The Questlove Show - QLS Classic: Remembering Roy Ayers

Episode Date: March 9, 2025

The music community suffered a giant loss this week with the passing of Roy Ayers. In 2017, Roy returned to Electric Lady Studios to sit down with Questlove Supreme. Ahmir adds some reflections and stories about his experience with Roy, as this conversation provides extra insight into the Jazz-Funk pioneer. In this special chat, Roy spoke about his early days in South Central Los Angeles, the strange way Miles Davis had of saying hello, why Electric Lady was the right home, plus so much more.   Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-heart podcast. Guaranteed human. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what you're saying. Yep, that's me. Clifford Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits,

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So let's get to it. Listen to The Clifford Show on the IHard 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. What's up, everyone? I'm Ago Vodam. My next guest, it's Will Ferrell. My dad gave me the best advice ever. He goes, just give it a shot.

But if you ever reach a point where you're banging your head against the wall and it doesn't feel fun anymore, it's okay to quit. If you saw it written down, it would not be an inspiration. It would not be on a calendar of, you know, the cat. Just hang in there. Yeah, it would not be. Right, it wouldn't be that. There's a lot of luck. Listen to Thanks, Dad, on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

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.

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was accused of fathering twins. But the pregnancy appeared to be a hoax. You doctored this particular test twice, Ms. Owens, correct? I doctored the test once. It took an army of internet detectives to uncover a disturbing pattern. Two more men who'd been through the same thing. Greg, a lesbian. Michael Mancini.

My mind was blown. I'm Stephanie Young. This is love trapped. Laura, Scottsdale Police. As the season continues, Laura Owens finally faces consequences. Listen to Love Trapped podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Questlove Supreme is a production of IHeart Radio. This classic episode was produced by the team at Pandora.

So last week we lost a giant in music and in culture. Brother Royer's passed at the age of 84. Almost eight years ago, Questlove Supreme sat down with Roy at the Electric Lady Studios at New York City. You know, with this interview, this means so much to Questlove Supreme and the members of Team Supreme. Roy did say a lot, and he spoke about his many movements, and it was so special what happened in the room where he made history. You know, at the time when we recorded at Electric Lady, you know, we chose Electric Lady. First of all, I mean, Electric Lady's history, so I guess you can say that even DiAngelo bringing us all.

to the attention of Electric Lady Studios. I really wasn't aware of the history of the place until, you know, maybe the first week of voodoo back in 1997. But even then, I'm never thinking like history. I'm just thinking of home because that's kind of where we planted our flag. However, I believe it was Sugar Steve that reminded me. It's like, you realize that this is where you recorded. Everybody loves the sunshine.

And then even pointed to the vibraphones. that were over in the corner. But that's the thing about Allegrabley Studios is that what's notable about it is the artwork and the equipment there has been there since day one, since 1970. So, yes, the very keyboards and the very drum set and the very mics and all those things we used on Voodoo were the same things used on, you know, Stevie Wonder's fulfilling his first finality and intervisions. Roy's everybody loves the sunshine.

That's kind of crazy that the roads that made DeAngelo's Voodoo is the same roads that made everybody loves the sunshine, which is the same roads that made it ain't no use by Stevie Wonder. It's kind of weird, like how much history that plays hold. So it's rather apropos of having him back there. Please enjoy this classic episode of QLS. Rest and peace, warriors. Supremma Roos. Love in the sunshine. Yeah.

Of the summer sun. Yeah. Shibidoo. Yeah. Run, run, run. Roll call. Supremma, Suprema, Subrema,

Roe Call. Supremma, Subrema, Roe Call. My name is Fonte. Yeah. Some say I'm crazy. Yeah.

Because we live Yeah. In Brooklyn, baby. Roe Call. Supremma, Subima, Subima, Roeca. Suprema, Supremma,

Sub prima Roca. My name is Sugar. Yeah. I'm a little moody. Yeah. It's been a month since. Yeah. I got some star booty.

Bro. Come on. Superia. Who's next? Supriam roll call. Boss Bill's not crazy. Yeah. Or cuckoo.

Aha. Yeah. But let me kiss you. Yeah. On your poo-poo la la. Oh, call. Suprima. Suprima, sub-s supremo roll call.

Suprema, sub, sub, sub prima roll call. A unpaid bill. Yeah. Came to share. Yeah. I love the sunshine. Yes. And Roy As.

Rove. Suprema. Supraima. Suprema. Suprema role call. Yo, Laeam. Yeah. What's your infatuation?

Yeah. With Roy is. Yeah. It's the vibration. Roll call. So. Y'all don't know that song? So we know.

We still do it too fast. Submina. Roll Call. My name is Roy. You know what I'm saying. Yeah. I'm just type trying to be getting down. And I've got playing.

Roll call. Supremia, Sub prima, sub, sub, sub, subprima roll call. Supremma, sub, sub, subprima, roll call. Supremia, sub, sub, suprema roll call. Supremma, sub, sub, suprema roll call. Damn you, Steve. Yes.

Stephen, even body in the roll. That was prop comedy, caratopper. Steve actually had a copy of Roy Hairs Star Booty. Steve, you've been thinking about that for a long time. You've been waiting. I won. No, you've been winning. He's been winning for like the past.

Let's move on. He doesn't like, you don't like the sunshine spotlight? It's cool. It's a nice transition though, because that album was done here. Yes, we know. Made famous in juice. Here, where we're? Are we?

Wait a minute. We'll find out. Hello? Can I? Yes. This is your show. Can I get him in a degree? Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to another classic, informative episode of Questlove Supreme.

Oh. Yeah, I'm Questlove. I'm your host. I'm on the Pitches Mound. And we have Fontello on first base. Yes. That's right. We got boss Bill on the catcher's position.

What? What? Fonte's more of a catcher. No. Nah, nah, nah, nah. You know, anyway, we got Sugar Steve in the center field. Yeah. Okay.

Like the left field. Yeah, unpaid bill is our third basement. Nice. And we got Laia, a.k. Margaret. She is our shortstop. I do that. I'll take it. You're our shortstop.

I love our sports references. We are on it. And with us today. Who's a quarterback? Who's a quarterback? And with us today, is a gentleman who has quietly stood the test of time for starting out in the burgeoning

jazz era of the 60s Los Angeles to the jazz funk fusion of the 70s to the electro-funk buggy of the 80s just to come full circle and to watch his work come back in the form of classic hip-hop samples that have stood the test of time in the 90s and then to the Neo-Soul era of the early aughts

and tens and basically our guest, Roy Ayers, to me is the black music world's jeans and t-shirt. He's soul music's tuxedo, something that will never, ever, ever go out of style. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome back home to Electric Lady. This is Roy Ayers. How you doing?

Yes. Crazy. Good evening. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. All right, so we, okay, all of us have been dying and know. because we are in the A room of Electric Lady Studios

in the village of New York. Right. When's the last time you were here? Well, first of all, you've been here a few times in recording with Erica and Kanye and Quaile. But I mean like during the Apollo years, like how often did you use the studio? I can't even remember, but now I can vaguely remember.

I use the studio so much. that I wore engineers out. Really? I wore engineers out because people like Jerry, Jerry Solomon. My God, Jerry Solomon and his wife, they said, Red Roy, this is ridiculous. Jerry Solomon and his wife, they decided they were going to go home. Okay.

And so I said, get another engineer. So you would, how long would your Sessions be? Sometimes, you know, a day, the whole day. So in true jazz mode, you would record an entire album within a three-day, fourth-day period? Oh, no, no, no. I would do about three songs. Oh, okay. Three songs, a lot, a lot.

That's a lot. Yeah. And would you write them in the studio at that time or would they be pre-written? Usually they were written right out. I paid everything. You know, like everybody loves the sunshine. Just made it up. Really?

Most of my compositions were spontaneous. Really? They were on a spontaneous key. Everybody else is doing whatever they do, but that's what I did. It was really a lot of fun. Is it something about? this room that makes people just write on the spot and not prepare.

Right. That seems to be a running theme. That's the ongoing narrative of Studio A. Am I assuming that did you record in Studio A or Studio B? I did both. Both studios. Both studios. Both studios, they were really fantastic.

Really? And what made you want to choose Electric Lady of? Like, I know that a lot of artists that have chosen the studio for the folklore of Jimmy Hendrix and just the location in the village. It was Jimmy. It was for Jimmy, yes, right? Jimmy was a wonderful person, man. So even as a jazz guy, you had respect for the folklore of...

Oh, yeah. Really? Oh, yeah. But you knew him, right? Yeah, I knew Jimmy, but I didn't know him that well, you know. I knew him. Okay. So, knowing that you grew up in Los Angeles,

pardon my ignorance, but it's like for me, I've already studied, I've always studied the history of most jazz guys that came to New York. Right. But I never, always knew that like most guys in Los Angeles felt similar to hip-hop, that New York was a real snobby place for the culture and, you know, it was slow to give respect to them. So tell me, especially in the 60s when you were coming up in the jazz world, like, what was the jazz scene like in Los Angeles? Was there a scene similar to New York?

like what New York had in the 40s. It was a very, very cool scene. You know, people like Teddy Pendergrass. I'm sorry. Teddy Edwards. Okay. I'm sorry. Excuse me.

Okay. Teddy Edwards and Harrowland and the Geraldson big band. My God, all those guys were just fantastic. And I worked with Curtis, Amy. And I worked, did. records with Jack Wilson, the Jack Wilson Quartet. Oh man, it was really a great thing. It was a great experience for me.

Truly a great experience. But was there, I mean, as far as the scene was concerned, I know, like, here, you know, cats were hardcore as far as, like, you being up on your chops and they're quick to down you. I mean, most people know the story of bird, getting the symbol throwing at him. Laya, do you know the story?

No, you know I don't. Okay, no, see, I want to verify. If you know it, then I can explain it. Charlie Parker, who's, you know, I mean, one of the virtuosos of all time of sex, when he first, I forget, not Min's Playhouse, I forget the name of the club that he was in. But Katz thought he was so bad

that at one point the drummer just took the ride symbol and threw it at bird to get him to stop playing. And to him, that was like, oh, I got to go back and practice. And then he came back a monster. He came back a monster. So was it, was there any other vibrofoam players that was like, you know, eye in your spot? Like, okay. Bobby Richardson.

He's also L.A. based? Yeah, Pasadena. Pasadena, California. I'm getting ready to go do a, what you call it, a prelude to his, it's, his demise. He died. Really? Yeah, yeah, yeah.

You know, did you know that? No, no, I knew he passed away. Right, right. But I didn't know he was from Los Angeles. Pasadena, that's right. Pasadena, that's right. Pasadena, California. Okay. And when they had the Rose Parade.

Okay. And he was like a genius, man. He's a genius as far as I'm concerned. Yeah. Oh, yeah. So was receiving Lionel Hampton's drum, you told me the story before of Lionel Hampton giving you a pair of

of Mel. Right. Was that what, is that what determined you to play vibraph phones? Or were you a drummer? Did you do other? I was really stuck on the vibes. You know, I wanted to play the vibes. So Lionel Hampton gave me a set of vibrato phone malice. And of course,

that, I was five years old. I always wanted to play the vibes. Lionel Hampton was my, he was my mentor, you know. You're everything. It was a wonderful man. Okay. So how would you, were you, how were you able to even practice or that? Because the vibraphones are not the things that are easily transportable in that time period.

I know now you have devices that you can pack up and, you know, electronic vibraphones or whatever. But how, what was your practice method like? I played for quite a while, but I was just on the piano. I had a piano there. My mother played piano and taught piano lessons, but I played the piano because I didn't have a set of vibes. My folks bought me a set of vibes when I was like 17 years old. Oh, okay.

I drove them crazy. So for the instrumental dummies, though, Mr. Ayers, let me ask you, what's the big, what are the differences between the vibes and the, been the piano. Like, how hard was it to transition to the two? The same keyboard is the xylophone, you know. The xylophone is the same as a keyboard.

You know, so it's black keys, white keys, you know, the same thing. You grew up in South Central, correct? That's right. South Central, L.A. So knowing what I know, well, knowing what movies have told me about South Central. I don't know if I can trust the information or not. You know, a lot of times, you know, the problem is that most people get their views of black people's lives via entertainment. The music they produce and the movies and the television shows and they think that's real life.

What was South Central like during your childhood growing up? It was basically a drag. South Central was, you know, I mean, South Central, if you look at all the guys like, I never met a lot of the young guys. The younger guys were, it was quite different, man. It was quite different because I wasn't even exposed as far as I got the exposure during the time I was with Gerald Wilson, the Jack Wilson, and it's really crazy. Growing up in your early childhood, what was South Central Plague with gang activity, was South Central? mired in trouble as what I've known it to be in the 80s or 90s?

Like, did you guys have, or did your parents take you out of that and constantly keep you in music? My folks, they love me. They spent $400 on a record that I did. People don't even know about it. Really? A record. Exclusive.

Wow. No, no, but they don't even know that I was a singer. Okay. I sang, you know, I sang a young, young age. I was like. So even before the Atlantic record, you were saying. Way before, right. Oh, damn, I did not know about this.

Nobody knew this. Where are these records at? Oh, source, it was the vows of love. The group was called The Vows of Love. And the Latin lyrics with the vows of love, and it's on embassy. Okay. Embassy records.

So was this close to like doo-wop or? Du-wop. Oh, okay. Okay. I see. Roy is doo-wopping, man. I see. So what drove you to jazz music?

I mean, did you... Improvisation, yeah. Improvisation. I was good. So, you know, I kept playing and kept grooving. Ducey Williams, you remember Ducey Williams? Familiarized me. He was a producer on that album.

Okay. We did The Vows of Love, and we did a song called Stranded in the Jungle. Okay. My God. My God, it was very nice. We did one record. Okay. Do you still have copies of those records?

No, I have one copy. Still in your possession right now? I have one copy. You're right. Somebody sent it to me. It's like a 45 record? Yeah, it's a 45, right. Okay, which one of us is going to volunteer to go digitize it?

It could be preserved in history. I got that. I want to hear it. I want to hear this. So when did you get serious about jazz music, like leaving do-op and, you know? I was always serious about jazz, you know. So, you know, I was always serious, serious about it. It was very, very personal to me, you know.

As a matter of fact, I had most, not everything, but most of me, but most of me, of Lionel Hampton's records. Okay. And of course, the MJQ and Bobby Hutchison, Bobby, Bobby did very well with me. He was a very progressive vibe. As a matter of fact, I looked at his playing. I looked at advanced his performing, and it was fantastic. He was a year younger than me.

Oh, really? When he passed. Okay. It's 75. 75 years old. I'm 76. Right. So it's kind of weird. It seems like I'm getting all the work now. You're outlasts him.

I'm serious. I'm getting so much work, which is good. I'm not complaining. I'm just saying I'm getting all of it now. But it's all right. It's cool. What's that like at 76, though? What is that?

Like now you tour a lot. I mean, it's great. I chew all the time. Right. I chew all the time. I just came back from Australia. Wow. What is that like, though, for you now that you're getting, you're so popular and like.

I'm tired. I was going to just saying. I'm like, you got it. No, no, no. But I'm tired when I'm getting tired. Right, right. But, you know, so I'm awake, when I'm awake, I'm kicking ass. That is.

That's what matters. No, I'm serious. You know. I've seen you. I know you are. That's right. Yeah, no, you came to my sister. This was, I think it was a year or two ago.

You played the Article Festival in Durham, North Carolina. Right. And I came and saw you. It was amazing, man. Oh, thank you. It was amazing. Yeah, I have to say that even we did a show with you once. The Roots did a show with you in Brighton, England.

And there was a trick that used to do with the solos where, you know, all of you stopped playing your instruments and you just start scatting the solos. The Roots tried that once. Once. Once. Never again. No, it was just because one thing we didn't know is that you are easily out of breath after 19 seconds of scatting. Yeah.

And, you know, these guys are doing effortlessly for like six minutes. So, yeah, that was a short-lived, you know. I understand. That was hard to do. So how did you hook up with Herbie Ben? A friend of mine, Reggie Workman from Philadelphia. Yeah, Reggie Workman. for Philadelphia, he said, Roy, Herbie Man's in town. He needs a vibe player. I called him up, got

his touch with him. He said, hey, can you come play with me tonight? I said, no problem. I hooked up the gig. The rest was straight ahead. It was great with Herbie Man. It was wonderful, man. How many years did you tour with that? I did four years. Really? Four years. I was also, his roadie also a member of his band okay you're also the roadie

and yeah which all helped me to understand the road the road understand it's very complicated sometimes

it could be very confusing you know so you would also drive the trucks and the equipment and well you know whatever we had to do

we flew everywhere okay her he did very well okay now explain this to me because again like with the way that I tour now

there are backline rental companies they're at your beck and call to set things up for you exactly and to have it there how like did you live in a fifth story walk up apartment like how would you get your vibraphones to and from gigs effortlessly or would they already be it

because it's not like a piano it's not like it's something that's just commonly there. So how do you get your instruments to and from gigs? Yeah, we'd have a special truck, a special guy to transport it. Okay. They would actually put it away, you know, put everything away. Bass, bass, drums, piano, guitar, and Herbie Man. And sometimes we would add other individuals like, you know,

Jimmy Owens on whoever you know Wow yeah yeah it was nice Steve just had an orgasm so

so did you play on any Herbie Man albums oh yeah he was on Atlantic right he's on Atlantic yeah I did so this is how you got your deal

with Atlantic initially oh yeah the stone soul picnic and all that stuff I was performing with Jack Wilson the first time Jack Wilson

quartet okay And then we did Herbie Man with the other organization. It was very nice. Did you have a relationship with, I met Erdogan and Jerry Wexel? Like the Cats Adelaideck? Yeah, I knew I might, I knew both of them. Because you only stayed for like three records.

And I always wondered because, you know, they seem like, at least from my perspective, a jazz friendly label. But for some reason, I was. always noticed that a lot of their artists would leave after somewhere between three to five years to go somewhere else to do, you know, the same with Coltrane, like, you know, to have a fruitful career. Exactly. Yeah, I agree with that.

I agree with that. So was it that you just felt that they were more of a sole label and really not adapt to marketing jazz as they should? I believe that they could do everything. They did everything. Everything. Okay. Jazz, blues, soul, whatever.

They did a lot of stuff, man. You know, you know, it was a good record company, man. Very good company. Okay. So what made you go to Polador in the early 70s? I left the company. I went to another company. It was a better deal.

Oh, okay. It was a much better deal, yeah. I was going to say you and James Brown, I believe, were the first. James Brown, yeah. You, James Brown and Mandrill, I believe, were the first. Chinese to Polydor Records. I was there before him. In 1970, correct?

Yeah. Yeah. So for you, it was just a better deal business-wise? Yeah. Yeah. It was very nice. It was a very nice deal. I guess infusing funk music into your jazz,

I mean, it seemed like a radical idea at the time. So can you talk about the effects of the, idea of fusion, not playing straight ahead jazz, but more or less cats starting to infuse rock music into their jazz and soul music into their jazz and, you know, were people, did you see this as the future,

adding more rhythm to your jazz as opposed to just straight ahead shuffle? Which, you know, I mean, there was no evidence of that by the time you got to, if anything, I think you planted the seeds of what will be Neo-Soul Absolutely. 20 years later.

So, I mean, just explain, what was your philosophy as far as the music you wanted to present? Like, just with the whole mysticism and the vibes and just, like, what was your philosophy? Like, what were you trying to present to the people that was way different than your straight-head jazz stuff?

I was just trying to present the music that I love. And I can tell that it was represented it through the trials and tribulations of the music that I felt the vibe. You know what I'm saying? Yeah, I can get it. I felt the vibe. It was the vibe to teach, especially to teach, like, the songs like searching and the beautiful things that I'd set, I'd set it musically.

So besides jazz stuff, what other types are? the bands were you listening to at the time that you were in the early 70s or in the 60s? Well, you know, I was listening to Herbie Hancock and to, you know, Chick-Korea, several different styles. And of course, I always had my favorite Miles Davis. Miles Davis is my favorite artist, you know. So at the time when, like, on the corner, and a lot of Miles is more deeper, like post-bitches, stuff. Were you digging that? Because I know a lot of jazz heads were like, I don't know, Miles. You might have felt the deep end, but did that speak to you? I was checking him out. Of course.

Of course. That did teach me. Teach me. It taught me a lot. Talked me a lot about music. You know, Miles was an innovator man. He was great. Miles Davis was one of the great ones, as far as I'm concerned. Did you ever get a chance to meet him or talk to him? Yep. The great thing about it is that Herbie Hancock told me, you know, when you meet Miles, Miles will hit you in the stomach. What? And he hit me in the stomach.

He knocked the fuck out of me. You know what's coming, sorry. I knew it was coming, but he didn't know how it was coming. He said, oh, you're in shape. I said, yeah. So it was funny. So Miles Davis was so great. He was wonderful.

But when I went to his house, I wanted to film him because I wanted to get him on film. And he didn't let me bring him a bit. I bought a camera in, but I told him can't take it home. He was magnificent. He's a great guy. What's the concept of the ubiquity albums? Because some of your albums were straight up Roy Ayers. And then there were Roy Ayers ubiquity.

Right. Like was it meant to B-side projects? Also, was Edwin Bird's song a part of that, or was he just a collaborative? Edwin Burr's song was part of that. That's right. Okay. Part of the whole ubiquity family by God. Edwin Burr's song is in California, also with Murder Williams.

And Merner Williams is the individual that told me, got me interested in ubiquity. And I said, what does that mean? She said, it means the state of being everywhere at the same time. And I said, all right. So I can tell her people, I can be everywhere if you have one of my albums.

So, no, it's caught on very well. It's a very good line. You know, it's interesting. I use the ubiquity. Now I use Royair's production, period, you know. I guess we change with all the enlightenment of everything else, you know what I'm saying? Right. Side note, Bill.

Yeah. Yeah. You have on an old logo, Earth, Win and Fire, T-shirt. You told me it's relevant to today. Yes, it is. Why is your old logo, Earth, Wind, and Fire? It'll actually be more relevant if I was wearing some white shorts and some white sneakers. Right.

Because it's a reference to the song Poo-Pool-Lala. Oh, yes, because just when he was wearing. That's what he was wearing. Because he says what he's wearing in the song and he's talking about, he was wearing his white t-shirt with Earthwind and fire inscribed on the front and his white shorts and some white sneakers. And you couldn't tell him. You couldn't tell him he wasn't clean. Steve, he beat you. You couldn't tell him.

Technically, yeah, Steve, we got to take it back. If that's how you guys roll, take him back. I get it. You got way deep on that. You still tell that Poo-Pulala song, every show you do too? Yeah, I do it every once in a while. I love that. I love that record.

I love that record. It's pretty difficult because you have to do it. You add on things to it. Oh, I thought you were, Steve. My God. So somebody says, you do poo-poo-pul-lala. I said, I'm not going to do that one tonight. I'll do that one tomorrow night.

And they'll let you slide with it. The audience, cool out. That's right. And say, okay, okay, you're going to do it tomorrow night. Now I'll be in the audience like, no, I want to hear it tonight. Tell me about a. You add on to it like it's the aristocrats joke. Like, add more things, okay.

Yes, something else. I mean, I have so many questions. about your your songs in particular. First of all, was it, what was your, what was your ideology as far as trends were concerned? Because when I really got familiar with you, I was six or seven years old when Freaky Diki was like immensely popular and unavoidable on black radio. Right. And, you know, it's like, I thought of you as a disco artist.

I mean, because, again, I'm seven years old. I ain't. That's, you know what I mean? Like, you'd be on soul tree and all that stuff. So I didn't realize of your jazz background and knowing that stuff. And really, like, not until hip hop did I really put all the pieces together that you just morphed into whatever. But, you know, by the time the mid-70s came around.

Did you I mean was it label pressure like okay you got to come up with something or was it just like you wanted to hear your clubs and disco you wanted to hear your music in discos now and I don't know

you know it's it's uh versatility is like is my key this being versatile and very creative and uh

I guess to, when you look at it, the whole, the whole spectrum, the whole spectrum of music, you just got to just deal with it as far as I'm concerned. You got to deal with the facts of grooving, you know, just the groove is, is in the essence of what I'm talking, talking about. So disco was not a four-letter word to you, not like, later for that? Everything is relative to me. Everything is related.

All the stuff is related. Okay. You know, I've seen a lot of artists play funk. When Herbie Hancock plays funky, it's funk, but if you check him out, Herbie's been with me several times, several times on several albums. And he is, it's so, so fantastic with his creativity. his creative level is so immense it's it's

it's crazy I mean when you when you think about Herbie Hercby Hark and you really talk about his music he's enormous it's incredible so you know

it's so fantastic A win is a win A win a win I don't care what I'm 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, personal health, personal 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 IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok.

In 2023, former bachelor star Clayton Eckerd found himself at the center of a paternity scandal. The family court hearings that followed revealed glaring inconsistencies in her story. This began a years-long court battle to prove the truth. You doctored this particular test twice in so-ins, correct? I doctored the test once. It took an army of internet detectives to crack the case. I wanted people to be able to see what their tax dollars were being used for.

Sunlight's the greatest disinfected. They would uncover a. disturbing pattern. Two more men who'd been through the same thing. Gregalespian and Michael Marantini. My mind was blown. I'm Stephanie Young. This is Love Trap.

Laura, Scottsdale Police. As the season continues, Laura Owens finally faces consequences. Ladies and gentlemen, breaking news at Maricopa County as Laura Owens has been indicted on fraud charges. This isn't over until justice is served in Arizona.

Listen to Love Trapped Podcast. on the IHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. 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 have... 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. They 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 IHart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up, everyone?

I'm Ego Wood. My next guest, you know from Step Brothers Anchorman, Saturday Night Live, and the Big Money Players Network. It's Will Ferrell. Woo, woo, woo, woo. My dad gave me the best advice ever. I went and had lunch with them one day, and I was like, and dad, I think I want to really give this a shot. I don't know what that means, but I just know the groundlings. I'm working my way up through, and I know it's a place they come look for up and coming talent.

He said, if it was based solely on talent, I wouldn't worry about you. which is really sweet. Yeah. He goes, but there's so much luck involved. And he's like, just give it a shot. He goes, but if you ever reach a point where you're banging your head against the wall and it doesn't feel fun anymore, it's okay to quit. If you saw it written down, it would not be an inspiration.

It would not be on a calendar of, you know, the cat. Just hang in there. Yeah, it would not be. Right, it wouldn't be that. There's a lot of luck. Listen to Thanks, Dad, 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 Podcast on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, for wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slical Life 12 and TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok.

All right, so, you know, if you're familiar at all with my story and I've said it a million times over, I assume that most of you know that at the top of 94 of the roots relocated to live in London because we felt that if we made London our hub, we could take advantage of Europe who was latching on quickly to the roots more than America was at the time. So we felt it was best to live in Europe and really work it. So that way, you know, it's like going to the

gym, coming back home and being well-toned, well-exercised, ready for prime time. So we, you know, lived primarily in Europe, in London, specifically, for, you know, between 93 to, we gave our apartment up, I think around like 1998. Anyway, that said, we got a call from the Red Hot Organization. Red Hot Organization was an organization that I believe back in 1990, figured out ways to raise money for AIDS research, which at the time, you know, was pandemic levels of urgency, even though our administration back in the 80s, the Reagan and Bush administration, didn't treat it as serious as were quickly as we treated COVID in 2020. But that said, there were definitely, you know, tent toes on the ground as far as like

doing service work and raising money and advocacy and whatnot. So there were various albums coming out under the Red Hot organization. The first one, of course, was Red Hot and Cool, which was like an interpretation of Cole Porter song. So by 1994, I think Red Hot and Cool was our project, which wanted to pair, like, jazz musicians with modern contemporary artists. So I believe the far side was on that record. And the roots were asked to be on that record.

And they asked us to do a collaboration with Roy Ayers. At the moment in 1994, which we were kind of as a band readjusting to what the reality was, there was a lot of hope that this thing of ours was going to take off and be successful, you know, something new. This band's going to take the world by a storm. and that didn't happen. So I'll say that around the time when we were doing this, there was kind of a murky, we might not make it sort of thing.

At least that was my standpoint. Let me speak for myself that we may make it. We might not make it. But that said, I almost felt like any trip to the studio was almost like a chance to prove ourselves. And we got a call that Roy Ayers was in. We were doing dates with him. Probably the best show that the Roots ever did in their lives, according to our manager,

was with Roy Ayers in Brighton, England. Shout out to Steve Rone of the average white band. Brighton, England was sort of where we learned the power of volume, the power of effects, and watching Roy Ayers show. There's a point where he did this trick from Slide in the Family Stone, where he would do a solo, and then the band would break down. Instead of playing their instruments, they would just scat their instruments.

The guitar player is going to scat like the guitars, and the drummer is going to like a drummer, and Roy's going to be-de-de-da-da-da. Like it was really cool and innovated. The audience just ate it up, man. It was awesome watching him. So the Red Heart organization people said, you know, why don't you guys get Roy tomorrow and come up with something for this red hot and cool thing? And Soundcheck, I believe that Hub was.

messing around on the keyboards with these chords and I was like hey what are he doing he did these three chords blah blah blah and I was like yo that's something so the music of pro c2 yeah that's like Hub Spotlight hub wrote that entire that entire bit and um the next day this is pre-comaum call had not graduated high school yet so there's a jazz sensation Nikki yo Y-E-O-H, who came to our attention, courtesy of Anthony Tidd of quite sane. Anthony Tidd has done a lot of work with the roots on things fall apart and phrenology. And since then relocated to Philadelphia. But, you know, there was like a buttoning underground jazz scene in London.

And Nikki Yo was on keyboards, Tariq, of course, on vocals. I also believe that's like one of the last times that we recorded a song in real time. In real time, meaning my preferred method of recording Roots songs is sort of individually, which is not recommended if you're trying to establish a synergy. Spoiler, there are a few songs on this new Roots album, which we actually go back to the old method of playing together because there's an energy there. But in terms of like meticulation and timing and all those things playing to a click track, I was a drummer that just wanted to play to the click track alone and add each part on afterwards.

But Proceed to is probably the last time in which we all recorded together. And Roy was just such a burst of fresh air and came in all happy, which, you know, his energy sort of of war off on us and we were happy at a time period in which we didn't know we had a future or not and I re-recorded it as far as the video's concerned that to me was like an especially very crucial weekend in the development of roots we did that video in January of 1995 and the only thing I remember about that time period was the roots had just come back to the United States for the first time. Like after living in England for the longest to do a series of shows, now that our album, Do You Want More, It Was Out? And we did a show at Irving Plaza,

and all the rap luminaries like Wu-Tang showed up and skills showed up, and that's the first night. I met this guy named J.D. And I was very disappointed that J.D. was produced in the far side and not Q-Tip. So I was rather dismissive to J.D. Next morning, we had to be up early to go to the Tommy Boy Records offices. Shout out to Monica Lynch. To shoot a video on their rooftop. Tommy Boy granted us permission to shoot on the rooftop of their headquarters. And what's notable, well, first of all, it was freezing on that video.

If you watch it, proceed to the Roots & Roy airs. We're just kind of just having a cipher on the rooftop. It was very easy to shoot, although it was cold. It was so cold that whenever we weren't shooting, we've run back downstairs in the office as Tommy Boy. And when you go down from the rooftop and reenter the Tommy Boy building, there's a photo of four young women that we look at and, you know, beautiful women walking in the streets of Los Angeles. And I was like, who are they? They're like, they're our new Sineys. They're the jazzy fat nasties.

And I was like, huh? They're like, yeah, Jay Swift from the far side is producing them. Hey, you want to hear something? And I sat in that room and listened to like five songs. And in a way that I hadn't been gobsmacked, like before my slum village, Jay Dilla sort of championing, you know, I just, I couldn't believe that all the rules that Jay Swift, the producer of the Fariside's first album and brother of Mercedes,

Mercedes Martinez. Yeah, but the amount of rules they were breaking was stuff that I didn't know that one could do. Of course, now, like, anything goes in music, but back then, you know, hearing Mary Jay blages my life and wondering, like, are singers

allowed to sing over loops like a rapper does? Whatever you felt for the, if you were of age and you were just mind blown to the Far Side's first record, imagine someone's singing with the zany energy of the Far Side's first album,

like they were just breaking rules that I didn't know could happen. I was like, I gotta have this demo, and I stalked them. And next see you know, I was flying the four of them to live in my house, and they never left. They came in late in 1995

and worked on our Eladolph Half Life record and the things fall apart record, and eventually we got a deal for them. But yeah, we shot that video with Roy airs and then you know it's a memorable memorable weekend so

sorry for this long-winded recapitulation of our time with Roy but yeah that's the memories that spark with shooting the Proceed 2 video and recording that song with him in London it's funny you mentioned Amir you was talking about your first

time you remember hearing his music was with freaky-diki I think my first Roy A.S song I can remember hearing on the radio, I was, God, I couldn't have been to one or five years old, but it was actually, it was program for love. Program for love. Man.

And I didn't put it together until later on that like, oh, this is the same guy that did everybody loved the sunshine. Like, it was because, you know, when you talk about how everything was relative to you, the thing I always thought was though about your music was that

you never, you always seem to wherever the trends were or whatever, like the younger cats were doing, I always like that you seem to embrace the younger generation. Like just from what I could tell. I mean, even with a record like program for love at that time, that was like a drum machine record. But it had you still playing, and it sounded current.

It sounded like something that was on the record. That was like 85, 86, and like that. But, yeah, I always thought that was dope. Has that always been just a driving philosophy of yours to look at the youth and try to help them? Well, that was produced by James M. Tumi. It makes perfect sense Wait, so is that the hell of what hot?

I'm sorry? Programmed for... It's like a slow join? When he was on Soul Train, that was his second song. Oh, okay. At the hot. James and two weeks. Yeah, that's my shit.

But that was the first four-AIDS record I remember, like, hearing as a kid and, yeah, man, it's crazy. James for two of us a gas, man. he's a great guy man he's a great wonderful guy so on on your on your earlier records um the a lot of the themes of afro centricity um are definitely uh just prevalent throughout all of your works you know with speaking of africa and and and infusing red black and green imagery and and you know black skin and those things like what for you like what made you even want to go in

that direction when you know the idea of afrocentricity was rarely a thing heard i know like a lot of you know maybe earth went afire yeah yeah like self-discovery was just coming into play but you know the the idea of of afrocentricity was still brand new like what made you especially with those first five records on Pallador go there. Yeah, Africa. That's it. The key is Africa.

Africa is in the center of the world. The world is round and stuff like that. But this Africa is so beautiful, man. It is so, so, so beautiful. Felakute. He is in the mind. He grabs your mind. He grabbed my mind.

Certainly, man. It was so wonderful. I mean, you have to understand. Everybody doesn't relate to Africa, but they relate to Africa, but they don't really go to Africa. They don't go there. When did you first go there? Man, the first time I went there, my God. Wait a minute.

That's a good question. Okay. I went there in 1979. 78. The first time you went with Phela? I was with the Phela. Oh man. What was that? I went to Nigeria. Is that straight to Nigeria? To the shrine? What was that?

I went to Nigeria. And I went to say that again. What was it like at this? I assume you went to the shrine? Yeah. What was that experience like to go to the shrine in its prime? Like, what was it like? Heavy. And how did you two hook up? Like, who hooked you two up?

I had an attorney that was dealing with the Africans, African people. And he is from Nigeria, right. He said, you should go to Africa, Roy. You should go to Africa because there's a musician I want you to meet. And I went over there to meet fella. And I paid for the whole trip. the musician and the engineer, my God. I paid all that.

It was very expensive, man. And you went there, unseen, like, just based on... I just, yeah, he was based on conversation with him, with the African, the African brother. But it was wonderful. I mean, when I met fella,

he gave me a big hug. It was like, it was like, it was like, very, very, very, weird. When you saw these people and all the people, he bought about 70 people. Everybody, this is my

family. Oh, man, it was fantastic. You can't imagine how my head was spinning, man. It was the motherfucker. Excuse me language. No, it's not.

It was a brain. Go here. The motherfucker's safe. It was something else. It was, it's heavy when you think about it, you know. And you think about the thoughts, think about the craziness. And then I did a rehearsal with fella. Oh, man, all these musicians, they don't read any music, but they, conceptually, the saxophonists,

all everybody, the dances, the dances, all his wives are dancing. It's unbelievable When you see it You say Oh shit Because you can't believe it It's unbelievable It's unbelievable

Because this guy Was really a genius man I couldn't believe How he could teach everybody Their parts Oh man Oh Wow

It was amazing It was amazing So how long would songs go for Like, how long was the average show? Sometimes when the power goes out, the drums remain playing. The drums play, so the way to the power goes back on, and then he keeps on.

He played for at least three hours. Oh, man, it was great, man. I wish I had a time machine just to go back to see that. Did you guys ever record anything? You got to see that, no. Did you record it on your own? personal. I have something.

I'm cool with it. So, Mr. I get the feeling that your storage unit, I know for the fact that your storage unit has magic in it because the first time, the first time I met you and you were just so casual like, yeah, I got a,

you know, you said to me, yeah, I got about 60 reals that Pollydora never seen. seen. And I was like, what? This is right before the Virgin Eubiquity. Oh, yeah.

Yeah. And he was just like, yeah, I got a lot of artifacts, you know, that people haven't seen yet. And I was like, yo, man, make, you know, do you need historians to rummage through those things just to? I hear you. I hear you. So you would record stuff and then just not turn it into the labels?

Is that how you work? Exactly. That's how I did work. Yeah. That's what's up, man. Word up. Finesse. But you got to really understand

the whole industry is like, it's real fucked up. It's real fucked up. No, I want to know how it's fucked up. I want to know. How fucked up is it, Roy? Hey man, that's very fucked up.

What was the most fucked up about it, Roy? But they take all the money. Well, yeah. They take all the money. Was there ever a law in your, in your business? Like, was there ever time where it's like, damn, I can't get no work?

or I always felt like you were constantly, I mean, because you did projects with Wayne Henderson and the Crusaders, I believe. Right, right. So I'm thinking that you're always working. Well, I work most of the time. So was there ever a down period where it was like,

okay, I don't know, this might be the end of the road and. Well, that's a down period, but the down period, it gets better. It continues to get better. as you will probably grow in your life you'll see it to get better. I see. How did your records,

how were they selling in Pallad at the time? And what was the standard for what they considered a successful record? Interesting. You know, I was making $200,000, $200,000 something. Damn. 100,000. $200,000.

Okay. $200. 400,000 a year. For every time you turn the record. Every time I turn the record. They had it so fucked up. Excuse me, but they had it so fucked up. And I was sitting on the record

and the promotion people said, hey, he's got another album coming out and we haven't finished with this single. Which is the other single. They were crazy. So you're moving too fast for them. That's right. They were moving too fast.

seriously they were moving too fast and I was fucked up you know this and all oh shit this is great you know so you were basically saying you were basking in the glory of

that time period and kind of glory of the dollars I see right everything was cool but they started getting too organized and they fucked it all up well they fucked it up

They fucked it up. That leads me to your production projects because there's two side projects that you worked on that although it didn't make initial noise, when they came out, both of them found life years later, once hip-hop both discovered them. Sylvia Straplin and Striplin. Striplin, I'm sorry. And the Ramp project. Right. So is Ramp basically the Roy Ayers ubiquity record

minus Roy Ayers or was that a total? Actually, R-A-A-M-P, Roy-A-R-A-S music productions, right? Right. But that particular band, was that also the band that you utilized for your projects or they were separate from? I got a completely separate band

and I used them to create the group. Okay. You know. Because in my head, I just thought that they were the band that you would use on running away and all the other stuff. Right. Without you on it, per se. Right.

But. But it's cool. They were a whole other entity. Exactly. Could you explain those projects and why you chose to work with them? Are they from Ohio? They're from Ohio. Okay.

I discovered them on social media recently and they're, you know, like. They're from Ohio, right? Doing tours and that sort of thing. So how did you run into those guys? guys. I met him. I can't even remember when I met him, but I know I met the leader of the band. He's named John, uh, uh, yeah, John, I met him and, and he agreed with me. John Manuel. Manuel. Manuel.

John Manuel. Damn. It's right. John, damn. That's love Supreme. We do our humor. We do. We Google. Oh, you did it, man. No, I don't even think you Google. That's it. You just had it. No, he googled. He Google.

He's just fast. You're Google, right? Got good fingers. John Manuel, but I met him and he produced, helped me produce the records, man. I signed a contract with ABC. ABC records. Yeah. Right.

So, yeah, so what was the deal? Why didn't you bring that project to Pollydora? as opposed to another, why did you bring it to another label? Or you just had a separate production deal with? A separate production deal. That's who it was with. What's that guy's name? ABC, black guy.

Oh, Bob, the president of ABC? The vice president of ABC. He just passed away. Damn. Now, I need. Sure. Yeah, look. This pays off for all those theories.

Did you say the vice president? A president? Well, I know that he, this particular guy was fond of the project, even though it didn't sell all that well for him on the label, but I'm forgetting his name right now. But he recently just passed away. Damn, I'm bad. This is a fail for Questlove Supreme.

We'll go back to it. No problem. But it was a good deal. It was a great deal. As a matter of fact, uh, uh, I don't,

I don't think probably, did you, did you feel vindicated like once hip hop had discovered it and really brought it to life? Uh, because I, I felt that that album really didn't. Oh, it really didn't do the max,

whatever you want to come? So were you, were you shocked in the 90s when suddenly like, it's, you know, it's a thing. I'll say that of, of,

of the holy grail records to, to, to, to own or obtain that ramp to find, you know, a copy of that ramp record. Everybody loves the Sunshine, right. Yeah, that was like. Daylight, yeah.

Delight, right. Well, they had a copy of, they had a version. Yeah. Quize and kept, yeah, the brand-newie version of Everybody Loves Sunshine's on that ramp record. Yeah, but that, I paid like hundreds for that. But it sold a lot of records. It sold a lot of records.

They didn't tell you guys to whatever. but they sold a lot of records. I know because I paid a lot for it. Exactly. That's what I'm saying. They sold a lot of records. So talk about the Sylvia, the Sylvia Streplin album. Like what was at the time, how did you guys, was she always a part of your camp or how did you guys meet? Well, I met her. And she was working in The Whist.

and Stephanie Mills Stephanie Mills never ever got sick at all she was Stephanie Mills assistant and she was going on stage she never went on stage

she never ever went on stage period because Stephanie was never ill ill or anything for the whiz for the whiz oh I get it Okay. I didn't know she was on this. So what happened is that she died.

She died. I didn't even know that she died. This is only a few months. Oh, Sylvia. She died. Oh, my God. I was a manager. And she died.

But this is all when I took place when she got on the label. Oh, man. I didn't even know that she died. It was so sad So what were those sessions like? I'm sorry The sessions with Sylvia Oh they were wonderful

She was great She was great She was a very unique Very unique artist And a lot of people are still requesting Did I sell Sell those things Hell yeah

I mean Chicago alone Consider Yeah give me your love Give me love That's a classic That has saved me many a night At a Chicago DJ I learned early.

Like, if you're, if you're set is failing, you turn that on and blammo. Like, your party comes alive. Oh. It comes super alive. You signed to Sony, I believe, CBS. Did Lark and Arnold sign you to, uh, say that again? Lark and Arnold. Did he sign you to your Columbia deal in 83 or 84?

No, no, no, I did, no, I never did work with Arnold. Okay. Okay. I never worked with him. How did you come to Sony? or Sony Columbia Beckman. Polydor

signed to Sony. Ah. Really? I never even knew about it until I found out I said, oh shit. I'm on another label. I'm on another label.

So they just transferred you to Sony? They didn't give a damn. That's right. That's crazy. I know, but this is intermingling of the industry. Oh, man. That's up.

fucked up. Right. Did not know that. Yeah. It's crazy, man. The things I learned on Questlove Supreme. One question I had. Well, see, I felt that they were super supportive of you because there's a moment in Michael Jackson's The Way Make Me Feel video.

Uh-huh. In which they used your hot song. Yeah, that was a hot song. song right for like freaking 30 seconds like in the beginning and and never really noticed like have you seen all right so the first 30 seconds right when michael's like hey yeah yeah i complained about it i complained you didn't think that was great wait no i complained about it because they didn't pay me it to any money oh oh i said where where's the money i see it's it's see that's That's where, in my head, I was like, wow.

Like, because, you know, back, they were still running Michael Jackson's. Yeah, they would stop TV to play. Right. And I felt like, oh, man, this is really a good look for Roy Ayers. Not if they ain't paid that man no money. They didn't give me no money. It ain't funny. It ain't funny, man.

They ain't giving the money. I say, oh, shit. So you didn't see it. as, oh, I'm getting exposed to a new artist or to a new audience and exposed. I put all my cousins down with it. I'm like, oh, this is Roy Ayres. Who? And, like, explain to him what hot was because, you know, and also, like, how, you

said James and Tumet produced that entire record? No, no, he produced one, two, three, four songs. Okay. Four songs, that's right. Who produced the hot single, the lead single, Hot? I'm trying to think what song you say did you say?

Hot Oh that James them to me Yeah that's what I'm saying Yeah Okay Did it feel good to have that Oh man

Because that was a comeback single For you at the time So We had a groovy time That was very nice I was It was very fantastic With James him to me

And then What was a Saxophone Play Oh, Gary Barks? No, no. Trump on play. Wayne Henderson.

Wayne Henderson. Right. They were both good producers, man. Very, very good. And Rick James is very good. Yeah, I was going to say, because you did a lot of work. Right. On everyone else's records.

I believe that's you scatting at the end of Fire and Desire on street songs. That's right. On the fade out. On the fade out on street songs. Is that you doing private songs? That's right. That's right. I played on that.

And that was really nice. And he told me, Rick James told me, he said, because he said, this guy, this works with me. He says, you got to watch this guy.

Because he would stab you in the back. I got a contract with him before he died. My God, dude, he died. Damn. It died. It died. Just so quick, man.

You two were going to do a project together? No, we already did a project. We did the project. We got the music is being sold right now. Double trouble, I think it was. Wait, you've heard this? Yeah, yeah. They got a version of Everybody Loves the Sunshine.

Hey, man, he got a version of Everybody Loves Sunshine. It's the best version of all. Of all. Is this available, what? It should be. I can send it to you. I have it available. I have it available.

I will personally get you after this year. No, no, no, I'll give you a record. Take the record, so I should have bought it today. Damn, fucked up. That's all right. Wow, that, damn, how did this sneak past me? It's interesting, right? People don't even know what's happening, right?

You have a copy of it? Yeah, I got a copy of it. Fonticillo? No, I'm just not getting it. You got a copy? I do not have a copy. I'm here. I like a copy. I don't have a copy.

Yeah, Bill has a copy. Wow. Shocker. So when did you first meet, Rick James? Oh, years ago. And was he, I get the feeling this is going to be the best story you're going to tell. It's probably very good. It's a very good story.

But he was, my God, as that research, you know, he was very aware of, where of a he was very defiant he defiant they didn't want to fuck with him at Motown they knew that they'd have to kill him

I'm serious I'm serious man he was a rebel he's a rebel he's a rebel sorry for staying in the obvious but he was a super freak it was some very freaky shit

I'm serious man I believe you because he said hey Don't fuck with me. I'm Rick James. I'm Rick James, that's right. I'm serious, man. He was serious, man.

What other albums have you, or songs have you appeared on that we might not know of? At least during that time period. I appeared on a very, very good guy. What's this guy named on Sony? He's crazy. But that's almost almost only saying. They look crazy. But who's the guy that's on Sony?

Sony Records. It's a big audience, big audience. Very big. Billy Joel. Who is that? No, no. He's talking. He said Billy Joel.

Billy Joe, what the fuck is. Yeah, this is almost like having a conversation with him here. Is this what talking to him is like? Yeah. Billy Joe. What's you about to ask? What the fuck happened to him? No, no, no, Steve was joking about Billy Joel.

He's on Sony. I wasn't joking. Now that it's occurring to. Who's the guy that plays on Sony? He plays on Sony. I think, keyboard. John Legend? Keyboards, Sony.

Ooh, I need McGiver for this. How old is he a young? He's young. Young, young. He's probably about 20 years old. 20, 20, 20, 20, 20, 20, 22. Oh. Right now.

Wait, man. Wait, I played it. Wrong room. Wait, do we have this guy? Like, how can I'm fine? This is, this is, this is, this is, this is, this is, today. Maybe he's 22. You know, 23 or something like that, but, you know.

And he plays a piano. Well, wait, I know that you are on Tyler the Creator. Yeah, yeah. That's right. There we go. Okay. That song is dope, too. He called me, he said, yeah, he said, I want you.

He said, let me, let me put, let me, let me, let me, let me, let me, let me, let me, let me, let me, let you play some music. I'm good. I'm sorry. When Tyler was on the Tonight Show, I remember him running up to me saying, yo man, Roy Ayers! In the same sort of ambiguous,

puzzling way, he just ran up to me like, Roy Ayers! He ran off, and I was like, okay. And then later on. And now suddenly, this circle, the story comes full circle four years later, like,

oh, that's what Tyler. So wait, how did Tyler get the golden ticket to get you? Because I'm sure he's not the first young dude. He called me up. He had the people who called me up. And I said, yeah, this is Roy. He said, Roy did, yeah, you could you do something on my album? I said, sure, you can send it up.

He sent me the record. It was three songs. He said to put it on all of them. So I put it on all of them. The music on all of them. And I played it. He's a very nice artist. He said, I liked him.

He's dope. He's cool. He's interesting. Wait, now I think about it, now I'm thinking of every Rick James production I've ever known that we've vibraphones on it. So I guess I can also assume that that's you on All Night Long at the end of a...

Yeah, the vibraphone solo at the end. Oh, yeah, yeah. Can I... Great, Jane, Girls. Well, the songs I played on is... I forgot the name of it. you're definitely all on it along. I mean, assuming that you're that vibraphone

and it's during the same time period, yes, I believe that is you. You were also on the Jazzmataz project with the Guru. That's the first time I met you. What I didn't know was the album, the first time that you collaborated with the Roots when we did proceed for the red hot. And you wanted to make it sense. Is that right?

Yeah. I don't know why y'all didn't do that, man. I should have done that, man. You know, it was put on us in the last minute. But what I didn't know was that Time Magazine declared that album of the year. Oh, it did? The Red Hot and Cool. The Red Hot and Cool, yeah, when I did my research, I was like, oh.

That was an awesome album. Like, that Proceed. I, you know. Proceed, too, was my joint. Yeah, Proceed, too, was the shit. Damn. Thank y'all, both of you The starving years.

Yeah, I meant for, you know, we were slumming in London at the time. But no, it was, it was, that to me, that whole experience, that was the, that was the first time, I mean, excluding Cassandra Wilson and Steve Coleman, who, even though they were jazz monsters in their own rights, like we almost felt like they were more family than anything. Like, I didn't know how powerful Cassandra Wilson was until I really did the research. So, like, in my eyes, like, the first true, like, star guest that we've ever done anything with was, you know, working with Roy Ayers. That was a masterful moment. When you're discovering that hip hop is sampling your work, I mean, there's two ways to look at it. I've known some guys that were just like, well, you know, it's not art and it's theft and it's whatever. It's not really art.

And then I know some people that are just like, wow. Now my music is now expanded to another audience. What side of the fence did you fall on once? I fall on both sides. Like, I love this. Where am I money? Yeah. I fall on both sides.

I'm serious, man. I fall on everybody's side. We're just a musician, you know? The musicians are usually, you know, kind of fucked up. Thank you for saying. They are kind of fucked up as far as the business and stuff that's concerned, man. They all fucked up. Make sure they're into music.

They're into music. You know, so the musicians, you know, I talk to George. and I said, George, what's up? What are we going to do? He said, Prince, Prince's got killed. I said, oh, okay, fuck that. Yo, these sound bites. Can we just make the original meme?

Fuck that. I can't. I can't right now. A win is a win. A win. I don't care what I'm 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 IHeart 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. In 2023, former bachelor star Clayton Eckerd found himself at the center of a paternity scandal. The family court hearings that followed revealed glaring inconsistencies in her story. This began a years-long court battle to prove the truth. You doctored this particular test twice in someone, correct? I doctored the test once. It took an army of internet detectives to crack the case. I wanted people to be able to see what their tax dollars were being used for.

Sunlight's the greatest disinfected. They would uncover a disturbing pattern. Two more men who'd been through the same thing. Gregal, Sbian, Michael Marantini. My mind was blown. I'm Stephanie Young. This is Love Trap. Laura, Scottsdale Police.

As the season continues, Laura Owens finally faces consequences. Ladies and gentlemen, breaking news at Americopa County as Laura Owens has been indicted on fraud charges. This isn't over until justice has served in Arizona. Listen to Love Trapped Podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. 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. They 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. What's up, everyone?

I'm Ego Wood. guest, you know from Step Brothers Anchorman, Saturday Night Live, and the Big Money Players Network. It's Will Ferrell. Woo. Woo. Woo. My dad gave me the best advice ever. I went and had lunch with them one day.

And I was like, and dad, I think I want to really give this a shot. I don't know what that means, but I just know the groundlings. I'm working my way up through and I know it's a place that come look for up and coming talent. He said, if it was based solely on talent, I wouldn't worry about you. which is really sweet. Yeah. He goes, but there's so much luck involved. And he's like, just give it a shot.

He goes, but if you ever reach a point where you're banging your head against the wall and it doesn't feel fun anymore, it's okay to quit. If you saw it written down, it would not be an inspiration. It would not be on a calendar of, you know, the cat. Just hang in there. Yeah, it would not be. Right, it wouldn't be that. There's a lot of luck.

Listen to Thanks, Dad, on the IHeartRadio 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. All right, so this is where I really get to give some flowers to King Britt. King Britt is, to me, the person that really opened my eyes to a podcast. possibility of a world I never knew existed. You know, I just turned 20, 21.

You know, I've been graduated school, and Tariq and I were trying to figure out what we're doing this. Before, like, the roots started busking on South Streets and really became the roots. So it's like a year before. If the roots started, as you know it, the roots, like in the summer of 92, let's go back to, like, 1991.

So there was a counterculture vibe happening in Philadelphia where like if you wanted to go to a nightclub or whatever I mean you could go with what was hitting as far as modern music was concerned and you know by no means that I have complaints of what was musically happening in 1990-91

but like if you're going to a modern club yeah you're listening to like whatever the songs of the moment you know they're playing like in vogue R&B. They're playing Tony, Tony, Tony. Radio and clubbing,

I mean, they weren't, clubbing wasn't as anti-hip as radio was, but radio was definitely, you know, you know, more music less rap. That would be the tagline

of like most of the radio stations back in like 88, 89, 90. Like there was this backlash against rap music and it's in its violence. So that said, I kind of wanted to find a place in Philly that, like, cater to the music that I dug. And that was, you know, like the left to center hip hop.

Like, where can I hear a tribe called Quest? Where can I hear leaders in the new school? So King Britt and his partner, Jeff Nett, used to have these parties called Back to Basics. But the difference is they were bringing in, like, old music. and I'd look through their crates and I'm like, wait a minute, this is my dad's record collection. Like, you're going to play BT Express

in this club in like 1990? Like, this came out in 74. And this James Brown record came out in 74. And this Roy Ayers album came out in 76. Like, I just never seen a club in which people like me would come into it and they would dance and respond to music as if it were new music.

but this stuff was like 20, 25 years old. You know, something like 10 years old. Be, you know, it was 1990, so, you know, playing stuff from 15 years ago. And I couldn't wrap my head around the fact that if I wanted to, I could go through my dad's 3,000 records and join these guys. And that's exactly what happened. They were like, yeah, bring your old records down and play the good stuff. and, you know, so that kind of

birthed, you know, my DJ career, but I got to say, like, Roy airs to me, his music to me represents sort of the first steps into the unknown of rediscovery. Like, back at 86, when hip-hop is first starting a sample, like when you're hearing, like, Eric B and Ra Kim used James Brown and Public Enemy use James Brown.

a lot of the music from 86 to like 88 89 was kind of used via what I call a cheat sheet. And the cheat sheet is called Ultimate Beats and Breaks Compilation. And that's a compilation started by the legendary breakbeat Lou Flores, who was smart enough to make a compilation of all the breakbeats that DJs would use back in the first wave of hip-hop. So, you know, if you're seeing African Mbara Spinn, if you're seeing Grandmaster Flash spin, they're wiping the label off. You can't Shazam it. You don't know where that drum break is coming from. It's a secret.

So eventually, like by 1986, Lou Flores, who became a, you know, like a record collector, made a compilation. And what he would do is he'd make these EPs. He put six songs per record, and it's a 25-volume set. And if you're making hip-hop back in the music. this period, that's what you're using. So this is why, like, a lot of James Brown funky drummer gets used, or think by Lynn Collins, or impeach the president by what I call like the meat and potatoes of hip-hop break beats. And a lot of that, various combinations of those breaks is what makes an Eric B. and Rock Kim record or an ultra-madic M.C.'s record, or, you know,

bookie-down productions, or whoever, like the class of 88 was, salt and pepper, public getting me um and so the first kind of renaissance period of hip hop which basically means music we're going to use but isn't on the ultimate beats and breaks because by 1990 it was like a fatigue you know i mean i guess the example what one could use now is if you're scrolling on social media like okay like we've everyone's using like this particular song or this song of the moment like and overusing it. Like, everyone's using it. So it's not fun anymore because it's being overused.

That's how hip hop was. It's like how much James Brown can you make sound new, fresh, and exciting? So as a result, there's a generation of producers that are finding other ways to get records. For a lot of us, we go to our aunts in our uncles' houses and take their records. And there's always going to be a Roy Ayers record in their collection. Roy Ayers, to me, is the, he is the godfather of Neo Soul. Even though Earth went and Fire kind of planted the flag in terms of like an Afrocentric joy music, they clearly had their eyes on the crossover, you know, landing strip, which basically

means that they wanted to make their music palatable for an international audience, not just their black audience. whereas Roy Ayers, who came from the school of jazz, I would say Roy Ayers kind of put a more less, kind of what Grover Washington Jr. pioneered, of which we will call smooth jazz. I will say that Roy Ayer was less smooth jazz and more funk jazz. Not to say that Grover Washington wasn't funky.

Like his, Grover Washington Live at the Bijou is one of the greatest examples of where funk and jazz meet. But the sound of Roy Ayers is just the sound of comfort. A lot of that stuff recorded Electric Lady. The Fender Rhodes was sort of his weapon of choice, his viper phones. And they sang about, you know, like kind of metaphysical, the stuff that Earth Wind Fire was singing about. But there really wasn't any pop songs on it.

So it's almost like you felt he was speaking to us. So your idea of the person that's burning incense with a zodiac sexual position posters on their wall, smoking a little jay, like that's the audience. That's the demographic of Roy Ayers' music. So after a tribe called Quest comes out, who probably is the group that best made use of Roy Ayers' music, then we all just went rummaging through any Roy Ayers' record. and there was always a treat on there no matter what for you to utilize. So, you know, he is essentially the father of Neo Soul. So for you, were you, was it a relief to see that suddenly your catalog was, there was a renewed interest in it and then people were going back to it and discovering you?

And, you know, because when I really started seeing you on the circuit, especially at Ronnie Scott, you know, you know. You know, there was such, there was a, what was the genre they tried to put us in first? Not Neo-Soul. Acid jazz. Yeah. Like, like for you, when the 90s came, was there ever a fear like, okay, well, you know, will I still be a thing or is this it? And.

Well, you know what? There's so many, so many people have died. that it's just it's just a release because now I'm working my ass off do you understand what I'm saying I'm working my ass off I'm not complaining about it

but I'm working my ass off I'm glad you are there which is and I'm glad too but I'm talking about I'm working my ass off so so it ain't nobody out there ain't nobody out there the motherfuckers is dead man the groups have died have died you know

but you know what you that may be true but your music is going to last forever. Right. Thank you. And that to me is the most important thing because Thank you. You're right. Yeah you're not getting work because

everybody else is dead. You're getting work because you're a legend. Right because I'm still alive. That's the hell. God. God. Listen. I'm still alive, but I'm still alive. I'm still alive.

That's a beautiful thing. What does it feel like now? Because I was talking to somebody about you the other day, and I said, wow, like, Roy, you can go to a show. It may be a grandparent, a parent, and a kid. And they all relate. You are still cool. Like, your music is still, you can go to a club at any ages and you might hear, you know, see people dancing to it. What does that feel like at 76 years old?

And not a lot of people that can say that. If they worked. And they're not alive. They work the record. It worked the hell out the record. I mean, Polydor group, they worked the records,

man. But you made the record. I made it, but they worked it. You know, they worked, they worked hard. And, you know,

I may be 76 years old, but hey, I'm glad I'm still here. You know what I'm saying? No, I'm serious. Yeah. It's serious.

One question I had regarding your song, The Third Eye. Is that you singing? Yeah. That's what it is. Yeah. Would the lyrics, would you write those, like, in the studio at the time?

Maybe, exactly. Exactly. Almost every song. Almost every song. It's beautiful. I just like that spontaneous feeling. It's wonderful, man. You've got to try it sometimes.

It's all right, but I mean, you've got to try it once or twice, you know. I have a question. Sure. About one of your songs. we live in Brooklyn We live in Brooklyn Were you living in Brooklyn when you wrote that Oh no Harry Whitaker wrote the song

Harry Whitaker and he died I'd be damn Oh my God But you and George is still here You and George You said George I was assuming you meant Clinton So I'm like yes You're right

That's right You said Edwin Bird song is still alive right Edwin Bird song yeah Yeah he is He's still around Occasionally He's daughter's in VIII Vegas, but when I play there

sometimes, they come to the gig. They come to the gig? Yeah, one time I played uh, what was the daft punk sample? Coca-Cola. Coca-Cola. One more time? Oh, uh, Coca-Cola bottle baby. Yeah, I played that once

and, uh, you know, like, how I can't be bothered when I'm DJing. Right. So someone keeps tapping on the toe. That's my daddy's sample. Oh, okay. Sorry. Sorry. So, that's great. Everyone's still here and going strong. There's a DJ.

There's a new artist out now named Kate Renata, who is a, he's a DJ producer. I went to his show. He did a show at, what's the place across street from Brooklyn Bowl? The enemy. No. The wife hotel? No, output.

Output. He did a show at this club. This was maybe like two months ago. And he played Chicago by you. Oh, I love that record. And that song, I mean, it was a, a real. room full of 20, 20 year olds. Like, these are kids and they were going crazy over your song.

I heard that at a club one night, like about 10 years ago and I lost my mind. It was the first time I'd ever heard it. The record still goes. I play it whenever I can too. So. What are your personal and favorite songs of your catalog that you've done? Like what, oh yeah. What's near and dear to your heart?

What's your favorite Roy Ayers? searching. Oh, yay. What is it about searching that you love? Say butterfly up in the sky. I got a story to tell you. I'll tell you why I'm searching. You see, my friend, I need someone who feels a need to save his eye. I'm searching. Searching, searching, searching, searching, searching, searching, searching for inspiration,

searching for communication, searching for a better way, searching for a better day. Oh my God, that's wonderful. Those are great words, man. When you live that life, it's wonderful when you get into that. Searching is wonderful. Do you have a favorite, like, sample Roy Air song

and when you heard your song in it, you were like, whoa! Mary J. Blige! Roe C-2. Oh, my life. Oh, my life, yeah. Really? The song or the checks? So did you like my life when you heard it?

Yeah, I loved it. I said, why didn't I take it those lyrics? I was thinking, you know, marriage. That was such a controversial day. No, I felt, I mean, I've told the story before, but I just felt at the time, yes, now, 2017, I consider that song and the album before it came from. A classic song and an album. But during the time when I heard it, I don't know.

That was a historical first because I'd never heard a singer just totally take a song and redo it as their own. I mean, it's one thing for rappers to do it But I never ever considered Like singers could have the same rules as MCs Right So in my head We were We didn't like it

First month I heard it In first month of the first two But you know I don't You dug it I mean but you were also like 10 Fonte What did you know it 10? No I wasn't 10 When my life came out

I was like 15 At the very least Yeah I was 15 And no, Laia, mature 15. At the very least, every black woman at the age of 15 and beyond was like, this is the out. Stop the sentence. What?

Stop the sentence. Okay. Laia, because the first day we ever met was the day that I, you were also in this band. I know, but maybe I was just saying that because I was amongst the hip hoppers, you know, and I was just going along. I'm trying to fit it off. You're an asshole. Oh my God. Oh, my God.

Oh, my God. Oh, my God. I was stuck that in there without them hearing it. Oh, you did. Okay. Uh-oh. Hey y'all. I'm sorry.

I like my life. I liked it too. I liked it too. I liked it too. Focus. Really? Yeah, I did. Like I was you and you were me?

Yeah. That's just crazy. I didn't develop those rules until later. See, I was, the way you are now, that was. That's what you was back then. When I was 20, then I got lenient. Anyway. Were there any times that rappers want to sample your stuff and you denied it for any reason?

No, I let them sample it. I've gone over it. with that, that's some horrible things. I said, damn, what is this? What is this? You know,

everything, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, put it out, put it out, put it out. Put it out.

Put it out. Put it out. Put it out. Yeah. I said, put it out. Put it out. Every word.

That's what they did. So your people were like, we don't know if you should, your people were sort of cautious about maybe you should pass on this or. No, I was passing on it. Oh, you were.

I was passing on it. I said, no, let them put it out. It was only one person. Me. I wasn't. You administered your publisher. And every group of people, I just said, put it out. Wow.

Okay, hey, put it out. Put it out. Put it out. Put that shit out. Is it the same way like now? Like if someone wanted to sample your music now, they just go through you? Yeah, but I know that they're not going to play the stuff anyway.

They're not going to play it. They're not going to play certain things. They won't, they won't play it. So it's under the radar to him. I'll take the check and it'll... Right. At this point in your career, is it anybody that you see that you're like,

you know what, it'd be interesting to do something with them? Or you're just like, is it any, like, new blood out there? You're like, yeah, damn. Because I know people choose... Forel is a big fan. Forrell, right. Farrell's, oh, man. You named his...

Named just a couple of kids at me or something like that. Really? He did. Did he? Yeah. Wow. And y'all still haven't ever worked together. We haven't done.

He says he wants me to come to California. So I just, I can't get out there, you know, at the time. I couldn't, you know. Okay. That's right. It's never too late, though, Mike. Well, it's never too late as long as I'm still alive. And you were at, he is.

He need to come to you. That's what I'm saying. Right. Roy Hayes don't go to Farrell Farrell go to Roy A What fuck that nigga talking about? That's right I forgot the

Of the triplets One of them is named Ayers Wow But I believe his second one Is he either named after One of your compositions Or Right

Yeah Yeah talk about a tribute But no he was Now you're gonna live forever Because Well he was on the stage Yeah After a concert

I did a conference concert and he did a concert and he was walking off stage and I walked up to him. I said, Farrell. And so, Ferrell, he dropped on his knees, man. And did the worship thing. Oh, man. He did the worship thing, man. I said, come on, man. Come on. That's for all right. He's a humble, very humble, very humble. So, all right, what's, what's, what's, what's, your next, your next project? You tour more? I'm planning on doing the album. Okay.

It's about, just about playing, playing, playing, playing, playing, playing. Okay, playing. That's good for me. It's playing. An album about playing. By playing. By playing.

Okay. About playing. You're going to give us some of that unreleased stuff you got in the, yeah. You got plans on? Well, yeah. You're going to let us go through the storage unit. I'm just saying

Like, you know It I'm just saying Today or me Today Today, One question One question

I have How involved was weed In the record It was like marijuana Like smoked weed Was that? Reifer. Was that

present in your sessions? Did you allow that in your session? I'm sorry, say that, say that again. It's legal now. It's all right. It's legal. No, no, I just ask you. We're in California.

How was that, was that allowed and encouraged in your recessions back in the day? Weed. Weed. Oh, man. What is in. Weed, weed is in. All the time. Wheat is in.

My God. It ain't never stop, right? Ain't no stopping, man. They're going crazy with all the broadcasts and, Everything, man. But were you cool with it in your studio sessions back in the day? He was cool with it.

Oh, yeah. It was cool, man. Okay. It was cool. Everybody smoked. Everybody. Everybody. Because that was like the memories that I have, like, of your music as a kid.

Like, I remember seeing, like, the album covers and hearing the music and the smell of marijuana. Right. In my home. By people, they were smoked to your music. They would cool out to your stuff. I like that you could hear the smell of marijuana. That's an interesting.

concept. Yo, man. It's called synesthesia. It's just color. You know what I mean? Is it really? No, it really is. It is.

I wasn't expected that word. Okay. It is. It absolutely is. Well, Mr. Ayers, I don't know. I think we've tagged on everything. Fuck it. Yeah.

Fuck it. We did. Tagged on everything. All right, as we wrapped up, I just want to say, you know, it's kind of weird because a lot of people that are in my particular area of music, of course, okay, I'll take it that I'm lumped in and called Neo Soul. But, I mean, you are considered the godfather of our genre. And so I just want to thank you for, you know, providing us with the roadmap for which, you know, is still being used to this very day. You know, your influence and your art will be here forever long after everyone in this room is going. Even this building is gone.

Your work will still be here. So we thank you for coming on, of course, Love Supreme. Yeah. Yes. Yes. I had one last question. Can you tell us a little bit about scoring the movie coffee, what that experience was like?

Yeah, what that experience was like for you. Oh, that was wonderful. As a matter of fact, I thought about that meeting Pam Greer. I met Pam Greer. And I was trying to wrap my arms around. But the breast was so big. I couldn't even get my hands together. Oh, man.

But I don't know. I said, oh. It was so wonderful. I said, you are by Pam Greer. I said, I made you a star. I said, through my music. Right, right, right. Talk that talk.

Talk that talk. I'm telling you. As I did that, after I did that film, that really made me think about how mad she was and how aggravation. It was horrible. So she was wonderful. She was a dream, a wonderful, wonderful actress, a wonderful person. And I love that hug. That hug was something else, man.

So tell us more about P.m. It is. Oh, man. It was wonderful. That's cool. All right. Steve. Yeah, I got one more question. Did you ever meet Milt Jackson?

I meant, yeah. I met Milt. Milt was wonderful, man. His touch, his touch was one of the greatest things in the world. the touch and the vibraph form if you listen to all his records the touch it's a magic

it's a magic touch man what about Cal Jader I met Cal Jader I met Cal he died damn all those cats died man they hold my question

I'm sorry but you still here with it yeah is there anybody in the jazz scene right now that you're really excited about no I wanted to play it with Al Jrul Oh my God.

He died again. I know. It's crazy because I was about to ask you about Dennis, but I can't even talk about it. It's just too much. Go ahead. Just answer the question. Dennis. Yeah, no, I was just going to ask you to, you know, kind of break down.

Because for me, my experience with you went through Dennis, who was your drummer for a couple decades. And we just died, you know. Last year. That's her cousin. Yes. Yeah. Yes.

Yes. Yes. Dennis. Dennis who? His name is Dennis Davis. Dennis Davis. Dennis Davis. Thank you.

I apologize. Dennis Davis. Dennis Davis. Cut and Denis. But now check this out. Dennis Davis worked with me. He was working with me all those years. And he was also working with Stevie Wonder and also David Bowie. David Bowie. That's right. David Bowie.

And he did two or three different gigs the same time. Really? It was amazing. It was amazing. It was amazing. He was able to do that. How long was he your drummer? Maybe since he was very young. So since the very beginning? Yeah, yeah. He just left and came back, right?

Yeah, yeah. He would leave and come back. He will always have a home with you. You remember Dennis is the infamous. Dennis is playing by himself, man. On, on, uh, on do I do. Oh, I do. Oh, do I do.

Right. Dennis is playing by himself, man. Well, wait, that also leads to, uh, Stevie's bass player. What's his name? Nathan. Oh, the bass player. Was Nathan East? Did he play with you for a second?

The guitar player? The bass player. Nathan East. No, he didn't. Not Nathan East. Nathan Watts. Nathan Watts. Did he ever play for you for a second?

No, he didn't. He didn't play with me. I could have sworn I saw a concert of you with Nathan Watts. Well, because Nathan Watts is built like a fullback. Yeah, he's a big guy. He, there was a similar bass player that played with you, a big guy. That I thought was Nathan. Okay.

There might have been John, John, uh, somebody. Also, the great Philip Wu also played with you. Yeah, yeah, yeah, right? Yeah, he did. He played with me. He's in Japan. I know. How did you hook up with?

He's been with you forever. He's from Seattle, Washington. Oh, okay. Is that where the title of your song, I did it in Seattle? Is Philip playing on that? Yep. Wow.

Nice, nice. All right. So, on behalf of, oh, I'm sorry, should we do reflections? No. Are we cool? I'm sorry, brother. Well, I just want one more thing.

Go ahead, Steve. New Mr. Air. So people who worked at the studio, past and present, just wanted me to thank you for coming here so many times and recording so many records here over the years. It's a pleasure doing this. It's really wonderful. Thank you.

Thank you. I applaud on you. Thank you. Thank you. It's amazing. Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, that is Questlove Supreme. We will be back next week with another great informative episode of Questlove Supreme.

Also, don't forget to dig in the crates. and check out past episodes and catch up with us on behalf of Sugar Steve unpaid bill, boss bill, Lady Laia aka Mark

Fantigolo and the great boy airs This is Custlove Supreme signing off Questlove Supreme is a production of IHeart Radio For more podcasts from IHartRadio visit the IHart Radio app

Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to your favorite shows A win is a win A win A win is a win I don't care what you're saying. Yep, that's me, Cliford Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, my basketball and college football journey,

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Laura, Scottsdale Police. As the season continues, Laura Owens finally faces consequences. Listen to Love Trapped podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.