Eric Leeds (Photo courtesy the artist)
A year after his death, it’s no surprise people are still talking about and listening to Prince. His prolific output (more than 20 albums), a legion of devoted fans and a vault of unreleased recordings ensures that his music will live a mighty long time. The anniversary of the death of the artist was marked in April with celebration concerts and his hits back on the radio. The party resumes locally this month, as Prince would have turned 58 on June 7 (see below).
Prince, a multi-instrumentalist, didn’t play the saxophone, so in the '80s he asked his manager, Alan Leeds, for a reference. Leeds referred his brother Eric, with whom he had lived in Richmond for about six years. Prince featured Eric Leeds on albums by The Family, Madhouse and eventually his band, The Revolution.
These days, Leeds, 65, is focused on LP Music, a jazz fusion band that records a crowd-funded album this summer. He’s also been asked to join The Revolution, who are currently touring.
Richmond magazine: When did your family move to Richmond?
Eric Leeds: We moved right before school started in 1959, we were there until the late summer of ‘66. I was there second grade through eighth grade. We lived out in the Sleepy Hollow section of Henrico County, way the hell out there. I started playing the saxophone in fifth grade … at Maybeury Elementary.
RM: What do you remember about your first meeting with Prince?
Leeds: I shook hands with him and five minutes later we were recording. Prince had several tracks already completed for this album that was coming out [as] The Family. He asked me if I wanted a cassette to listen to the music for a few days. I … just said, ‘if you feel comfortable about us just getting to it, I’m ready to go.’ So, a few minutes later we were at it.
RM: How did playing an instrument that Prince couldn’t play affect your working relationship?
Leeds: It was a huge advantage, it really was, in enabling me to … contribute things to the music, as far as arrangements and things like that. It kind of allowed me to create my own … identity in his band, which was not as easy to do [for] others, whose instruments that he could play. He ... went on to create my role of primary instrumental soloist in his band, other than his guitar solos.
RM: Did you ever buy Prince a birthday present?
Leeds: I did once. The irony was that Prince, in his later years, was a Jehovah’s Witness, and Jehovah Witnesses don’t celebrate birthdays. I gave him a book called “Music Is Mistress,” a Duke Ellington biography. Prince wasn’t somebody that read a lot. But it was the kind of book you can scan through and enjoy.
RM: You lived in Richmond last summer; what brought you back?
Leeds: One of these days I may actually get the hell out of Minneapolis and go back somewhere warm. And I just thought where would I go? Would moving back to Richmond be an option that I could enjoy? And I did. I absolutely had a great time.
Remembering Prince, June 7, 1958 – April 21, 2016
June 7, 6 to 8 a.m.
WRIR’s Wednesday Morning Breakfast Blend plays Prince hits.
July 15 at Hardywood, 6:30 p.m.
Trunk Show Band will present the tenth installment of its Cover to Cover series, featuring songs from "Purple Rain."
