Participants: Yvonne Lewis (Host), Jesse Boyce, Asieren Boyce
Series Code: UBR
Program Code: UBR000232A
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00:01 Stay tuned to meet a couple whose lives were transformed
00:03 by the power of the Holy Spirit 00:05 through the witness of little Richard. 00:07 My name is Yvonne Lewis. 00:09 And you're watching Urban Report. 00:34 Hello, and welcome to Urban Report. 00:37 Recently, Danny Shelton and I interviewed Little Richard 00:40 and in the audience was his close friend 00:42 and bass player, Jesse Boyce. 00:44 Jesse and his wife Asieren 00:46 consented to do an interview as well. 00:48 Jesse is a phenomenal musician 00:50 and a Dove and Grammy Award nominee. 00:52 He studied classical piano, organ, electric bass guitar, 00:56 and drums at Sterling High in Greenville, South Carolina. 01:00 He and his wife Asieren love the Lord, 01:03 and have started keeping the Sabbath 01:05 due to Richard's influence in their lives and of course, 01:09 the Holy Spirit's promptings. 01:11 I was so impressed with the Boyces 01:14 and wait till you find out about their journey. 01:17 Take a look at this. 01:20 This is a first for Urban Report. 01:23 We never have an audience. 01:26 And now today, we have an audience 01:27 so what a blessing it is to be here. 01:30 We are actually in Shelbyville, Tennessee. 01:34 And earlier, Danny and I interviewed Little Richard. 01:39 And right now I have the privilege of interviewing 01:43 Jesse and Asieren Boyce. 01:45 Yay! Thank you. 01:48 Thank you, Yvonne. Oh, yes, thank you. 01:51 Now, Jesse, you have such a unique testimony 01:56 because you have been with Little Richard 02:00 also we call Brother Richard, Brother Richard Penniman. 02:04 You have been with him for so many years, 02:06 tell us about... 02:07 First of all, let's find out about your journey. 02:10 Where were you raised? Where were you born? 02:13 What was your life like before you became a musician? 02:17 As long as I can remember, I've always been a beginner 02:24 as a musician because I started playing, 02:28 as the little Richard talked about black folk music 02:33 which was called R&B prior to that 02:35 it was black folk music. 02:37 The music that became what we now know 02:44 as country music was then black folk music. 02:48 I see. I never heard it called that. 02:50 I never heard it called black folk music. 02:51 Yeah, it started out with the old black musicians 02:59 who played the blues and with some of the same riffs 03:03 and things like that. 03:05 And I was born in Asheville, North Carolina, 03:11 Buncombe County, moved to Greenville, South Carolina, 03:15 where when I became cognizant of who I really was. 03:22 I knew my name and became really involved 03:26 with my family. 03:27 I had an uncle who played that kind of, 03:30 that style of music, who had a... 03:32 What we call back then a string band. 03:35 A string band was very similar to 03:38 what you would see on Hee-Haw... 03:40 Oh, wow. Back then. 03:43 And he had one where we would travel on weekends 03:48 in the trains with the amber lights, 03:53 it was very dim on those lights at night, 03:55 but I can remember as a child traveling all over the South 04:03 and Northeast going to play with them. 04:10 And what instruments did you play? 04:12 I started out guitar just playing 04:17 I had a little red guitar. 04:20 And my uncle took such an interest in me 04:23 because I stuck with him 24\7. 04:29 When he would fish on weekends, I was there even though 04:32 I made up a bunch of noise and he couldn't catch one fish. 04:36 I just wanted to be near him and learn from him 04:39 because I was so happy that someone took 04:45 an interest in me and wanted to teach me how to play music. 04:49 So instead of having to take his guitar all the time 04:54 when we were at home, 04:55 he would turn the big acoustic piano around 04:58 so I could learn to play while he played. 05:03 And so when my family realized 05:06 that I had an interest in piano as well, 05:10 they insisted that I take piano. 05:12 So I learned to play classical music 05:16 up until age maybe 17 or 18 through high school. 05:22 But I wanted to play everything that I heard 05:25 on the radio particularly, Little Richard. 05:30 So you were familiar with Little Richard 05:33 before you even went to play in his band. 05:36 I was very much familiar. You were a fan. 05:39 And I would say, maybe around age 12, 13, 05:44 he used to come to Greenville. 05:47 And he would come to stay with one of his favorite musicians 05:53 as he said he would come and practice with and hang out 05:57 with this gentleman by the name, Esquerita. 06:02 And whenever I could sneak in on a rehearsal, 06:06 if I couldn't get any closer than the front porch, 06:08 I just wanted to see what they were doing. 06:10 Yeah, yeah. 06:12 Because they they had to going on that thought 06:15 and I learned a lot from the two of them 06:19 in that regard. 06:22 So that got me interested in and I wanted to play music 06:28 as a jazz musician as well, as a church musician. 06:33 So I started playing at church at age of 11. 06:38 We had a family group called, the James family. 06:44 We used to travel around. 06:46 We used to open up for the people 06:47 like Shirley Caesar, Sam Cook, the five black boys. 06:53 Yeah. 06:55 All these groups that would come through, 06:58 we feel so blessed. 07:01 I was like, "I can't believe I'm doing this." 07:03 But because someone took an interest in me 07:06 and mentored me, I was able to do that with my family. 07:11 So skipping ahead, I did get to play with some major acts 07:19 who came to our town... 07:20 Such as? 07:22 The impressions, Jackie Wilson, Mary Wells, Major Lance... 07:29 Oh, yeah. 07:31 People like that who had come through, 07:32 they would look for the younger musicians 07:35 'cause they don't have to pay as much. 07:38 And when they have musicians that were missing 07:41 or couldn't make the show, they knew who to call. 07:46 So they would call on us 07:47 and so I got the exposure early, early, early. 07:53 By getting that exposure it prepared me 07:56 for what would happen maybe it was so years later 08:04 which is where I met Little Richard in 1970. 08:08 Wow. 08:09 And I was in the hospital, in Muscle Shoals, 08:15 I had gotten a position there with Rick Hall, 08:20 a FAME recording studios. 08:22 If you've ever seen the movie Muscle Shoals, 08:26 you'll see some maybe some cool little shots of me 08:32 being like real skinny with a... 08:34 Some hair. 08:36 With some hair and all of that. 08:38 And my point being is that I was ill when Richard came, 08:43 I was so upset. 08:45 I had bronchitis and pneumonia. 08:49 And when Richard realized that I was not there, 08:54 he insisted that I come. 08:57 They told him I was in the hospital. 09:01 And I got a word that he insisted that I be there. 09:05 So I said, "Okay, I'm going." What? 09:09 You sent yourself out of the hospital? 09:10 I sent myself out of the hospital, 09:13 made it over to the studio of FAME Recording Studios 09:16 and played on this great record called The Real Thing. 09:22 And it has some other great, great records on there as well. 09:26 But it was one, this record Richard allowed us 09:29 to compose along with him in the studio. 09:34 After the session was over, Richard called myself 09:40 and few members into his room and he said, 09:43 "You guys are so good. 09:45 You made my record so much better 09:48 than it would have been." 09:49 He said, "I just want to thank you, baby." 09:52 You know, and he was so nice and he said, 09:58 "I want to ask you something." 10:01 He said, "Would you consider going on the road with me?" 10:05 And I said, "Wow." 10:09 That was like a dream come true for you, isn't it? 10:10 Oh, I'm like... 10:12 I've heard him saying I've watched him 10:14 on black and white TV. 10:17 I've heard him do "Whoo!" 10:19 Yeah. You know, all that. 10:21 I said, "I just need to check with my family," 10:24 Check with my family. 10:27 So once I did that, 10:29 and they thought that it would be okay. 10:34 I took full advantage of it and he moved us to California. 10:39 And then we spent most of our time in New York 10:43 because that's where most of the work was. 10:46 So the journey with Little Richard, 10:50 I must say exposed me to the music industry 10:55 in so many different ways. 10:58 I had access to the rest of the world 11:01 because we traveled everywhere. 11:04 But I want to jump to something that I think 11:07 is really crucial to share with you 11:10 about watching Little Richard and how you impacted my life 11:15 as a musician because even when we were on the road, 11:19 I was in the church. 11:22 Going to church on Sundays, you know. 11:24 And I thought, "How am I going to continue 11:29 to manage this 'cause we had to go out on weekends. 11:34 And kind of found out 11:36 that Little Richard went to Sabbath. 11:40 And I was like, "Thank God." 11:43 So every Sabbath, we had a chance to go to church. 11:48 I didn't get to go every time, because I might be overwhelmed, 11:53 tired or whatever, 11:54 but every opportunity that I had. 11:58 My clothes were ready the night before. 12:01 'Cause I knew that the van would be waiting outside 12:05 and blown for us regardless of what was going on. 12:08 So we had an opportunity to travel around the world 12:12 and still be in church in that environment. 12:17 One of the major things that happened 12:19 during that process was that Little Richard called on me 12:23 and asked if I would put a band together for him. 12:25 This was later on say like '83, '84. 12:31 I was in college. 12:33 And I skipped, because 12:35 this is the next major thing that happened. 12:38 When Richard came off the road and stopped playing R&B 12:45 and rock n roll, he called me first. 12:49 I was in college and he said, 12:51 "Jesse, I would like you to go back to Muscle Shoals 12:54 and put a band together for me." 12:58 I'm like, "Me? 13:00 You want me to put a band together for you? 13:03 Yes, I can do that." 13:05 So I went back to Muscle Shoals, 13:07 I got Travis Wammack, I got Wayne Chaney, 13:10 all these great musicians from Muscle Shoals. 13:13 And what's his name, Wammack... 13:18 Travis. 13:19 Travis Wammack and we went, the first... 13:22 Then we did was California. 13:25 And then he felt so good about what we had done 13:29 and putting the band together. 13:30 And was this playing gospel or was this playing R&Bs? 13:33 This was playing R&B. Okay. 13:36 But then like he said he was kind of like back and forth 13:41 at that point. 13:43 When he got his first opportunity 13:45 to do a gospel album, 13:48 it was the most exciting thing that could happen for him. 13:52 Yes. 13:54 He invited me again to put the show together 13:59 and the music together and write the music 14:02 to go do a gospel album in Europe, okay? 14:08 So here I am in Europe with Little Richard 14:10 and we're doing a gospel album and they were insisting on him 14:16 doing some R&B on this record. 14:19 He didn't want to. 14:21 And the enemy was so emphatic about him warning him 14:27 rather to do some Rock n Roll. 14:30 And he said, "I didn't come here for that. 14:33 I came here to give God the glory. 14:35 You said that you... 14:37 We were going to come here and do a gospel record." 14:42 And they kept the pressure on him 14:45 for like four, five days. 14:48 And he called me to his room and he said, 14:50 "Jesse, I can't do this. 14:52 I've made a commitment to God 14:54 and I'm going to stick to this." 14:57 And he said, "I know that I can make more money. 15:00 They'll add another 50,000 or whatever." 15:05 But he stuck to it and he said, "You know, what I'm going to do 15:08 and I'm not telling anyone else. 15:10 But I'm leaving." 15:12 He made sure that we had access to a ticket home 15:17 and all that but he had to leave to come 15:21 from beneath all of the pressure 15:24 about doing this record. 15:25 But that's when he had the wreck. 15:27 You remember? Mm-hm. 15:29 He had the wreck. 15:31 After he left Europe? 15:32 Yeah, so he left Europe. 15:34 He was so afraid that someone was going to try to hurt him. 15:39 I mean, really, you know, messing with him physically 15:42 or whatever he... 15:44 Drove his car back to... 15:48 He went rather into the airport to pick up his car. 15:52 I think he had... 15:58 it's a little sports car. 16:00 And he wrecked it. 16:02 And that's when he got... 16:03 Messed up his knees, and all that stuff 16:05 what you just see him struggling with now. 16:08 Because his battle with the enemy was that 16:11 if you don't do what I say to, then I'll take you out. 16:15 And that's sometimes is what we have confronted 16:19 with as Christians. 16:21 From confronted with giving up our lives. 16:25 Yes. 16:26 Sometimes, when we don't do what the enemy says 16:28 and Richard had made up his mind 16:31 to say no regardless to what it took. 16:33 Yes. 16:35 How did seeing him take a stand for Jesus, 16:39 how did that impact your spiritual work? 16:42 It impacted in every way because I took the same stance. 16:48 All right. From that point. 16:51 And I saw that God can deliver you 16:57 from intimidation, sickness, 17:02 and anything else that may come against you. 17:05 We want you to choose God 100%. 17:08 And it changed my life because when I saw him 17:14 with his tongue cut off. 17:17 And he is and literally his tongue was cut off. 17:22 The enemy meant to take him out so that he can never sing again 17:26 but look at him now. 17:28 Yes. Praise the Lord. 17:29 Do you see what I'm saying. Yes, indeed. 17:30 So to be able to look at an example of a man 17:34 who was willing to walk away 17:37 from everything for Jesus Christ. 17:40 Yes. Yes. 17:42 How can one not follow 17:44 such a serious disciple as this man. 17:48 Praise the Lord. 17:49 So I started to change my own transition 17:56 and I went back to Seminary. 18:00 Had a great business, we're making hit records, 18:05 dance records, and reassigned Bobby Jones, 18:11 and some of you may know him, we had Shirley Caesar 18:15 on our label and all of that, but we stopped, right? 18:19 And we went to college. 18:23 And we graduated from undergrad and then I went to Vanderbilt 18:27 and then I went back and taught college. 18:30 All right. All right? 18:31 And then... So did you kind of leave... 18:34 I have to bring in Asieren here 18:36 because she hasn't said anything. 18:38 I have to find out how she responded to... 18:43 My calling and all that. Yes, to your calling. 18:46 Well, you know, it was very, very easy for me 18:50 even though Jesse and I had not discussed his calling, 18:55 I saw the change in him and it did coincide 19:00 with Richard's stance. 19:03 And when Richard made, he took his stance 19:06 and his position on what he was going to do. 19:09 And I'll never forget one Sunday morning 19:11 we were in worship. 19:13 And Jesse was playing the organ. 19:16 Church was over and they had extended 19:18 the invitation of Christ and all of a sudden 19:22 Jesse got up from the organ and he began to walk across 19:26 the front of the church. 19:28 And I knew right then I'm going to tell you exactly 19:33 what I felt like, it felt like 19:35 I was a wheel in the middle of a wheel. 19:39 And as he moved, I moved. 19:42 And without, it was just burning up in my spirit 19:46 and in my heart. 19:47 And when he made that commitment, 19:50 I just couldn't see that my husband 19:52 would make that commitment. 19:54 And then he was in Seminary right away 19:58 and I began to study with him right away 20:02 because I needed to understand how to maintain this oneness. 20:07 Not sameness, but we won't want to call it. 20:11 Which is a very good distinction 20:16 because you are one. 20:18 Yes, exactly right. 20:19 There might be some areas that in which you don't agree. 20:21 Yes. 20:23 So it's not sameness per se but it is one in Christ. 20:27 Yes. One in Christ. 20:28 And I watched it happen. 20:30 I watched it happen and then 20:32 as I began to know Richard more, 20:35 I understood why Richard called Jesse his son. 20:40 And I understood why Jesse respected Richard as his dad. 20:47 You know, and they had, you know, 20:49 if Jesse talks to me now he loves his parents, you know, 20:54 his biological parents, but he will often tell me 20:57 that Richard molded him. 21:01 You know, he spiritually grounded him. 21:05 And he modeled walking what you talk. 21:10 And so many shows that I'm setting in where Richard 21:14 in the middle of the show he had an audience 21:17 right in the palm of his hands. 21:20 And he took an opportunity to minister in the moment. 21:23 He did not allow that to escape him. 21:27 If you want to know me, then you need to know 21:31 about this guy that I serve. 21:32 Yes. Yes. 21:34 Right in a moment 21:35 and the crowd would just respond. 21:37 And he had an opportunity to do that 21:40 over and over and over and over again. 21:44 And he didn't care if it was a small audience, 21:47 in the airport or if he had 60,000 21:51 in the audience doing a concert. 21:52 Absolutely. Yes. Yes. 21:54 He took advantage 21:55 of every opportunity God gave him. 21:57 Praise the Lord. 21:58 And you know that comes from the Holy Spirit 22:00 impressing on Him to share. 22:03 If something is good you have to share. 22:05 That's true. God is good. 22:06 Yeah. 22:08 And he reached outside of themselves 22:10 and was just sharing. 22:12 Yes. 22:14 But, you know, before we go because I can't believe 22:17 our time is running out. 22:19 It's okay. 22:20 What is your main challenge right now? 22:22 What's going on with you right now 22:24 and how is God helping you through this time? 22:28 Well, I think the next major thing 22:33 that happened in our lives was in 2003, 22:39 I was told that I had cancer. 22:43 Did you hear what I said? 22:46 I said 2003. 22:49 Fourteen years now. It's 14. 22:52 Amen. Amen. 22:54 Amen. Praise the Lord. 22:55 Amen. 22:57 When I made the announcement to Little Richard, 23:01 he just kind of fell apart because we were so close. 23:05 He has another brother also who had gone 23:07 through the same thing and he did chemo. 23:11 And Richard was so distraught about that 23:12 because he saw it taking Robert's life 23:17 and that's what chemo is, it's a chemical. 23:21 So point being is that when I shared that with him, 23:26 he was so upset but he was very supportive 23:30 at my operation. 23:33 And I'd gotten well to where I could function. 23:37 He said, "Baby, I want you to travel back to London 23:41 with us and I'm going to have Asieren go with you, 23:45 so he can help take care of you." 23:48 But I didn't like that even that 23:50 before when we came out of the hospital. 23:53 Richard was there. Yeah. 23:56 From the... 23:57 Anointed Jesse from the top of his head 23:59 to the soles of the feet. 24:01 Yeah. 24:02 He came to our house on Thanksgiving Day. 24:04 Yes. 24:06 He could have been with his family 24:08 but he chose to come and see. 24:11 I think he was with his family. He ministered. 24:13 Yeah. 24:15 And so by him doing that and that still being able 24:20 to keep it together and go out 24:23 and still play and things like that. 24:27 We stayed close. 24:29 Now I still have cancer. 24:36 But before we go off the air, I want you to know 24:38 the cancer doesn't have me. 24:40 Come on. Come on now. 24:42 That's right. 24:46 Amen. 24:47 And it taught me watching Richard in pain every day. 24:53 Yeah. 24:55 He would acknowledge his pain but he would never say. 24:58 It's got me down. 25:00 He has never said it pained, I mean, amidst of so much pain, 25:04 but I can't do nothing today. 25:07 I have never heard him say, "Oh, it's so painful, 25:11 but I can't make it to church." 25:14 He's never said that, "I'm in so much pain 25:17 that I don't know if I can do this today." 25:20 I would watch him get up from his sick bed every day 25:26 and he still does it. 25:28 How could not one have the tenacity and the courage... 25:33 That's right. 25:34 ...to get up every day and say, "Yeah, 25:37 I have pain but pain doesn't have me." 25:40 Yeah. 25:41 Shut up. 25:45 And we really have, I mean, it's like he's carried us 25:49 on his wings even through Jesse's most recent, you know, 25:53 incident of him being in critical care, 25:56 it was not a day. 25:58 Yeah. 25:59 That when I was at my most vulnerable, 26:01 that I was at my weakest, 26:03 that I was at Jesse's feet praying, 26:06 that Richard was not covering me 26:10 and supporting me and lifting Jesse up. 26:13 And when Jesse couldn't hear him, 26:15 I would have the phone to Jesse's ear. 26:17 As Richard prayed us through, encouraged us to move on 26:22 just a little while longer. 26:23 What she's referring to is that. 26:28 I died. 26:29 Oh, my... 26:31 I died and I was resurrected. 26:35 Praise God. Did you all hear what I said? 26:39 I stopped breathing. 26:41 And God brought you back. 26:42 And God brought me back to be the testimony. 26:45 Yes. 26:47 That allowed me to... 26:50 the courage to just get out today 26:52 because I'm not feeling my best today. 26:55 Yeah. 26:57 But when you are in a situation where God shows 27:03 everybody around you what God can do. 27:05 Yes. 27:07 You know, if you just have that next level of faith 27:10 and you just get on up anyway. 27:12 Yes. 27:14 It can raise you well. 27:16 Yes, indeed. 27:17 He can raise you not only from your sick bed, 27:20 but from your death bed. 27:21 Yes. Amen. I'm the living witness. 27:25 That's why I'm still here because my journey now 27:29 has more to do with me having a testimony. 27:32 Yes. That's right. 27:33 That I have to continue until God says when. 27:37 And I can't end it on a better note than that. 27:40 Thank you so much. 27:42 May God continue to bless you and restore you. 27:46 Thank you. 27:48 Thank you so much. Thank you. 27:49 Thank you so much for inviting us. 27:50 Thank you, Richard. Thank you. 27:52 Thank you. 27:53 Wow! 27:55 What a wonderful couple they are. 27:56 Well, join us next time 27:58 because it wouldn't be the same without you. |
Revised 2017-09-26