Got to Be Something Here: The Rise of the Minneapolis Sound

by Andrea Swensson

Beginning in the year of Prince’s birth, 1958, with the recording of Minnesota’s first R&B record by a North Minneapolis band called the Big Ms, Got to Be Something Here traces the rise of that distinctive sound through two generations of political upheaval, rebellion, and artistic passion. Funk and soul become a lens for exploring three decades of Minneapolis and St. Paul history as longtime music journalist Andrea Swensson takes us through the neighborhoods and venues, and the lives and times, that produced the Minneapolis Sound. Visit the Near North neighborhood where soul artist Wee Willie Walker, recording engineer David Hersk, and the Big Ms first put the Minneapolis Sound on record.  Across the Mississippi River in the historic Rondo district of St. Paul, the gospel-meets-R&B groups the Exciters and the Amazers take hold of a community that will soon be all but erased by the construction of I-94. From King Solomon’s Mines to the Flame, from The Way in Near North to the First Avenue stage (then known as Sam’s) where Prince would make a triumphant hometown return in 1981, Swensson traces the journeys of black artists who were hard-pressed to find venues and outlets for their music, struggling to cross the color line as they honed their sound.  And through it all, there’s the blistering, sweltering, relentless funk, soul, and R&B from artists like Maurice McKinnies, Haze, Prophets of Peace, and The Family, who refused to be categorized and whose boundary-shattering approach set the stage for a young Prince Rogers Nelson and his peers Morris Day, André Cymone, Jimmy Jam, and Terry Lewis to launch their careers, and the Minneapolis Sound, into the stratosphere. A visit to Prince’s Paisley Park and a conversation with the artist provide a rare glimpse into his world and an intimate sense of his relationship to his legacy and the music he and his friends crafted in their youth.

Genres: Music, Nonfiction, History

216 pages, Hardcover

First published October 10, 2017

About the author

Andrea Swensson is an author, radio host, and music journalist. She hosts a weekly program about the Minnesota music scene, The Local Show, at Minnesota Public Radio’s 89.3 The Current and contributes to the Local Current Blog. Prior to joining MPR, she was the music editor at City Pages, where she founded the AAN AltWeekly Award-winning Gimme Noise music blog.

Reviews

[patrick Lorelli · Rating 3 out of 5]

I got this book thinking that the author was going to talk about Prince, Morris Day, Time, Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis, among others. Really not the case. The first part of the book brings you up to speed on the music scene of the fifties and sixties, in Minneapolis. The author also gives you some of the people in the jazz and club scene who were important during though times. All of this was good along with the history of Minneapolis, like the rioting in the sixties which I understood needed to be in the book even though I already knew about that also being a history person. What I missed out on is why all of this had the impression or cause of the explosion of the music that came out of the city. There was no mention of the reason or the how or why all of these individuals became so big in the music when they did or even how Prince stayed at the top for so long. That is what I felt was missing out from this book. For someone like me who is into the music and still listens to these groups and to Prince I was hoping for more. I do know the author put a lot of time and effort into this project I was just expecting more. I received this book from Netgalley.com I gave it 3 stars. Follow us at www.1rad-readerreviews.com

[Rachel Bearinger · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s so obvious how much care and work went into the creation of this book. It certainly did its job tracing the music history of Minneapolis, but it also gave context via significant events affecting the Black community in the 60s and 70s. I loved learning more about the history of the city i call home.

[Maciek · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a perfect example of why I fell in love in researching popular music. Beautifully written, insightful, sincere, emotional, trustw0rthy. A must-read for every Prince fan, music fan, or simply every person who is interested in the history of American music, but not this kind that we know from an encyclopedia. A personal one.

[Jay Gabler · Rating 5 out of 5]

A music history, a social history, an engrossing and enormously poignant read. I reviewed Got To Be Something Here for The Current.

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first part is a workmanlike look at the unexceptional Twin Cities regional R&B scene, not too different from that of any mid-sized city in the '60s. But the final chapters are gold. What I still don't know, and is not explained, is why (if there is a why) such immense talent exploded from the city in the late '70s. Not just Prince, but also Morris Day and the Time, Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis, the aberrant wonder of Lipps, Inc. and "Funkytown" etc. The Minneapolis/St. Paul rock scene, in this book, receives only a passing mention, which saddens me. I know it's been written about elsewhere, but still I would have loved a book that wove together all the threads, the Replacements, Hüsker Dü, Soul Asylum, Twin Tone Records, everyone from the Trashmen to Semisonic. But it seems the R&B scene now has its book of record.

[Nicole · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was as much a page turner as a good novel. I moved to Minnesota in 1982, and to the Twin Cities in 2001, so I knew almost none of the musical history. Now I want to listen to all the music that was mentioned in the book!

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was such a wonderful read and truly gave me a greater appreciation for those singers and musicians who created the Minneapolis sound and paved the way for Prince, Morris Day, Jimmy Jam, Terry Lewis, and many others to further develop, refine, redefine, and blow it up. Having been a transplant to MN, I wasn’t familiar with this little-known history and am glad to even catch a glimpse. Would I liked to have read more in-depth? No doubt. But the author gave me a compelling story and whet my appetite for more. I’m sorry missed this time but am grateful for the sacrifice and perseverance of these pioneers of the Minneapolis Sound.

[Erik Laing · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is, first and foremost, a history of Minneapolis. As someone who grew up in the city at a time when Prince was already well known, this was a very interesting look into a history that was overlooked and deliberately omitted. There are some intriguing threads of the people who's experiences and music came before and served to shape the world that Prince would grow up in.
In recent years our city has taken a more critical look back at how 94 and projects of the era during the 50s and 60s decimated black neighborhoods. I found myself searching out audio recordings of the bands mentioned here while reading and discovered so many great performers and bands that went unnoticed and hidden in the shadows. They really shouldn't have been, and that's unfortunate.
I found the early part of this book especially fascinating having read Isabel Wilkerson's book the Warmth of Other Suns. I would recommend reading that as looking thru that lens helps to better understand what was going on at the time before much of this particular time period takes place.

[Linda Steighner · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Got to Be Something Here: The Rise of the Minneapolis Sound" by Andrea Swensson is a wonderful collection of the histories of musicians recording in Minnesota from the late 1950's to the 1980s. It also covers a lot of the venues where the artists first made a name for themselves. There is a lot of funk, soul and blues between the pages. While the book predominately covers the black artists, there are also mentions of Dylan and Bonnie Raitt added into the mix with Wee Willie Walker, Maurice McKinnies, Haze, Morris Day, André Cymone, Jimmy Jam, Terry Lewis and of course Prince. he photos included in the book are wonderful. Music lovers should love this book.

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wish there was a soundtrack to go with the first part of this book, of all the lost recordings mentioned from the early bands that helped to form the Minneapolis sound. I enjoyed the personal stories of the musicians and how they met, stories of the old neighborhoods before they were carved up by interstates, the old clubs and learning more about the Minneapolis and St. Paul-specific political and racial tensions of the time. I didn’t expect so much of this book to be devoted to Prince’s formative years, but it was a pleasant surprise to read about a time period not often covered in detail.

[Jason · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a pleasant surprise. Very well researched, and great interview subjects. Lots of Minneapolis history beyond the music, filling in a backdrop to the main characters in the story: the young bands of Rondo and Near North Minneapolis. Swensson does an excellent job describing the sound - even in instances where no actual recordings exist.

There is a section at the end of the book that outlines key recordings. I recommend that readers consult this section while reading as opposed to saving until the end. Listening to these groups - Maurice mckinnies, willie and the bumblebees, etc. - as I read along, really helped with my understanding and appreciation of the Minneapolis Sound.

[Vnunez-Ms_luv2read · Rating 5 out of 5]

Outstanding book on the Minneapolis Sound and the history. I did not realize that some of the other acts came out of Minneapolis. Let's be honest, when we think of Minneapolis, we think of His Purple Badness. This book shows that Minneapolis has given us so much more. I devoured this book and found it to be well written. I recommend this book to anyone interested in the music that Minneapolis has blessed us with. Thanks to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for the ARC of this book in return for my honest review.

[Steve · Rating 5 out of 5]

There is so much more to Minneapolis than Prince, and though that might seem treasonous to say, the man himself might just agree.
His sound and that of his contemporaries owe a huge debt to a wealth of mainly under-appreciated but highly talented artists and groups, who blazed a trail under the most difficult of circumstances in the 50s 60s and 70s.
It is to these people we owe a significant debt, and Andrea's exhaustively researched book goes a long long way towards recognizing the achievements of these men and women.

[Daniel Kleven · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing. At this point I just want to read everything Andrea Swensson writes, and listen to the music that goes along with it. A delightful introduction to the soul, jazz, funk, R&B, and more that came out Minneapolis and culminated in Prince, Lewis & Harris, and a pile of Grammy awards. Really great reporting(?) and writing, and a fantastic bibliography to dig deeper into the history of the music scene in this fair city

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of good stuff in here. I love that the author gave us so much background and history. Facts, observations, not shying away from talking about race. Good book to read after the Prince book. Thanks for the tip, Jamie and Angela.

Note the name Jim Klobuchar shows up on page 70 - Star Tribune journalist reviewing a night at King Solomon's Mines in 1968

[Jane Minton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredibly well researched and written music history of the Rondo and Near North Minneapolis neighborhoods, and how the music scene of the 60's and 70's laid the groundwork for Prince and "The Minneapolis Sound."

[Madeleine · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an absolutely fascinating history of the Minneapolis music scene. I learned a lot, not only about key players and now-shuttered clubs, but also about race relations in the city. Highly recommended!

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had no idea of the rich musical history and cultural divide of the Twin Cities that would eventually coalesce into what we now know as "the Minneapolis Sound". This is a superbly researched and well told history.

[Tess Hallman · Rating 5 out of 5]

An easy introduction to the Minneapolis politics that displaced the Rondo and Near North communities, and how those conditions crafted the early Minneapolis music scene. It’s a bummer many of the records and bands mentioned aren’t easily accessible to listen to as you read.

[Dan Haugen · Rating 4 out of 5]

So good. Andrea Swensson brings to life a neglected history of the Twin Cities that provides important context for Prince to Philando Castile.

[Sally · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book about Minneapolis/St. Paul social history and music history. My regret is that there are not many recordings of the live music she writes about.

[Kimberly Cunningham · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of research which laid out the history of the Minneapolis sound. Well put together and filled with great information.

[Sam Bauman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun stories with plenty for fans of the twins cities music scene to be proud and ashamed of.

[Fred · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very interesting. I learned so much from this book!

[Stephanie Schultz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely fascinating as a Minnesotan who loves Minnesotan music to learn about the history and evolution of the Minneapolis Sound and how it goes so very far beyond just Prince and Morris Day.

[Chi Chi · Rating 5 out of 5]

http://scratchedvinyl.com/reviews/and...

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Prince and his local soul and r&b forbears. This book is well researched and well written, with memories and reactions from all the big participants. It left me want to learn more, wanting to HEAR more. Loved it!