Grammy Award-winning “Queen of Percussion” Sheila E. joined host Kenneth Womack to talk about her “glamorous life” and career and much more on the Season 8 finale of “Everything Fab Four,” a podcast co-produced by me and Womack (a music scholar who also writes about pop music for Salon) and distributed by Salon.
The daughter of legendary (and according to her, “best dressed”) Latin jazz percussionist Pete Escovedo, Sheila said she grew up in the most “musical family” with an “extensive vinyl collection.” As she told Womack, “My dad practiced every single day. There were always jam sessions with percussion players and entire bands in my living room . . . It was a normal thing. My siblings and I didn’t realize it was cool until we were teens,” she said with a laugh.
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Between her family’s connections and living in the San Francisco Bay Area at the time, Sheila attended rehearsals for acts such as Santana, Jefferson Airplane and The Grateful Dead. Having already picked up percussion, she was eventually able to sit in and play with them alongside her father and uncles. But prior to those mid- to late-1960s sessions, Sheila “fell in love” with The Beatles after seeing their debut on “The Ed Sullivan Show” in ‘64 – as did her mother and father. “I had the coolest, hippest parents in the world,” she said. “They were like, we’re watching this!”
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Her decades-long career as a musician would see such hits as the single “Love Bizarre” and her first ever salsa album, “Bailar,” in addition to her famous professional (and personal) relationship with Prince and collaborations with other artists such as Gloria Estefan, Marvin Gaye and Beyoncé. But the one person’s call she said “yes” to without even knowing his question? Beatles drummer Ringo Starr. As Sheila explained to Womack, “I have a bucket list that’s pretty incredible. And I never thought I’d be lucky enough to meet Ringo, much less play with him on three different tours. Playing drums next to Ringo? I couldn’t even believe it.”
Listen to the entire conversation with Sheila E. on “Everything Fab Four” and subscribe via Spotify, Apple, Google or wherever you’re listening. “Everything Fab Four” is distributed by Salon. Host Kenneth Womack is the author of a two-volume biography on Beatles producer George Martin and the bestselling books “Solid State: The Story of Abbey Road and the End of the Beatles” and “John Lennon, 1980: The Last Days in the Life.” His latest book is the authorized biography of Beatles road manager Mal Evans, “Living the Beatles Legend,” out now.
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