Living Colour: c or d

Cult of Personality was 1988, right?

Vivid was released in May of '88, and "Cult" was released that July. I remember my brother bringing home Vivid in mid-'88, and I loved it...but it was nowhere to be found on radio or MTV for at least 6 months. "Cult" didn't hit its chart peak in the US (#13) until over a year after its release.

What was the problem with the Stones support? Not a problem for Doug Wimbish I guess as he ended up becoming their bassist.

You're thinking of Darryl Jones, another bass ringer.

Iirc they got some of the same shit that Prince got.

I might be misremembering though.

This is pretty cool (just tweeted by Vernon Reid):

I spent a whole day with Charlie Watts, on our day off in Boston. That was one of my favorite days on that whole tour. We ran into Bob Moses, which was a remarkable meeting of mutual respect. Charlie was unfailingly gracious to every shocked & goggle eyed fan we met. Great man. https://t.co/ezSjxZy5ca

— Vernon Reid (@vurnt22) January 10, 2021

Wimbish played with Mick Jagger on his solo records, is what I'm thinking of.

and Jagger produced a couple tracks on Vivid after helping them get a CBS contract. Reid tells a story about Jagger getting behind the drums to show them how to get the sounds they wanted.

And plays harmonica on the album. And Reid of course recorded with Jagger, too, on the "Primitive Cool" album (as you all know). I didn't notice but Jagger pops up again on "Time's Up," too (the album), doing background vocals.

I interviewed Vernon and Corey a few years back for a retrospective feature for Planet Rock. This was them on the Stones tour:

Mick Jagger had first met Living Colour founder Vernon Reid when Reid played guitar on Jagger’s 1987 solo album Primitive Cool. He took the fledgling group under his wing, making mix-tapes of obscure blues singers for frontman Corey Glover, and helping produce the group’s 1988 debut album Vivid, as well as lending backing vocals and harmonica.

“Mick was one of the band’s early adopters, our champion,” remembers Glover. “The Stones were known for choosing support acts on the cusp of doing something interesting – Bob Marley, Prince.” This, then, was a golden opportunity – but also a mighty challenge. “The dressing rooms on the Stones tour were larger than the venues we’d previously been playing. The rooms were cavernous – with so many more people than we’d ever played to. I felt anxiety-ridden.”

“A lot of people just wanted to hear Jumping Jack Flash,” adds Vernon Reid. “But many were receptive. We had moments that were rough – but we had a lot more moments that were sublime.”

In addition to the onstage triumphs, one backstage encounter made a profound impact. Little Richard had toured with the Rolling Stones back in 1963, a support slot that helped revive his career following an unsuccessful detour into gospel. While visiting his old friends on the Steel Wheels tour, he crossed paths with their youthful support act, and met a new generation of black rock stars rising up to continue his mission.

“Little Richard is one of the architects of rock’n’roll, and the greatest vocalist,” says Reid. “In an era of dangerous people, he was perhaps the most dangerous. He really paid attention to who we were – he said we were the fulfilment of something he’d started.”

“He recognised there’d been no-one carrying the mantle of real people-of-colour in rock,” nods Glover. “And it felt like he was passing a torch onto us. Like, woah, we have a very big responsibility. Because he was saying, ‘We built rock’n’roll, so what you do is very important, too. Keep it up – you can’t stop.’”

Saw them for the first time tonight in D.C. Corey Glover is amazing.

oh my god this sucks. those drums! jesus.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0nTuvfHyR-k

1. The Indestructible Beat of Soweto (Shanachie)

This was a tremendous collection, absolutely, astonishingly great.