Shockadelica

Just as Prince eventually hired backing players from James Brown and Sly Stone’s bands (Maceo Parker and Larry Graham Jr., respectively) during the 1990s, guitarist Jesse Johnson nowadays shreds behind D’Angelo in The Vanguard. But in ’86, the former axeman for The Time released the strongest solo record of his career, a legit bid to exit Prince’s shadow. Re: the Minneapolis Sound, Shockadelica represents it better than even Prince’s Parade from that year. Jesse unearthed Sly for a duet (“Crazay”), covered an old Prince demo and owned it (“Do Yourself a Favor”), and penned some effective cultural nationalism (“Black in America”)—never mind the Hendrixian B-side, “Fool’s Paradise.” Better single selection and promo could’ve made Shockadelica enormous.