The Questlove Show - QLS Classic: Alan Leeds (Part 3 of 3)

Episode Date: November 14, 2022

We conclude our interview with Alan Leeds by talking about his one of his biggest clients, Prince, and Alan reflects on his time on the road working with Chris Rock and D’Angelo.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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podcast network on TikTok. This is Unpaid Bill from Team Supreme, here to give you the latest Questlove Supreme Classic episode. Back in October of 2016, Alan Leeds was our fifth guest on QLS. That conversation, which I encourage you all to check out, has been re-released. But even three hours that Alan was

not enough. In 2020, he came back for a two-part interview. Last week, we ran part two, which you also need to hear. Now, here is Alan's third QLS episode, which first aired March 25th, 2020. In this final of three parts, Alan talks a lot about his ears, James Brown. There's some really great stuff, especially if you're a fan of Prince, DiAngelo, or Chris Rock. Alan Leads definitely deserve three QLS episodes, and we're happy to share them with you. Episode 102. Enjoy. Okay, so you walked us thoroughly through prime, early, younger James Brown in the beginning. So...

Is it mustache James time? No, no, no. Well, I actually want to skip because it's more about the business of tour managing than anything. And this stuff I really didn't get to touch upon the last time you were here. So, I mean, assuming that... By the numbers, I would think that Prince was your biggest artist, at least by the numbers. Yeah. Touring-wise.

So when you're, okay, so when it's like, okay, we're going to tour, what is step number one in tour managing? At least by the 80s contemporary version, which I assume it hasn't changed much now except for the communication. Probably not, but a lot of it depends on relationship with the artist and his personal, his or her personal manager, because you take three tours and the chemistries can be three different things. Most tour managers don't get involved in routing or dealing with the agents. I did. I knew routing from having done it for five years with Brown. I knew arenas, at new buildings. So Farnoli let me deal with Rob Light.

And we would sit and... Rob Light is for our audience. Agent at the time. And the two are promoters, which were usually Jeff Sharp and Quentin Perry as partners. Wait, Jeff Sharp, you can go back to the early 80s? Oh, yeah. Damn. Okay, I know Jeff Sharp from my days of like smoking grooves and whatnot.

But I didn't realize that he was early 80s into the... the, okay. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. He was independent and he had his own company.

It was long before AEG. Right. Which he's now. Right. You know. But, and we would sit down and talk about, okay, you know, how many days do we want to play in certain cities and, you know, Sharpen the agent would do their research and come back and say, okay, Baltimore's worth two nights, Phillies worth three nights, Detroit's worth

six nights. And then we would sit there and digest that. And then we would decide what we wanted to do with that information. Do we want to underplay it? Do we want to sit in Detroit for a week? And then, you know, we would route a tour. So most tour managers don't do that. They just get an itinerary from the agent and says, this is where you're going.

I know with an artist like Prince, who was kind of hands off as far as you getting to know him, and so you or I guess the last time you were saying that chick was like if you asked too many questions he'll think you don't know what you're doing but it's like well one the narrative of the

of the Purple Raine phenomenon which I was soon was unprecedented to everyone on how successful this is going to be or not I mean the movie could have came out and did Cherry Moon numbers and then

It's like, well, does he have life? I would assume that the success of the movie meant more dates had to be at it. Oh, sorry. It was crazy. So then I'm thinking, are you like, okay, well, this guy likes to do these mammoth three-hour shows? Maybe we'll let him do three nights and then get time off the rest. Oh, sure. Or would he say, no, work me to the bone.

No, no, no. He would, you know, I mean, what you just. described about not asking too many questions applied when I was new before he really got to know me. Okay. But from then on, it was like, what the problem? I mean, we would talk about anything that was necessary to talk about with no hesitation. I mean, the tiptoeing around. So would it start with him as in how many nights do you want to do, how many nights do you want off?

Exactly. And a person that's addicted to recording, wouldn't he want equal time off to, like, Okay, well, let's do four nights on the road. But then you have this large tour on your back, so you have to make money. Exactly, exactly. Yeah, every night off, the meter's still running. Everybody's in hotels, the trucks and buses are still running. Everything's out there.

Was he financially aware? Or was he sort of loofing it pays for itself somehow? Yeah, he wasn't really financially aware in the days I was there. I mean, he radically changed that in time past. You think? I wish I couldn't see the eye roll he just did. His old attitude in my era because we used to beg him to try to cut costs.

And because, I mean, you're doing this phenomenal. I mean, I'll flash forward to Love Sexy, a tour that barely broke even if, in fact, it did. Probably lost money. I never saw the final countings of the tour. But, you know, it's a very, very expensive tour to mount. And, you know, he didn't get rich off that tour. I mean, it's a legendary tour for the production value of it, but it was financially not successful.

Purple Rain was. I mean, that phenomenon was beetle-esque. It was crazy. Just absolutely crazy. True. So, I would also think that... He didn't care. His attitude toward money every time we go to say we can't afford it.

He said, but I pay you guys to find the money. I want this. So figure it out. So there wasn't logic at all. Just make it happen. Yeah, pretty much, this is what I want, make it happen. I see. Okay.

So not to compare the two. One of the prevalent problems of the Voodoo Tour was that if DeAngela ever went super hard with his voice, there might be the risk of us canceling. Mm-hmm. next night whereas prince well known for his screaming and use of his voice i mean were there ever problems of like ah his voice gave out tonight we have to cancel a show and it was never a major concern i mean having said there probably were times where his voice was in less shape than it was

or even a cold like yeah the drop of a feather d'angelo's like oh i cancel the shit right but with prince was prince more rider die james brown like yeah i don't care yeah yeah i could be sick yes So he did Purple Rain shows even with... Absolutely. Yeah. With a hurt knee and, you know, cold and, you know, I mean, nothing stopped it.

I think it was a TV performance where like he hits himself in the face with the mic... The Grammys. Yeah. Like, he did the whole set with like a mouth full of blood or something like that? Well, yeah, he... Susanna said that he busted his lip. Mm-hmm. Doing that.

No, he was a trooper. I mean, you had to give him so many days off. I mean, I don't think we ever did more than three on before we took an off date, and we tried to do two, one, two, one, but there were threes. But I don't really think we did more than three. Starting with Purple Rain, 1999, where he was doing five and six a week. But starting with Purple Rain, it was a little less often because it was a strain you were sure to do. I see. So then how do you...

You routed at the beginning. Yeah, so you built that into the routing. And assuming that, okay, well, I know that those Christmas shows were in Minnesota. Mm-hmm. So you assume that he wanted to be home for Christmas. That was not an accident. Yeah. Of course.

Okay. Yeah. And gave a band, assuming that the band also lived in Minnesota at well as well. So. And afternoon shows, I think. Like, I think the- We did do a couple of matinees, I think. I know we did one.

It was either Christmas Eve Day or Christmas Day. I'd have to go look. I don't really remember. So even then it was like not take Christmas off? It was... No, because it's a big ticket. And again, you can... I think we were off Christmas Day.

I think the matinee was Christmas. I don't know. It was either Christmas Day or Christmas Eve Day. But, you know, this is... When you're on tour, you know this, and the meters running, you've got to be very strategic about where you're off days are. The mad name was on Christmas Eve. Okay.

So, but... Thank you, sir. The thing is because... See, Bill is very the most organized person. That's why he's here. Wait, wait, I just had an important question about... Okay, so, well, what I'm trying to get at is when... Handling what I call monkey wrenches or 11th hour avoid disaster.

Mm-hmm. So I think with Purple Rain, when did he get the ideas that he wanted to take off days to do shows for deaf children at deaf schools? That we kind of built in from the beginning. I mean, it wasn't just deaf. We did Gallaudet College in Washington, D.C., which is a university for hearing impaired people. Well, hearing apparets now become in this woke era. you're not supposed to say hearing impaired. Can you say that?

What do you say? Deaf. Oh, I always said deaf. I didn't know hearing appear. It was... Trust me, Tristan corrects me on a regular basis. It's like, Dad, Dad, but don't say that. That's not cool.

Was it his relationship with Tristan that... I've often wondered if that influenced it, because certainly he knew Tristan by then. And there's a possibility that maybe, because Tristan would hang out, they'd shoot hoops sometimes, and he'd go in the studio with him. How was Tristan now? 45. Wait, what? Yeah.

In my mind, Tristan is still like 16 years old? I wasn't ready for that shit. Wait, Tristan's 45? 45 years old. Tris is a man. Yes. Tristan. Well, he acts like it.

There's no mistaking. He's a man when you talk to him. Dude. No, he's D's age. That's all I always remember. In my mind, Tristan is. I think he won't be like, oh, he's 29 now. Like, 40, freaking five.

Shit, I didn't realize it. Okay, so at the beginning of this happening, like, was he aware of who Prince was? Tristan? Well, I mean, at the time, he was, I mean, if he's five years younger than me, then... Yeah, he was. Seven, eight. If he wasn't, he became aware pretty quickly. I mean, certainly by...

Was it like this dad? Dad's client? He was born in 74, so Purple was what? 84. So he's 10 years old. Yeah, he would have known. And he knew who Prince was, definitely. And dad's in a movie.

Okay. You know, 10-year-old kid, dad's in a movie. I see. So. So at the time. But his relationship, I mean, Prince had seen him and met him, but it was later that they got close. Once Paisley Park was up, which is, of course, several years past Purple, right?

But once Paisley Park was up, and Tristan started spending more time with us in Minneapolis, he would come out with me and, you know, he'd be going to work, and he's like, can I hang out? And yeah, come on if you want. And he'd spend the whole day at Basel. Yes. Okay.

He'd take him in the studio and playing stuff and sit and ask him like, okay, what do you hear? What of this track? Can you feel the bass part? Can you hear the drums? Can you hear the guitar? Because he was always interested in... What is his degree of hearing?

because... Quite deaf in their higher registers. Okay. But his hearing is maybe 50-50 and low registers. Okay. It's perfect for hip-hop. He hears bass. Bays and drums, baby.

Okay. And I'll never forget, this is really off the beat and path, but I'll never forget we were riding in a car, and Alexander O'Neill's fake. Fake. Fake. Came on the radio. We were listening to KMOJ was on the radio.

You can hear that song coming from a mile away. And... And... Tristan board gear with that. He'd been... Venus, low teens, 10, 11, 12 years old. And he's like, Dad, that sounds like fake. And I almost drove off the road.

And that's when I realized that he had not just enough hearing, but also the musical sensibility to recognize a song just based on, and it wasn't even jacked up loud. So it was definitely bass and drums, whatever the patterns were. And it really, it changed our lives because from that point on, you know, it was very awkward to have somebody who lives and breathes a passion for music. You can't share. To have a child that you can't share that with. And more importantly, it's not about me.

It's about him because you don't want it to appear that something. that he can't get into is so important to dad because that creates a void. It creates a feeling of inadequacy, which is the last thing you want him to have. Because the whole idea of raising a child who has a hearing problem is that you can do anything except here. And we're not going to give you a pass because of that. You're going to get out of the car and go in the store and get what you want. And if you have to write a note, whatever the hell you have to do to communicate with

the store clerk or wherever they all we are, you're going to do that. And that's how we raised him. And he is totally self-sufficient and, you know, as a result. And you're not going to get any sympathy. It's like, you know, this is the world. This is the world. And you've got to function. And I ain't going to be here forever.

Okay. So the idea that music was so important to me was awkward because I didn't want him to sense how important it was. so as to feel like an outsider, or that he was somehow inadequate. So when he started recognizing songs, I'm like, oh, shit. I mean, this was a kid when he was like five years old,

he would see a Funkadelic album cover. Of course, he was attracted to Parliament Funkadelic album covers because of the graphics and everything. And he's five years old, and he'd go, Dad, Dad, Crazy George, Crazy George. So he had the disease. It was in him, and now he sends me YouTube clips of bands that I've never heard of. He turns me on to more shit that, I mean, it's crazy.

But anyway, we're totally off the beaten path. No, I'm, wow, I'm still mind-blowing that he's in his 40s. Yeah, so many. That's crazy. So, okay, so. I'm also, it's hard to explain to people that I could have a son, 45, that he was born when I was only 10. there you go also

I guess I have to take into account that Prince rarely got a no in the 80s if he wanted something done correct or I pay you to figure it out it's just

yeah you would have to figure it out I'll give you a story I don't know if we cut me off if we did this before but but this is this is a metaphor for everything about Prince you remember the alphabet Street video. Oh, yeah. You did tell us this story. I did. Okay. Okay.

You can go back and listen to that one in the Questloaf Supreme Market. Yes. So, all right, so that's a prime. Is there any other Well, I've... Oh, there was at least one a day. When did the after shows... I mean, the earliest after show I've heard

was... 86. Well, the sign of... Well, there was a parade. There's a few parade ones in Europe. Yeah. But... There was one in a hotel bar. in 1999, I think we were in somewhere. I had that one. Somewhere where he just crashed a hotel bar that had a band and just decided to take over.

And they were fine with that? It was Prince. Yeah, it was Prince? Yeah, he was like, who's this guy? No, no, it was Prince. Oh, okay. Yeah, okay. No, we have a, I think one of the earliest ones we have is a, there's a Sam's Club

where he debuts, all the critics love you in New York. and remember he said this is just a dance yeah so obviously oh yeah that was an after show from that's a great show by the way yeah it was yeah i'm trying to find i don't know if it exists but there's one uh i think uh jaw wobble was playing at first avenue that night and uh he got up on stage with uh prince got up on stage with him and the bass yeah it was like yeah um and he licked the guitar Yeah, no, carnivist, Prince. No, we were in a club in Paris. This was in the pre-cherry moon experiment of going to Paris to see if he liked it

and would we shoot in France. And we were, it was Farnoli and Prince and me and I forget who else, maybe Jerome. And we spent a week in Paris just to hang out and see if Prince liked it. And he spent most of the time in his hotel suite with the keyboard that we went on bought the first day we got there writing music, most of which ended up as part of the Cherry Moon and parade album and so on. Long story short. We were in some crazy club that was like a low-rent version of Mulan Rouge. They had dancing girls that were excited. It wasn't an outright titty bar.

I mean, it wasn't, you know, it wasn't sleazy, but they were hot girls who wore abbreviated outfits. I don't know, how do you say that? That's good. I mean, they had clothes on, but barely, okay? Anyway, but it was just a little Parisian lounge, and it did, you know, and for some reason he liked it. And so we went there a couple of times, and they had a little combo. I think it was like a three-piece combo of three local musicians that played corny stuff. They were terrible.

And he just one night he looked at me and he said, would you ask him if I could play? And I don't think those musicians really knew who he was. I mean, they were older guys, and they were like the French version of the De Feliz Trio or something. They were just really, really cheesy. And he just decided he wanted to play. I don't know if he wanted to impress one of the dancers or what. And he got up there and he played and sang two or three songs. I can't even tell you what they were.

He just started band leading? No, there was no band. He just went up there and did a solo set. He knew those songs. Oh, he did a solo set. Yeah. Oh, shit. At Maxim's in Paris, France.

It wasn't. It wasn't. No. No, it was actually called LaMilliadere. Oh, okay. Okay, that one's not here on that list. No, nobody knows. It was probably the first time it's ever been mentioned.

Yeah, there's, so in one of those rehearsal tapes, I realized that his level of wanting to play no matter who was on instruments, I know what you're going to talk about. There's, all right, so there's a tape of a 45-minute jam. like here's the thing I love and respect to three of you in this room but I don't know if I would put

two hour effort for us to have a jam session right because I could sort of imagine what the result would be were just the four of us in this room put me on drums I'll be all right but all right so

vanity's on keyboards Jamie Shoup is on drums I think Jamie Shoup is on drums Vanity is on keyboards. I think Fink is on another keyboard, and Prince is basically trying to teach them how to jam or how to play.

Okay. What if the three of us were cute girls? Would you? I never met Jamie Shoup until, so in her heyday, Jamie Shoeep was... Are you saying she's not fine now? In a non-me-toish way. No, no, no, I just... I don't know what...

I don't know. I mean, Jamie was hot and she had a cool personality. She was going to be one of the hookers, wasn't she?

Yeah, that's right. There you go. Absolutely. She had to be hot. I forgot. Yeah. She was a hooker. Each word.

Okay, for those that don't know. Yes, yeah. Those that do not know. Clean it up. Before Vanity, before they were called Vanity six, before Vanity Six was formed, Prince was going to form a group called

The Hookers. And the lead. Was Susan Moosey? Yes. And our older sister. Yes. And the lead, the lead singer.

was going to their stage name was going to be the vaginas vagina yes or that yeah wow yeah that obviously did not work so they changed it yeah exactly so but the thing is is that he sounds just as happy

and oh he's got Al Bolo how do you say it I see I thought that was you no no no it's Alan Bolu the photographer photographer yeah he's also playing as well he's playing bass but he obviously means he has photos from that. Probably.

Shit. And it also means that his story of him coming up with the riff for Let's Go Crazy is probably true as well. Damn. Good one. That's good. Good one. Yeah, but my whole thing is that... Well, if Bolio was there, they probably were shooting something. It could have been

promo pictures for God knows what. Okay. Because he wouldn't... I mean, they weren't that close that he was just going to be hanging out. So he was in a work capacity. Come on out real house and play base. I mean, that wasn't going to happen. So he must to have been there with a photographic purpose that then turned into, you know, maybe they drank a little wine. But my question is that he just, for him, any jam session was the equivalent of talking or I'd rather try to play music with you than the small talk.

Yeah. Or maybe after your tape runs out, he starts making fun of him for not being able to play. It's also that There's the famous Bruce Springsteen cameo On one of his shows On the way back to the dressing room He's looking at me And he's bouncing up and down

I told you he can't play guitar There's that prince I have that I thought he was cool I mean Bruce hung in there But okay In your observations I always thought that major towns

were not as good as the smaller towns as far as show is concerned. Because... You think specifically for Prince or in general? In general, but yes, also for Prince. Based on the Purple Rain shows, none of the L.A. shows were exciting to me. I have a theory. I think that if people are watching you... And this has been for every show I've ever done in L.A.

and stars come out girls you like her in movies and on television show they're in the audience yeah I always think that shows in front of celebrities freezes the artist whereas towns that you have low expectations

you bring out your your A game I don't think it's the artist I think it might be you know the major publications are there you know they may you know New York Times

may send a reviewer out or a Rolling Stone or somebody on that case that Minnesota must be a night America's John Bream is there watching us every movie. Exactly. Was the robbery with John Bream really real, or was it, like, playful and...

He got tired of John Bream at one point, and they kissed him, you know. It was like... It wasn't a Cynthia Johnson, really. It was kind of a Trumpish moment. It was like, you're not loyal. You actually wrote something negative. You're not loyal. Fake news.

Okay. You know, you will. all people, John, you were there at the beginning. You're supposed to stay loyal. Nelson George can write something bad. I might make a record about it, but we'll, you know, I expect it, but not from you. Not from, like John's from the hometown. Yeah, you're supposed to.

You were there from the beginning, and you wrote great things from the beginning, and you were way ahead of everybody else and recognizing whatever. So I'm just, you know, I'm surmising. I see. In your years of tour managing, what was your favorite period? Like, do you have a fond memory? The travel was great. I didn't have to, you know, fix a situation.

It was, you know. Can I hit your pause button for a minute and rewind for a second? Okay. Back to the intimidation factor of playing big city. Okay. And I think Bill's right. I mean, certainly the fact is you can't, unless you're, you're remarkably disciplined, if you know there's a media focus on what you're doing,

if you know there's people in the audience whose opinions you care about or trying to impress for one reason or another, then you're going on stage with all of that somewhere in your head. Even if you can kick it to the rear burner, it's still there. So instead of going on stage in your normal zone where all you're thinking about is the music and who you're playing it with. It just makes sense that that would affect you. Now, there's some people who could overcome that. But I think about Miles Davis used to say,

and this was, I think, Quincy Chir, the Miles Davis autobiography, talks about the fact that he could always tell when anybody in his band either were looking at a girl in the audience and their old lady was there because they'd show off. They'd play different. They'd overplay.

And he said, he used to drive him crazy. He got him to the point we told Jack D. Jeanette, do not bring a woman into these clubs. Really? Yeah. Now, it's Miles probably exaggerating a little bit. No, he's telling the truth, though. But, yeah.

He's telling the truth. Yeah, and particularly in the context of a jazz quintet, where it's so much of it is improvisational, as opposed to a Prince concert where the band is pretty much playing the same thing that after night, it would be that much more noticeable. And I suppose it's human nature. It's, you know.

You're right. You know, we don't look in the mirror once or twice extra if you're going to see somebody you really care about. Okay. So, anyway, back to your question. What was your favorite period of tour managing? What was the easiest? All right, all right. Okay.

What was the easiest? Like, just. Well, I suppose physically you would say Chris Rock. Okay. I can see that. Okay. Because there's, there's. five grown men who were responsible, mature, flying on private jets, staying in for its Carlton's,

and nobody has to wake anybody up, nobody misses the plane. Right. The only time we'd ever spat was who gets the art section at the New York Times first on the flight. You know. Now, the gig was, was, you think the gig is easy because it's. stand-up. There's no production. There's at least very little. But

the other side of that point is with that tour you're wearing because you don't have a staff. You're out there by yourself in terms of management. And you're wearing every hat. So you're overseeing the production. You're overseeing the local crews

that do sound and lights. You're overseeing the promoters. You're overseeing the settlements, you're doing the settlements. I would assume that you do the settlements anyway though, right? Yeah, but... Or do you send someone...

But here's the point. If I'm on a DeAngelo tour and I got a hood do settlement, I just tell Bill Reeves, I won't be around for an hour. I'm going up front if you need me, hit me on, you text me, I'm in the box office. Okay. But with Chris, you're scared to leave because... There's no backup. Who's in charge?

There's no backup. I see. Okay. You know, so it got to the point where his personal assistant, who really had nothing to do with the shows themselves, but was just his personal assistant, I would always have him. If I'm going up front, I would say, okay, you've got to keep your eyes on the stage. But also, I mean, Chris is A-level celebrity, so it's just the five of you? Yeah. But he's A-listy. So like, who else does he need around?

No, he's got a personal assistant. He's got one security. Oh, okay, no, no. He's got his personal assistant. There's Chris. There's the opening comic. He usually travels with us, the Support Act. Mario.

And myself. Okay. That's it. Okay. That's it. And I'm still doing the other things the tour manager does, which is do all the advancing with the venues wherever we're headed next, and making sure this is set up and set up

and make sure the cars are right and make sure staying in touch with the pilots and the airports and knowing what the flight conditions you know all the shit that goes with the logistics and hotels and is that always having a plan B

you're looking at the weather app and it's raining in Tennessee and we might have to take a bus to... Yeah yeah or either we're just going to sit here and wait for the rain depending on forecast so yeah you always have to keep your eye on the weather okay that's just part of it

so that's the easiest What's the most historical? Let me say this. It's a lot of work. It's long days. And Chris is one of the few comics I know who actually insists on doing sound checks. As you know, because you've been there. So the day starts at 3 or 4 o'clock in the afternoon and it doesn't end until midnight.

By the time we've done settlement, frequently the show would be down, but I would still have business and to stay back and wouldn't get to the hotel until an hour later. So there was a workload, a serious workload, but it was not stressful because you didn't have to worry about a knucklehead bass player who won't get up or disappears. Damn that, paladena. No, I'm playing. No, that's actually the one band where it wasn't a bass player. Historically, it's always been the bass player that's a knucklehead. I can name so many two ways. Really?

Yeah. Not the case we'd do. Okay. Yeah, in that case, the base was the responsible person. Drummond was pretty good. He wouldn't. We'll see. He had his days, but he showed up.

Yeah, right. What did you feel was the most historical, in hindsight, what was the most historical run you did? It had to be purple, right? So you consider that more historical than the night that like sex machine came together or? Well, you're comparing a six-month tour to a one-night gig. Yeah, Apple's, you know. Yeah. I mean, it's, you know, was there a historical significance of sex machine?

Of course. But, you know, that was- What did you feel was historical as it was happening? Because that's rare to know that you're capturing. So for you- I was relieved that he could take this new band that had. its weaknesses and go in and cut what so obviously was going to be a smash hit.

So it was really relief. Okay. Because the jury's still out on whether or not they were still good. Exactly. I mean, we knew Boots and catfish were keepers. That wasn't hard. Clayton Gunnells and all those cats were. Yeah. Right. I see.

I see. Do you have any regrets or places that you haven't gone to or things that you haven't done yet tour-wise or I don't think so. And what's, well, damn, okay, I know with the exception of the D word, you were,

but what stopped you from the next level? Like, what kept you at tour manager as opposed to let me get a 9 to 5 at? You could have easily worked at William Morris. No, I'll tell you a conversation. I had with Bob Cavallo. When I took over Paisley Park Records, Bob called me, and he was on the way out

because it was around the same time that Pritz cleaned house. A little bit after I took over the label. 9192. No, no, no. Let me, rewind. When he cleaned house and fired his lawyers,

his business managers, and his personal managers, Steve Farnoli and Bob Cavallo. When he fired them, that's when I actually went him and said, okay, I need a vote of confidence. If I next year cleaning the house and I just need to know what else going on. Well, have I told

you you're fired? No, but you know, what up? Time out. What do you do the firing? It was January 2nd of 19 after graffiti birds. Eighty-nine. Before a graffiti bird? No, it was after Lopes. Okay. Before Batman.

But I'm saying, would he himself do it? No, he said he sent He had another attorney Who sent letters He had already cooked up the deal with Albert Magnoli to be his manager They had hatched this plan Magnolia introduced him to a new lawyer

Who then issued the cease and desist Or whatever you want to call him The notifications that I'm breaking Away from you guys I'm only asking because All right, I've made me the last two years I've had to fire six people from my camp

And that's one of the most painstaking Sure. Especially when you're like super close to them. This week alone, last Saturday, I had to fire someone that's worked for me for like 10 years. And it was like, it was like asking for a divorce. So I always wanted to know like literally, like is he going around asking for advice? Like how do you let someone go? How do you?

Because he, first of all, he didn't personally do it. Oh, that's easy. Yeah. I thought you had to do it yourself. No, he was a punk like that. I mean, just being blunt. Wait, should you, if you were to, all right, so you're in a boss position. He had me fire people.

I was going to say, I'm sure you've had to fire many a person. Not many, but yeah. Right. Sure. But is there, what's the proper way to do so? Uh-oh. Because the thing is, you're such a paternal, fatherly figure? It depends on who it is and what the relationship is.

It really does. We had a road manager on a tour, and I'm not going to say which one, was out from the beginning of the tour, and he was going to be the road manager and my tour manager. Can you say the tour? Or that would give it away? That gives it away. Yeah, and just as soon not.

Poor guy is no longer with us. He since passed away. But at any rate, he was totally qualified. It worked on other major tours. Was a good guy. But for one reason or another, a chick didn't like him, dropped a dime on him.

Prince didn't like him. The band loved him. Mm-hmm. And we were about two or three weeks into the tour, if that, and Prince called me to his dressing room before a show, and he said, I want you to fire so-and-so. And I actually sucked it up and tried to make a case because I felt it was totally unfair. He just plain, for whatever stupid reason, just didn't like him. The guy hadn't done anything wrong. It was perfectly qualified.

It was going to give me personally a headache because now I had to replace him in the middle of a tour. I was going to say, how do you find a B person? You know? Well, we did. You do. Right. I mean, that's part of having something filed away in the back of your head just in case. Right.

But the long and short of it is I had to go to this guy and he basically didn't speak to me for about two years. And he actually came. Even if he knew that you weren't the person that pulled the trigger? Yeah. Or you're not allowed to say, look, I love you, but dog. No, that's exactly what I said. That you got to know, this isn't coming from you. The band.

They adore you. but there's a problem with the boss and he wants somebody else. And I work for him and I don't have his choice. And it was really, really uncomfortable because I cared of that guy. It was unfair. But he was the gold makes the rules. And, I mean, deep down, the guy understood, he got it. But from that point on, he actually ended up opening a business in L.A.

And I would occasionally drop by his business. And it was always awkward. And he was close to Gwen. I mean, it was really awkward. On the other hand, on the Purple Rain Tour, Prince's business manager found a tour accountant that he assigned to the tour. And this guy came on the road,

and he too had worked on other tours. He had a resume. None of us knew him, but, you know, it's going to be the tour accountant, And that's fine. You know, the business manager, who we all knew and had a close relationship was, trusted him. So I had no reason not to trust him. So this was Purple Rain.

We played Detroit. We end up in Greensboro, which I think was the second stop. And Big Chick comes to me and he says, hey, buddy, what do you know about this accountant dude? I said, nothing. I guess he's okay. He said, well, he was chatting with me and talking about he thinks you're overpaid. And he was talking about that they could get a good tour manager for less money. And this one, and he didn't like Bill Reeves.

He thought he was overpaid and some of the band is overpaid. And I said, chick, you just don't like him. You drop on a dime on him by saying this, are you serious? Did he actually is discussing people's salaries with you? And he says, no, I mean, I don't really have a horse in this race, but the guy ain't cool. I called the business manager in LA and I said I need somebody else we were going to Philly.

Thanksgiving. Yep. And we actually, where did we go first? I think we went to D.C. next because we busted from D.C. to Philly. And they forget we busted as opposed to fine. And I called the business manager from D.C. And said, I want this guy out of here.

He said, well, what happened? Did you verify? Did you verify? Yeah. Okay. Yeah. I mean, I went to him. He denied it.

Because my first thought was, all right, it's chicken agitator. Right. And he could be. But I went to the guy and talked to a minute who was obvious that his whole attitude, he's like, well, you know, I was just thinking that, you know, we need to streamline this. And, you know, all I'm doing is trying to protect the artist. And I'm like, okay, you're the one guy in this whole crew. The artist doesn't even know.

Right. And this is my house. And if you want to streamline something because you think it's the right thing to do, then you should have come to me and that's the bodyguard. And I'll have that conversation with you because I'd appreciate if you can help us make more money. But don't be coming in my house behind my back. And he's like, oh, okay, I'm sorry. I called the business manager and said, I don't want to see him after tomorrow.

He rode the bus with us to D.C. to Philly. We got to the hotel in Philly, and there was a message waiting for him to get on the first plane out. The next morning, everybody said, what happened to the county? So it totally depends. I see. It just totally depends. And the first lesson is don't hire your friends. Son.

You out. Nope. When you stop telling him? matter how to fire people more easily. That's the key. Let me just mark this off. Do not ask for a raise. Because I have had a situation

in the last 10 years where I hired a friend who was qualified but for whatever reason didn't satisfy the situation or the artist. And I hesitated to fire. and I should have. If it had been anybody else,

I would have replaced him. Right. And I didn't because I pumped out. Next subject. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what you're saying. Yep, that's me,

Cliver Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement

to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week, I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment. And the next, we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast.

It's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So if you've ever supported me or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeard radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. There's two golden rules that any man should live by. Rule one, never mess with a country girl. You play stupid games, you get stupid prizes. And rule two, never mess with her friends either. We always say that, trust your girlfriends.

I'm Anna Sinfield, and in this new season of the girlfriends, Oh my God, this is the same man. A group of women discover they've all dated the same prolific con artist. I felt like I got hit by a truck. I thought, how could this happen to me? The cops didn't seem to care, so they take matters into their own hands. I said, oh, hell no. I vowed. I will be his last target.

He's going to get what he deserves. Listen to the girlfriends. Trust me, babe. On the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. This week on the Sports Slice podcast, it's all about the NFL draft, and we've got a special guest.

The director of the NFL's East West Shrine Bowl, Eric Galco, joins the Sports Slice podcast to break down what really matters when evaluating draft prospects. From hidden traits teams look for to the biggest mistakes franchises make,

to the players flying under the radar. This is the insight you won't hear anywhere else. If you want to understand the draft like an insider, you don't want to miss this episode. Listen to the Sports Slice Podcasts on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slica Life 12 and TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok.

Before we wrapped up, I've heard, a quasi-heard of Shep Gordon's version of this, only because he's owner of Carlos and Charles. and we've had Huey Lewis on the show and we're just discovering that Huey Lewis sang what was supposed to be Prince's parts on We Are the World.

Can you, I've never asked you this question. What the hell actually happened the night of the American Music Awards? And why, how did he get the word that there was a song called We Are the World and he's expected to participate. Like, I would assume that the call would have came to you first?

No. Oh, that's a Farnoli thing? Oh, okay, okay, not to you. I see. Yeah, I mean, I was involved in the conversations and Farnoli pitched it to him. So, here's what Quincy's doing. He's reached out.

He really wants you on this. Here's who everybody else is going to be there. And Prince said, no, he was just not interested. It's just, no, I'm not going to be like everybody else. But he did. contribute a song ultimately to the full album. And he offered to do that at the beginning. He's like, yeah,

I'll give my song for the album, but I'm just not that guy. I don't do group things that I don't have any control over. Yeah, okay. That's pretty what he says in the song, hello. That's understandable. Yeah. Okay. But that night at Carlos and Charlie's like, what happened exactly?

What happened is we tried to convince him like, okay, you're not going to do that. But understand something. This recording session is bigger than the award show. This is like the biggest thing of the year, because everybody's there. And by you not doing it, you can't go out clubbing. That was the actual concern of you guys back then? It was a huge concern. Like, this could be a PR disaster. Yes. Like, why are you not singing for starving children? Yeah, exactly. See,

I would think, like, now has just been like, oh, Rihanna couldn't make it. Well, maybe now, But there wasn't no Prince couldn't make it because Quincy was pissed. He's like, who does he think the reaction was from him in Atlanta, or Ritchie was, who does he think he is? Michael's here. Diana Ross is here. Fucking Ray Charles is here. Okay.

Who does he think he is? No, no. No. No, because Waylon left, right? Yeah. I was going to say, you said Dan Ayproyd. No, Rick Moranis. Wasn't Rick Moranis there?

No, it was Dan Akro. Okay. The Canadian who was part of USA for Africa. Right. That's it. But no, it was a serious concern. So they just literally thought that he would jump at this opportunity? I suppose.

I mean, you know, who does he think he is? Parker, he goes at the door and everybody else who's famously private and diva-ish. No more than Dinah Ross. Right. Right. Bob Dylan. Michael was no joke. Right.

So, I mean, if they can do it, why can't he do it? Not to mention the fact that it's a cause he should be associated with. So. I still think it was the wisest decision. I'm not saying it wasn't. But the issue wasn't whether he did it. It was to Quincy because he took it personally because that's just how. Right.

You don't say no to Quincy. Exactly. And Harry Belafonte. Exactly. But the issue was don't go out drinking in clubs when everybody else is doing that. Because the media was out there. I mean, this was a big event. And everybody at the awards was talking about it, see at the studio, you know, this was huge.

There's never been an assemblage of any people to make one record on that level. It was crazy. It was unimaginable. Somebody said you're going to have all of those people in the recording studio at the same time. You'd be like, what? I don't think so. So we begged him. And we had a plan.

We were staying at the Westwood Marquis out in Westwood. That was still all back back then? Yeah, it was kind of one of the hot hotels at that point. And it was also off the beaten pass because it was all the way west. Right. Okay. And we went back to the hotel to celebrate. great and we we we got bobby and vicky was there and gwen was there and we all went up to his suite

and hung out and i said okay none of us going to bed early tonight we're going to hang out with him because we got to keep him in the hotel so we got to create so your plan was to distract him absolutely a plan is that a party with six people well there were more the whole band was there a few other people and you know but it was basically in-house because that's how he likes to socialize He doesn't let anybody come hang in the hotel suite. But the whole point was just to, you know, let's keep the talk going. It was a great night. We won awards and we said to celebrate and let's toast and even have a couple extra drinks.

So maybe he'll fall asleep because he wasn't a drinker. Right. He was like he'd have two drinks in Carlos and Charlies and be sitting on the floor giggling. Literally. Right. Lightweight. Yeah. When it came to drinking, absolutely.

Yeah. So that was the whole plan. And I guess it got to be about 1 o'clock, maybe 1.30. I can't tell you exactly what time. And we finally figured, okay, and it was a piano in his suite, and he was playing. And, you know, it was, you know, big party. It was in-house, all of us celebrating because it had been a great night. Right.

And so finally figured it was safe. and I was exhausted, so Gwen and I went to our room, I guess, and the little party broke up. And I'm thinking mission accomplished. It's all good. About 3 o'clock in the morning, the phone rings in my room, and it's chick. Buddy, we got a problem. That's how it always starts.

How many times, wait, wait, pause. How many times have you gotten a call from Chick where it's, buddy, we got a problem? Not that often. We didn't have a lot of problems. But. So you already were embracing yourself? No, I thought we were cool.

I thought mission accomplished. He said he's had a couple drinks. He's getting sleepy. He's, you know, he had his fun with his posse. Right. And we gave him all the props he needed to feel important and feel good about the night, you know. And he was already talking about the song he was going to do for the album that Steve reminded us of. So I'm thinking we're good.

Well, not only did he call Chick to go out after we all disappeared, and they also had, I think Wally was with them, Wally Safford, and another bodyguard named Larry. And they went to Carlos and Charlies and some paparazzi mobbed the car. And they got into a pushing, I guess they tried to stick the camera in the window, the car window, the car window or something, and at any rate, there was a spat, and the photographer said that he had been attacked.

Right. And I guess Larry, the bodyguard, who was like twice your size. I mean, the guy was freaking huge. He was like Tyson Fury huge. And I guess he did push him or shove him or smack him or something. I don't know what he did. At any rate, the police locked up Larry.

So it wasn't just about Prince having this issue that is now going to be in the press. But you also had our bodyguard who's on tour with us in jail. So I had to deal with that. How to get him out. And sure enough, USA Today and a lot of the papers, they're talking about prints attacking a photographer at Carlos and Charlie's, while the whole record industry is doing where the world. and it's exactly what happened.

So do you think it was ego that made him not want to participate in that? Or like he's notorious for not letting people watch him record his vocals. Do you think that might have played a part of it? I never thought that that might have been part of it, but he wasn't going to be doing really lead vocals. So I don't think that was that big of an issue. It's like he never wanted to be part of anything that he didn't have control over. I mean, if you think of all the other people's records that he appeared on,

they were almost always tracks he produced or had input or head control. He just, and the same goes with, except for Star 69. You won't play like this, pal. Yeah, but then you guys mixed him like so you can't hear him, so is he even really there? Yes, he's there.

No, he's not. So he's who. You know what, now that Huey, so Huey reveals that, I didn't know Shep only to Carlis. and Charlies? Yeah. So he has a story.

Like he, he has a Eddie Murphy. That was her hang. Yeah. He, Shep was part owner of Carlson-Charles. He tells the story of Eddie Murphy getting into a tussle with a fan the night before his first day of shooting Beverly Hills cop. And so Eddie actually has to go to the Beverly Hills jail. And it took method acting.

And it took, I guess the president of Paramount had to call up Shep to see if Shep could pull strings. Shepp had like pull with the Beverly OPD back then or whatever and said, look, this guy is to be on set tomorrow at 5 a.m. Yada yada yada, yaw, woo, woo, and took a lot of easing to that. But Shep also remembers that night. That's how I knew that he owned, was part owner of Carlos and Charles. The thing is, is that when Huey Lewis reveals, so there's a point when Huey's like telling what the experience is like, and I think at the last minute they realize, shit,

we don't know about to sing Prince's part. And just at the last minute, Quincy's looking like from the, Huey, you sing it. And then I realized, oh, Michael Jackson, you slide devil. Like, you purposely set up this game of horse. Once again, for Prince to follow you. And it's done in a key, Prince rarely sings in E minor. It's too high for him to sing.

It's too low for, like, he rarely sings. I was Shagadelica is in E minor. Like I can count like, and Dorothy Parker. He changed the speed of his voice on that song too. Exactly. That's what I'm saying. Shagadela gets done in that and, you know, Dorothy Parker is more him going all over the place,

but not sticking in that key. So I can't imagine him singing. I've never heard him sing a song. E minor. So when I realized that, I was like, oh, damn, Michael Jackson set him up. Set him up again. Wait, I don't want to end it on a bad print story.

All right, that's enough. No, okay. For you, Purple Rain was the most historical. Yeah, I mean, as a tour, it had to be. I mean, with James Brown, we didn't tour, we worked. So there were certain gigs that were more significant than others, but it's hard to isolate a tour because we just worked all the time. weeks out of the year. Exactly. Okay, so my last question is, what do you think you have a top

three, damn the show's good moment? And I know that most of the time you're backstage, you know, handling business, preparing for, like, do you, have you ever watched any of your client's shows from beginning to end from the front of the house? Yeah, on occasion, sure. Sure. Just for nothing to do or just, just, just a, to make sure that nothing goes wrong. Like, are you looking at the lights? Or are you just there like, okay, I trust that for the next hour and a half,

the world's not going to come to an end, and blah, blah, blah has this backstage or? There was a James Brown show at the Old Spectrum in Philly. And the Dells were on the show. Right. And the Dells were red hot at the time. And they killed. And James was backstage.

I tell the story in the book. He was backstage pacing, going berserk. He told Danny Ray to go out there and pull him off stage. They're staying on there too long. They had the crowd in the pump of their hands, and now they're blown it because they didn't. They're not professionals.

They don't know when to come off. And it was all because they were killing. The place was going berserk. Wait, was there stage, though, that good? Or is this the hits or just Marvin Jr. was just the god of singing? They could sing. The Dells were no joke. I mean, they had the typical choreography, and they were good at it, but, and a couple of them were decent-looking guys.

But, I mean, they weren't the temptations, but God damn, they could sing. Oh, Marvin Jr. was no joke, man. Yeah. Neither was Johnny Carter. Yeah, the high voice, yeah. Exactly. And their harmonies, their group harmonies tended to be a little more sophisticated than the average duop group. Right.

And they had a string of great songs. Stepney before went to fire. He did their biggest hits. And they were killing. This was right at the peak of their thing. James was going crazy. I've never seen him like that. And it really was remarkable to me

because I'd never seen him actually show any nerves like that. I mean, he was dressed and pacing. and smoking a cigarette, which he never did until he didn't smoke. But he would smoke a cigarette as he walked to the stage and then hand it to somebody as he walked onto the stage. And I guess it had something to do with his voice. He believed it did something for his voice. That's where that raps came from? Unless it was just a nervous habit.

Is this 1970? This is 70 or 71. I can't remember. Oh, this is super prime, James. Yeah. Oh, yeah, yeah. That guy was scared? Yeah.

I thought you meant mustache, James. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. No, no, no. This was no facial hair, James. This was Afro James. Side note. And this is 1970. My parents are at the show.

Probably so. Wow. Because my mom said that my first kicks were at Adele's concert. Huh. There you go. Hi, Mom. Anyway, go ahead. So you were there.

Yeah. Suffice it to say, if, if you. If you remember the spectrum, the stage was in the round in the middle of the arena. And it actually revolved, very slowly revolved. So the idea was that every seat would get a front row view at some point. Spectrum or Valley Forge Music Fair? Spectrum. Okay.

Okay. Yeah, they have one. It's not the only place that had it. Right. Yeah. I hear you. Anyway, low story short, plays the soldier out. It's a path.

It's really big show. And he comes out. and in order to get to the stage, because it's in the middle of the arena, and you've got to create a space to get from the locker rooms across to the stage. And, of course, there's security, and you create a human fence with security and so on and so on. And, I mean, he got mobbed. I mean, they were people were diving over the security just to tear at him. He got to the stage.

His jacket was already torn. I mean, literally he hit the stage with his, it was kind of a shirt jacket. It was like a jumpsuit type time, very 70s, and it was torn, and he looked a little bit disheveled because he'd gone through this. And it was probably the most intense show I've ever seen him to before or since. I mean, it was just absolutely on fire. And memorably so. Who is the band? Probably so.

It was supposed to. And I can't remember if the... You don't have any blueleg recording of this? Not that show. Mm-mm. No. But, I mean, he was just amazing. He was just, just the band was tight.

Clyde was there. He had come back. So we had Clyde and Jabble both on stage. I can't remember if Pinkney was back yet, probably. Because he was... Had to have been. Yeah, he'd come back. If it was that good.

But it was just in the place... And of course, a lot of it had to do with the audience was amped. It was just... people went berserk. So that's memorable. But quite honestly, and the Prince Manics will hate me for this.

The most musically gratifying shows I've been part of since my James Brown years with the end of it. Yeah, they're going to hate you for that. Ladies and gentlemen, thank you very much. Don't do that. Don't do that. Don't do that. That's not fair. That's not fair.

Come on, man. Yeah, seriously. But our show was just by the transitive axiom, the show was a love letter to parade. Yeah. Now, do you see how he says our show? He doesn't realize I could be talking about the more recent shows with Chris Day. Wow. Wow.

All right, you tell me, Alan Leeds. Good one, good one, good one. No, seriously, I play. I agree with you. I play tapes of those shows like their new records. there in steady, constant rotation in my house. We're never going to get that live album, are we? That voodoo live album.

No, we aren't. Edit. That silence there. There were some coded words there. It's always a possibility. Never say never. That's the warm moment in my life where I felt I was living history.

in real time, like something historical. And it wasn't that because that was my first taste of something major. You know, because by that point, like, we had just broken through the other side as the roots and, you know, like, just slowly started to creep to a satisfactory level of celebrity, whatever. but, you know, for me, nothing will ever beat that Minneapolis show. Minneapolis show. Oh, God, Prince fans will kill me. It was just, it starts. See, the Minneapolis show starts with, we were summoned to the park at 1 a.m.

At 1 a.m. Well, are you talking about that experience? Are you talking about the actual gig? No, no, no, no. But that experience leads to the gig. Right, right, of course. And, you know, it was a really weird night with him. I've had great nights with prints.

I've had weird nights with prints. I've even had bad nights with prints. Right. But it's like we were there for three hours. And to me, the highlight of the whole night. Now, we played with him for an hour. we sat in the studio with him for an hour listen to music for an hour

and to me the best part of the whole night was the 45 minutes we took out to watch an HBO special by a comedian named Dave Chappelle that was on rotation in his nightclub yo this guy's really funny we sat and watched it

he had Dave on that VH1 special which one the love for one and other special Dave was on it? Yeah, Dave comes out like in the middle of it and does like a five minutes set or something like that.

I was disinvited from that. Remember, Richie were invited? Then I became disinvited. Even Richie the driver. Wait, who was the driver? Robbie. Robbie, the driver, like, couldn't drive us in the gates

because he had been banned from people. Like, we had to walk through the snow to get there. Not the snow. Like, I just remember he could, it was in summertime, right? I honestly don't remember. No, the show started in March.

Yeah, it was summertime. Yeah, it had to be early fall. Yeah, but I just remember that Robbie was like, I'm not allowed to drive through, so you guys are going to have to walk through. Right, yeah. That's weird. Yeah.

And that's where the night got weird. And Robbie had worked for him for years. Right. You know, loyal, personal assistant, you know. Oh, we know. Yeah. So, wait, don't we saw that, Robbie? Yeah, we do.

Yeah, yeah. And it was August of 2000. Oh, damn. What? The Internet is amazing. Damn, and the show I saw was two days after that. What did you see? Indianapolis.

Okay. Oh, at the Expo? No, Murat. Murat Theater. Anyway, so we left, there must be a Perkins restaurant or some sort of pancake house. That's near there. Robbie took his tour. And me and Dee were to, our first words was like, yo, man, I feel like we didn't know how to feel because the night was just weird.

Like he was talking weird. One of you called me, and I don't remember who. And you said we've been quiet in the car all the way, and I feel like I need a bath. Yeah, I said. Never forget it. It was such a weird violation because I'd never experienced, you know, now I'm very careful about like, oh, don't meet your idols. They might disappoint you. But that was such an ambush that we weren't ready for.

And we sat there for like three minutes. I was like, yo, like, wait, was he trying to diss us? What do you think that's what? Like we just sat there like not knowing what happened to us. It was like some alien side in your heads. He didn't get in our heads. Yeah, he did. You just said he did basically.

It wasn't he. I was disappointed he tried to get in our heads. Because I, you know, I mean, no secret. I know. He was like, you know, one dude, watch out for Alan Lee. You're like, you know, whatever. Watch your tapes. Yeah, all that stuff.

I read his label, but I bootlaid to all. stuff that's out there. And so... Allegedly. We said... I don't know. The next day, like, you know, we went to our rooms the next day

and then backstage, I was like, how you feel, man? I don't know. And I was just like, yo, man, let's just... Let's do it. Because the thing was, we wanted to know was he going to come to the show? Was he going to the show?

And he had conveniently Well, we should also preface that John Breen didn't help at all with this one. Like, John Bream probably wrote the most scathing Prince Taunt. And I felt like he thought

he was doing something good by like trying to provoke Prince into... To showing up for him. Or, no, just to return to his... To 1987? Yeah, that sort of thing. So he wrote this whole... It's the year 2000, I'm here.

He wrote... Yeah, but he wrote this whole thing about, like, you know, like a new Kingsen Town. And I read the article and I was like, oh, this is so over the top. Like, John, you're not helping. You're making people hate us.

And I don't know. It's just when we perform, when he performed Devil's Pie, he brought that Hallie Berry energy. And by the time we got to, we asked your brother to, to solo and lady, and it was just like

I felt we were on fire like I thought we were going to levitate and the audience was dance and I was nervous about all that like we're in his town and we know his spies are here and whatnot I don't even believe that he went to

Egypt that day I just think he just told us that just the no he knew enough to know you were going to kill and he didn't want to be there. Man, I wish, you know. It's, that's the side of him.

God rest his soul just is so annoying and not necessary. Well, it's just like a brief, really brief comparison. Talk about this in the book too. For him to talk to you and Dee, and I remember Dee told me because John Bream had also done a story about me becoming Dee's part manager, co-manager. And, you know, it's a small media town, so that's a big deal. And Prince Ed to D. So, Alan leads you're manager, you know, just kind of like, what's wrong with you?

And I'm like, wouldn't you think that he would be proud that somebody who learned the business, a great part of the business through him with him goes on and their career grows the same way that he hired you because you were the James Brown guy and here's the comparison when Purple Rain blew up

James Brown did an interview with MTV for whatever reason and one of the questions they asked him was how do you feel about the fact that you're playing clubs and you got Michael Jackson and particularly Prince who are selling out arenas all over the world and they're basically this generation's version of you.

And Brown says, well, there's a lot of my people over there in Prince's camp, you know, namely Alan Leeds. And I was like, thank you, Godfather, you know, but that was also him trying to take credit for it. You know, it's like, well, that's because I let him have my people. But he was, the next time I saw him, I might tease him about that, and he was like proud. I mean, he was like, you know, when I hired you kid, I knew you were going places. And you got to be careful. Now, you're in the fast track now. He gave me fatherly advice.

But he was actually proud that somebody who was a novice under him had worked his way up to the point where he was on the biggest fucking tour of the decade. And, you know, that ain't going to be Prince. And it was just unnecessary because Prince and I never really fell out. he called me, you know, usually when he's through with somebody he's through, but he called me back to set up a Japanese tour for him in the 90s. He needed somebody to deal with the promoters. I didn't go on the tour, but at that particular time, he didn't have a tour worthy staff of backline people. And he said, I need you to find me a production manager and I need you to negotiate the deal with Udo, the promoter in Japan. I owe him some dates, but I just need you to set up the crew.

and do the tour manager stuff, but you don't need to go on the tour, just hire somebody to go. And he's like, you know, you can't be like it used to be. You can't be calling me all this time. We're not going to hang out, but I'll pay you well and just do what you do.

You know, I'm like, okay, cool. That's good for me too. Right. And then a couple years later, he called me, didn't ask me to do the liner notes for the hits package, which was the first ever collection of his records outside.

that is sequenced albums. And then he said, okay, but he said, well, there's certain things I want said. And I said, okay, so let me interview you. And he said, great, let's do that. And of course, he had bright of approval over the finished product. Quote, you interviewed him? Literally sat on the phone, and most of what's in those liner notes, all little tidbits about each song came from him. You recorded this?

No. Oh, damn it, Alan. No. Because you know I was going to ask. Yeah, I was sorry. Come on, man. It was all impromptu. If we had set it up in advance, I would, if you know me.

The famous phone stuff. But no, it was just like we're talking about it, and he says, well, just interview me. Come on, do it now. And I'm like, well, tell me the sequence. Tell me, you know, something. And with no preparation, we just, and he's telling me stuff. So, you know, there was some respect there. And we were cold and occasionally I'd run into them on the road.

I dropped in a release party once. It used to be the village gate and it was life for a minute and so on. You were there that night? Yeah. For emancipation? Was it missing? You were there with Chris? No, I was there with Chris.

Shit, I didn't know you. That was 97. I didn't know you then. No. That's the night I first met him. Yep. And I was not on the list and there was a problem getting it. And Chris said,

I'll leave, you got to let him in and just pulled one of those things. I got it. And Prince gave me a huge hug. We talked for a few minutes. Oh, sit. You know. And, you know, so, I mean,

I don't get it. I just don't get it. And it used to know what the fuck out of me because. Well, that means that you did something right. That means you did something right. Like, if you weren't a threat. There's an artist now. That's it.

That's it. And you've got to understand when we came through with voodoo, and particularly in light of the video, and how everybody was obsessing over the video, which became MTV's video of the year. DeAngel's entitled video. Yes. I'm sorry.

And, you know, that was a threat to him. He didn't know how far this was going to go. That was a threat. Because this is the kind of commotion that he got when he broke out. exactly the same kind of commotion. It's like, here's this sex symbol, this crazy guy that girls are going berserk over, and he wears, you know, tights and crazy clothes that men don't wear. And the song was obviously influenced by.

Sure. Well, what wasn't? Well, yeah. But, I mean, that one was almost like a rewrite if she's just a baby. Let's be honest. We didn't know that then. Right. Really?

I'll be honest. We didn't know that then. We didn't know that then. Maybe Sadiq too. I mean, I don't know. Who cares? Nah, they didn't. Who cares?

You know, it worked. So I think he really did, and that's why the weirdness that night. So your third one? Black Messiah tours. Really? Over anything with Prince? Yeah. That's just about personal work my spot is musically.

Okay. It's about the churchiness. It's about the fact that he had amazing bands that had more freedom to play than Princess bands did. Prince's bands were always scripted. It's not they weren't good bands. It's not that they couldn't play. But everything they did was scripted. It feels like Dee was going for more of the after show vibe.

Yeah. But even that, I don't think, gives it credit because there's a, there's a, jazz mentality. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That goes with, um, the voodoo tour was a little more scripted than the stuff that we did later, because the stuff we did after Black Messiah was a little looser.

And they actually, we would change set lists from night to night quite a bit. And, and, and he, he didn't have the same relationship with Chris Dave that he had with you. So as a result, Chris would go rogue occasionally.

And it might, drive D crazy. And then there were nights where D would be like, yo, I love that shit. That's dope. And the next night, Chris would do something crazy? And D would be like, man, would you tell him to just keep time? I need a mirror.

You know, it was that kind of thing. Ying and yang. But as a music head, I'm loving this shit. Because I'm sitting there watching him in Pino every night. And it's like every night they surprise me with something. So I'm like pretending it's jazz. And I'm not even listening to everybody else. I'm just listening to the rhythm section.

And Sharkey is like amazing. You know, so here's an artist who has had two landmark bands. Now, overall, Soltronics, that's the band of the era. There won't be a better, for lack of a better way of putting it, soul band. Probably in our lifetime. The roots and his next band are probably next. Well, let's hope so. And it's a lot of the same people, so duh.

Let's hope so. But that's what Matt, see, what got me into James Brown wasn't just James Brown, who was the band. I love music, and I'm the person who listens to a record and doesn't even hear the singing until I hear the track. And if the track doesn't move me, I don't care what the singing is. And I don't care if I like the singer or not. If the track is smoking, I like the record. And forget lyrics. I don't even know what lyrics are.

Yeah, lyrics always come last for me, too. Sometimes they don't even come at all to me. Yeah, yeah. Because I don't even care. Yeah. Unless they're unusually profound. I mean, you know, what's going on? Sometimes I find out the lyrics and I'm just like, oh, maybe I should just continue ignoring them.

Yeah, right. All right. So when's your next book coming out? Got to figure out what it is first. And I got a couple ideas. I've actually started on one, but I don't know. It's like, I'm D'Angelo. The thing I want to do the most is not the most commercially viable.

So I've got to figure out like, okay, the one I want to write, can it actually get published? And is there a chance somebody would publish it A and B, you could sell a few copies? You know, as opposed to, you know, everybody says write a print's book. That's the fastball down the middle because there's more of a market. And for the kind of things I would write about, it's probably the most marketable. idea but there's so many prints books but i will say that just don't know what i don't know what no but you you and gwyn's take in wax poetic i've read that 10 15 times at least like i think really i feel like if there's someone that would give us the definitive

oral history of at least the i mean i'm limited by just saying the purple rain tour or whatever I think all Revolution members would trust you to talk to them or whatever I feel like you could get out of then now or maybe not. Ladies and gentlemen

the godfather of all tour management on Questlove Supreme the Quiet Edition we missed you like you All right. And some more with Alan Leeds. Definitely check out our interview from 2016 with him in the archives. Yes, the archives.

Yeah. Well, thank you. And hopefully you'll be here for a third round of Questlove Supreme. We can beat Jimmy Jams record. Yes. Because I think we're not tied now. Yes. You're so tight with him.

All right. All right. On behalf of Sugar Steve and Boss Bill and Unpaid Bill and Fontaine Laia. Bro. they ain't here. Yeah, no. They're coming on one day. This is Questlove.

Thank you, Alan. I appreciate it. And this is Chris Love Supreme. Iheart Radio. See you on the next round. Quest Love Supreme is a production of Iheart Radio. This classic episode was produced by the team at Pandora. For more podcasts from Iheart Radio, visit the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,

or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what I'm saying. Yep. That's me, Clifford Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, my basketball and college football journey, or my career in sports media.

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