S/T by THE LEWIS CONNECTION

Masterpiece by Pierre and Andre Lewis and a freaky hallmark in the canon of Midwestern funk, available again after thirty years through Numero. Prince on background vocals on the B1 - WTF??With insurance money from a recently overturned Buick Century, brothers Andre and Pierre Lewis went on a recording tear through the Twin Cities in 1978, cutting a half-dozen songs in as many studios. Combining the astrosexuality of Parliament with the sophisticated flammability of Earth, Wind & Fire, the Lewis Connection’s misspelled debutcaptures the Minneapolis Sound’s founding fathers—Prince among them—at the paradigm-shifting confluence of funk, jazz, and pop for which the Land of 10,000 Lakes is famed. Having departed from Champagne, Prince Rogers Nelson felt certain he could gain work within the ranks of Pierre and Andre Lewis’s profitable circle. Hoping simply to generate enough funds to secure passage for himself and a demo tape to New York City, the promising guitarist gigged with the group, and can be heard picking on “Got To Be Something Here” alongside future band mate and bassist, Sonny Thompson. The session sat fallow until the Lewis Brother’s robust settlement secured passage back through the region’s recording studios, as the Twin City players went for broke on each increasingly frugal session. Notorious child prodigies and party animals, the Lewis Connection’s self- titled debut was smoked and snorted by frenzied audiences, with few copies rising to the surface in the intervening decades.