Chords for Morgan James cried when Prince heard her sing "Call Your Name" + wanting to work with D'Angelo

[N] 7 _ .5 [C] WBLS your number one source [E] for R&B.
[C] We know that [Ab] you have been a part
of several Broadway plays, _ _ Godspell.
_ _ Adam's Family.
Okay.
[A] Wonderland, Godspell [Gb] and Motown the Musical.
[Db] Yes, that's the latest.
And I heard [G] rave reviews [F] about you as Tina Marie,
by the way, she played Tina Marie [Eb] in Motown the Musical.
Is that where _ Berry Gordy [Ab] first saw you?
Yeah, that's where I _ [G] met Berry Gordy Jr.
And [E] he's really been helping to shape my career ever since.
[F] And he introduced me to Doug Morris and to LA Reed
and here we are.
Wow, a big fan of Tina Marie
[G] or did you learn about her as you had to [Gbm] create
[Dbm] the character [Db] for the role?
I was a fan of hers, [Abm] but I didn't [G] know
as much in depth about her.
And hearing Mr.
[F] Gordy talk about her [E] was so magical.
Hearing him talk about Michael Jackson
and [F] all these people that he knew [D] from such a young [E] age
was such an amazing [G] experience.
So I [Em] learned so much more from [Eb] his personal [Ab] experiences.
And what's your favorite [Eb] Tina Marie song?
[F] Love a Girl.
[D] Really?
[C] Yeah.
_ _ [Eb] I know I should say Fire and Desire.
We're [Gb] gonna, no, no, no, no, pick whatever one [A] you want.
[B] I just, I feel like robbed [F] and cheated
that I didn't get to see you play her
in Motown [Dbm] the Musical.
She was a [Cm] phenomenal woman.
And [Db] I got a chance to [C] interview her on several occasions
and just very deep individual.
_ [E] _ _
Poetic [F] soul.
Yes, _ that's it.
Yeah, _ exactly.
So if [C] you were to put together a soundtrack,
_ three songs [Bb] _ to your life growing up
[Gb] _ as far [G] as influences, because I [Ab] know you also did.
Did you do something, a tribute?
I read something about a [G] tribute to Nina Simone.
Was that your first album?
[Bb] Yeah, my first album was a live [F] tribute to Nina Simone
that we did at Jazz at Lincoln Center.
[Ab] So Nina is [Dm] definitely one of my heroes.
[D] One of your influences.
What song [E] would you pick?
_ Don't Let Me Be [D] Misunderstood.
Really?
[Gb] Yeah, it was written for Nina actually.
[Eb] And _ I [E] think my other biggest influences
would probably be [Db] _ the D'Angelo [Ab] Voodoo record. _
_ _ _ _ _ [G] And [Eb] then Aretha.
Aretha [G] is my other biggest [Db] influence.
[A] D'Angelo, did that come from like a celebrity crush
or you just really _ _ into his vocal ability?
I just love that.
I mean, Voodoo is just [D] such a seminal record,
[Eb] and I really admire the way it was produced.
I really took a lot from that record
in terms of [E] _ production and _ also from the way
Shaka used to do her vocals
and Michael Jackson used to do his vocals.
I [D] really admired that.
And [Eb] that's what I did with my record.
I [D] layered in all the backgrounds myself.
[Ab] So R&B [Gb] is a great part of [Eb] your foundation.
Yeah, [C] especially [E]
the roots,
the original roots [Eb] of R&B and soul,
[Em]
those [Eb] original ingredients.
I think that we are only [Em] as good
as all [Eb] the music we listen to.
That's right.
[G] _ Wow, amazing.
[E] So the new album, I guess we will get a flavor
of R&B in the new album,
and [Ab] the new album is called [A] Hunter.
Now tell me why,
because you like green?
_ _ _ [Ab] Well, _ the second [E] track on the album is called Hunter,
and _ L.A. Reid and I [Eb] brainstormed
and came up [E] to title the album that. _ _
_ _ _ It's original [G] material,
original soul material with three covers,
and one [E] being the Prince tune,
which is my single.
Which so many people love.
So [G] Hunter was just,
_ [Gbm] _ is it something, [A] is there no meaning behind the?
Well, [Db] Hunter, the song on the album
is I think a very unique lyric _ [G] for a woman to sing,
[A] and I [Eb] think it represents a lot [D] about I'm very driven,
and I'm very determined to get what I [Gb] want in life,
[G] and I [D] think that _ _ that's [Eb] really what I do,
is I am always [D] looking for the better way to sing,
the better way to write,
_ more opportunities, more ways to be exposed,
and I think that [Eb] the song is [D] kind of like a dark [C] song.
Really?
The song [Bb] Hunter, yeah.
A deep song.
[B] Yeah, yeah, [Gb] and it's got a little bit of tongue in cheek.
It's a very sexy song.
I think there's a lot of [D] sexy music on the album.
The song Sweetest Sound is really an homage to that.
D'Angelo, How Does It Feel?
_ _ _ [Fm] And [Gb] Bring Yourself to Me is [Eb] a Nile Rodgers,
an homage to a Nile Rodgers.
_ So [D] I think that I was really trying to [G] capture
a lot of those [Eb] classic [G] things that I love about [Abm] albums.
Right, and maybe put out a subliminal message
[C] that you wanna do a duet with D [Abm]'Angelo one day?
Yes, not so subliminal.
In fact, [Gbm] hello, are you [E] there?
Put it out there, girl, in the atmosphere.
He [Ab] just announced that he's [E] doing a couple of London dates.
He just announced that today.
So who knows?
[Ab] He may be coming on this [E] side of the water
and we'll see what [Db] happens.
One of the other [B] covers we did was She's Gone, Hall & Oates.
_ _ [Gbm]
Really?
Yeah, yeah.
And you took on that all by [G] yourself?
You didn't change [Eb] it into He's Gone?
I [D] didn't.
No?
You [Db] know, a lot of people have been asking [G] me,
because Call My Name, I changed [Eb]
to fit a [G] woman's perspective. _
[B] But She's Gone, _ _ [Ab] I love the way it's written.
I think it's a wonderful [E] song.
And I think that someone's gonna be listening to that
and it's gonna be true for them [Eb] when I say she's gone.
And I want there to be something on the album
that everybody can feel is for them.
Right.
_ Now [Db] tell us why [C] you chose that particular song from Prince.
_ [Ebm] _ _ _
Well, that's [F] one of the first songs I ever arranged
and ever sang live.
[E] And I've been singing it a long time.
And [Bbm] I just loved it.
I felt like it was a very [D] tender,
[E] very _ romantic lyric [G] actually.
And when I started singing it,
it was the encore that I sang [E] for years and years and years.
And when I recorded it and mastered it,
_ [A] we couldn't get it approved through his lawyers,
because it's very [Db] difficult.
Oh yeah, he doesn't [F] allow people
to _ cover _ [Ab] thing, covet anything, any of his material.
I mean, _ Melissa Morgan was telling me
[D] about how hard it was for her to get to do [Db] Do Me Baby.
So I can imagine.
[Gb] So he did clear it?
Well, we kept trying, it took two years.
I kept saying to people, well, has Prince heard it?
Because I feel like if Prince heard it, he would like it.
I felt very confident.
And he would clear [Eb] it, right.
I feel like he would.
Everyone's like, it's never gonna happen,
never gonna happen.
Finally, finally, L.A. Reid called him himself
and said, would you listen [F] to it?
And he listened to it and he said yes.
And he liked it, [C] oh.
_ Oh, I started crying when I heard.
Oh, I'm about to start crying.
I think that was huge [Db] for you.
You know, after [F] probably trying for so long
to get it cleared, and I know Prince is stubborn.
_ [Gb] So what we're gonna do is take a [D] listen now
to Morgan [Db] James and her rendition
of [C] Prince's Call Your Name.
[E] _ _ _ _ _ [Gb] _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ [A] _ _
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