Sep 3, 2016

RhoDeo 1635 Grooves

Hello,

Today's artist, before she became a solo artist in 1984, played with Azteca, the Latin jazz-fusion band led by her father, percussionist Pete Escovedo; she also played on two of his solo albums recorded for Fantasy Records. Prince discovered her around 1983 and had her sing on "Erotic City," .... N'joy

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Born in Oakland, California (December 12, 1957), Sheila E. is the daughter of Juanita Gardere, a dairy factory worker, and percussionist Pete Escovedo, with whom she frequently performs. Her mother is African American and her father is of Mexican heritage. Sheila E's uncle is Alejandro Escovedo, and Tito Puente was Escovedo's godfather. She also is niece to Javier Escovedo, founder of seminal San Diego punk act The Zeros. Another uncle, Mario Escovedo, fronted long-running indie rockers The Dragons. She also is the niece of Coke Escovedo who was in Santana and formed the band Azteca. Sheila made her recording debut with jazz bassist Alphonso Johnson on "Yesterday's Dream" in 1976. By her early 20s she had already played with George Duke, Lionel Richie, Marvin Gaye, Herbie Hancock, and Diana Ross. She also plays guitar.

Prince met Sheila E. at a concert in 1978, when she was performing with her father. After the show he met her and told her that he and his bassist "were just fighting about which one of us would be the first to be your husband." He also vowed that one day she would join his band. The two would eventually join forces during the Purple Rain recording sessions. She provided vocals on the B-side to "Let's Go Crazy", "Erotic City" in 1984. Though taken under Prince's wing, she proved to be a successful artist in her own right. In 1984 she scored hits with "The Glamorous Life" (#7 on the Hot 100), which also topped the dance charts for two weeks in August 1984. The video for the song would bring three MTV Award nominations for Best Female Video, Best New Artist and Best Choreography. She also received two Grammy Awards Nominations for Best New Artist and Best Pop Vocal Performance Female. Her second release "The Belle of St. Mark" (#34), would be NME 'Single of the Week'.[3] She opened for the Purple Rain Tour and the duo simultaneously began a brief romantic relationship, while Prince was still seeing Susannah Melvoin, twin sister of The Revolution band member, Wendy Melvoin.[4]

In 1985 she released Romance 1600, and scored another hit with the track "A Love Bizarre". The non-album track "Holly Rock" made its way to live shows and into the film Krush Groove. She was also nominated for an American Music Award and two Grammy awards for Best New Artist and Best Pop Vocal Performance Female for the song "The Glamorous Life". Sheila E. recorded three albums during the '80s, The Glamorous Life, Romance 1600, and Sheila E.. She appeared in four films, Krush Groove with Run-D.M.C., LL Cool J and Blair Underwood in 1985, Prince's concert film, Sign "O" the Times in 1987 The Adventures of Ford Fairlane and Chasing Papi in 2003. They were also briefly engaged in the late '80s, during Prince's Purple Rain tour.[5]

During the Sign "O" the Times, Black Album, and Lovesexy periods of Prince's career (including the Lovesexy World Tour), Sheila E. served as his drummer and musical director in his backup band, dubbed The New Power Generation not long after her departure. During the Sign "O" the Times era, she released the single "Koo Koo" from her third album Sheila E., which had Sign "O" the Times member Cat as a backup dancer in the accompanying video. Sheila E. also served as a writer and musician on many of Prince's records, as well as on the albums of his protégés such as Madhouse.

After leaving the Prince organization in 1989, Sheila E. recorded a few more albums, Sex Cymbal, featuring the hit "Sex Cymbal", "Dropping Like Flies", and "Heaven". However, the albums garnered little attention. This was especially true in the case of Sex Cymbal, since Sheila E. developed severe health issues that prevented her from touring in order to promote it. In 1996 she played in Japanese pop singer Namie Amuro's live backup band. The show at Chiba Marine Stadium was later made available on DVD. In 1998 she played percussion on the Phil Collins cover of "True Colors". In 2002 Sheila E. appeared on the Beyoncé Knowles song "Work It Out".

Sheila E. has performed three stints as one of the member "All-Starrs" of Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band, in 2001, 2003, and 2006. Her drum "duets" with Starr are a moment of comic relief in the show, where they play the same parts but he quickly falls behind, shrugs and smiles as she takes off on an extended percussion solo. Says Sheila E.: "Ringo truly is one of the greatest rock n' roll drummers in the history of music. He enjoys the joke!"

Sheila also performed at Prince's One Nite Alone... Live! concert, Live at the Aladdin Las Vegas in 2003, 36th NAACP Image Awards in 2005, and on the Good Morning show in June 2006. In 2005, Sheila E. was a surprise guest orchestrating a band, in Amerie's "1 Thing" performances for The Lady Of Soul & World Music Awards.
In February 2006 Sheila E. performed with Prince (and Wendy Melvoin and Lisa Coleman) once again at the BRIT Awards. Sheila E. performed at the Sonoma Jazz Festival in 2006 as part of Herbie Hancock's band featuring Larry Carlton, Terrence Blanchard, Marcus Miller, and Terri Lyne Carrington.

In March 2007 she went on a small tour through Europe with her new band project called C.O.E.D. (Chronicles of Every Diva). C.O.E.D. consists of Sheila E., Kat Dyson, Rhonda Smith and Cassandra O'Neal. For several concerts she was joined by Candy Dulfer, who was billed as a special guest. She performed at the 2007 Latin Grammy Awards with Juan Luis Guerra. She also performed at the ALMA (American Latin Music Awards) Awards in June 2007 with Prince, and on July 7, 2007 in Minneapolis with Prince. She performed at all three of his concerts: first, at Prince's 3121 perfume launch at Macy's, followed by the Target Center concert, and finally, at an aftershow at First Avenue. In October 2007, Sheila E. was a judge alongside Australian Idol judge and marketing manager Ian "Dicko" Dickson and Goo Goo Dolls lead singer John Rzeznik on the Fox network's The Next Great American Band.

Sheila E. once again teamed up with Prince in March 2008, as she sat in (and played keyboard) on the performance with her family at Harvelle Redondo Beach. On April 9, 2008, Sheila E. appeared on the Emmy winning program, Idol Gives Back. Sheila E. took part in the show opener "Get on Your Feet" with Gloria Estefan. Dance troupe, So You Think You Can Dance finalists joined them on stage. On April 26, 2008, Sheila E., along with Morris Day and Jerome Benton, performed with Prince at the Coachella Music Festival. From May 2 to 6, 2008, Sheila E. played four sold-out shows at Blue Note Tokyo, the most frequented jazz music club in Tokyo, Japan.

On May 30, 2009, Sheila E. and the E Family Band performed at Rhythm on the Vine at Gainey Vineyard in Santa Ynez, California for the Hot Latin Beats concert.Sheila E. has collaborated many times with other artists, notably with Gloria Estefan for whom she played the timbales. Sheila E. first collaborated with Estefan on Estefan's first Spanish language studio album Mi Tierra in 1993, and in 2007 with Estefan's smash hit "No Llores" in which Estefan also collaborates with Carlos Santana and José Feliciano.

Sheila E. performed two shows at Yoshi's in San Francisco on August 15, 2010. At her merchandise stand she sold an EP From E 2 U. It includes a song "Leader of the Band" written by Prince (uncredited, but confirmed by Sheila E.) and it features Prince on piano according to the song's introduction, where he is called by name. She toured on his 20Ten Tour and Welcome 2 America tours.

On February 26, 2012, Sheila performed at the 2012 Academy Awards alongside Pharrell Williams and Hans Zimmer, playing the into and out of commercial segments. In 2016, Sheila provided drums for Hans Zimmer and Junkie XL's orchestral soundtrack to the blockbuster superhero film Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.

On June 26, 2016, Sheila led a tribute to Prince on the 2016 BET Awards, featuring a medley of his hits. The next day, she released a new song, "Girl Meets Boy," in honor of Prince



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When Sheila Escovedo started going by Sheila E. and soared to the top of the R&B charts with 1984's "The Glamorous Life," those who didn't know anything about her background assumed that she was just another Vanity or another Apollonia -- in other words, a sexploitive Prince disciple who was entertaining but had limited ability as a vocalist. It's true that the singer/drummer/percussionist doesn't have a great voice, but anyone who was hip to her work with Azteca, Pete Escovedo (her father), and George Duke knew that she was an excellent musician. As a drummer/percussionist, Escovedo has major chops -- and even though she doesn't have a mind-blowing vocal range, she has no problem getting her points across on her debut solo album, The Glamorous Life. Produced by Prince, this is one of the best albums that came out of the Purple One's Minneapolis funk-rock empire in the 1980s. The hit title song is a classic, and the same goes for the quirky, new wave-ish "Oliver's House," the Latin-tinged "The Belle of St. Mark," and the funky instrumental "Shortberry Strawcake." Although Prince's stamp is all over this LP, Escovedo did most of the writing herself. The Glamorous Life isn't the only excellent album that Escovedo provided in the 1980s, but it's definitely the most essential.



Sheila E. - In The Glamorous Life    (flac  245mb)

01 The Belle Of St. Mark 5:08
02 Shortberry Strawcake 4:44
03 Noon Rendezvous 3:50
04 Oliver's House 6:20
05 Next Time Wipe The Lipstick Off Your Collar 3:50
06 The Glamorous Life 8:58
07 The Glamorous Life (Club Edit) 6:33

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In 1985, a 27-year-old Sheila Escovedo, aka Sheila E., followed up her debut solo album, The Glamorous Life, with the equally Prince-influenced Romance 1600. The album cover found Escovedo and her band members sporting the attire of 17th century Europe, and the musicians were given such names as Dame Kelly, Benentino the Wizard, the Earl of Grey, and Sir Stephan. But once you get past the aristocratic imagery, Romance 1600 isn't much different from The Glamorous Life. Although Escovedo did most of the writing and producing herself, Prince's influence is strong throughout the album -- "Bedtime Story," "Sister Fate," and other selections all have that distinctive Minneapolis vibe. The only track that Prince co-wrote and co-produced with Escovedo is the funk gem "A Love Bizarre," which became a major hit and finds the two of them performing a vocal duet. As a vocalist, Escovedo never had Prince's range, but like Madonna and Janet Jackson, she demonstrates that singing can be meaningful even if the artist doesn't have the world's biggest voice. Although The Glamorous Life remains Escovedo's most essential album of the 1980s, Romance 1600 is a respectable follow-up and is also highly recommended to fans of Minneapolis funk-rock.



Sheila E. - In Romance 1600   (flac  251mb)

01 Sister Fate 3:50
02 Dear Michaelangelo 4:38
03 A Love Bizarre 12:18
04 Toy Box 5:32
05 Yellow 2:11
06 Romance 1600 3:56
07 Merci For The Speed Of A Mad Clown In Summer 2:47
08 Bedtime Story 3:45

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Sheila E. is the third solo album by Sheila E., released on Paisley Park Records in July 1987. Two singles were released from the album in the U.S., "Hold Me" and "Koo Koo". "Love on a Blue Train" was the first single released in Japan. The album is notable for its Latin influence and prominent presence in this hybrid of jazz, rock, funk and salsa.

Even though it came during a year that Whitney Houston, U2, Whitesnake, Motley Crue,LL Cool J, Michael Jackson and others dominated the music charts, this is a very funky album. I still love Koo Koo with its tribal drums hitting on there! I even danced to it in a program because it just jumped out of left field. And even though it peaked at No. 35 on the R&B chart and its video got some airplay on MTV and BET, it has a strong message in it while still remaining funky. David Z (or it is really Prince who came up with those funky grooves?) gives Sheila E some strong numbers here. Hold Me surprised many people, proving that Sheila E could kick it on a ballad. But what wins on this collection is Sheila playing the drums and percussion so very well like she did on Romance 1600 and In The Glamourous Life. Though she's moved on to gospel and jazz sounds, this album reflects her many strengths as an artist and musician.



Sheila E. - Sheila E.   (flac 265mb)

01 One Day (I'm Gonna Make You Mine) 4:47
02 Wednesday Like A River 3:25
03 Hold Me 5:04
04 Faded Photographs 4:11
05 Koo Koo 3:24
06 Pride And The Passion 4:05
07 Boy's Club 3:56
08 Soul Salsa 3:08
09 Hon E. Man 3:22
10 Love On A Blue Train 5:33

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Seven years after Sheila E. burst upon the scene with her Top Ten single "The Glamorous Life," the talented percussionist's fourth release, Sex Cymbal, reflects the sound of successful, late-'80s artists like Janet Jackson and Paula Abdul. It's a solid mix of pop/R&B ballads like the pretty (if unspectacular) "Loverboy" and more dance-oriented tracks. The title track is a slinky come-on and Sheila E. leads her band through a horn-laden version of "Lady Marmalade." The musicianship is not-surprisingly strong and there are a couple cool instrumental jams. Sex Cymbal is a sure-footed, groove-oriented album, but it lacks anything as memorable as her earlier hits.



Sheila E. - Sex Cymbal   (flac 357mb)

01 Sex Cymbal 4:26
02 Funky Attitude 5:11
03 Cry Baby 5:44
04 Lady Marmalade 5:04
05 808 Kate (Drum Solo) 1:00
06 Loverboy 4:03
07 Mother Mary 5:23
08 Droppin' Like Flies 5:26
09 What'cha Gonna Do 4:40
10 Private Party (Tu Para Mi) 4:39
11 Family Affair (Percussion Jam) 1:00
12 Promise Me Love 5:37
13 Heaven 4:36

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3 comments:

Retro 80s Blogmaster said...

Sheila E Glamorous Life links dead. Any chance of a renewal?

Great Blog! Thanks!

Anonymous said...

Hello Rho

May I please ask for a re-up of these Sheila E albums?

Thank you

Anonymous said...

Hi Rho,
I'd love a re-up of these Sheila E LPS please.
Many thanks,
Matt