Entertainment
Narada Michael Walden: One of the Most Influential Figures in Music History
In this episode of 'Taking a Walk,' renowned musician Narada Michael Walden shares his insights on the profound connection between music and spirituality. He reflects on his early experience...
Narada Michael Walden: One of the Most Influential Figures in Music History
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In early 1988, federal agents raised to track down the gang they suspect of importing
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millions of dollars worth of heroin into New York from Asia.
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Had 30 agents ready to go and shotguns and rifles and you know that.
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56 white people pushed me in the con.
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Basically, your state-owned moms were picking up these large amounts of heroin.
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All you get to do is receive the package. Don't have to open it, just accept it.
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She was very upset crying.
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Taking a walk.
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This is such an honor. I'm here speaking. I'm taking a walk with Nard Michael Walden.
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Hello, sir. Hey, how are you? I'm fantastic. I'm fantastic. Welcome to Taking a Walk.
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This is what we call the podcast. Now, since we're not taking a walk literally,
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but we are walking through music history with you, I do want to ask you, if you could take a walk
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with somebody living or deceased, who would you take a walk with and where would you take that walk with them?
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I don't know. For some reason, Oli came to me, Muhammad Oli came to me and dang in the woods,
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like mirror woods. For some reason, he came to me. But then came a lot, then came prints,
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then came Guru, then came Mavishduk, all of them would have come, then came Carls. They all want
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to, yeah, Mother Mary came. She wanted to go and offend the woods and talk. Yes, okay.
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You know, my Guru didn't ride the bus. We wouldn't take the back seat of the bus.
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It wasn't fun. Yeah, it was fun. You wanted to go into the woods and talk.
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Oh my God. Yeah, man, it's all good. They all want to come. We all want to have a part of the
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they're all invited. Everyone is invited. Yeah. Before we dig here further, including still years
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for the summer and just everything in your wonderful career, though, it does hit me. We also
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produced this other podcast. It's hosted by my friend, Lyn Hoffman. It's called Music Save Me.
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And it's about the healing power of music and what it does for us and how important it is
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from musicians standpoint, certainly. So I believe I know where you're going to go with this,
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but I do have to ask you knowing your spirituality and your core beliefs. Do you think music has
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healing power? Absolutely. Without question. Absolutely. More than we even recognize or realize,
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in fact, but I think of my childhood as the music that comes to me first, the songs if I hear a
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song or the song, I can see what I what I was doing. We smell the air, the kind of carry redraw,
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the conversations, the feelings, the excitement, the enthusiasm. Music is a key to lock the whole
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universe. And if that music is right next to God because dig it, if God talks us in silence,
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what comes right after silence? Music. So music is the highest form on the planet.
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To reach each other, I can go with Jeff Beck when he was alive from America to Japan to China,
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to Russia. Anywhere in the world and that music communicates.
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My wish to communicate. Carls is community anywhere in the world. That's the beauty of music. You
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music is the higher language. So I am here in honor of music to keep music going and keep my
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heart young and fresh like a little kid excited by the music. And the euphoria that you bring to
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your craft and to your life is so contagious. It really connects us all at a time when so many
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things don't connect us, but it's the one thread, certainly not only your beautiful work with it
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and all your collaborations, but that in general what music gives to us, it keeps us together.
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Yeah, and please tell your friend, I want to be on a show. If you'll have me,
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to speak about the spiritual aspects of music. And I got my name in the art behind him being a
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little bit of a violin musician when Guru gave me the name. He told me all the stories about
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narrative with his music came to the earth to inspire with loving God more with divine message.
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So it's all it's all beautiful. So do you remember I will you you are invited. So here by you are
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you are here by invited, but the first moment you recall in life being connected deeply with music.
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What was that? First moments, oh my I love like Frank froggy when a court and heated lie when I was
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a little little kid, little two year old, those little nursery rhymes are so cool. My dad would
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bind for me and they're recess so sweet on it on a record player. You know, um,
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mombo music. Um, looking at the beautiful covers of the ladies on the covers of the mombo music.
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I hear and George sharing the Peggy Lee that album, the live album, beating and the beatips call I think.
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Those are early early recollections. Then at my grandpa's house across the way,
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my mom's sister's Vicki and Valerie, they would have Nina Simone live at all. Then I have to get
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out my my my pie tin and a pillow and play along just softly to try to imitate the drummer on those
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records. You know, summertime, I love you, Boergy, uh, just that the whole album is so deep with Nina
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Simone live at all. That that where they got me, you know, then of course, not long after we go on our
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little trips to Upper Michigan in our cottage and they're bringing out by horse silver called six
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pieces of silver and it'd be a piece on there called senior blues. And they would say the drummers
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only 18 made Lewis Hayes from Detroit. I said, Oh, he's a little he's young. So that I have like
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to memorize all the pieces just so that's early early early on all those things, man.
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Even the even herriable affonte take my mother home was the very scary piece, very frightening.
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I got fried as a kid. Then I remember good memories like when they we first heard on the radio
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twisting shot by the eyes of the brothers on the radio. You just don't don't don't don't don't
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also little rich on 78s. You know, good golem is my grandma's house. That was really
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electrifying as a little kid hearing that. Then I loved the live album of Ray Charles. What I say,
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friends, the um spirit, uh, drummounted ears and uh, just so incredible that album. So I had,
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I and then fingertips came along and there's white me out all the live recordings, probably frankly,
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would not me. I call the live recordings. Isn't that interesting thinking about that because
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then you would not only apply your craft in studios and you continue to brilliantly but you
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applied your craft in the live performance area. Yeah. Um, who taught you the incredible disciplines
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that take you to musical journeys and beauty to this day? My mom and dad were very disciplined.
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My mom was raised by her father. He was a great janitor, custodian in Kalamazoo, Michigan,
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cleaned all the car places, insurance buildings, cleaned everything, just a bit of sparkle.
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The up and three in the morning to get out, you know, in the morning before a place of it open.
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So we she had a great discipline of helping him, you know, and see how hard he worked. And then
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my own dad helped him too and also ran, you know, a job in a paper mill and then he basically
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became a draftsman for a source power company. But he was like a sergeant. My dad was very serious.
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You know, whatever he said, we knew he meant it. So there was no bullshit in our family.
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And my dad wanted to be a drummer. He would carry the snow. His friends drums,
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a guy named Bill Dowdy from the three sounds. So I also had to like listen to three sounds and,
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you know, when I could play along with that record, my dad would actually get me
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an unnew drum set to go on TD and look really professional. Because I could impress my dad. I could
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play Bill Dowdy. So it's all in the music. It's all the family. And then Michigan, where I'm from
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in Kalamazoo, you know, a snow outside a lot, the weather's not so good and go outside and play.
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So you're locked inside a lot. So you can play and practice and do things. And my mom never
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complained about drumming the noise. Only she ever complained about Won't have all those
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downstairs. My friend Steve Wiffin working over the whose record of them. I can see from miles
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and miles and miles and miles. And I wanted to get it right. And I was telling the boys how to play
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it right. And I went upstairs to get a glass of water. My mom said, why are you shouting at those
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boys downstairs? So I'm not shouting. You see, yeah, you're being strong with them. I said, I didn't
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mean to. I just want to make sure we get the music right. So that's the only thing she ever
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ever complained about. But other than that, she didn't care that the noise was there and it was not
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noise. It was beauty. In fact, as we lived in Plano, Michigan outside Kalamazoo, they would take me
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to different rehearsals I would have on Saturday mornings with Joel Brooks who played organ
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in his house. And then we have Joel Brooks had an uncle who owned ambassador lounge,
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the cool lounge on Northside Kalamazoo where all the people would go hang out and drink and whatever.
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And we can go in there early before they're opening out and play in there. And my parents would
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would help me do that. I wanted to be able to be a big gig on New Year's Eve at the crazy
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horse and go on the craze horse and play. So, you know, and you see the big spinning light mirror ball,
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you know, and all the people. And so I was introduced to early to play live. And my parents
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loved it. They probably haul around my drums, which you know, that's not easy. And haul on a organ.
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And even the even the Leslie. No roadies wet you then. Yeah, that was my parents and his parents.
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So, you know, real real dedication as I'm trying to tell you, we don't think about it,
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but I'm telling you that in the 60s, 50s, 60s, you had a work to be a music.
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Who's the Mount Rushmore of drummers for you? All of them. I love peaches, bananas, oranges,
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strawberry, apples, grapes, grapefruits, all of them. You don't leave nobody out because they all
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contributed to this like the start behind me. Everybody brought their own flavor and you needed it.
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Mitch Mitchell brought that flavor for him. There's that no one else could have been better at
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Jimmy than Mitch Mitchell. Billy Cobham brought that that that chicken that fire behind the Mavish
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New that just scolded my soul to this very day. When I saw the harbor Connecticut 72, whatever
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just and the most incredible fire I've ever seen in my life. So, you know, and then of course,
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as a little kid, we have an album by Buddy Rich and Max Roach going back and forth. I was like
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intrigued to hear that. You know, our Blakey on the the sermon with Jimmy Smith playing a rock
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backbeat throughout the whole 22 minutes. That time, get you in, get you in, get you in, you know,
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which you wouldn't think and jazz would be a blues value, but that's what our Blakey was playing.
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That was my favorite because it was just so just swinging strong like that. Of course, take five
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comes out with Joe Morella. Oh, no, that's something cool. You know, or Cannonball Adley seven miles
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high, Mercy Mercy Me, uh, sack of all of this here. All that music that was coming out. You know,
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Michael Bloomfield with Buddy Miles, the electric flat, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da,
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da, so much. Everywhere you look, even the Moby Grape, cold blood, cold blood with a standing
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guide everywhere you look, jadges and not first light with Freddie Harvard. You know,
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Windywood was my gunnery ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, all of it.
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I'm like, it's a Percy faith. All that stuff was so beautiful. So I live from all of it and there
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there is a rush mom. If you have a rush mom or put them all up there. I love that. I have to ask
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you about one drummer though, in particular, who was part of the wrecking crew and how blame,
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how blame the one I'm thinking of though is the one that had the the tragic ending Jim Gordon.
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I didn't know much about Jim Gordon. I knew I'm familiar with some of the recordings,
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but he was taken out of the game so quickly with that axe in the hand and taken in a jail.
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Now, given the name of one of the two of the pieces of he beyond, so I can tell you
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well, writing credits on Layla for sure. Is that him playing drums on Layla? Yep.
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Okay. I got it. And also the good vibrations, beach boys.
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Oh, that's him too. Okay. I didn't know that. I thought that was how.
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I think how was associated with it as well, but he was that whole wrecking crew was the unknown
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group of, you know, experts there that were kind of no one knew them, but they were all producing
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this incredible work. But the tragedy of Jim Gordon was how the music industry turned its back
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on mental illness. That's the tragedy. I worked in a hospital with mental illness and I saw how it
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goes down. You know, a shock treatment, some, you know, we take the people and put them in the cages,
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you know, have they're sometimes going to strap them down. My job is to orderly to go on an
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strap and wash them, bathe them, clean them, shave them, put on their clothing, you know,
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engines you have to do is restraining them against later. They'll hurt themselves.
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Mental illness is a very serious thing. I also take care of the kids who burn the house down.
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Runaways. Be my job and I've got a high school from freshman to ninth grade freshman,
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take care of those kids take them for walk or keep them in the same room plan. We'll have
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a happy day by everyone, you know, everyone, um, happy day. It wouldn't start.
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Not start. No, no, no, the choir guy. Edwin Hawkins. Edwin Hawkins. Sorry, yes.
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Or I'm leaving on jet plane by a Peter pole, Mary. Yeah, you know, things are kind of
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columned out, you know, but I would see the mental illness firsthand and back then there was a budget
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to actually take people in. Of course, Reagan came along and it kind of like dismantled some of
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that stuff. People ended up on the streets. So you're saying Jim Gordon, a mental illness,
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problem, God knows, maybe there was anything to catch him. There was no, no net to catch him.
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You know, and that's happy everywhere now, even, even full, full force.
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Edwin, where you go, you're seeing holes on the street right down the street from where I'm living
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here. My studio off the hanging out. There's, there's no place to let go. There's no net.
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Other countries have a net. We don't believe in a net over here, Adam. And it's going to get worse
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because the rich get rich in the poor get poor. So the net, they ain't on the catch yet.
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I'm so sorry about it. It's my, it hurts me.
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Well, and it goes back to the thread at the beginning of the interview, just on the fact of
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what music means and how it brings, you know, folks together and how it has, you know, healing,
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heart, you know, processes as well. We'll be right back with more of the Take in a Walk podcast.
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Hey, I'm Jay Chetty, host and beyond purpose podcast. I had the incredible opportunity to sit
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down with the one, the only Cardi B. My marriage, I felt the love dying. I was crying every day.
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I felt in the deepest depression that I had ever had. How do you think you misunderstood?
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I'm not this evil mean person that people think that I am. I'm too compassionate.
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I have sympathy for **** that **** my man.
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Put so much heart and soul into your work. What's the hardest part for you to take that criticism?
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This **** was not given to me. I worked my ass off for me. Even when I was a stripper,
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I'm gonna beat the best pole dancer in here. When was the moment you felt? I did it.
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I still took this day. Don't feel comfortable. I fight every day to keep this level of success
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and you know what they find is not what they expected. Basically your stay at home moms were
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you may not see her for like 25 years.
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Welcome back to the Takenawatt podcast. Talk about your first time running into and then ultimately
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making great magic with Aretha Franklin. Aretha Franklin daunting?
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Clive Davis opened that door for me and he just said give her a phone call like that.
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Very understated and I called her and the conversation was just magical. I'm so glad I was prepared
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for the phone call with my pen in my paper to take little notes and things because she speaks in a
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way that I couldn't ever understand prior going into the conversation that that's how she would talk.
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But she speaks in a very high affoluting has her own language, her own way of describing things
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that it's just it's just her. So for example I'll be on the phone and I say well what do you do
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do they have fun? And she said oh I might go out to a nightclub. In that club I see a guy in the
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corny look good I look good he will look nice y'all look both look good kind of like who's him and who.
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Yeah but then you know he's are you looking at me I'm looking at him.
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Well you think he got me but then the fish jumps off the hook.
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Ha ha ha he thinks he's got me but the fish jumps off the hook. What are you talking?
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But that's how she was. Now I'll get off the phone I tell press the glass. This is what she said.
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We got to make a hit song out of this and we did this.
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Out of the phone call just her being her.
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So when you talk about her that had that cut that that comes to my mind. Then when I went
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with a tape from Sam Francisco to Detroit to go meter that's a whole other mystery.
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Her walking in the room with her fur coat and her cigarettes. You're still smoking.
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And looking in my eyes. I look in her eyes. I let her know right away. I'm here to be your friend
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and serve the music and love you and be kind to you. I'm not here to fight with you.
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And then I was like cool because I can see in her eyes the genius they all knowing you know can
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hear everything can sing everything and play everything piano everything.
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Just looking at you the all-knowingness of God. She is she's walking native God the highest
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poem. So how about that God know I'm not here to fight. I'm here to make music and then
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sure enough with Dave Frazier we hit the play button let the music come on. I saw that whole thing
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like just go and she was like that sounds so good you know you know and then she go I'm going to
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microphone and she was singing down the octave four times straight through the whole song down
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the octave like a man-lange and she'll say okay I'm ready to cut. I'm like okay and now she
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sounds up in her range like a wreatha and the whole take us like a hit record. In fact to her it is
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almost done. I'll sing one more time for you you know because you have a choice. She's singing
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second time like done okay the time so smart because I am smart I'm a purpose and I'm like flipper
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they called him flipper flipper but I did it. I said you know what because now you're so high
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on the ending go all these riffs and stuff do you want or two more takes adjust that so I got
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all that in the bag she's okay so I'm gonna get happy whatever the riffs are all those ideas
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just flowing because I realized with people like that you can't come back to you got to get it
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right then then go back to the first verse and get studious because that first verse is critical
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for the R&B singer if there's too much R&B on the first verse you can lose like your pop audience
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I know that so now I'm a little concerned that the first verse is still to R&B sounding perhaps
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too much flippancy going on maybe we need to have a little more subtle or people in their cars
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and their altars can sing it back more easily on the first opening we can get more progressive
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as we go along but let's start out a little simpler so she would say me then she got kind of me
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she knew I was she knew I'm a good person she looked me say you know I'm gonna do for you
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I say what I'll give you one more take it's called the straight reading I go the straight reading
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what is that I go in I see it one more time for you a little closer to the melody that gives you
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one more take I go okay and she goes back in and she'll sing it to her a little close to the
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melody to me not that much different but a little bit so inevitably when I come back home in my
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studio and say let's go here and comp would comp means put the word put the best lyrics together the best
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performances together I end up using what I'm my thought was to R&B it's just so good it's just
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so pure that you can't you can't ignore it you can't lack lack you're gonna be simple because you
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using it so I've learned so much from her just to kind of flow with her make sure the chorus is a
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hit I always go over there with the chorus is stacked up backgrounds so I knew that'd be powerful
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no matter what she would do flipping around or carrying on the chorus be so powerful that I get one
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take which he's sing with the chorus to make sure I had it and then once we knew each other how he
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worked we got a light peanut butter and jelly and this you want to what you want to eat you want
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you want to want to want cheeseburger you want you want some fried chicken nor do going down to
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getting nodder nodder going out of getting nodder some fried chicken and some cheeseburger
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feel beyond man they should open up a pants pow litter litter belly come out and go and sing one
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more thing for you or whatever one might be power unknown no I'm gonna understand what it's
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like to be in control of them with speakers hearing a re the frame of voice coming out because I
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make things loud anyway but powerful clear clean every note is what she wants to be she doesn't
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sing anything unless she hears it that way for example one time I said this might be a little bit
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much here she goes well she goes well play it to me she'll let us live and play it to me you know
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the ash almost be burning down the same cigarette you know listen to the whole thing loving loving
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every day and think about it and and I say well maybe this area right here you know it could be
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little simple ago she goes well that's just the way I hear it okay I get it I get it me here I
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get it so she she opened my eyes and I wonder eyes too we both got along great we met her first
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platinum with George Michael I knew you were waiting bam I knew you were waiting for me first big
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number one pop record moon seller freeway I love who's doing all that stuff we did I'm so proud of
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and proud of my history with her when I went to her funeral she's the people's champion all
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around the blocks in Detroit just far as you could ever see all the people just lined up
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to come and look at her the night before the big funeral the old and they had a song playing
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out from that church called Mary don't you weep with her singing just perfect you realize how
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damn genius she is was is Mary don't you weep as these people all lined up her people
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the disenfranchise of the world the poor people people ain't got nothing but just loved her
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and it'd be a little symbolized a little pink cat like off front that I was very proud to see
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but freeway I love you Sam right there I never and I never actually went to church to look at her
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it was too bad I couldn't even get in there even the day I went up to the funeral I'm playing in the
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band you know for the music and I wanted to go take a peek at her before they close the coffin
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Ralph Armstrong and I went around for the band stand all around the church we can get in before
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they close the Capitol I said no respect the family it's closed off now you you're five minutes too late
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you're this well there's a nod he's part of the family respect the family it's closed off now
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so it wasn't up me to see her like that but we had the best of times before she'd pass
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to when she called me on the phone I was gonna tell you I love sitting on the couch laughing with you
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we had the best of times see how's the best it gets let me just say she said and don't ever lose your
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million dollar smile okay oh man see what I mean that's that's priceless can you can't beat that stuff oh man
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oh I got one more thing I never played live with her back then
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toward the end of her life the last seven shows of her life she said would you
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come play with me I said I'd be honored and I made seven shows with her you know New Jersey
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and a J-Pack Center with that was called Boston was incredible oh my god uh New York
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at that Radio City musical that Clive Davis had been we did and the last show
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was the Elton John AIDS concert at St. John divine but I mean it was packed with St. Billy Joel
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Clark Davis anybody was anybody in New York was there now this would be her last show and she came
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up kind of rail thin now and people like I'm like whoa you know but it didn't matter man she's saying
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her ass off and that band played its ass on and free band love when we throw that money was a
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15 minutes long she wanted us a rocket man and she'd leave the stage and come back and still rocket
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so that's how she was and I remember at one point she did her tribute to Nessendorma live
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and I put the symbols with the emalas and like I see over there staying and there's
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thing all crying just to hear her singness and Durma it was so beautiful
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I have one more memory I'm gonna share with you because I'm it's on my brain sure
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the first time I played live where there will be um what do you call those and a fair where
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they're like a private function not for just the public for a private affair yeah like in New York
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yeah corporate or whatever a great one though I'd be like a high-faluting one and that was the
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first time I played live with her and I went up on a jam called chain of fools she had another
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drummer from Detroit forgetting her name Gailene Gailene the beautiful girl a woman could play really
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great so she'd be with her there and there'd be my turn and I came on on chain of fools
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chain of fools got so rocking with Ralph Armstrong and I they actually sang a song she said keep
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on going we kept going rock chain of fools right she goes this down like like a price fight like in
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the corner like sitting down in the chair then she says tells the guys bring me some towels he wrapped
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her throw the towels you know like a like a price fighter all wrapped up a record what look like
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what towels were over rocking you know chain of fools you know I'm saying it's really into it
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and she's sitting there looking at me you know as I'm grooving at one point she stood up through all
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them towels we're back to Mike and started rocking hardcore that's why people love her she just
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gave everything everything man it was like allian phrasier just blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah
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and then I started realizing when you go to Boston before she even come out the audience was like
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oh oh really you're here oh it'd be like a friends in the audience before she even walk on the stage
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and another thing I learned you could never talk to before the before there's a show
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I mean she knows you're there but she'd be dead quiet not mentioning a word to anybody save
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your voice for a show and also to be back there missed to make it misty for her but never you
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could never talk to her you can never talk to her and she come out and just kill and she warned you
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to kill and we did then after every show the classic thing is true she knew going to her bra pull
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out the cash pay you in cash then you have to sign a little piece of payment you got paid in cash
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you know something alright but then one time I got embarrassed because I know I was going to pay
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more another cast of the band so her her her her her girlfriend part of the family said
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gone count your money now I think it's gale not galean what's it early in early
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gone can I get your money now I'm feeling bears the counter in front of everyone the all the
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band look at me like this yeah count your money now I don't see how much I'm gonna turn my back
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you know counting okay thank you it's all here thank you but I don't want to see how much it
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makes me make the band upset and then read the 70 you got enjoy me into all those for the jazz
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vest and of course I'll be there for you but she never made the jazz first she never made the
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jazz vest she kind of hold her little side a new shoes in pain no oh thank you we had a close
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relationship you sure did I was close to the guts I think you know I'm still trying to get my arms
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around I love the visual when you said in the studio how she just kind of you know
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unbuttoned things there and let things hang and say let me let her rip baby that's where the
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heart was I love it where she wanted to really go for it like you know she undo up under her pants
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and love it oh yes and and and one more thing you should know this is classic on the number one record
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you know I in those days was tape sound I had like one real tape for George
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10 tracks another I mean two reels one with a track with a band and then another real
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the track could be 24 10 for George 10 for Reethan and for for they can mess around
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so the first day a rhythm come in into our parts not the outlet stuff just the verse and the
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real was the chorus isn't the you know verse the basic stuff that George going next day really
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nervous to lay down his stuff he laid on his verses his choruses and I wouldn't do too much
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outro stuff I want to save a third day for them to come together for that ending but even the
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verses the choruses George would say to me you know what after doing 10 tracks here go back over
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my first four tracks how I'm feeling stronger and I would say no George I ain't doing that those
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first four track are the record you think you're getting better but if that is not you're going down
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the first four tracks were your strongest and I'm safe with those tracks and he looked at me like who
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the hell do you think you are I'm George Michael I know you George Michael but he wasn't
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he's the only producer I wasn't used to working with him but I had to stand up as strong because I
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knew what I knew and I said George if you just go home I'll stay up all night comp together the
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best parts to show you when you come tomorrow you got any problem you can do tomorrow but right now
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I'm stopping I can't go any further because these are the best tracks so he came next day I was
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able to knock him out with how how good it sounded then we could focus on the ending and on the
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ending I got two mics for a wreath in for him I had just enough to go over the ending four different
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times first couple times I read his being really nice to him you know just being kind of mild
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third and fourth time hell now she's stars is hot she there rip now you listen to the ending
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everybody here just a incredible thing and stun George it was like a stun
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it's so incredible it's on the record so I love that moment to see George the stunmer yeah
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the knockout blow on him she didn't want to scare him but how she couldn't help it she's a wreath
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oh man yeah I have two more things I want to talk to you about but one is I want to talk about
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euphoria and still yours for the summer oh there it is the hearts are coming up tell me how much
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enjoyment you had creating that work which one euphoria yeah that was great that was with our
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partner in Italy named Lino Nicolosi in his family why write my songs over here caught him
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do I want to do sing them and sum over there for his touch to add into it his guitar work his sister
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bad bad has bass player his brother bad has keeper player kind of just dress it up from the European
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standpoint I want to make sure I offer something to European people of my work because they love me
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over there for ever said I should love James not all right divine emotion Europe comes to life
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with my music give me give me give me like number one and Sweden so I thought let's have some fun
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with the European touch and that's what he brought that was a lot of fun for me to hear back and
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the combination of my my vibe his vibe coming together and on the song for sting I had that
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LeBault staying Carlos Stevie the more love my life and I said let me just make this into the
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little European touch on it so he did that too and that was lovely called the more love my life
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so that was a lot of fun to me a lot of hard work because it's you're working
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two carlets you know what I'm when I'm sleeping he's awake and vice versa you know I wake up
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the sixth of the morning whatever in Mary he'd be like on me but no it's a note to note so that
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was a lot but it was it was great music now this new album mine I made it right here in my in my house
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still yours for the summer yeah it's in a way it's easier for me because I can just do it you know
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and you had the the great version of hot fun on the summertime yeah I felt like an honor to
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slide I didn't realize is the die but something in my spirit said honor slide and make it a dance
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version like just changed it up so I took hot fun and made it a dance kind of disco-y and fun and
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what you wouldn't expect and when I did it Jeff McCluskey out of Chicago the big radio guru from
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Clyde Davis's camp I know Jeff yeah it is teen they said this should be our first
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single because it's something old something new I said okay put it up so they did but then I kept
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and I came in another song called Boogie Cherry Bomb for the summertime called a kind of funky
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bikini sexy type song having fun in the you know in the beaches and all that and then our
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third single decided to make a warm chat was said do do something from your catalog you know because
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you got this great catalog take one of those songs and redo it I said let's take I should love
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you and then and I had I remember that Lena I don't remix about should love you so after
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took Lena remix make sure I haven't do did my did new vocals new stuff on it you know and
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I became our third single and now the album is just freshly out and I'm very proud of the song
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stickers the summer beaches Neil Shaw from junior great solo from the amp got another testimony
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from my vision how much I love him how much he helped me discovering me bringing me open the door
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because I gotta tell you buzz night to making this industry the hardest thing in the world there's
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no book on it there's no book on it there's no magic it's just half of the stance if I saw so many
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talented down the people in Midwest you know touring I see they're so great gifted maybe they never
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make it so I was just always praying how I was gonna be with as my best you know they actually took
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and mainly because I think I was I was ready to pray and meditate with the guru and just make
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myself what he needed me to be and it was it worked out and God bless me because from there I toured
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my vision in the Jeff Beck and then weather report and you know all kind of by Tommy Bowen I actually
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tell you what I'm talking about in his band over weather report because I want to do more rock and roll
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at that time so all those doors just started opening for me you know garden love light I was able to
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make my own soul album with Atlantic you know it's easy but but God made away so I'm very
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thankful in my life that I've been able to kind of cross read and cross you know meet Tommy Dowd
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you know who says you gotta bring a sister used to sing on the garden love light okay I know
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sister he heated so he comes to the Houston with her whole group and here's a little Whitney Houston
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11 years old in the corner washing the session and they sound incredible wow I met Whitney she's 11
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that's because of Tommy Dowd incredible I saw another piece for Jeff Beck Jeff flew in from London to become
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beyond saying the rascal Carlos and if you intend to come play on first love on my first album sound
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so blessed my gifts who arranged the strings for apocalypse from obvious work as a radio strings word
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my album garden love light so I'm just I'm really really um grateful that's so many nice things
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have been in you able to come across my path can you share the new project that you're that you're
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working on which one you mean that one today yeah today yeah today we're on a very heavy project
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having the sense that it's so mind-boggling we're doing a tribute to Motowns called the Motown
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Salutes a song that odyswim from the temptations wants me to write we're running it together to honor
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all the greatness of Motown so I could attract twice because I wanted to make it first time I did
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it was more like how easy going like what's going on kind of cool but then we we want to amp it
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up we man we have to attract their twice now making it more more more dynamic so and then I had
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to look at saying my learned to make that more dynamic too but it's so much of a story who you
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who you who you put in who you do you have to leave out because you only got four minutes
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you know but it's incredible the the word that came out of Motown is staggering you know James
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James and Benny Benjamin how they found a little city wonder Ronald White for the miracles how
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smoky wrote my guy and my girl produced them of course all he had to look for the miracles became
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the vice president of the company all the temptations came on the came on the scene and it came the
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biggest act over there you know four tops down in a Ross was a receptionist they came down a Ross
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became the supreme's Martha Reeves told me she had the hottest records you know heatwave and quick
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sand and dancing his juice because you paid him more money so that's my record has more heat off
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damn it's true those those records she put out with her fire it's just so much in there yeah
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oh my god how exciting and bless the great Mickey Stevenson right right but his name is not
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mentioned but exactly yeah well he was always the man behind the scenes right yeah the Andante's
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all the back in singers they're not really mentioned with they're there Kim Weston who I loved
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you know take me your arms rock me rock me a little while that's not even mentioned
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which is more the main thing that we all know oh man and Barry Gordy yeah and it's team how are they
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worked to take all these kids from the ghettos they had nothing and polished them up to you might
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eat at a dress how to dance how to meet the king and the queen and had his records and they did
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oh man I can't thank you enough I can't thank you enough for being on taking a walk
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narrative Michael Baldwin for all you give us for you continue to give us the joy you give us the
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energy you give us the positive vibes and the love oh man thank you so much thank you too this
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was an honor you want to do anything else you're all done I you know what part two will be coming
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around I love it I love that I'm so grateful yeah thank you so much man Tim what you're
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doing by me man you are the best thank you so much thank you for loving you thanks for listening to
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this episode of the Take in a Walk Podcast share this and other episodes with your friends and
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follow us so you never miss an episode take in a walk is available on the iHeart Radio app Apple
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podcasts and wherever you get your podcasts introducing IVF disrupted the kind body story a podcast
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about a company that promised to revolutionize fertility care it grew like a tech startup while
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kind body did help women start families it also left behind a stream of disillusioned and angry
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patients you think you're finally like in the right hands you're just not listen to IVF disrupted the
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1980s modeling wasn't just a dream it was a battlefield it's a freaking war zone these people are
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animals the model wars podcast appeals back the glossy cover and reveals a high stakes game
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were survival meant more than beauty hosted by me Vanessa Grigoriatus this is the untold story of
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an industry built a ruthless ambition listen to model wars on the iHeart Radio app Apple podcasts
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or wherever you get your podcasts hey i'm Jay Chetty hosted the on purpose podcast i had the
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incredible opportunity to sit down with the one the only carry me my marriage i felt the love
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dying i was crying every day i felt in the deepest depression that i had ever had this was not
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given to me i worked my ass off for me listen to on purpose with Jay Chetty on the iHeart Radio app
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uncovers hidden truths and shattered faith for 19 years alayna sada was a nun for the legion of
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christ this season she's telling her story when i first joined the legion of christ i felt chosen i
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was 19 years old when martianna said the leader of the legionaries look me in the eye and tell me
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how to call him surviving meant hiding escaping took courage risking everything to tell her truth
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listen to sacred scandal the many secrets of marciol maceo on the iHeart Radio app Apple podcasts
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or wherever you get your podcasts in early 1988 federal agents race to track down the gang
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they suspect of importing millions of dollars worth of harryland into new york from asia had 30
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agents ready to go and shotguns and rifles and you know that five six white people pushed me in the
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convo basically your state home moms were picking up these large amounts of harryland all you
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guys do is receive the package don't have to open it just accept it she's very upset crying once i
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saw the gun i try to take his hand and i saw the flash of light listen to the china town staying
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on the iHeart Radio app apple podcasts or anywhere you get your podcasts
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this is an iHeart podcast