The guy second from the right in the photo above is none other than Prince, arguably one of the biggest stars ever produced by North Minneapolis. The photo was taken a short distance from Brian Reichow's home, "Casa Del Brian," in the Homewood enclave of the Willard Hay neighborhood...
Brian says 1244 Russell was where Prince lived in the mid/late 1970s at the home of the original "Prince & The Revolution" bass player, Andre Symone. (Second from the left) Brian says Morris Day is third from the left. I'm not sure who Morris Day is. Brian is really into his music.
Brian claims "Prince has lyrics in several songs that reminisce about the sights and sounds of this particular block of Homewood."
To which I would say, "Insert the word 'apparently,' and I could go along with that, sure, unless you can show me where Prince was was quoted saying such a thing."
I can't help but think of the fruitless speculation that Dylan was inspired by The Witch's Hat in Prospect Park when he sang about 'All Along The Watch Tower.' And I have my own pet theory about the title of the 'Positively Fourth Street' album.
Brian's own house has quite a musical history, as well. It was owned by Vera Jenkins, who sang backup vocals on Lipps Inc.'s "Mouth To Mouth" album, such as the song "Funkytown." She was "Vera Brewer" before she was "Vera Jenkins." The house was home to a popular gospel group called "Danny and The Brewerettes" who, as it turned out, left a lot of random documents in Brian's house for Brian to pore over.
The Jenkins/Brewer family owned what is now "Casa Brian" from 1977 to 2004. The only time the house was not owner-occupied was late 2004 to its foreclosure in late 2005. The house was then vacant until rehab started in 2007.
When Brian bought the house, he also inherited a cache of photos discovered by the guy who rehabbed the place, including some Brewer/Jenkins images of gospel singing activity. The guy who did the rehab also took a lot of "before" pictures to document the transformation of the house. Of particular interest was writing on the walls; it appears there was a failed, aborted rehab prior to the final rehab. Another guy who tried and failed to rehab the place had a habit of sketching his renovation schemes and dreams on the white interior walls of the house.
To which I say: well, he wasn't planning on LEAVING the walls that way, that's just how things turned out!
Brian's own house has quite a musical history, as well. It was owned by Vera Jenkins, who sang backup vocals on Lipps Inc.'s "Mouth To Mouth" album, such as the song "Funkytown." She was "Vera Brewer" before she was "Vera Jenkins." The house was home to a popular gospel group called "Danny and The Brewerettes" who, as it turned out, left a lot of random documents in Brian's house for Brian to pore over.
The Jenkins/Brewer family owned what is now "Casa Brian" from 1977 to 2004. The only time the house was not owner-occupied was late 2004 to its foreclosure in late 2005. The house was then vacant until rehab started in 2007.
When Brian bought the house, he also inherited a cache of photos discovered by the guy who rehabbed the place, including some Brewer/Jenkins images of gospel singing activity. The guy who did the rehab also took a lot of "before" pictures to document the transformation of the house. Of particular interest was writing on the walls; it appears there was a failed, aborted rehab prior to the final rehab. Another guy who tried and failed to rehab the place had a habit of sketching his renovation schemes and dreams on the white interior walls of the house.
To which I say: well, he wasn't planning on LEAVING the walls that way, that's just how things turned out!
1 comment:
Morris Day was the lead singer for "The Time".
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