Ok not that kind of memory, but in a way the memories that we will discuss in this post are stored in a similar manner. Cue: Bob Hope.

If we are lucky enough to have the part of our brain that deals with memory functioning properly we have a place to go from time to time. Memories can rage from the very pleasant to the tumultuous and sometimes memories have the ability to change over time depending upon how honest we might want to be with ourselves or those around us.

The subject of my mini-rant today is of course: Music. To be honest with you all, I’m afraid, very afraid.

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This guest post comes to us from New Orleans raised bassist Blyss who currently calls San Francisco home while holding the bass chair in the band of legendary Meters drummer Zig.

That SOTT/BLACK/LOVESEXY era is so special to me personally because it was a time of serious change and transition. Oh man, the golden days when Prince was dropping a record a year… I was 17 in 87, my senior year of High School and that year we were also moving out of my beloved Treme, trading it for an area of New Orleans called Gentilly. Okay, I know I’m supposed to be saying something about these records but, damn, that whole era brings back serious memories!

“Lovesexy” is, in my opinion, one of the last great concept albums with it’s theme of struggle between good and evil. This record isn’t just a collection of songs and even the famously annoying early releases of the CD with all of the songs listed as one track let you know that Prince wanted it to be heard as a complete work. I ain’t mad at him. It really is a record that you can listen to from start to finish.

Prince hadn’t been in town since the “Purple Rain” tour and quite honestly he’d lost quite a few people…a lot of people. I remember camping out downtown to buy tickets from a Ticketmaster inside a department store downtown but not nearly as many people as I’d expected were there. The night of the show much of the Lakefront Arena was empty. You could see large sections of empty spaces but that didn’t bother me. The show was simply fascinating. It was like watching a Broadway musical, the quintessential Rock Opera.

Whenever I think of Lovesexy, I do not think of the album. I always immediately think of Lovesexy, the tour. I went two nights in a row in Atlanta, Georgia at The Omni on Oct. 13 & 14 of 1988. Lovesexy became the bar that I judged every Prince tour ever since. My first Prince tour experience was 1999 in Birmingham, Alabama at the age of twelve (Thank you, Mama, for letting me go, and thanks to my Aunt Net and Uncle Carl for taking me.) I am super jealous of anyone who had the opportunity to see him during the Controversy or Dirty Mind tours, but I would have only been ten:( I always wish I had been born a decade earlier just so I could have experienced these tours. My second Prince tour was for Purple Rain in Atlanta in January of 1995 also at The Omni. The Lovesexy tour was awfully important to me most notably because it seemed as though 4 decades had passed since I had seen Prince live even though it had been only 4 years. He hadn’t toured the states for ATWIAD, Parade, nor SOTT, so I was feenin’ to see Prince live again.

What was so special about this tour? First of all, the band. Sheila E. on a full drumkit was mind-blowing to witness. I had seen her open for Prince for the Purple Rain tour with her timbales setup and glowing drum sticks, but this was totally different. Boni Boyer on keys and vox was heavenly. The addition of Cat created mad energy on stage, and Eric Leeds & Atlanta Bliss together were a match made in heaven. Then, there was the stage–in the round–which I had never experienced before in my limited concert exposure at that point, and seeing Prince being truly mobile on stage was a treat. However, what was more phenomenal than the stage setup were Prince, Sheila, and Cat’s clothes adorned with letters and color blocking. Being a budding graphic designer I realized that design was everywhere. I often say everything I learned about design I learned from Prince, and this Prince period really cemented this for me. And don’t forget about Prince’s hair at this time. I loved how he rocked his long, curly locks–one of the reasons why “Alphabet Street” is one of my most beloved Prince videos to this day.

As for the album, if I only had one day to live, and I could only listen to one Prince album, Lovesexy would NOT be the one. In fact, if I had to choose between Lovesexy, which was released in place of the Black Album originally, I’d choose the Black Album every time. Whenever I want to listen to a song from the Lovesexy period, the first thing I listen to is the 12″ of “I Wish You Heaven.” I listen to Scarlet Pussy, and then I flip it over and listen to Parts 1, 2 & 3 of “I Wish U Heaven.” If I still need more Lovesexy songs I follow up with “Alphabet Street,” “Anna Stesia,” “Positivity,” or “Dance On.” However, when I want to listen to the Black Album, I want to listen to the Black Album in its entirety from start to finish. I still get goose bumps listening to “Cindy C.”, after hearing this literally hundreds of times. “Bob George” is the song that I knew Prince always wanted to record as Prince, as previously he would cloak his humor through tunes like “Tricky” by making it into a Time production. “Superfunkycalifragisexy” is a beast of song with that guitar chicken grease. There are no words that can even being to describe how amazing “Rockhard in a Funky Place” sounds with the beautiful Susannah on background vocals. In retrospect, I do find this kind of ironic being that Lovesexy was originally released as one single 45:07 track, when I wish that the Black Album would have been since it is sequenced so perfectly.

So for me, Lovesexy is more than an album. It is the tour. It is Prince’s image. It is the album that should have come out instead of Lovesexy at the time, The Black Album.

However, the one thing that is unforgettable about Lovesexy is the album cover… NO ONE will ever forget that cover… you know the one I speak of;) It is forever emblazoned on the retinas of Prince fans everywhere.

This one’s from the heart…

I watch movies all the time, I mean all the time. Yet, I’m actually embarrassed to state the last time I actually went to a movie theater. I’d seen the trailers for 42 for a few weeks and made a mental note. I thought that it would be a great father, daughter experience to invite my youngest daughter out to watch it with me. My youngest and I have developed a very special bond over this last year or so because as she has gotten older she has begun to display interests in many of the areas that I found interesting at her age and still do to this day.

Our conversations on the way to school cover just about any subject and I often let her know that because of the age that her grandfather was, I and now by extension we have a unique window into a generation that faced seemingly insurmountable odds to achieve greatness. My father was a few years younger than Jackie Robinson, but like so many men of his generation WWII and Jackie breaking the color line in baseball were significant touchstones. I cannot think of a time that I was not aware of Jackie Robinson. Although he passed when I was just two years old, his legacy always loomed large. My dad always spoke with pride of just hopping into the car in Virginia with some buddies to make their way to Brooklyn to see “Jackie Robinson hit that ball.” Can you imagine? I mean to have zero representation one season and the next, a lone pioneer to pave the way for so many others. So many sacrifices that Jackie Robinson made as a man to play a game.

42 is in a word, great. I enjoyed the opportunity as a father to watch a film through the eyes of my child. Dad sometimes had to turn away during the film as my thoughts drifted to my own father who died 12 years ago this month. My dad loved baseball and he loved his Dodgers. I grew up a hardcore Dodgers fan because of him. Much to the chagrin of my Bronx born wife, but that’s another story. For the better part of my formative years I was heavily involved with baseball. My education in the game came on the street and then the actual diamond. All the older guys that I looked up to loved and played the game. I patterned my stance in the batter’s box after many of them and then I realized from 42 that a lot of those rituals I co-opted with the rubbing of the dirt and “diggin in” may have come from Jackie Robinson himself.

I’m glad that the filmmaker did not try to revise history. Racism was and is very, very ugly. Words were meant to demean, to belittle and those in power at the time had no problems using them for all the world to hear. Sometimes you have to witness some of the ugliness this world has had on display to understand and appreciate where you are and how far you still have to go.

As I was wiping away some tears during some of the more emotional moments in the film, my mind drifted to how so many great cultural advances somehow get banished to the “Island Of Misfit Toys” a generation or two later. Yes, life moves in different directions and there is always consideration for “advancement”. But as we often discuss here in the main, en masse we’ve left baseball, jazz, soul, playing actual instruments, class, responsibility, and a whole myriad of other positive cultural accoutrements and traded them in for what? 42 is the only number that has been retired from all of baseball. The number may be retired, but the ideals, principles and the man who was Jackie Robinson should live on through all of us.

Last week, friend to GFM DJ Speek Greene posted some thoughts on the state of Hip Hop. This week as promised he’s bringing his thoughts re: Soul Music live and direct to and for the all the Grown Folks out there. Speek let us know in no uncertain terms that the Soul Music that we know and love, as far as the mainstream is concerned, simply has ceased to exist save for a very few artists who may receive consideration on a corporate playlist. Plenty of historical context here and we’re definitely looking forward to Pt. 2! Thanks for all the love Speek and Grown Folks Fam let’s see we can reciprocate by sharing this vid and weighing in on the conversation.

Originally published 10/10/10 but because every Friday here is Jodeci Friday I thought it was due for a repost.

Certain songs you can mark the very minute that you heard them and the response you felt immediately. For me that is definitely the case with the Jodeci classic “Forever My Lady”.

In the late summer of 1991 I happened to have the television tuned into BET B.V.(Before Viacom) but I had stepped out of the room for a few minutes to do something and while I was making my way back I caught the last minute or so of the video (from Devante Swing’s keyboard solo out). Sonically struck I could only mutter to myself “What was that?” Whenever I stop and ponder in that manner I’m hooked because the inquisitive side of me is kicking into action. (more…)

There’s a conversation that has been brewing for quite sometime that have involved what I term “Those of us concerned with music” both on and offline. DJ Speek Greene pulls no punches in this video as he brings the issues front and center re: Hip Hop. There are many jewels you can take away from what he states, but his thoughts on the importance of regionalism in the music, the artists of the 21st Century who have served in the capacity of bridges and the fact that there are currently a few artists on the scene (Joey Bada$$ and Kendrick Lamarr) in particular who are positioning themselves as the next generation bridge builders is in a word: golden.

So fam, if you are concerned about the music, take the time out to checkout Pt. 1 of course be on the lookout for Pt. 2 but I’ve heard from Speek and he’s put the word out that he will be tackling the issue of Soul music as well very soon. So keep it locked right here to GFM.

First, I would like for you to consider the photo above for a moment and then I will explain why I have posted it. Secondly, I would like for you to consider this quote from Berry Gordy that I have used in our “Grow the Hell Up” Manifesto.

“Money had never been the main thing for me. It’s the legacy that was important.”-Berry Gordy (more…)