Photograph by Bill Phelps
Pepe Willie
Minneapolis-based producer and songwriter Pepé Willie was one of Prince’s earliest musical mentors. Willie was an influence on Grand Central, the group Prince played with in high school, and he later hired Prince to play backup guitar for his band 94 East. Today, Willie remembers Prince as a hardworking musician who, in his words, “always had ‘it.’”
How did you meet Prince?
I had just gotten out of the army December 10, 1970. I came here to Minneapolis because I was dating Prince’s first cousin Shauntel Manderville. [Prince] was 12 years old; he was playing with his cousin Charles. We were at some relative’s house. Prince was so short at that time, I thought he was maybe like 7.
When did you start working with Prince?
It was 1974. . . . I believe Prince was 16. My father-in-law, Eddie Manderville, was doing a party for his ski club. Grand Central was playing at that event. [I started working with them at] rehearsals a few days after that event—the ski party event. It was at Morris [Day]’s mother’s house. I think I rehearsed with these guys for maybe a month before I knew that Prince played several instruments. I had no idea. I thought he was [just] a guitar player.
So he was good from the beginning.
One day we were practicing up in the attic [at Day’s house], and then all of a sudden Prince stops the music and goes over to his bandmate Linda Anderson, and he says, “Linda, this is what you should be playing on the keyboards. Then he goes back to the guitar and they’re playing, then he stops playing. He looks at André Cymone and says, “André, let me hold your bass.” He takes the bass from André and he just starts playing like he’d been playing for four years, and he’s only 16. Now, André played exactly what Prince wanted him to play. Matter of fact, André stopped Prince before he even finished the lick because he knew what Prince wanted.
How did you end up hiring Prince for your band?
I asked him, “Have you ever been in a recording studio before?” He said, “No.” And I said, “Well you’re going into the studio with me; you’re going to play with my band.” So I gave him a cassette of five songs that I had written, and I told him, “Now you come up with guitar parts for these five tracks. We’re going into the studio in the next two weeks.” [After we recorded] I played the music, and I was going, “What is Prince playing here? How did he come up with this?” I mean he was playing the funkiest licks, such great guitar work. I was just amazed, I could not believe that this guy had never been in the studio before and he was playing like a professional musician. The bass player called me up and said, “Pep”—he had a copy of it, too. He said, “Did you hear what Prince was playing?” And I said, “Yeah, man, did you hear that? What is that?” He said, “Man, that dude is bad, man. He is tight.” And I agreed. How did he come up with that stuff? He never repeated a line, and it all fit in.
