Inner-views: FOLEY ( part II )

the Difference Logo.....

( Part. II )

Reggie Hudlin : Is Ohio the funkiest state in the nation?

Bootsy, Calloway Brothers, Roger Troutman, Faze-O, the Ohio Players.....

what's the deal?

FOLEY : Aaawww, Man

Don't forget the "ISLEY" Bros. as well

( which meant HENDRIX spent a fair amount of time up in Ohio, as as a result )

Reggie : I thought the Isley's were New Jersey boys.

You mean they came from Ohio too?

FOLEY : Yeah...dem Cincinnati Boyz

Reggie : Bootsy told me it's because they "P" in the river...that's what makes everyone funky.

FOLEY : HA !!

I don't know what it is ......

Shit , even "JAMES BROWN" set-up shop in O-H-I-O

( with "KING records" being ran outta cincy )

Reggie : Dang, I didn't know that either.

FOLEY : Yep !

Reggie : That's sensible.

FOLEY :

Actually , I think ANY smalltown USA.....that doesn't have the "Industry"

you'll get a certain amount of humility or Hopefulness to strive for the Truth

Whereas in a Big City....

just trying to survive ALONE can take the twinkle & wonderment outta MF's eyes real quick

About whatever it is.... they do.

That's why most folks in these small towns tend to "Eat, Sleep & drink" what they are

Like for instance .....D'Angelo's not from NYC or LA

And he's the last kat to inspire a movement....

Reggie : Or Prince & the whole Minneapolis thang before that...

FOLEY : EXACTLY....

Prince still jokes about living there....

He says it's so cold, it's keeps ALL of the "Bad" people away

Reggie Hudlin : Are there any other musicians in your family?

FOLEY : Not on my Mom's side .....

My father plays a little flute & upright bass.

All of my Dad's brothers played..... nothin' but Musicians ( Good & bad )

I had an uncle "Louis" ( guitarist ) that went to NYC & was wearnin' Folks out

but, he died young of a heroin overdose & never got his due.

Reggie : So you think the whole musical thing is genetic, to some degree?

FOLEY : I don't know ...

I'm sure it would be "hip" to say : "Yeah, man.... it's in my blood"

But, I think EVERYBODY has the capacity to BE & THINK & DO whatever they can FEEL

As long as a person can recieve the DIVINE gifts of : Humility

And, first realizing that "THE UNIVERSE IS BIGGER THAN YOU"

( and YOUR problems etc. )

I was all alone musically.

( I felt like I had to pick it up in the streets, like a drug habit or somethin' )

Reggie Hudlin : Who filled that space? Where did you get your musical taste from?

Your training on instruments?

FOLEY : I have No training .....

I have no particular tastes .....

Time has and will CONTINUE to fill THAT space for me

No Bullshit.....

I'm such a realist man.....to a fault maybe , depending on ones perspective

Shit, quite frankly ....with All that YOU know about music ?

They don't want U to pick up an instrument....

Ha ha ...

Reggie Hudlin : I know enuff to work with a Bad brutha like You !!

FOLEY : Thank You, Reggie !

Man, U produced so many records just from overseeing your films, tho

( cause , it really equates the same )

A Release....is A Release

Right ?!?!?

I just turned 42yrs. old...in Nov. and I've been in the Game *seriously* for 25 yrs.

( more than "half" of my life , thus far )

A "Working" musician since I was 14yrs old .....listening to everything from

"OSIBISA" to "BLACK SABBATH" to "the JACKSON 5" since I was 8-9 yrs. old....

And , it STILL all sounds the SAME to me

It's either GOOD Music ....or it's NOT

Good Thoughts , Bad Thoughts....

( Good / Bad ) Art , People, Food, Weather etc.

There's only " 2 types " of ANYTHING....Really.....

( Most times.... things are VERY Black & White )

I guess... that's why "Grey" areas STILL fascinate most people ?

Reggie Hudlin : Is there a style of music you HATE?

FOLEY :

Yeah, Hell yeah .....

BAD , "Un-inspired" Music ....of any type.

I hate when People don't MEAN IT

So when is your country album coming out?

FOLEY : Hahaha!!

Like "Aunt Esther" said : " I'll sit down ...when I get to the Seat !! "

Reggie : Name the five greatest female "R&B" singers of all time.

Don't cheat and try and put jazz singers in there.

FOLEY : Ha ha ha , ok

this isn't in any particular order now.....

1.Mavis

2.Aretha

3.Patti

4.Gladys

5.Chaka

Five excellent choices I must say.

FOLEY : Awww, Reg....c'mon man

Man, I would be in "Violation" otherwise

Now , I'll give ya "7" mo' ......

6. Linda Jones

7. Belita Woods

8. Joyce Kennedy

9. Kim Burrell

10. Kim Mc Farland

11. Rosie Gaines

12. Adaritha ( Norman Conners )

belita_photo.jpg (13183 bytes)

"Ms. BELITA WOODS"

Reggie : Ok, Joyce Kennedy...educate me!

FOLEY : U fuckin wit me , right ?

MOTHER'S FINEST ?!?!?

"Joyce ?!?"

Reggie : Okay, that's a shame.

I can hear her singing "I don't wanna come back" in my ears right now...

but didn't know her name.

FOLEY : Shit, I was bout ta Say....

With all of that Mother's Finest U got in yo crib ???

Reggie :

The Funkadelics used to talk about Mother's Finest as one of the few groups that could rock them onstage.

FOLEY : Aaaaaw, man .....

Ask "VAN HALEN" about "Mother's Finest"

They use to open for THEM ?!?!?

Alex Van Halen even took one of "BB Queen's" beats from a live MF show .....and, used it on their 2nd album !!!

So, VAN HALEN GOT ALOT OF "MOTHER'S FINEST" UP IN THEIR SHIT , AS WELL

And, as far as the Females again ....

an honorable mention to THE GREATEST FEMALE singing group of ALL TIME :

"The Emotions"

Reggie Hudlin : Those Ladies are unbelievable. They sound like "Sunshine" to me.

FOLEY :

That's THE Best description I've heard of those Ladies

Well Put , Reg....Hahaha

THANK YOU !

FOLEY : S' aiiiiight

The "SMARTALECMUSIC" Burning Question:

" Wynton Marsalis "

"Keeping Jazz alive ? or presiding over its funeral ?"

FOLEY : HA !!

He's one of the reasons for the "Death" of it

Well , Ain't he ?

You betta come on in, man...

He's got his classical chops , but...that's just some ole "sight reading" Shit

Those aren't HIS Notes ?!?!?

And HE ain't "ALLOWED" to create nothin' NEW with it ?!?

Reggie : But man, here's what's been trippin' me out. I have a 7 week old daughter (Helena Grace) so of course I'm all over the music in her room...and life. "Experts" say Mozart is the best music for kids. I"m like, Mozart is cool...but that sounds like some eurocentric bias to me.

FOLEY : U know folks gotta keep "Dat Shit" goin'......

* Ain't no telling what's gonna happen with Eminem's legacy*

Reggie : So what am I playing for her? Start with Miles, of course...All Blues, The Duke, Porgy and Bess, lotsa ballads.... Debussy, John Barry, Kathleen Battle.... ...but man, THE BEATLES are SO RIGHT for a kid!!!! They are the flyest nursery rhymes ever! The highest compliment! Newborn loves it, adults singing along...that's the highest gift man. That music sounds like love itself !!!

FOLEY : Ha ha ha..No Doubt

The Real "Pied Piper"

"Maca"

But , U know what ?

Now that I think about it ......

Wynton's "Blues" ain't all that convincing to me , either.

When anyone of those "Purists" decides to put a back-beat against some of THAT music ?

Then , I ( like alot of other folks ) might get excited

You take a kat like : Herbie Hancock ....

THAT'S WHAT JAZZ SOUNDS LIKE

Cause, he can play all of that "Classical" stuff & STILL write : "BUTTERFLY"

The "Hip-Hop" community has embraced him as a founding father as well ...

Those who can .... WILL

and, those who can't ......WON'T

Fuck an endowment ....Bring Da Heat My Nigga !!

Reggie Hudlin : We're living in days were damn near every month an old master passes away. In five or ten years I feel like jazz will be a lost art, like how they built the pyramids.

FOLEY : No Shit ....

All of those "Jazz" festivals have ( year by year ) become "Music" festivals

for this very reason.

Reggie : What does jazz TODAY supposed to sound like ?

FOLEY : If U could find somebody Honest enuff ( with "Concepts" )

to expose the truth ?

I could prolly answer that.....

but , Cee-Lo Green & D'angelo are makin an effort .....fa Sho '

Haha !!

Cee-Lo is my fav singer / songwriter in the game right now....

Ya'll have no idea how bad that Kat is....

Actually, when I think about it ?

"BJORK" is the only one out there *REALLY* pushin' shit

fjbndfjbn.gif (30212 bytes) Photo : The Observer

Reggie : Aaaaawwwwwww man, that's my GIRL.

I LOVE me some Bjork. One of the three most interesting artists in the game today.

I saw her live at the Hollywood Bowl. Her live show is sick too.

FOLEY : *Lucky Muhfucka*

Do drugs significantly impact creativity? If Miles never got high, would he been as great?

FOLEY : It's what's goin thru a person ULTIMATELY

That "DIVINE" intervention ?

but, the GREAT Illusion is....

some folks THINK that they NEED drugs to get themselves "ONLINE"

Cause, when I got with MILES ( in '87 ) he was Sober.....

AND, STILL PLAYIN' HIS ASS OFF

Photo : Dany Gignoux

I remember once Carlos ( Santana ) told me that he had to learn how to play all over again !

when he got off that shit ....But, I'm sure he just needed to remind himself of how to get "online" without it !

Reggie : Of the new jacks, cats under 30 that never heard P.Funk or EWF at their peak, who is the best? R. Kelly, Kanye West, Andre 3000, or somebody else I'm forgetting?

FOLEY : Yes, the Baddest kat of them all.... that's under 30 : D'angelo

Reggie : Thank you, D'Angelo is sick. But what's up with the work ethic...or lack thereof?

FOLEY : I first met D in London when he first came out....and, he was MADD Cool

Plus, he wasn't to be fucked with ....but, He's prolly sick of the bullshit , I reckon.

I mean this kat couldn't even take care of his body & get fit .....

without women grabbing his nutts on that last tour

Yellin "take it off" & shit , at times un-necessarily.... While he's really trying to sing ?!?

When I saw him in ATL in '95 he did the dopest version of Curtis'

"The Makings of You"

and, folks talked all the way thru the song... waiting on "Brown Sugar"

He Killed it !!

Just him at the Rhodes & his voice

Curtis would have been proud , man ....

Reggie : A beautiful choice. He destroys stuff like that.

FOLEY : Aaaaaaaay , Wait .....

No one questions Steely Dan's time in between albums ?!?

Reggie Hudlin : Yeah, but didn't the early records come faster than the later ones?

My man only has two joints out! Two! That's frustrating as hell...brothers are THIRSTY for good music.

FOLEY : Sometime's it takes a second , Reg

especially when YOU'RE the ONLY *Real* source of creativity

Back in the day, in a group setting ....there's alot of people to Borrow / Steal from

Plus, SLY's got 3-4 records put away too....

Reggie : Oh man...and what about the left over stuff from the old days?

I want to hear the "director's cut" of RIOT and FRESH.

FOLEY : HA !!

SLY prolly don't wanna be bothered with this bullshit ( the Industry ) either

I think it takes alot longer, to recoup from the craziness of folks today , than it did before ....

Reggie : Maybe so... but, how about just NOT TOURING ? Which is what Steely Dan did...

FOLEY : Yeah.... but, you know they workin' the hell outta these folks today , man

Not like they Haven't before , tho....

"Clear Channel" will wake dat ass up in the Middle of the Night

Reggie Hudlin : Have black people lost their soul?

FOLEY : Nah....I'm an Optimist ( mercifully )

but, we damn sho' "Mis-placed it" somewhere

Gettin Dat Hair ''Done''

It's Sad....really Sad.

I remember when Ice Cube said :

"Soul Train" done lost dey soul....

should just call it "Train" cos' dem bitches look like hoes"

Reggie Hudlin : Somebody needs to put together the "Book of Cube" because he's got so many lines like that. I say "they'll be a new nigga next year" all the time.

FOLEY : Hahahahaha !!

The "BOOK OF CUBE"

Uh, let us turn our text to.....

Reggie : Berry Gordy, George Clinton, Puffy: same guy, different flavors

or no comparison between them?

FOLEY : All of the above , actually

Berry Gordy ~ The Deal-maker......

George Clinton ~ The GREAT Referee ......

Puffy ~ The Crowd Pleaser