{"id":564215,"date":"2026-04-04T14:11:11","date_gmt":"2026-04-04T14:11:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/564215\/"},"modified":"2026-04-04T14:11:11","modified_gmt":"2026-04-04T14:11:11","slug":"prince-looked-down-over-his-sunglasses-and-just-went-uh-uh-he-jammed-with-prince-and-miles-davis-until-one-deceptive-meeting-put-an-end-to-everything","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/564215\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cPrince looked down over his sunglasses and just went, \u2018Uh-uh.\u2019\u201d He jammed with Prince and Miles Davis \u2014 until one deceptive meeting put an end to everything"},"content":{"rendered":"

Micki Free saw a lot of crazy things during his tenure with Prince in the 1980s. That includes the time he and Prince played two-on-two basketball against Eddie and Charlie Murphy<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Mostly, though, they played music. Free still remembers the 3 a.m. phone call that summoned him to Sunset Sound for a jam session with Prince sometime around 1984.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was crazy, man,\u201d he tells Guitar Player. \u201cPrince was not a regular guy, as we all know. His bodyguard called me late at night and said, \u2018Prince wants you in the studio.\u2019<\/p>\n

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\u201cAnd I\u2019m like, \u2018Dude, it\u2019s three in the morning!\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cBut he goes, \u2018Come down to Sunset Sound. Prince wants you here.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

\"American\n<\/p>\n

Onstage in Detroit during the 1984 Purple Rain tour, November 4, 1984. (Image credit: Ross Marino\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Free did as he was told \u2014 and when he arrived, the scene inside the studio was surreal. Alongside Prince was jazz legend Miles Davis<\/a>, who had joined the Purple One and percussionist Sheila E., then recording her debut album with Prince, for an after-hours jam.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe crazy part about it,\u201d Free says, \u201cwas that Prince wanted me to play bass<\/a> that night. And I\u2019m like, \u2018Dude, I can barely play bass.\u2019<\/p>\n

All the latest guitar news, interviews, lessons, reviews, deals and more, direct to your inbox!<\/p>\n

\u201cBut he goes, \u2018Come on. Give me that bottom, Free1\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Once the session got going, Prince seemed to be everywhere at once.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019d jump on drums, then grab his guitar,\u201d Free recalls. \u201cAnd halfway through the jam I\u2019m just going [very slowly] boom\u2026 boom\u2026 boom.<\/p>\n

What to read next<\/p>\n

Prince wanted me to play bass that night. And I\u2019m like, \u2018Dude, I can barely play bass.\u2019
\nBut he goes, \u2018Come on. Give me that bottom, Free!\u2019\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\u2014 Micki Free<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd Prince is like, \u2018Uh-uh. Come on, come on. Give me that funk, Micki!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Two years later, another call came. This one would lead to a much bigger opportunity.<\/p>\n

\u201cPrince flew me out to Paisley Park<\/a>,\u201d Free says. \u201cI went into the studio and recorded a song called We Can Funk. I sang the song for Prince and then flew back to L.A.\u201d<\/p>\n

A week later, the phone rang again.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur lawyers got together because Prince wanted me to join his camp and sign to Paisley Park.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

\"Sheila\n<\/p>\n

With Sheila E. during the 2007 NCLR ALMA Awards, in Pasadena, June 1, 2007. (Image credit: Vince Bucci\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

There was just one problem. At the time, Free was still a guitar-playing member of the R&B group Shalamar \u2014 and the band\u2019s creator, producer and manager, Dick Griffey, wasn\u2019t eager to let him go.<\/p>\n

At first he wouldn\u2019t let me out of my contract. Finally he said, \u2018Prince is going to have to pay a hefty price, so I\u2019ll let you out of Shalamar.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2014 Micki Free<\/p>\n

\u201cHe really wasn\u2019t a nice guy,\u201d Free says. \u201cAt first he wouldn\u2019t let me out of my contract. Finally he said, \u2018Prince is going to have to pay a hefty price, so I\u2019ll let you out of Shalamar.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

A meeting was arranged with Prince, Griffey, Free and their attorneys.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re sitting in this big conference room,\u201d Free recalls. \u201cPrince is across from me wearing those big sunglasses.\u201d<\/p>\n

Prince\u2019s lawyer reviewed the paperwork and slid the contract across the table.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2018The contract looks good,\u2019 he said. \u2018The only thing left is for Dick Griffey to sign Micki over to Paisley Park.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

\"American\n<\/p>\n

Micki Free with actress Teri Copley in 1985, the year he got on the wrong side of Prince. (Image credit: Vinnie Zuffante\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Griffey studied the papers for a moment. Then he looked directly at Prince.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe says, \u2018I ain\u2019t fattening up no frogs for no snakes.\u2019 Meaning Micki ain\u2019t going anywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n

Griffey stood up and walked out.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was almost in tears. Prince\u2019s lawyer gets up and leaves. And now it\u2019s just me and Prince sitting there.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u2014 Micki Free<\/p>\n

\u201cI was almost in tears,\u201d Free says. \u201cPrince\u2019s lawyer gets up and leaves. And now it\u2019s just me and Prince sitting there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Prince glanced down over his sunglasses.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2018Uh-uh.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Then he got up and walked out.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was brokenhearted,\u201d Free says.<\/p>\n

After that, the relationship between the two musicians was never quite the same.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe weren\u2019t as tight as we used to be,\u201d Free says. \u201cOnce Prince became a huge superstar it was more like, \u2018Hey, Micki, how you doing?\u2019 instead of hanging out in the clubs like we used to. It really hurt.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

\"Micki\n<\/p>\n

Free performs at the Prince Tribute Concert in Austin, March 17, 2017. (Image credit: Hutton Supancic\/Getty Images for SXSW)<\/p>\n

Still, Free says he carries many fond memories of the time they spent together \u2014 and credits Prince with teaching him the finer points of funk guitar.<\/p>\n

\u201cPrince showed me how to properly play funk guitar,\u201d he says. \u201cThe voicings, the feel, the groove \u2014 or what he called the \u2018groove pocket.\u2019 Before that I was just playing heavy metal and rock chords, slamming A, G and C.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of guitar players think they\u2019re playing funk, but they aren\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n

To Free, Prince was a musician of the highest caliber.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou hear that electric guitar<\/a> solo he played on \u2018While My Guitar Gently Weeps<\/a>\u2019 at the Rock Hall awards in 2004,\u201d Free says. \u201cHe\u2019s totally shredding, but there\u2019s still that bluesy funk soul in it.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the \u201980s there was a time when all the guitar players were shredding \u2014 scales, scales, scales, no heart. I talked about it with Jeff Beck once, and he said, \u2018You can sometimes say more with one note than you can with thirty-five.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cPrince definitely knew that too.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Micki Free saw a lot of crazy things during his tenure with Prince in the 1980s. That includes…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":564216,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[53],"tags":[88,216],"class_list":["post-564215","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-entertainment","tag-music"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/564215","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=564215"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/564215\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/564216"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=564215"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=564215"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=564215"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}