After a few commercially questionable releases, Prince set out to generate hits and regain his R&B audience with DIAMONDS AND PEARLS, which featured his backup band the New Power Generation and elements of hip-hop. Despite a holograph cover and glittering title, the hit-laden album proved dualistic: materialistic and anti-materialist, sensual and spiritual. Guitarist and bandleader Levi Seacer Jr. and engineer Michael Koppelman share their recollections of the recording of the 1991 album.
NEW BIRTH by Chris Williams
Were you there when he started adding members to New Power Generation, and were you involved with selecting the other musicians? Levi Seacer Jr.: The first band had me, Sheila, Boni, and Miko [Weaver]. Miko used to be in Sheila’s band, but Prince took Miko from Sheila’s band and put him into the Family. The reason I was auditioning for the Family was because he was going to replace Miko with me. But they worked things out. Then, Prince put Miko back into the first version of the New Power Generation. Basically, the rhythm section was all from the Bay Area. So you had me on bass, Sheila on drums, Boni Boyer was on keys and vocals, and Miko was on rhythm guitar. Then he had Eric Leeds [on saxophone] who was already in Minneapolis. He kept Atlanta Bliss on trumpet and then Doctor Fink [on keys] and Cat [Glover on backup vocals and dance]. If you remember Sign “O” the Times , that was our first project. But we still weren’t officially called the New Power Generation yet. Diamonds and Pearls was the first album where your band was featured as the New Power Generation. The influence of hip- hop was prevalent on this album. What was Prince’s approach as you saw it? Levi Seacer Jr.: Prince never thought of himself as a commercial artist. But when we did Diamonds and Pearls , I think, if you were to look in his diary, he would say, “Okay, Diamonds and Pearls was supposed to be sort of a commercial R&B-pop album but with the Prince influence.” In other words, we were going for some hits. We were kind of going straight down the middle of the road, but the way we’d like to do it. I don’t think Prince would have said it like that back then,
How did you begin working with Prince?
Levi Seacer Jr.: It’s kind of complicated. I’ll try to do a little condensed version. I was with Sheila Escovedo [stage name Sheila E.]. We used to play jazz and funk music in the Bay Area. About a year after that, Sheila left the Bay Area. She went on tour with Marvin Gaye. Then she hooked up with Prince, and they worked on [her album] In the Glamorous Life . Sheila did her thing. Now during that time, Prince had a group called the Family. So he was looking for a guitarist for that band. Sheila said to him, “Oh, I know somebody in the Bay Area.” They flew me out to Minneapolis, but I didn’t meet Prince at first. I was just in that circle. I auditioned for the Family’s band and actually got the gig. I had the gig for two days, and then something came up and Prince sent a message saying, “Oh, man. I really liked you, but I had to do some other things with that. Man, you’re hot. It’s cool. I’m going to keep you in mind.” Anyway, Prince came to San Francisco to visit, because he was up here a lot because of Sheila E. He was very hands- on with all the bands. Sheila was his protégé act. He would come to San Francisco to check her out randomly. So this time when he came, I was in her band on bass. He said, “Hey, didn’t you just audition for the Family on guitar?” I replied, “Yeah, but I play a little bass too. I play a couple of instruments like you.” He laughed. That was my first time really getting to meet him, so I was in the camp. Now, how did I get in Prince’s band? After Prince disbanded the Revolution, this was about two years into my career with Sheila, he decided to put a new band together. It wasn’t officially called the New Power Generation at the time. He took Sheila, Boni [Boyer], and me, and he rounded it out with some other players. We all worked from Minneapolis to form the first version of the New Power Generation. So that’s how I got into Prince’s band.
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( left ) Prince, in silhouette, during the Diamonds and Pearls tour in Rotterdam, Netherlands, May 27, 1992. Photo by Rob Verhorst/Redferns.
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