The Family (band)

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The Family
Background information
Origin	Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States
Genre(s)	pop, R&B, soul, funk, New Wave, dance
Years active	1985
Label(s)	Paisley Park Records
Associated acts	The Time, Prince
Former members
St. Paul, Susannah Melvoin, Jerome Benton, Jellybean Johnson, Eric Leeds, Miko Weaver

The Family was an R&B band formed by Prince and one of the first signed to his record label, Paisley Park Records.

The band's origins started with the disintegration of The Time in 1984. Lead singer Morris Day had left the band to pursue a solo career. At this point, guitarist Jesse Johnson became the de facto band leader. Prince suggested restructuring the band with new member Paul Peterson to head the group, but Johnson bitterly opposed. However, like Day, Johnson soon left the band to pursue his own solo career. A few of The Time's newer members followed Johnson to join his backing band (called Jesse Johnson's Revue).

The Time had served as an outlet for Prince to release more music and he wanted to fill that void with a new band. Prince invited the remaining members of The Time: Jellybean Johnson, Jerome Benton and Paul Peterson to his home and presented them with his new project. They agreed to become a new band called "The Family", with Peterson (renamed St. Paul) as the new frontman and bassist. Johnson and Benton reprised their familiar roles from The Time. To the mix, Prince added his then girlfriend Susannah Melvoin, the twin sister of Revolution guitarist Wendy Melvoin, as a backing singer and keyboardist. The fifth member was Eric Leeds, the brother of Prince's tour manager Alan Leeds, who provided saxophone and flute. The band's name, "The Family", was perhaps due to family members of associates being in the band.

Much like The Time, the band's material was composed nearly entirely by Prince, with the exception of "River Run Dry", which was written by Revolution drummer, Bobby Z. Prince wrote and performed all the other tracks and simply overdubbed Peterson's and Melvoin's vocals and added saxophone and flute by Leeds. Indeed, on several tracks, Prince's vocals can be clearly heard. Some of the original demos are circulating amongst fans with Prince's lead vocals. As on other associates' albums, Prince falsely gave credit to the various band members for writing credits, though he kept his name on "Nothing Compares 2 U", perhaps sensing the song's hit potential.

Although the band performed a single concert and released a self-titled album, the project turned out to be short-lived. Peterson felt constricted by Prince's control and opted to pursue his own career. Without a lead singer, Prince lost interest and absorbed most of the remaining members into the expanded Revolution (with the exception of Johnson, who went on to join the Flyte Time music production team of Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis). Prince was angry with Peterson's decision, however, and reportedly the song "Dream Factory" (later released on Crystal Ball) was written about him. Also, Prince often incorporated The Family track "Mutiny" into the setlist of his 1986 tour, which occasionally was extended to contain the chorus of "Dream Factory" and the chant "St. Paul - punk of the month!"

According to St. Paul's website, he fondly remembers his time with The Family and often plays songs from the album in concert.

The Family reunited in 2004 for a single performance for charity along with other acts formerly associated with Prince.

On January 26, 2007, The Family announced that they are returning to the music scene, with a tour and a recording of new music. According to a January 31, 2007 press release on stpaulmusic.com, the members involved are those listed below, not including Miko Weaver, and they are planning to record a new CD.