PRINCE
“HE HAD NO FEAR”
Secret origins revealed ! Early mentor PEPÉ WILLIE recalls Prince’s entry into the Minneapolis scene , his first forays into recording and his formidable skills on the basketball court
PEPÉ WILLIE
“THE FIRST time I met Prince he was wrestling on the floor with his cousin, Charles. He was so small, I thought he was eight. I didn’t realise he was 12. Charles – Chazz, we call him – and I used to make jokes about Prince: ‘Can you imagine Prince at 50 with a pot belly…?’
“In December 1970, I got out of the army with an honourable discharge and went to see my girl Shantel – who was Prince’s first cousin – in Minneapolis. I had 90 days to get back to my job with the New York Telephone Company, so I stayed there a little short of three months, then went back to Brooklyn. Once, we went over Prince’s mom’s house. I thought he was pretty quiet. He wasn’t very out there. He spoke very softly. But he laughed at a lot. He was a regular guy.
“A few years later, when Prince was 15, Shantel told him that I knew a lot about the music industry. My uncle is the founding member of Little Anthony & The Imperials. I learned a lot about the business. So Prince called me up. He goes, ‘What’s the deal about publishing?’ I thought it was kind of odd. But I told him, ‘Well, it’s hard for me to tell you over the phone. But I’ll be in Minneapolis soon, and we can sit down and talk…’