The Family (band)

infobox musical artist 2
Name = The Family


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Background = group_or_band
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Origin = Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States
Instrument =
Genre = pop, R&B, soul, funk, New Wave, dance
Occupation =
Years_active = 1985,2007-present
Label = Paisley Park Records
Associated_acts = The Time, Prince
Current_members=
Past_members = St. Paul, Susannah Melvoin, Jerome Benton, Jellybean Johnson, Eric Leeds, Miko Weaver
URL =

The Family was an R&B band formed by Prince and one of the first signed to his record label, Paisley Park Records. [ [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:0zfpxqu5ldde~T1 allmusic ((( The Family > Biography ))) ] ]

History

The band's origins started with the disintegration of The Time in 1984. Lead singer Morris Day had left the band to pursue a solo career. At this point, guitarist Jesse Johnson became the de facto band leader. Prince suggested restructuring the band with new member Paul Peterson to head the group, but Johnson opposed. However, like Day, Johnson soon left the band to pursue his own solo career. A few of The Time's newer members followed Johnson to join his backing band (called Jesse Johnson's Revue (band)). The Time had served as an outlet for Prince to release more music. Prince invited the remaining members of The Time: Jellybean Johnson, Jerome Benton and Paul Peterson to his home and presented them with his new project. They agreed to become a new band called "The Family", with Peterson (renamed St. Paul) as the new frontman and bassist. Johnson and Benton reprised their familiar roles from The Time. To the mix, Prince added his then girlfriend Susannah Melvoin, the twin sister of Revolution guitarist Wendy Melvoin, as a backing singer and keyboardist. The fifth member was Eric Leeds, the brother of Prince's tour manager Alan Leeds, who provided saxophone and flute. Guitarist Miko Weaver was credited in the album's booklet but for some reason he wasn't officially a member of the band (his name was probably added only to justify guitar being played on the album, Prince not wanting to be credited at all.) The band's name, "The Family."

Much like The Time, the band's material was composed nearly entirely by Prince, with the exception of "River Run Dry", which was written by Revolution drummer, Bobby Z. Prince wrote and performed all the other tracks and simply overdubbed Peterson's and Melvoin's vocals and added saxophone and flute by Leeds. Indeed, on several tracks, Prince's vocals can be clearly heard. Some of the original demos are circulating amongst fans with Prince's lead vocals (as well as two outtakes: the instrumental "Feline" and the pop song "Miss Understood".) As on other associates' albums, Prince falsely gave credit to the various band members for writing credits, though he kept his name on "Nothing Compares 2 U." The tracks were all recorded in a few weeks' span, at the end of the year 1984, after Prince had finished sessions for Around The World In A Day and just before he started to record music for Sheila E.'s Romance 1600 and his own Parade. The album itself is a surprising mix of uptempo funk songs ("High Fashion", "Mutiny"), unconventional soul ballads ("Nothing Compares 2 u", "Desire"), jazz-funk instrumental tracks ("Yes", "Susannah's Pajamas") and new wave songs ("The Screams Of Passion", "River Run Dry".) An extended version of "The Screams Of Passion" was released on the eponymous and only single from the album. For several months in 2002, St. Paul broadcast an alternate version of "Nothing Compares 2 U" on his website, thus making it an "official" release of sorts (though it's unknown if Prince -presumably the legal owner of this version's tape- was consulted about it.)

Although the band performed a single concert and released a self-titled album and a single (of which the video shows Eric Leeds playing bass because this particular track contained no saxophone), the project turned out to be short-lived. Peterson felt constricted by Prince's control and opted to pursue his own career. Without a lead singer, Prince lost interest and absorbed most of the remaining members into the expanded Revolution (with the exception of Johnson, who went on to join the Flyte Time music production team of Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis). Prince often incorporated The Family track "Mutiny" into the setlist of his 1986 tour, which occasionally was extended to contain the chorus of "Dream Factory" and the chant "St. Paul - punk of the month!" The album sold poorly and has been out of print since the late 80's in America. A CD version was printed in Japan in Europe.

Besides being a fan's favorite, "The Family" was a relatively important album in Prince's musical career because it allowed him to test several musical concepts that he would later fully integrate in his music. First, it was the true beginning of his long-term collaboration with Eric Leeds. Leeds co-wrote the two instrumental tracks on the album, which were Prince's first step into jazz fusion, a genre he'd later explore even more with his Madhouse side-project, then under his own name in the 2000's. "The Family" also marks Prince's first collaboration with composer and arranger Clare Fischer, as well as the first time Prince added a symphonic orchestra to his music. Though the two men never met (Prince would only send tapes to Fisher with more or less explicit instructions about what he wanted), they worked together on a regular basis since then.

According to St. Paul's [http://www.stpaulmusic.com website] , he fondly remembers his time with The Family and often plays songs from the album in concert. The Family reunited on December 13, 2003 for a single performance for charity along with other acts formerly associated with Prince. On January 26, 2007, The Family announced that they are returning to the music scene, with a tour and a recording of new music. According to a January 31, 2007 press release on [http://www.stpaulmusic.com stpaulmusic.com] , the members involved are those listed below, not including Miko Weaver, and they are planning to record a new CD.

In addition a recent video was posted on MySpace showing ?uestlove of The Roots very admirably introducing the group and a short performance by them as well at The Roots' 3rd Annual Twas The Night Before The Grammies jam session.

in addition on his Youtube page ?uestlove filmed footage of a rehearsal for the aforementioned event

Band members

*St. Paul (vocals, keyboards and bass)
*Susannah Melvoin (vocals and keyboards)
*Jerome Benton (vocals,comic foil and percussion)
*Jellybean Johnson (drums)
*Eric Leeds (saxophone and flute)
*Miko Weaver (guitar, credited on the album as session player only)

Discography

* "The Family"

References

External links

* [http://www.geocities.com/~luvamour/fam.html The Family] (includes a photo of the group)
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AdYuxwOh9W4 Rehearsing for The Roots' Twas The Night Before The Grammies jam session in 2006}