From the Early Days of Rock and Roll to the Minneapolis Sound and Beyond: Pepé Willie Talks About His Life in the Business

Abstract

ABSTRACT: Pepé Willie’s start in the music industry came during the early 1960s as a teenage valet for Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees Little Anthony and The Imperials (founded by his Uncle Clarence Collins). By way of his marriage to Prince’s first cousin Shauntel Manderville, Pepé relocated to Minneapolis in December of 1974, where he began tutoring a 16-year-old Prince Rogers Nelson and his band Grand Central, which also included the likes of André Cymone and Morris Day. Pepé was the first person to ever take Prince into a professional recording studio with his band 94 East. In addition to Prince, André, and Morris, Pepé helped to guide the early careers of Twin Cities music legends such as Dez Dickerson, Cynthia Johnson, Sue Ann Carwell, members of The Revolution, members of The Time, and many more.