Say What?!
When I first landed in Minneapolis there was a limo driver holding a card with my name on it. VERY COOL. Apparently there are so many musicians going through Paisley Park that he has a full-time limo service on staff. I check in to my 'suite' then waited for my ride to Paisley Park. For you people who aren't familiar with Paisley Park,...it's like Disney World for Prince. He has a couple of full-scale audio facilities in it. He has a couple of full-scale video facilities. A very, very large main concert hall - maybe a little smaller than Constitution Hall. He has a small concert hall about the size of a big club. He has a retail store, a buncha' offices, a game room…It's huge. We had TOTAL ACCESS. There probably isn't any room I didn't go in except his private room. When I first saw him I was in the main concert hall. All the lights were out. You couldn't see a thing. I was standing there in the dark by myself waiting for the lights to be turned on. All of sudden I started to hear loud reverberating footsteps - like a woman walking in high heels in a empty auditorium. I looked a round and saw the light from a flashlight. Then I saw 2 shadowy figures - one very small, the other very large. It was Prince and Charles, his bodyguard. Prince has this very cool pimp when he walks. I just saw their silhouettes but Prince's silhouette is unmistakable. My very first thought was, "He looks like a leprechaun". I just imagined him saying "They're magically delicious". Next time I saw him was when we were 'sound-checking' a couple of hours later. He was sitting at the end of the main concert hall watching us. I wasn't nervous playing in front of him. I initially thought I would be. But I realized that as a bass player, nothing can be intimidating after being on stage with the very best bass player in the world - Victor Wooten. I tour with some of the best musicians in the world. As a musician Prince isn't intimidating. As a music figure - he's intimidating. I believe that he practically saved the 80's music scene. Seeing him became routine after that. He's always at Paisley Park recording or something. His house is around the corner. His main assistant said that when he's not touring he's at Paisley around the clock. The engineers hafta' work in shifts to keep up with him. I would be just walking around then he would pass by. Sometimes we'd say 'hello', sometimes we'd just glance at each other and smile. Like I said, he has a cool walk. His speaking voice is very cool and unusual. The way he looks at people is very interesting too. Sometimes people have a look like they might know the 'mysteries' of the universe. Prince has that look. When he would look at me and talk to me, I felt as if he knew a secret about me that I didn't know. A kind of a smug all-knowing look. Kinda' devilish at the same time. It's hard to explain. One time he walked up behind me. The hallway was crowded. He put his hand on my shoulder and said 'excuse me'. I turned to look to see who it was and he had this 'it's me again' look on his face. It was kinda' weird. About 15 seconds later he was coming back towards me with that same devilish grin on his face. I saw him in passing so many times. The concert that night was incredible. We 'tore it up'. The audience was made up of The NPG Music Club. That's Prince's official fan club. It was over 1,000 people there. Some of them had never heard of us. They definitely know who we are now. Prince came on after us. Larry Graham (the inventor of funk bass) started the show with him. Maceo Parker from James Brown and Parliament/Funkadelic also played with Prince. They got down. He played guitar all night too. I hadn't seen him do that in a long time. I think he was inspired by Reggie Wooten. He kept saying he wanted to 'touch' Reggie's guitar after he played it. All of you who has seen Reggie play know what I'm talkin' bout. Reggie ripped it up that night. We hung out with Prince for a while after the concert too. The next day was kinda' the same. We got there early for the 'hang'. He gave us a private concert during his sound check. He was making up songs on the spot. Somebody would walk by and he would make a cool song about them on the spot. They shot footage of our concert to be a part of a package to be released. We had to watch it and edit it that day. He asked Victor to do a bass workshop. Victor wanted me to play with him at the workshop. Of course, right before it was time for me to play at the workshop it started to rain. Oh well… Prince has this week long celebration every year where he invites 7 bands to perform. I think we were the 3rd band. There is a list of the bands on http://www.npgmusicclub.com. A different band performed every night then Prince went on after them. The night before us was Sheila E. It was pajama night. Everyone was in pajamas. He said he wanted that night to be like a date so he took everyone to the movies afterwards. He rented out a multiplex theater for the occasion at 2:30am. The night after us was Norah Jones. I loved her music. You gotta' get her CD. It's very mellow. The 1st song on the CD is one of my favorites. Prince does this celebration every year. If you're a big Prince fan it's worth joining the music club. The benefits are incredible. These people got to see Prince for 7 nights in a row plus with great opening bands. He also records CD's just for release to the music club. The get to buy tickets to his concert 2 days before they are available to the general public guaranteeing them a front row seat. He's a cool dude. Very warm and friendly. His wife was cool too. He recently became very religious. He doesn't 'cuss' anymore. He changes all those lyrics where he 'cussed'. He's vegetarian and doesn't allow any meat anywhere in Paisley Park. He lives in purple house and drives a purple Plymouth Prowler along with a buncha' exotic and antique cars. Oh I forgot to mention. I played a couple of his guitars too. I played the purple guitar that's shaped like the symbol that was his name. And I played the old Telecaster from the 'Dirty Mind' and 'Controversy' days. I know I said a lot but I left so much out too. I feel very, very fortunate to have played in front of him, at his place, as his invited guest. WHEW!!!! peace & blessings,
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