Vulture: Quincy Jones, In Conversation (CRAZY interview that covers a lot)

[RonArtest15]

This has to be one of the most eye-opening interviews I've ever read.  I heard snippets over the course of the week, but this was my first time sitting down and reading it.  He's seen and done a lot in his career.  And I believe ALL of it. 

 

*Some NSFW language in the link...

 

 

Quote

 

In Conversation: Quincy Jones

The music legend on the secret Michael Jackson, his relationship with the Trumps, and the problem with modern pop.

By David Marchese

In both music and manner, Quincy Jones has always registered — from afar, anyway — as smooth, sophisticated, and impeccably well-connected. (That’s what earning 28 Grammy awards and co-producing Michael Jackson’s biggest-selling albums will do.) But in person, the 84-year-old music-industry macher is far spikier and more complicated. “All I’ve ever done is tell the truth,” says Jones, seated on a couch in his palatial Bel Air home, and about to dish some outrageous gossip. “I’ve got nothing to be scared of, man.”

Currently in the midst of an extended victory lap ahead of his turning 85 in March — a Netflix documentary and a CBS special hosted by Oprah Winfrey are on the horizon — Jones, dressed in a loose sweater, dark slacks, and a jaunty scarf, talks like he has nothing to lose. He name-drops, he scolds, he praises, and he tells (and retells) stories about his very famous friends. Even when his words are harsh, he says them with an enveloping charm, frequently leaning over for fist bumps and to tap me on the knee. “The experiences I’ve had!” he says, shaking his head in wonder. “You almost can’t believe it.”

You worked with Michael Jackson more than anyone he wasn’t related to. What’s something people don’t understand about him?
I hate to get into this publicly, but Michael stole a lot of stuff. He stole a lot of songs. [Donna Summer’s] “State of IndependenceOriginally written by Vangelis and longtime Yes front man Jon Anderson, “State of Independence” was recorded by Donna Summer in 1982. Jones produced Summer’s version, Michael Jackson helped out on backing vocals, and the song’s central riff does sound awfully similar (albeit faster) to the iconic bass riff on Jackson’s hit single “Billie Jean.” It should also be noted that, last year, Jones won a lawsuit over a royalties dispute against Jackson’s estate. ” and “Billie Jean.” The notes don’t lie, man. He was as Machiavellian as they come.

How so?
Greedy, man. Greedy. “Don’t Stop ’Til You Get Enough” — Greg Phillinganes wrote the c sectionPhillinganes, an in-demand studio keyboardist, played on a handful of Jackson-Jones collaborations, including the 1979 album Off the Wall, from which “Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough” comes. . Michael should’ve given him 10 percent of the song. Wouldn’t do it.

What about outside of music? What’s misunderstood about Michael?
I used to kill him about the plastic surgery, man. He’d always justify it and say it was because of some disease he had. Bull****.

 

 

Rest of Interview in Link

[Kosher Ham]

What's the gain for Quincy Jones at this point? 

 

I know that some of the things have been verified. 

 

Interesting to read about some of that though. 

[Busch1724]

That bass line was basically lifted from Hall and Oats' I Can't Go For That. This was before Donna Summer. The basically used later also in Livin' On A Prayer from Bon Jovi, then finally Comedown from Bush. 

 

Now Quincy's daughter Rashida, I love me some her. 

 

Last, an article from GQ..https://www.gq.com/story/quincy-jones-has-a-story

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

Ehhhh, I don't believe Hendrix was ever afraid to play with anyone.  

[Spaceman Spiff]

Quote

What was your greatest musical innovation?
Everything I’ve done.

 

[Springfield]

Well the man is humble...

 

I agree with him about the Catholic Church.  He burned T Pain.

 

Nice read

[Cooked Crack]

 

Seen this video talking about the interview first. Read the entire interview in this voice. Interesting read.

[Renegade7]

Ya man, @thebluefood brought this up in RTT the other day.  You like that, check out his GQ interview 

[Renegade7]

5 hours ago, Busch1724 said:

 

Now Quincy's daughter Rashida, I love me some her. 

 

Gd, have ya'll seen Angie Tribeca?  She kills it, so underrated.

[youngestson]

14 hours ago, Spaceman Spiff said:

Ehhhh, I don't believe Hendrix was ever afraid to play with anyone.  

From what I've read Hendrix was surprisingly shy and often self-conscious about his playing. Especially his voice.  

[Warhead36]

This might be the greatest interview in the history of journalism

[LadySkinsFan]

He wasn't especially kind to his wife Peggy Lipton. Basically made her quit acting.

 

Large ego guy. 

[RonArtest15]

4 hours ago, LadySkinsFan said:

He wasn't especially kind to his wife Peggy Lipton. Basically made her quit acting.

 

Large ego guy. 

 

Oh, no doubt his ego is huge....however, it's easy to see why humility isn't his thing when he's had his fingerprints on decades worth of timeless material. 

[Springfield]

It’s hard to believe that he can mother**** all of these iconic people and have never done anything wrong himself.

[Spaceman Spiff]

11 hours ago, youngestson said:

From what I've read Hendrix was surprisingly shy and often self-conscious about his playing. Especially his voice.  

 

Shy about his voice, not his guitar skills.  I think Hendrix knew he was the **** and would go toe to toe with anyone.

 

In regards to Quincy Jones, I mean...after reading this interview and the GQ one and doing a little bit of research on him last night....I don't get it. 

 

I'm not a jazz expert, my knowledge only goes a little bit past the jazz course I took at GMU to fulfill a credit and some jazz obsessed teachers I had in high school.  But Quincy Jones has always struck me as a guy who was a great quarterback in terms of being able to arrange a great team and make sure everyone was where they needed to be.  In other words, a great bandleader.  Don't get me wrong, there's a lot of value in that but there's not a single Quincy Jones album on any respectable greatest jazz albums list anywhere.  When I hear the name Miles Davis, I think of ****es Brew, Birth of the Cool, and Kind of Blue.  When I think of Coltrane, I think of a Love Supreme and Blue Train.  When I think of Duke Ellington, I think of Ellington at Newport.  Dave Brubeck, Take 5.  

 

But Miles Davis was a better bandleader and a better player.  Quincy Jones worked with a lot of great people over the years but, IMO, Sinatra was going to be great with him or without him.  So was Michael Jackson.  It seems like Quincy made his name working with other great artists and being in the right place at the right time and maximizing connections rather than being a great musician himself.  I tried listening to some of his solo albums last night, Smackwater Jack and Gula Matari, both overwhelmingly bland.  The one album that won the Best Jazz Album Grammy in the early 80s called The Dude is just ****ing terrible.  It's so unbelievably dated.  The one I actually liked a little bit was Big Band Bossa Nova which was interesting because the first song is the one used in Austin Powers.  It was tolerable.

 

Seems like a fun guy to hang out with, has a lot of great stories and has worked with some tremendous people over the years and as I said there's a lot of value being a great composer and a bandleader but there's not one piece of music or album that he's solely responsible for that immediately comes to mind.  I guess the genius is surrounding yourself with other geniuses to make yourself look like a genius.

 

 

 

[Bozo the kKklown]

He lied about Malcolm X selling him drugs.

 

Malcolm X was in prison in Massachusetts at the time Jones was 18 and in Detroit.

 

The interviews were entertaining but I am dubious about a lot of what he said.

[zoony]

Regarding ivanka, guess he would have been 72 at the time he claims to have dated her.  Guess shes in to wrinkled old lard asses with delusions of grandeur?  Might be why she dated her dad, too

[Bozo the kKklown]

Totally believe the homosexual stuff, and its been rumored for a long time that Quincy was part of that community.

 

Also, Richard Pryor's ex confirmed it.

 

 

TPain confirmed his stuff as well but said he didnt want to do that particular song but his manager forced him.

10 hours ago, Spaceman Spiff said:

 Quincy Jones worked with a lot of great people over the years but, IMO, Sinatra was going to be great with him or without him.  So was Michael Jackson.  It seems like Quincy made his name working with other great artists and being in the right place at the right time and maximizing connections rather than being a great musician himself.

I have no idea what is wrong with this. You are making it seem like he wasnt that big of a deal.

 

He produced Thriller.

[Spaceman Spiff]

3 minutes ago, BenningRoadSkin said:

Totally believe the homosexual stuff, and its been rumored for a long time that Quincy was part of that community.

 

Also, Richard Pryor's ex confirmed it.

 

 

TPain confirmed his stuff as well but said he didnt want to do that particular song but his manager forced him.

I have no idea what is wrong with this. You are making it seem like he wasnt that big of a deal.

 

He produced Thriller.

 

You missed the part where I said that he did bring value to the table.  I'm more questioning how much value is really there.   

 

There's nothing wrong with it, but as I said Sinatra was going to produce great music with or without Quincy Jones.  Michael Jackson was going to make great albums with him or without him.  Yes, he produced Thriller and Off The Wall and Bad.  But there was so much riding on Jackson's albums that the record company wasn't going to let him roll into the studio with anyone.  Had it not been Quincy Jones I'm sure there'd have been another equally capable producer there, too.  Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis couldn't do a good job?

 

You can hold up Thriller as an amazing accomplishment, which it is.  I'd argue that Jackson still would have made it, or something very similar to it without him.

[Bozo the kKklown]

2 minutes ago, Spaceman Spiff said:

I'm more questioning how much value is really there.   

That's exactly my bone of contention.

 

Some of those artists best work was with Jones. Let us not pretend that wasnt the case.

 

Also Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis were part of Flyte Tyme and not doing anything outside of Minneapolis when THriller was made. I think they were in HS when Off The Wall was made.

[Spaceman Spiff]

2 minutes ago, BenningRoadSkin said:

That's exactly my bone of contention.

 

Some of those artists best work was with Jones. Let us not pretend that wasnt the case.

 

Also Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis were part of Flyte Tyme and not doing anything outside of Minneapolis when THriller was made. I think they were in HS when Off The Wall was made.

 

Well, guess there's no way to tell if anyone else could have done as good of a job or even better.  

 

Being a great musician with your own great music isn't a pre-requisite to being a great producer.  I just find it interesting that for all of his accolades, none of his own music (of which he seems to think is mother****ing amazing) stands the test of time.  Yet what he's known for is working with musicians who stand the test of time and probably would have done so without him, too.  

[Bang]

Interesting enough, i guess. I wonder what he wants us to do ith all of his revelations? Are we supposed to change our opinions of some things?

Mostly what i get out of this is "Old Man Airs Grievances".

 

Quincy did some fine work. So did many others. No need to trash any of them.

 

 

~Bang

[Bozo the kKklown]

28 minutes ago, Spaceman Spiff said:

 

Well, guess there's no way to tell if anyone else could have done as good of a job or even better.  

 

Being a great musician with your own great music isn't a pre-requisite to being a great producer.  I just find it interesting that for all of his accolades, none of his own music (of which he seems to think is mother****ing amazing) stands the test of time.  Yet what he's known for is working with musicians who stand the test of time and probably would have done so without him, too.  

Your argument is like saying anyone could have done what Tom Brady has done.

 

Or what Phil Jackson did, etc.

 

It is possible, but we know who actually did it. So yes, you are trying to downplay some of his accomplishments.

 

 

That is a fair critique about his music, but I think its unfair to critique his production.

[Spaceman Spiff]

33 minutes ago, BenningRoadSkin said:

Your argument is like saying anyone could have done what Tom Brady has done.

 

Or what Phil Jackson did, etc.

 

It is possible, but we know who actually did it. So yes, you are trying to downplay some of his accomplishments.

 

 

That is a fair critique about his music, but I think its unfair to critique his production.

 

Well when someone asks him "What's your biggest innovation" and he replies with "Everything I've done"..... I mean...he kinda opens himself up for some critique.  

[zoony]

So marlon brando, richard pryor, and marvin gaye liked to screw each other.

 

I would like to hear what he couldnt say about the clintons or cosby.  Hopefully he wrote it down somewhere for publication after his death.  The only thing i dont believe whatsoever is his claim about kennedy.  I believe that he believes it, i just know he is wrong.