Alan Leeds (born January 26, 1947) is an American music executive, tour manager, production manager, writer and archivist best known for his work organizing performances and concert tours for artists such as

James Brown James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, musician, and record producer. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th-century music, he is referred to by Honorific nick ...

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The ...

KISS A kiss is the touching or pressing of one's lips against another person, animal or object. Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely; depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, romance, sex ...

, Cameo,

D'Angelo Michael Eugene Archer (born February 11, 1974), better known by his stage name D'Angelo (), is an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer. He first garnered attention after co-producing the single "U Will Know" ...

and

Chris Rock Christopher Julius Rock (born February 7, 1965) is an American comedian, actor, and filmmaker. He first gained prominence for his stand-up routines in the 1980s in which he tackled subjects including race relations, human sexuality, and obse ...

. In addition to his career in management for artists, Leeds is recognized as an award-winning writer and music archivist. Leeds received a

Grammy Award for Best Album Notes The Grammy Award – Best Album Notes has been presented since 1964. From 1973 to 1976 (the 15th through 18th Awards), a second award was presented for Best Album Notes – Classical. Those awards are listed under those years below. The award reco ...

in 1992 for his work on the James Brown compilation '' Star Time''. Leeds also penned the liner notes for the 1993 Prince box set ''

The Hits/The B-Sides ''The Hits/The B-Sides'' is a box set by American recording artist Prince. It was released on September 10, 1993, by Paisley Park Records and Warner Bros. Records. The album is a comprehensive three- disc set consisting of many of his hit sin ...

'', and cowrote ''The James Brown Reader'' with

Nelson George Nelson George (born September 1, 1957) is an American author, columnist, music and culture critic, journalist, and filmmaker. He has been nominated twice for the National Book Critics Circle Award. Biography George attended St. John's Universit ...

. Alan Leeds was born in Jackson Heights, New York. Leeds' music career began as a music writer. He first became involved with James Brown as his publicity director in 1969, and worked as Brown's tour manager from 1970 to 1973. Beginning in 1983, Leeds managed tours for Prince during the peak of his commercial and artistic success, notably including the

Purple Rain Tour The Purple Rain Tour was a concert tour by American recording artist Prince (musician), Prince and The Revolution (band), the Revolution following up on the success of his sixth studio album ''Purple Rain (album), Purple Rain'' and his 1984 film ...

. Leeds' work with Prince culminated in his eventual naming as president of Prince's label

Paisley Park Records Paisley Park Records was an American record label founded by musician Prince in 1985, which was distributed by and funded in part by Warner Bros. Records. It was started in 1985, following the success of the film and album '' Purple Rain''. Th ...

in 1989. Leeds' career as a tour manager continued with D'Angelo, managing the successful Voodoo Tour in 2000. This was followed by stints with a variety of other artists, including

Raphael Saadiq Raphael Saadiq (; born Charles Ray Wiggins; May 14, 1966) is an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer. He rose to prominence as a vocalist and bassist for the R&B band Tony! Toni! Toné!, which he formed with h ...

and

The Roots The Roots are an American Hip-hop, hip hop band formed in 1987 by singer Black Thought, Tariq "Black Thought" Trotter and drummer Questlove, Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Roots serve as the house band on NBC's ''T ...

. Leeds has also been involved in the curation of the '' James Brown: The Singles'' collections, and has spoken at events commemorating Brown's career and accomplishments.

Personal life

Alan Leeds has a wife, Gwen, and a son, Tristan. His brother is saxophonist

Eric Leeds Eric Leeds is an American saxophone player, mostly known for his work with Prince (musician), Prince. He has recorded mostly music in the Pop music, pop and funk genres, but is a studied jazz musician.Cole, George.Eric Leeds: Interviews: The Las ...

. In 2020, Leeds released the biographical book, "There Was a Time: James Brown, The Chitlin' Circuit, and Me."

References

External links

Q&A with Alan LeedsAlan Leeds on D'Angelo: "could have been much worse"Alan Leeds: The Questions, The Answers and More Besides'The James Brown Reader,' edited by Nelson George and Alan LeedsWe Called Him Mr. BrownAlan Leeds on MySpace
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leeds, Alan 1947 births Living people Grammy Award winners