The Lewis Conection is the first and only album by Minneapolis band The Lewis Connection and was released in the Twin Cities area in 1979 in very limited supply (only around 200 copies are thought to have been pressed).
The album contained Got To Be Something Here, written by Sonny Thompson and featuring Prince on background vocals and guitar.
The Lewis Connection is an alternate name for the band The Family led by Sonny Thompson in the 1970’s (and which is unrelated to the band produced by Prince in the 1980’s The Family). Confusingly, the group released a single around the same time, Stone Lover, which also featured Prince on guitar, under the moniker MLF. The band contained Sonny Thompson (who would become a member of the New Power Generation many years later), and brothers Pierre and André Lewis. Of note is that the band’s name was The Lewis Connection, but the album was mistitled The Lewis Conection; despite the error, the album is listed as such here.
Sessions and compiling
Prince’s contributions to Got To Be Something Here were recorded in late 1976 at Sound 80, during sessions where Prince also worked on at least one other track, Stone Lover with basically the same musicians. Stone Lover was released as a single but not included on an album.
Promotion
The album was only distributed in the Twin Cities area, and it did not enter the charts. It is not known if The Lewis Connection played live to support the album, but it is unlikely Prince would have appeared with them, as he was quite successful in his own right at the time of the album’s release in 1979.
In 2013, reissue group The Numero Group re-released the album on vinyl and, for the first time, on CD.
A remastered re-release by the Japanese label P-Vine Records is planned for August 2022.
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