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Chris Steller
@chrissteller.bsky.social
8.1K followers 8.5K following 110K posts
MINNEAPOLIS ALSO: SAINT PAUL This is the ideal BlueSky bio. You should copy it.
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New font just dropped: "Peeling Bistro"
letters stuck in storefront window are peeing: BISTRO
November 22, 2025 at 5:40 PM
chrissteller.bsky.social
Late Capitalism
animal skulls in a shop window with a double billboard reflected in the glass
November 22, 2025 at 5:32 PM
chrissteller.bsky.social
Here is the 2021 Jellybean Johnson article in screenshots and ALT text
At 64, Minnesota music hero Jellybean Johnson makes his solo guitar debut Thanks to the pandemic, the drummer for the Time got a chance to finish something he's wanted to do for a long time. By Jon Bream March 19, 2021 You notice him. It doesn't matter if he's onstage or standing in the back of the club. You notice Jellybean Johnson. At 6-feet-4, he is basketball tall. Crowned by a top hat, or maybe it's a fedora tonight. He's wearing a faux fur jacket, or maybe it's a sequined suit. A polka dot shirt, or maybe it's a flashier pattern. You notice Johnson because he's a fixture in Twin Cities music clubs on any given pre-pandemic night. He might be a supportive observer or sit in for a song or two. Or he might be in the band, playing guitar. That's not how he made his name. Johnson — Bean to his buddies — is known as the drummer for the Time. They started 40 years ago when Prince gave them a shot at a recording contract. Johnson is still the drummer for the long-since-rebranded Morris Day & the Time. Before the COVID shutdown, they were averaging about 50 gigs a year. The pandemic gave Johnson a chance to finish something he's wanted to do for a long time — his debut solo album as a guitarist, "Get Experienced." "We're in the fourth quarter now. I just wanted to put something out before they put me in the ground," said Johnson, who is 64. "I've spent most of my musical life backing up my friends and other people. Frankly, I never wanted to be the boss. I just wanted to leave something that was me — that I was responsible for." Johnson can play guitar in all kinds of styles — blues, heavy rock, hip-hop, Princely funk, classic rock — as he demonstrates on the album. He doesn't sing. He didn't even write any of the tunes. Billing the project as the Jellybean Johnson Experience, he teamed with younger players including Tracey Blake, L•A•W, iLLism, and former Prince protégée Ashley Támar Davis as well as old pals Chance Howard and blues star Ronnie Baker Brooks. "Bean has his own voice as a soloist," says veteran Los Angeles producer Oliver Leiber, another drummer-turned-guitarist who has known Johnson since the mid-1980s. "It sounds soaring and it sounds big and it sounds majestic and it's got some fire. And it's kind of egoless." There is a moment in every selection on "Get Experienced" when, despite his sideman's mentality, Johnson's guitar grabs you — his wiry rave-up on the blues-funk "Put Some Jelly on It," his jazz-fusion journey on the cuddly jam "Energy," his searingly soulful solo on a tasty remake of Latimore's sexy groover "Let's Straighten It Out." Praise from Miles Davis Johnson has been serious about guitar for a long time. He took a few drum lessons at age 13 after moving to Minneapolis from Chicago as a preteen, then taught himself guitar two years later after a cousin left one behind. As a teenager growing up on the R&B of KUXL radio and the rock of KQRS, he played drums in the band Flyte Tyme and basketball at Marshall University High School. It was a Flyte Tyme gig at the old Flame Bar on Nicollet Avenue, in front of an audience of no one, that gave Garry Johnson his nickname. Afterward, the trumpeter told his mates: "We sounded really bad tonight. We sounded like a bunch of jellybeans." As Johnson tells it, he looked at the drummer and said, "Jellybeans. Jellybean Johnson." "And the next night he comes back to the Flame, and he hands me a T-shirt made with 'Jellybean Johnson' on it." Johnson attended the University of Minnesota, but Prince recruited the members of Flyte Tyme to be a new full-time band backing drummer-turned-singer Day — the Time. The R&B ensemble scored such hits as "777-9311" and "Cool," opened for Prince on tour, appeared in the movie "Purple Rain" and then broke up. Johnson ended up in a Prince-produced Time spinoff, the Family, with other Purple associates. The Family released a debut album (featuring the original version of "Nothing Compares 2 U"), played one show at First Avenue and dissolved while Prince was in Europe filming "Under the Cherry Moon." Johnson moved on to become a staffer at Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis' hit factory, Flyte Tyme Productions. He wrote and produced hits for Alexander O'Neal and Mint Condition and collaborated with Janet Jackson on her guitar-propelled rocker "Black Cat." "My coming-out party on guitar was on 'Innocent' for Alexander O'Neal," Johnson said. He had a confidence-boosting encounter at Paisley Park with jazz giant Miles Davis, who praised the guitar solo on "Innocent." "When somebody the caliber of Miles Davis tells you something, that just changed my whole guitar world," Johnson reminisced. "Prince told me later: 'Bean, if he tells you that, you can take that to your grave.' " But unlike Day, Jam and Lewis, and others from Prince's court, Johnson says he never landed a big payday. He mostly received a salary. "I never got paid for a Time record all these years," he moaned. He did get a handsome check in 1990 when the Time reunited for the album "Pandemonium" in conjunction with Prince's third film, "Graffiti Bridge," but claims he received one-third of what Jam, Lewis and Time guitarist Jesse Johnson pocketed. "There was no reason I should have been struggling. I went through bankruptcy in 2008 or 2009," he said. "People think I'm rich. I've had one new car in my lifetime — a 1994 4Runner that I ended up with 300,000 miles on." For Johnson, though, it's never been about the money. "Jellybean is someone who loves music for music's sake," said Paul Peterson, who has played with Johnson in the Time, the Family and fDeluxe. "He's out every night playing. I'm sure this pandemic has not been easy for him." Johnson lives to spend his nights in clubs, "to the detriment of my family life," he said. (He has seven kids, ages 15 to 39.) "I don't apologize for that. I have a lot of musical family — Black and white — that have always appreciated me." Sitting in with other bands enables Johnson to keep his guitar chops up. He doesn't practice at home unless he's got a recording session. The only time he plays drums is on gigs with Morris Day & the Time. In his Brooklyn Park townhouse, he never uses his electronic drum kit. From 2003 to 2012, Johnson hit the road as a guitarist with Chicago bluesman Ronnie Baker Brooks, including an annual blues cruise in the Caribbean. He also plays guitar in fDeluxe, the new moniker for the Family, which reunited in 2011 and has released 1 live and 2 studio albums. Along the way, Johnson has accumulated 120 guitars. ...In a normal year, he plays about 25 to 30 of them. "I live alone," he said. "I joke with people that the only things here with me are my guitars, my clothes and my hats. I have well over a hundred of those, too. I have the top hats and I have the pimp hats and the gangster hats. I've got a bunch of derbies." Every Wed, Johnson dons one of those hats, grabs 2 guitars and heads to the MN Music Cafe, where he has been playing with JayBee & the Routine for years. "There's a humility to Bean," Leiber said. "He'll go out 5, 6 nights a week and sit in these clubs still, even though he also flies out to headline shows with the Time. He never lost that working musician's mentality." Or as Peterson put it: "Whether it's in front of three people or 30,000, he doesn't treat it any different. I think it just feeds his soul."
November 22, 2025 at 4:34 PM
chrissteller.bsky.social
A potato has been named after Prince.
U's Paisley Purple potatoes strive for 'Honeycrisp' success Path to broader appeal is long road to hoe. By COLE REYNOLDS For the Minnesota Star Tribune In a 1998 interview, the Spice Girls' Mel Basked the Artist Formerly Known as Prince what she should call him. He decided on "Spud," but could only offer a coy smile as an explanation. Twenty-five years later, it looks more like a premonition. Geneticists at the University of Minnesota have created a new purple and yellow potato, naming it the Paisley Purple after the artist's Chanhassen studio. It's at a handful of local farmers markets and on the tasting menu at Alma, a fine-dining restaurant in Minneapolis. Andas the "Purple Rain" musical ends its run at downtown's State Theatre, the potato serves as a starchy ode to the late artist. But like the musical and its namesake artist, the Paisley Purple faces a long road out of the Twin Cities. Grocery stores SEE PURPLE POTATO ON E6' MATTI SPRAGUE • Provided by Alma The Paisley Purple potato was developed by the University of Minnesota and is on the menu at Alma.
November 22, 2025 at 3:58 PM
chrissteller.bsky.social
Downtown view
sunrise pink sky behind downtown skyline with river
November 22, 2025 at 1:35 PM
chrissteller.bsky.social
This reminds me of "Do They Know It's Christmas?"
U.S. presses Ukraine tsubmit by Thanksgiving or lose support
November 22, 2025 at 1:20 PM
chrissteller.bsky.social
Good morning from Minneapolis
a sunrise with orange and pink behind a row of trees
November 22, 2025 at 1:09 PM
chrissteller.bsky.social
ben franklin with a speech balloon pointing down to the quoted post below
November 22, 2025 at 10:53 AM
chrissteller.bsky.social
the graphic design work here seems ill advised
cover of current National Review magazine 70th anniversary issue with the numerals 7 and 0 taking the place of the letters I and O in "NATIONAL"
November 22, 2025 at 1:59 AM
chrissteller.bsky.social
#DylanAlley
November 21, 2025 at 11:45 PM
chrissteller.bsky.social
Saint Paul, 3:30pm
View out window with curtains pulled back, bright late-day light taking across green lawn and orange trees with some of cathedral in distance and a bank of clouds under a high blue sky
November 21, 2025 at 9:39 PM
chrissteller.bsky.social
Spiraling into the weekend like ...
curved ornamental metal hand rail down stone stairway in late day sunlight with long shadow
November 21, 2025 at 9:04 PM
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Craig Finn of the hold steady
November 21, 2025 at 8:25 PM
chrissteller.bsky.social
The new "I Will Dare" music video almost buckles under the weight of many inside jokes, references & Easter eggs. My favorite: the phone screen shows a call coming from a saved contact (crossed-out "Dad," then "Father")

Minneapolis, MN
D̶a̶d̶ Father

from the "Androgynous" lyrics on the "Let It Be" LP
grabbed image from video as described with hand holding phone
November 21, 2025 at 5:11 PM
chrissteller.bsky.social
I keep seeing this photo and thinking of this old ad
U.S. Senator Fettermam sitting in a armchair Maxwell audio tape print ad with photo of man in chair being blown away by sound from a speaker
November 21, 2025 at 1:39 AM
chrissteller.bsky.social
Okay this is a fantastic connection to make, @jackhamilton.bsky.social
Then there's "Androgynous," Westerberg's ode to gender fluidity, which was the most astonishing recording the 'Mats had made to date. Its austere arrangement of little more than a vocal and a slyly propulsive piano can't help but recall another stunner by a fellow Minnesotan, Prince's "How Come U Don't Call Me Anymore?," released as the B-side to "1999" just two years earlier.
November 21, 2025 at 1:31 AM
chrissteller.bsky.social
craig finn of the hold steady with a speech balloon pointing up
November 20, 2025 at 5:17 PM
chrissteller.bsky.social
Some of us have worked tirelessly ever since to make a meme out of this scene.
Still from the 1983 post apocalyptic TV movie The Day After: "You can’t see it, you can’t feel it, and you can’t taste it. But it’s all around."
November 20, 2025 at 4:44 PM
chrissteller.bsky.social
That photo contains multitudes of memes
meme of old man on train talking to girl
November 20, 2025 at 3:25 PM
chrissteller.bsky.social
How the How the
week started week's going
Nov. 16 front page New York Times article Outrage Over Death of Kit Kat By a Driver Who Has No Heart (beloved cat killed by a Waymo) Nov. 20 The Minnesota Star Tribune article screenshot The Minnesota Star Tribune Minnesota News You Can Use NEWS & POLITICS Driverless ride-sharing company Waymo expanding to Minneapolis Testing will begin Thursday morning. No date has been set to start offering rides to passengers. By Tim Harlow The Minnesota Star Tribune A driverless robotaxi from Waymo is parked on a street in San Francisco on May 16, 2024. (JIM WILSON/The New York Times)
November 20, 2025 at 3:22 PM
chrissteller.bsky.social
Man talking to woman in stands meme
November 20, 2025 at 3:13 PM
chrissteller.bsky.social
Kudos to this neighborhood newspaper for pulling off a front page Northern Lights photo
The latest issue of the Minneapolis newspaper the Northeaster on its front page has a large photo with intense pastels of red and green sigh blue in the night sky
November 20, 2025 at 1:15 PM
chrissteller.bsky.social
Photo of back cover of book jacket Boys and Girls Books These books are as modern as Radar and they cover a wide rango of subjects of current interest. Tho stories are writton in an interesting manner by authors who are specialists. Each book contains 256 pages and is strongly bound. The front cover and backbones have individual stamping. Each book is jacketed in an individual wrapper, printed in four colors and varnishod. Over The Line Strike Him Out Interference Big Leaguer Fighting Blood Circus Dan Treasure Hunt Detectives, Inc. Dan Hyland Police Reporter Slim Evans Whispering Rails Loser's End Little Women Little Men Alice in Wonderland Heidi Pinocchio Tom Sawyer Black Beauty Treasure Island Polly What's Her Name Five Little Martins Cynthia Steps Out Cheer Leader Becky Bryan's Secret Penny Nichols Finds a Clue Penny Nichols and The Lost Key Penny Nichols and The Black Imp Penny Nichols Knob Hill Mystery Mystery at High Hedges Nancy Herself Girls of Silverspur Ranch King Arthur Little Lame Prince Five Little Peppers Huckleberry Finn The Bobbsey Twins The Bobbsey Twins at the Seashore The Bobbsey Twins in the Country THE GOLDSMITH PUBLISHING CO. CHICAGO 5, ILLINOIS
November 20, 2025 at 4:52 AM
chrissteller.bsky.social
When YA was YA: "Dan Hyland: Police Reporter" ... assigned to the toughest ward in Chicago
Book cover with torn jacket that still has color image of young man in brimmed hat putting on a jacket
November 19, 2025 at 11:47 PM
chrissteller.bsky.social
Per this FB post commenter, Warren Zevon was going out with Eleanor Mondale at this time. Other accounts say that was more in the 1990 timeframe. Photo is from the Nov. '88 First Ave show.
Warren Levon's Post i Like @ Comment| Most relevant Lisa Lundquist Kotsonas was there with my new botriend " keot him. We had a secret soot to the riaht on the side. When Warren was playing the keyboard it was smack dab in front of us. We saw him a LOT-probably every 2-3 months...He was dating Minneapolis native Eleanor Mondale at tne time
November 19, 2025 at 7:56 PM