Vernon Reid interview

About Prince...but really about Black Rock guitarists everywhere— and what about Sly Stone?

I’ve been watching the excellent documentary on Sly Stone that just came out, directed by the ubiquitous Questlove. Had Sly Stone been a guitar player first and foremost he certainly would've made top billing in my book, Pity the Genius. His life is a captivating and amazing journey. There's a lot of heartache.

Any songwriter needs to watch this movie. There's a tremendous amount to learn. Every part of Sly’s music has a great hook. Not just the chorus— the bass lines, the horn lines, even the backup vocals. He was open to everything from everywhere. That’s how he got his sound. Most creators do not think in terms of genre. Sly was the first black superstar to welcome R&B, The Beatles, psychedelia, and more into the room. And he was doing it by the age of 18 or 19.

Vernon Reid says in the movie “There is no Prince without Sly.” The connections are wonderfully apparent throughout the movie. Vernon is one of the most interesting people to converse with I've ever met. His interests are all consuming, and he has a poet's touch to the way he describes things. You hear a lot of Prince in his guitar playing.

Vernon is best known for his group Living Color. But he's had a long and storied career, from playing with Bill Frisell, Elliott Sharp, and David Torn, to Ronald Shannon Jackson's Decoding Society, to being a support artist on records by Mick Jagger, Janet Jackson, Public Enemy, and much more.

(Pictured below with the author and Jordan McLean at Brooklyn Bowl)

So here is the chapter, really an interview, from the book that came out last year, Pity the Genius. Vernon's reflections on Prince, and then Eddie Hazel, Ernie Isley, Jimi, Pete Cosey, and more, are fascinating. It really is an insider’s view.

Prince

The Ride

Crystal Ball (NPG Records 1998)

With Vernon Reid

To buy the book go here:

https://amzn.to/4cjlujL