YOUR NAME IS PRINCE!
Labor (of love) Day: Working for Prince
YOUR NAME IS PRINCE!
Labor (of love) Day: Working for Prince
It was Thursday afternoon, August 22, 2013. I was asked to be interviewed by a hip vlog that was going live on the internet (today we would call this a live podcast). I was so excited to start that evening what we were calling “Purple Week”, the first of a 4-night residency of the New Power Generation that corresponded with the VMA’s on Sunday where Prince was confirmed to be. He had just recently played at City Winery Chicago as an afterparty on June 30th after his royal-ness performed at George Lucas’s Wedding reception in Hyde Park. He apparently had a good time and agreed to come back to our New York location at least 2 of the 4 announced shows. An oral agreement, one that I would normally never agree to, but it was Prince, he sets the rules.
In March of that year, I had produced “The Music of Prince” at Carnegie Hall, which was the 9th in a series (now 20-years old), where I bring 20 great artists to each take a song of the honoree. We had QuestLove and the Roots as the house band, Elvis Costello, D’Angelo, Bilal, Betty Lavette, and so many more. Chris Rock hung out and the buzz was in the air that Prince was going to come to City Winery for the afterparty. He didn’t.
Anyway, after the infusion of all this purple excitement all year, one of the questions came to me that afternoon as we were expanding our stage to accommodate the growing band, horn section, and singers planned to join the line up. The question was simple, “how did I get Prince to play?”. In my typical ego driven hubris, filled with the adrenaline of the day, I started to explain. “Well, perhaps you know I am from Wisconsin, not far from Minneapolis and Paisley Park. I’ve been a fan since I was 16 years old, I love Prince. I’ve been trying to book him since I started the Knitting Factory, he had a jazz album with Miles you know, I thought he would love my place.” Blabla bla.. “I even watched Purple Rain again last weekend, I mean, I’ve been trying to book this motherfucker for years, I love the man.”. Oops.
A few more questions about who was performing and singing with Prince, such as Cee Lo Green, Family Stone/Grand Central Station’s Larry Graham, Alice Smith, Doug E. Fresh, Shelby J. and Liv Warfield. The backing band was going to be something unprecedented. And it was.
As we finished the interview, my phone received a text from one of the two young female handlers/managers we were working with representing Prince. The number was the one I had put in my contacts as Prince. The text simply said, call me immediately. I called. She answered, and I forgot which one, and said, “Prince wants to know: Do you know his name?” And I said, “yes, Prince Rogers Nelson.” She said, “that is not what you called him just now, you used profanity, and he does not! “
In my mind, I am thinking, what did I say, I know I have a foul mouth, I speak jazz, I heard Prince speak jazz in the movie, what up? She continued, “Unfortunately, it does not look like Prince will be able to perform for you now.”
My heart both sank and started beating very fast. I scrambled, humbled, and graveled. “Is there anything I can do, my reference to him was out of deep affection and love, not derogatory, but in the vernacular of his badness. I am really sorry, that was not my intention, is there anything, anything I can do to make this right.” There was a pause, and she said, hang on. Abut 3 minutes later, she said, well, if you write 100 times on a paper, ‘I’m sorry, your name is Prince’, he will reconsider. Do it, photograph it, text to me, and I will come pick it up.
Well I started quickly to write. I used a purple pen on a yellow pad. I wrote as fast as I could. In my mind, I was thinking, wait a second, what am I doing, this is humiliating. Does this guy know who I am? I’m the fucking owner of City Winery, this is my club, my stage, nobody tells me what to do. I kept writing. Those thoughts quickly left my head as I reminded myself who was telling me what to do. It was Prince, the greatest guitarist, performer, singer of my favorite songs. Just keep writing as fast as possible. I paused, considered it all, and again, kept writing as frantically as possible. I believe Shlomo in our office captured it on video, but we both can’t find it. Yes, a dream, but I need to stay focused, the show must go on, no matter how bruised my ego is. I will bow down and take whatever punishment I deserve, I work for Prince, not Prince for me. My labor to make this show happen. I took the photo, texted it, and she came to pick up the paper. She stepped out of the office, then nodded, and said, we are back on track.
And yes we were. Thursday, Aug 22, 2013 he jumped on stage with the band at midnight and did 2 hours. On Friday night, I was told we have a special guest who is coming, need to open the back door. I did, it was Beyonce and two girl friends which I brought up to our little VIP platform and they stood next to my twin sons. My kids freaked out; they knew her more than Prince. Unfortunately, Prince stayed in his limo outside and decided not to perform that night. He wasn’t “feeling it.” I got the negative sign from our soundman that at the que she was to be brought backstage, he gave me the thumbs down and the not happening signal. I had to tell Beyonce that Prince was blowing her off and escorted her back through our backdoor to her waiting car. Yup, that really happened. Yet, on Sunday, August 25, he started at 3am and went on until 6am. 3 hours of sublime purple beauty. That show was by far the most epic and iconic live performance I have ever witnessed, in my room or any venue. It was magic.
Prince did what Prince did. Nobody told him what to do. When I asked him about his young assistants or managers, he said to me with a sly look and a wink, that “youth keeps him young”. I wish he had lived longer with that mantra. But this memory reminds me of who I really work for when we put on a show. My job is ultimately as PT Barnum always reminded, to make sure the show goes on. To do whatever it takes to make the artist happy, satisfied, and as comfortable performing as possible. This is who I labor for everyday and it brings me the ultimate satisfaction. Capitalism generally is built on working for the person who pays you. The customer is always right philosophy. But in culturalism, us producers work for the artist. And in enlightened Capitalism, us leaders are also working for and appreciate our entire team who work towards our overall mission. So thank you Prince, that is not only your name, but was your lesson to me.
Lovely story Michael. I feel this every day that I work for Roulette. It's not just for our audience but for the artists.
Sorry I missed that show but I was at Carnegie Hall that night and I can tell that it was one of the best shows I have ever seen. Paying homage to someone who has written such great music can be terrifying as well as empowering. You worry about meeting the standards that have been set by the artist but playing such great music makes it worthwhile. I believe it was Tina Fey and Maya Rudulph who dressed up as ladies of the evening and did a kick ass version of Little Nicki. What a show. I went to the afterparty and it was awesome. It finally sunk in that Fred Armison is the weirdest comedian alive today.