just had it. Either
they had it or they better have it because they
were already out in front of everybody and principal to

(25:42):
make sure that they were doing it right. But they
did it. Man. They put in the work and they
put in the hard work to make sure they did
it right. So you can't tell me that this didn't
come from somewhere. This verifies it. Man. I got all
excited talking about this. I hit the positive, hit the
stop button on the recorder. Threw my momentum off. Anyway,

(26:06):
Morris was already. He just grew up that way thanks
to his mom. She dressed him to the nines. Man,
And that's pretty cool. Then it makes sense now right,
it makes sense. Anyway, mom was a young woman who
liked living a big life. She and Hamner loved hosting
parties at the crib. I have happy memories of hearing

(26:28):
the Isisley Brothers playing on the box and smiling folks
drinking and dancing up a storm. But sad always, but
sad always overwhelmed happy. Hamner's violence got worse. Shit got
so bad that Mom arranged to secretly ferry all of
us out of a springfield. Happened in nineteen sixty four,
when I was seven. Mom decided that despite her excellent

(26:53):
position as an rin at Saint John's Hospital, Hamner had
got gotten too dangerous time that gave out a dodge. Man,
what a decision to make, and you know, might have
saved might have saved the kids, like the violence, even herself.

(27:13):
That's a decision moms make all the time, and then
some moms try to want to make that and it's
very difficult, man. So it's a I'm glad you put
that in your morse because that shows moms to be strong.
You know, they got us. Sometimes they got to do
stuff they got to do, and it's hard, man, it's hard.
I've seen a lot of people stick with it, and

(27:34):
knowing they're in a bad situation, they stick with it,
and and only bad things happen. You know, you can't
change people, you know. Anyway, that's great. The Moors put
that in there. We left town on the down low.
Mom scrambled to get us ready to split over before
Hamner could find out and do something crazy. Middle of

(27:55):
the night, Carter Trump filled with whatever we could stuff
in there. Mom, Sandy, Me and baby bro Jesse writing
across the dark country radio blasting Mary Wells bragging, bragging
about my guy, little Anthony and the Imperial singing about
I'm gonna get you out of my Uh, I'm gonna
get out. I'm going out of my head because I

(28:19):
think I'm going out my head right Ray Charles crying
about being busted all the way up to Minneapolis. Started
a whole new life. Man. If I can't end the
chapter any worse than that, I don't know what to say.
But he grew up with the best, grew up with
those songs, man, And that shows it right there. And

(28:40):
that's chapter one. I think we got enough time to
maybe do two chapters. And then, like I said, I
ain't trying to I would like to read the whole
at all. I don't know can I read the whole book.
I don't know can I do that? No offence mores,
you know, and like I said, I think I think
this stuff is cool, man, because you know, like I said,

(29:01):
when that dude read it, maybe that's who. Maybe David
Ritz was the dude that read it. I don't know
enough to look it up, you know, to each their own. Man.
Maybe it was good. I just can't say. Anyway, let's
go on chapter two. Before we start chapter two, we're
gonna take another break. And this is Jeff with Love
for one another podcast. We are doing a book reading

(29:23):
today of More's Days on Time at Princely Life in Funk.
Get your copy, order it, buy it. I think I
even bought this. I might have got this one over
at at Barnes and Noble, because as many time as
I went to Minneapolis, and as many times I go
to the shows, I never really asked if he had

(29:45):
a book there. I should have, and me and Bean
talk all the time. I could have just asked, Bean.
But you know what, one of the things that I'd
like to do is support and maybe buying it. I
hope Barnes and Noble gave you the cut and didn't
take I could just bought it straight from Morris and
let him get all the profit. Anyway, we gotta take

(30:07):
a break. This is Jeff with Love for one Another podcast.
We are coming back with chapter two. Just a minute,
be right with you. So we are back. This is
Jeff with Love for one Another podcast and we're gonna
start chapter two. This is a book reading. Like I said,

(30:28):
I ain't no professional book reader, but I'm doing this because,
like I said, I bought the book and I like to.
When I listened to my taste book and she read
it herself, it was amazing. Excuse me and I about
Morris's book. And I don't know who's reading it, but
I wish she would have read it, and and uh so, anyway,

(30:49):
so I'm just whatever the case is, I'm reading it.
I've listened to the whole thing before. I'm reading it now.
And I'm not trying to discourage anybody. I'm telling you
go buy this book and enjoy it. It's actually a
pretty cool book. So let's go on the chapter two
real quick, and uh we'll get through this and then

(31:11):
you know, we'll get on with the show. Chapter two,
Crowded House, How long you intend to go on with
this childhood thing. That's Prince talking. When you're gonna claim
your nervous at oh, when you're gonna calm your nervous
ass down, just chill, get to the hook. It's not
like writing a song. Besides, you ain't writing this book.

(31:34):
There's no book without me. You set that shit before.
Ignore me at your risk, ignore me, and you'll lose
your readers. That's Prince right there they do. They're going
back and forth, still not ignoring anyone, especially you. Not
that many years passing Minneapolis, not that many years passing
Minneapolis before I met you. Well, actually I heard you

(31:56):
before I met you. And what you hear a crazy
talented guitars. Talk about it. I'll talk about it in
a minute. Talk about it now, you controlling fool. I'm
a hit maker. You want to make this book a hit,
well hit them with a guitar lick. Your licks were

(32:19):
like lightning thunderbolts. Jimmy Hendrick licks, Jimmy Page licks, Carlos
Santana lix, screaming licks that made me think you had
to be older than you were. Old blues licks but
refashioned to sound new and fresh. Hi drama licks, panty
dropping licks, Lix that chicks went crazy for and Lix

(32:42):
the major. Want to be in my band, no doubt,
But give me a little room to breathe. Homeboy, I'll
get to your music. But meanwhile, there's shit I still
need to explain. I haven't even got to the Minneapolis yet.
I never thought Minneapolis was going to be our permanent home.
When we left out of Illinois, I had California on

(33:02):
my mind. Mom always talked about it as a personal
as a promised land. I needed no convincing. I saw
it as a sunshine swimming pools and movie stars. Ala
was seventy seven sunset strip, where Elvis had a big
house in the hills, and where the surf was up
and the and the living easy. Well, get there, Mom said,

(33:24):
Minneapolis is just a stopover. But it wasn't. Minneapolis proved
to be permanent as a block con of concrete. We
were there to stay because there was because there was
reciprocity between our ends and Illinois and Minnesota. Mom got
gigged up in a hurry when we first arrived, and Regina,

(33:46):
Mom's cousin, she took us in. Strangely, she and Mom
had a married brothers Regina's husband, Spike, was a sibling
of my dad, Dickie Day. Regina and Spike had six kids.
We rented the top floor their house, so there we
were nine kids running around supervised by a few adults.
The adults were doing some running around of their own.

(34:09):
Turned out Uncle Spike worked at the gas station owned
by Joe Butcherleton and Hustle brother whose other properties included
a supermarket in the hood at card detailing shopping in
Saint paul In, a small office complex, plus a partnership
and prostitution operation. What damn not to mention moving drugs

(34:31):
while handily handily hijacking trucks. Joe was busy, so was
Uncle Spike, who wound it up with Joe's wife. Got
to get this book where I can read it, just
so you know why things are moving and shuffling. That
was okay with Joe, though, because he hooked up with
my mother. Portrayal in spouse switching is confusing enough for adults,

(34:55):
but imagine what it did for a ten year old me.
Killing my trust in woman, killed my trust in men,
had me scrambling for sanity in an insane situation. Spikee
my father's brother was now betting it, betting my future
father's wife while my future father was betting my mother.

(35:16):
Keep in mind, a lot of us the switching was
happening in secret, secret before it came out in the open.
That only added to the mind fuck when it was
all sorted out. We were living in Southside Minneapolis before
eventually moving to the North Side, me working at Joe's
gas station and wondering whether everyone's family was as crazy

(35:39):
as mine. My alm was a sparkplug, a smart young
woman looking to live life to the fullest. Looking back,
I can't blame her for anything, and I don't. She
was ambitious and in a few years her ambition would
serve me. Now are you going to talk about her
trying to manage my band there yet? Well? Hurry. While

(36:03):
mom was moving around trying to figure out the best
way to manage your children and deal with her new husband, Joe,
sister Sandy did a lot of mothering. She looked after
me and Jesse. It was Sandy who got me into
the choir and started writing love lyrics for some of
my songs. You're Still Rushing that comes later, before we

(36:24):
get we even heard of anyone called Prince Sandy had
joined the Nation Time, the Nation Time Choir. This was
the end of the sixties, when radical politics and sweep
had been was sweeping through the hood. Before they started singing,
National Time members listened to Malcolm X sermons. They went

(36:45):
to prisons to sing for inmates incarcet incarcerated on bullshit charges.
They were also they were out to do good. They
were all caught up in the black as beautiful, the
shiki wearing afrocentric fever of the times. Joining the choir
meant changing your name. Sandy was a Kua Benta and

(37:08):
I became cash Cat, Cash, Nagami, Nagamo. And I know
I'm probably saying that wrong. My bad. Anyway, beyond music,
we were still we were all taught martial arts. That's
something I didn't know. I guess I should have read
the book. Didn't know that interesting. I wonder if he

(37:31):
still knows it. There was a strong black panther vibe.
Back in the choir was a band called Midwest Express
with the badass drummer. I went along with Sandy singing
and with thirty other brothers and sisters. Was fun, but
my eye was always on the drummer. That's what I
wanted to do. Malcolm X was an excellent intellectual firebrand,

(37:55):
and I could appreciate his rage. But my heart was
still with Sly and the family Stone talking about hot
fun in the summertime. Damn, that was a good song.
I popped out acquire a few a few months after
joining politics. Wasn't my thing? That's good. The beat kept turning. Uh,
the beat kept turning me toward James Brown. I seriously

(38:18):
studied all his grus. But in the early seventies, these
white boys in Oakland started a band called Tower Power
that caught me out, caught my attention, no doubt. They
were as influenced by JB as me, but they put
a different herding on R and B. Their lead vote,
their lead voice, Lenny Williams, was a soul singing brother.

(38:39):
But but, but the man who mattered to me most,
the drummer, was a white dude, David Garbodi. And uh,
this is I'll tell you something real quick what I
asked being about who's the best drummer he ever thought
that out of all drummers, everybody always points to David
Garby and being sweared by me. I mean, you know,

(39:03):
it's just amazing, and I think I had already knew
the Morris thought so too, But it's cool see it
in here, and I love reading about that too. David
was different. Most drummers layer their dynamics, playing the high
hats and there and kicked simultaneously, creating a thick sound.
Garabody took another approach. He had a linear style. He

(39:26):
played one sound at a time. He made the drums
sound like a percussion, like a precision machine, with cogs
fitting inside each other, pumping up and down, in and out,
almost like a whack a mole, smack one down a whole,
another one pops up. He was phrases to create accents,
not volume. Most jazz, rock and R and B drummers

(39:49):
fall into a consistent pattern with their right hand on
the high hat or right symbol. Not Garbody. He was
all over the place. I became guard body student. I
put on Tower of Power record, especially songs like Squibcake
and Oakland Stroke, where the drums are driving and control,

(40:10):
commote the control, commotion and play along. At first, I
just couldn't fit. I couldn't do it too hard, too
many moves, too subtle. But damn if I didn't practice
till I perfected that shit. You don't got to go
on about what a great drummer you were. I ain't

(40:31):
shy about saying that I worked till I worked at
it till I got it right. That's funny because as
a kid, I was shy. Didn't see myself as handsome,
didn't even see myself as cool. I was a freckle
faced kid who made no impression. Wasn't no athlete, wasn't

(40:51):
no good student. All I had was music, and music
was enough. Going to see the Jackson five took off.
The took off the top of my head. The Beatles
fascinated me. Loved Booker T and MGS, those who's drummers
all Jackson Junior and the Pocket deep as a grand canyon.

(41:11):
You best explained the pocket. Folks don't know what you'd
be talking about. That's Prince talking about the pocket right there.
The pocket comes at the back, at the back of
the beat. Good funk. Never can anticipate the beat. But
let's uh, but let's the beat come to you. It's
all about relaxation. Get up tight with the time, and
the time will fuck you up. Timans everything but time

(41:36):
is nothing you can control. You gotta let it ride,
let it flow. Then follow the flow more you put
yourself behind the flow. More you can push that flow,
enter the flow, be one with the flow. So it
was the musical flow that got me through all the
ups and downs of my scrambles scrambled childhood. Mom had

(41:56):
her own flow that most of the time took her
out of the house. She had her gigs, She had
her aspirations. She had her common sense that after a
year or so, told her to dump the gangster Joe.
Mom was also a dreamer. Example, she had a notion
that Minneapolis could support the biggest indoor mall in the world.

(42:19):
It was a whole vision. She drew it up on paper.
There were diagrams and architecture renderings. Mom, who also wrote
the movie scripts and short stories, had the brilliance she
wanted to uh the world to recognize. She found the
congressman who would listen to her, and finally he got
a meeting with a real estate investor. He looked at

(42:42):
her plans for the mall and didn't laugh. He gasped.
He was all excited and said he could see exactly
what she had in mind. He'd get back to her.
He never did. Meanwhile, she hustled her way in the
office of other investors but could never score. Fast forward
fifteen years to the opening Them All of America, some
five point four million square feet built where Interstate four

(43:05):
to ninety four meat State Highway seventy seven, just north
of the Minnesota River, biggest mall in the world, huge success.
Mom felt sure her ideas hadn't made it to the
powers to be, but they didn't need her. Mom had dreams,
and I love her for that. I think she implanted
those dreams in me, though they didn't come up for

(43:27):
a long time. And yet her dreams merged with my
music in a way that I would never have imagined.
Princess neither would I. That's some powerful shit right there.
That is two chapters. Man, I'm going to stop right
there for today. Next chapters chapter three, the lunch Room.
I'm interested to read that and I might continue. I

(43:48):
hope that you guys like this is different, and you know,
normally I'm trying to just be cool and talk about
love for one another, real deep, sinister and let you
feel the voice what I'm talking about. But when I'm
talking about Morris, it's exciting and the book's exciting. Go

(44:10):
buy your copy. Man book is called on Time, a
Princely Life and funk by More's Day with David Ritt.
Who's David Ritt, great book man. And maybe if I
don't hear anything back, maybe we'll go and read some
more of this book and we'll do some more chapters.
So this is gonna be chapter one, chapter two on
the podcast. And we also are airing on Real Music

(44:33):
Radio and on the Minneapolis Sound Radio brought to you
by DJ Jedi and Real Music Radio managed by Chris Pharr.
Now doing all this great stuff over there. Got to
give him a little little bump, little pump fist, you know,
all that stuff. Let's take a break and we're gonna
come back and talk about a few things before we

(44:53):
get off this show. And I'm glad you're here with me.
Feels good. That was some fun and I can't wait
to more of that. This is Jeff with love for
one another and we'll be all right back. So we
are back and this is Jeff again. Now I'm back
in my studio voice. How you like now, and we've

(45:13):
been talking about we did a book reading right now.
I want to let you know that this show is
to really promote feeling good. Feel good, man, I want
you to feel good for at least close to an hour.
If I could put some music on. I'm gonna put
some music, and when we do the station, I could

(45:35):
put songs on and everything. When I do the podcast,
I've put songs on. I don't know. Nobody said nothing yet.
I don't know if I'm supposed to, So I'm not
going to be doing it as much because I don't
want them to kick me off the air man. This
is fun. I'm getting started again. I'm having a good
time in getting things off my mind. I'm telling you
one thing that that's very interesting. And I kind of

(45:59):
found this out more as I got older. I am
somewhat of an artist. I guess you could say I paint,
I draw. I've been doing sketches forever since I was
a little kid. I've worked in all types of mediums, charcoal, watercolor, acrylics, oils, ink,

(46:24):
you know. Plus I'm learning more. I've been working with
Photoshop for a long time and trying to get more
into the multimedia. See, when I was younger, I was
really thought that my future was going to be an art.
I failed all my art classes because I felt like
I just knew what they were teaching me was way
beyond that. And instead of thinking at the time, like

(46:47):
I can learn more, these teachers know more. Why am
I not paying attention as much as I should. I'm
just trying to play it off like I know more.
So I used to flunk off. But what happened was
is I was helping all the kids that didn't know,
and they would ask for my help all the time.
So I wouldn't do my work. I just didn't do it.

(47:07):
And you know, to be honest with you, I used
to do it. I just wouldn't turn it in and
I would do the art. I would help the people
and fund my classes. And then you know, as time
went on, I was like, what am I going to
do with my life? I just didn't know. And then
I had kids young, and I was working and working
jobs and doing construction, doing this and that got into

(47:29):
management and stuff. But one of the things that I
wanted to do was still pursuit sometimes some type of art,
and I thought commercial art would be the thing. I
really felt like that's going to be it. Commercial art.
So I got the paper out. Remember back in the day,
You used to have to get the paper out and
find jobs and circle them and then plan your day out.

(47:51):
And I got planned my route. How am I going
to go look for these jobs? And I got my
portfolio together and all my drawings, all the different mediums
that I was working with. I had my those big
portfolio things you carry around, you know, all business type.
And I go to the interviews. And at that particular time,
they were doing more getting into computer art. It wasn't

(48:17):
the biggest thing, but they wanted you to know it.
And I did not know it. I didn't know it.
I was old school man. I was drawn. Everything was
coming from my hands. So I wouldn't get hired. I
just wouldn't get hired. And I was getting really discouraged, man,
and I'm like, damn, what am I going to do?
You know what? As far as my future? But turned

(48:41):
out I ended up going more into management management management.
I got sent to class at every job I had.
I moved into management, and they'd send me to classes
and classes and classes, so I got I guess it
worked out that way. But eventually I ended up getting
a connection with Disney and I was gonna have an interview.

(49:04):
I had actually an interview set up for Disney, and
there were several things I had to do, so I
had to work on that, and you had to come
up with your own character. I think it was like
three characters. I had to put a figure on the
table and you can't move the figure, but you had
to draw around the figure, like every dimension, every different

(49:28):
angle of that figure, like it was turning but you
couldn't turn it. And then there was a few other things.
I can't remember no more. It's been a long time.
I still have my sketchbook that I was using to practice,
and I actually have the sheets the other sheets, Like

(49:48):
there was a big drawing paper used to use. I
used to do a lot of charcoal, So I was
doing a lot of charcoal stuff and learning how to
sketch with charcoal, and so that was the goal. I
was like, Wow, this is gonna be the thing, you know.
Uh So, uh, of course life takes its funky turns,

(50:11):
and uh I ended up cramping up uh my hands
with cramp and cramp all they would hurt so bad,
and uh I went to doctors and stuff, and turns
out they said I was developing carpal tunnel or whatever.
You know, remember carple Tunnel was the big thing. While
they were like, you're getting Carpleton You're gonna end up
needing surgery in your hands if you don't stop. And

(50:32):
I was like, wow, what should I do? And they're like, well,
just stop doing whatever you're doing. I'm like, well that
won't work because I'm getting ready for my interview. I
was planning to go work for Disney anyway, So long
story short, I didn't end up going. I had to
cancel the interview, changed my career. UH started doing UH
actually went into management and construction. So you know, shit happens.

(50:57):
What can you do? Anyway? My point be, what the
hell is my point? One of the things that happens
with me is my mind just goes all different directions.

(51:17):
I constantly need to create. I need to paint, record,
make music, play drums, read, do these shows, do something.
If I'm not doing something, I feel like I can't sleep.
I wake up in the middle of the night. I
don't know if you guys ever had this problem. I'll

(51:38):
talk about this because maybe this might help somebody that
has this problem. When I sleep, I have like a
second job or a third job in my dreams. I work.
I seriously work in my sleep and I can't remember
every time what I do. But when I wake up,

(51:59):
I feel like I'm not done. I feel like I
still got work to do. I'm like, I'll get up
and actually walk around like nervous because I feel like
I didn't feel finish my job until I snap out
of it for a minute. But it's strange, it's it's strange.
It gets uh. Sometimes it becomes a situation just because

(52:23):
it's a it's hard. It's it's hard to I can't.
I feel like I don't get enough sleep during the
you know, I wake up and I'm just like tired. Still,
I'm like, man, i am I messing up in my
nighttime job? Like why I wish I got paid anyway? So,
you know, I don't know what that is and uh,
and some say it's just it's the artistic mind, you know,

(52:46):
not you know, not to be confused with autistic. It's
just when you create. I know a lot of people
like that, A lot of people that I know a
lot of very very talented people. I'm not saying that
I'm wanted. I'm just saying I know a lot of
talking about people that they do a lot of creating
and and they seem to have similar issues with that,

(53:08):
and it's just, you know, if you've got to create,
you've got to create. And for me, this is an
avenue that helps I really enjoy it. I really enjoy it,
and I hope you enjoy it too. And I'm hoping
that something that I might say might actually make you
understand what's going on with you and help you get

(53:29):
by because I know a lot of people have issues.
A lot of people have problems, man myself included, and
sometimes those problems can be overwhelming and they can get
to you, they can get make you feel like like
why are you here? What's your purpose? And we've we've
talked about this and other shows, and we've talked about

(53:49):
what can be done about it. And I'm no therapist.
I'm just trying to get through it with you, like,
let's get through this together. It's a it's a an adventure, right,
and sometimes the adventure we don't have all the answers,
we don't know exactly what to do. All we can
do is the best we can and don't ever feel

(54:13):
like like what you're doing isn't important, because it really,
it really is. I mean, there's a lot of things.
I'll tell you. I do a lot of weird shit
all day long and stuff that I just feel like
nobody cares what I'm doing. Nobody, And then, you know,
you come to find out that somewhere along the line,
whatever you happen to be doing made a difference. Somewhere.

(54:36):
You're like, what, I didn't even know somebody was listening,
or somebody who was watching, or somebody who was thinking
about you, and it's like, wow, thank you, I didn't know.
And that's the biggest problem that we have, I think
as people, is we don't know that how our lives

(54:57):
affect other people. So some times when you're giving up
and you're just like I can't do this no more,
you're affecting other people's lives without really knowing it. Your
purpose here is bigger, It's greater than what you know.
You can never even know it, but your purpose is vital.

(55:20):
Each and every one of us plays a part in
another person's life. And if you don't value that, it
doesn't mean you're a bad person. It just means you
need to maybe take a deeper look at yourself and say,
you know what, I may not have all the answers.
I may not know where I'm going. I may not
know why I got a second job in the middle

(55:42):
of the night when I'm asleep, but I'm going to
try harder the next day, even if that next day
might be crap. It just might be this crappy day
and nothing got done. But you know what, Tomorrow's another day.
Something can always come from it. We can always make
things better. Sometimes it's gonna be worse, but sometimes there's

(56:06):
always that opportunity that tomorrow can be a better day.
If you're spiritual, God wakes you up for that next day,
right and he gets you up and he says, go
do something. It doesn't matter what you do. Just go
do something positive. Be positive, because that's what your life
means to everybody around you. Whether you know it or not,

(56:29):
your life is important. It may not be what you
want right now. Things may seem like they're just screwed
up and everything's wrong, but eventually it's gonna come around
and you're gonna be there with a big smile on
your face. You're gonna be like, man, this was a
tough ride, but it paid off. And I may not
be it may not be on the mountaintop. But something

(56:52):
positive just happened in my life. And if I wasn't
here to experience that, or this person's life was effected
by what I said or did, and I didn't realize
that my being here would have If I wasn't here,
it wouldn't have changed that person's life now and their
life had changed for the better. And like, it's just
this cascading that you know, positive, positive attitude that will

(57:17):
help make everything better. And it'll come, man, I'm telling you.
And when it comes, you're going to be like, wow,
this is a great feeling, and you know, and sometimes
it don't come. Sometimes it don't and sometimes it takes
longer than what you expect. But you gotta have patience.

(57:41):
You gotta have patience. You got to know and sometimes
you might not even know it. Man. There might be
somebody that you're affecting their life and you really didn't
know it, but god damn it, they're a better person
because of you. They have a better life because it's
something you did and you really didn't know it. But
your life affects other people. And the more you're positive,

(58:04):
the more it's gonna rub off and somebody else is
gonna be positive, and before you know it, it just
keeps growing and growing and growing until it's so big
that you just can't control it no more, and nobody
can control it. And it's just right there in front
of you. And when that time comes, what's your expectation
gonna be? Is it gonna be? This is what I

(58:26):
was waiting for. It should be bigger, it should be less,
It should be this, it should be that, or you
just gonna say, you know what, thank you, Thank you
to yourself. It's okay to thank yourself, pat yourself on
the back a little bit, except that you are a

(58:47):
good person, except that you bring positive vibes to people's lives.
Thank God, thank whoever you feel that you need to think,
but mainly thank yourself. Love yourself, enjoy yourself, and by god,
damn it, show love for one another. This is Jeff

(59:08):
would love for one another podcast. We hit an hour
on the mark and I hope you enjoyed the book reading.
We will continue this. Thank you to Morri's day, whether
he don't know it or not, but thank you for
putting out a great book. Like I said before, buy
his book on time at Princely Life in Funk by

(59:32):
Moore's Day with David Ritz. Get the book, get the
physical book man, or you know, if you're one of
those people that get the online thing or whatever, get
the online thing, but buy it. Buy it. And I
hope you enjoyed the reading, because it's exciting. I'll read
some more. I'll read from Sheila's book, I'll read from
Prince's book. Why not, right, enjoy it. I hope you

(59:53):
enjoy it, and we'll be doing more of this. And
until next time, you guys, make sure always show love
for one another. It's important. You can do it, and
we'll catch you next time. Till then, you, guys, take care,
peace and love