Episode 29: Rustee Allen & Levi Seacer Jr. [SLY/ PRINCE/PURPLE ONES]

“I remember I got paid $20 for a gig, man,” says RUSTEE ALLEN, funk bassist extraordinaire, first introduced to the world via the transcendent soul staple FRESH by none other than Sly & the Family Stone. “I thought I made a ton of money!” he laughs.

“I didn’t even know you even got paid for playing,” agrees his good friend and fellow Bay Area legend LEVI SEACER JR., a guitarist who went from playing hardcore jazz in local clubs to touring the world with PRINCE and his New Power Generation. “That’s how innocent I was about it… When I got my first check, I’m like ‘What’s this?’”

Yet despite their youthful innocence, their passion for their craft always shone through. “Your best foot forward is forward all the time,” Rustee explains. “When you’re young like that and fulla fire man, it’s like you gotta let that fire out. It don’t matter if it’s ten people in the house or ten thousand. It’s like ‘Man I got to do this.’ So the level is always up.”

“We just loved music and we loved practicing,” confirms Levi. “It wasn’t about ‘Am I gonna make it one day? Am I gonna be famous and all the smoke and lights?’ I wasn’t thinking like that. I just knew that I wanted to play.”

Rustee was first spotted by Sly Stone as a youngster playing in support of local legend Johnny Talbot, much admired by all the top Bay Area funkateers at the time. “Johnny Talbot was kinda in the vanguard of the funk bands in the mid to late 60s in Oakland,” Rustee explains. “He always had a 2-piece horn section, and he did things that regular bands wouldn’t do.” Along with drummer WILLIE WILD, (who would later be part of the original lineup of Graham Central Station), Rustee was chosen to back up LITTLE SISTER, an offshoot of the Sly Fam featuring Vet Stone and piloted by Freddie Stone.

The group made its debut opening for Sly & the Fam at an intimate venue called the Pepperland in Marin County. At Rustee’s request, Freddie even wrote some instrumentals for the occasion. “He wrote this thing we called ‘Snap,’” says Rustee. “It had all these different time signatures and everything, but it was still hella funky… Freddie was up for any type of musical challenge that you wanted to throw at him.”

The gig with Lil’ Sis just lasted a lil’ while — until one night at the Cow Palace, where Rustee witnessed firsthand original Fam bassist Larry Graham throw his tambourine and storm off the stage for good. Next thing Rustee knew, he was “auditioning” to join the Fam as a full-fledged member—in front of 30,000 people in Virginia! As it turned out, he had that extra bit of love and understanding to land him the gig over two other bass players up for the job. Soon after that, Rustee was in the studio for the Fresh sessions, laying down tunes in basically one take each. “The first takes are the best ones anyway,” says Rustee.

As for Levi, he spent his youth gigging at spots like Earl’s Solano Club in the East Bay, playing jazz with ladies such as Rosie Gaines and Sheila Escovedo. “Playing was like taking a glass of water,” says Levi. “Just natural.” His confidence and skill got him noticed by Don Cornelius of Soul Train fame, who put him to work. Then one day Levi stopped by an audition that Escovedo — now known as Sheila E — was holding for bass players. Though Levi was a guitar man, she asked him to take the gig once she had heard him play “A Love Bizarre” on the four-string. This of course put him in the same orbit as PRINCE himself— who would eventually bring him into the fold not only as a player, but also as writer and producer. Like Rustee, Levi had found himself thrust into the spotlight, breathing the rarefied air of an internationally acclaimed artist with a new band.

Not long after Prince had passed, Levi became involved with the excellent tribute band the Purple Ones in order to mitigate the grieving process. When circumstances called for a new bassist ASAP, he seized the opportunity to enlist the help of an old buddy. “They needed somebody to come in right away ‘cause they had some gigs coming up,” Rustee confirms. It was a lot of music to learn, but after Rustee’s first show with the group a few years back, Levi had just one thing to say to his longtime pal: “Man I love you!” Now the two are road dawgs, not only gigging together constantly, but also cohosting The Rustee Allen YouTube Show.

Rustee’s return to Aced Out is a pivotal moment for us, as he was our very first guest for our pilot episode just a little over four years ago. In this inspirational interview, Rustee and Levi describe what made Sly and Prince amazing bandleaders, and what it was really like within those soul circles. As well, Rustee describes why his mother told him he was her most adventurous child, and what it was like onstage and off during Sly’s Lifetime Achievement Award performance at the 2006 Grammys, while Levi breaks down how Prince was like a “cool computer” and why every musician in Minneapolis hated the New Power Generation—at first, that is. If all that weren’t enough, the purple brothas also bring a band into the studio to perform Rustee’s single “You’re the One!”

Produced & Hosted by Ace Alan
Cohosted by Jay Stone
Executive Producer Scott Sheppard
Website and Graphics by 3chards

Engineered by Grace Coleman at Different Fur Studios, San Francisco CA

Video & Sound Editing + Interview Mix & Graphics by Nick “Waes” Carden for Off Hand Records, Oakland CA

Video Production by Saboor Bidar

Musical Performance:

TONY PROVIDENCE — drums
CARL WHEELER — keys
MORGAN DAY – guitar
CARL NORDE — vocals
LEVI SEACER JR. — guitar, vocals
RUSTEE ALLEN — bass, vocals

Musical Performance Mix by Levi Seacer Jr.
Rap verses by Corey the Great