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Thread started 05/10/10 5:58am

Chasing

WE CAN FUNK / WONDERFUL ASS

Oh my, this morning in my ears I had proper old skool Prince funk, now I have the two original versions of the WE CAN FUNK and WONDERFUL ASS.

Also hearing ALL DAY, ALL NIGHT in almost soundbaord - choooons!
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Reply #1 posted 05/10/10 6:03am

vitriol

What's exactly that you're calling 'original versions'?
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Reply #2 posted 05/10/10 6:03am

ernestsewell

Someone got a box of chocolates.
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Reply #3 posted 05/10/10 6:04am

ernestsewell

vitriol said:

What's exactly that you're calling 'original versions'?

"We Can Funk" from Graffiti Bridge is not the same as the original version recorded a few years earlier. That whole "I'm testing positive for the funk - I'll gladly pee in anybody's cup" routine isn't on the original. The original is almost a tad slower in bpm, and has a rawer, and edgier feel to it.
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Reply #4 posted 05/10/10 6:10am

vitriol

That's why I ask. Nearly everybody talks about 'the original' versions of WCF and WA when they refer the the 1986 versions.

If all that guy got is a box o'chocolates we all already have, he hasn't the original (1983) versions of which only snippets are circulating (and with terrible sound).
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Reply #5 posted 05/10/10 6:21am

Chasing

I have the BOC versions - brilliant!

I always loved We Can Funk from GB - but this version is slammin'! Wonderful Ass should have been on Parade!

ALL DAY, ALL NIGHT should not have been given to Jill Jones - even though I do think her version is brilliant.

MOVIE STAR / PLACE IN HEAVEN - talked about, but just so good.

WITNESS - mmm, all I can say is this is DREAMER's younger brother.
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Reply #6 posted 05/10/10 6:25am

Dauphin

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ernestsewell said:

vitriol said:

What's exactly that you're calling 'original versions'?

"We Can Funk" from Graffiti Bridge is not the same as the original version recorded a few years earlier. That whole "I'm testing positive for the funk - I'll gladly pee in anybody's cup" routine isn't on the original. The original is almost a tad slower in bpm, and has a rawer, and edgier feel to it.


Personally, I prefer the Graffiti Bridge era versions.

Also, it sounds to me like the BOC version's vocals are different than previous leaks. Very clear, but very much in front of the other tracks, and almost a little casual in delivery. I almost do not prefer this take out of that era.

Of course... now I have to put it on and listen to all the versions.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Still it's nice to know, when our bodies wear out, we can get another

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
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Reply #7 posted 05/10/10 7:37am

Chasing

The mix is raw, but the funk seems so much harder on the BOC files. How did the BOC files get out there, are there any others in such good quality floating about?
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Reply #8 posted 05/10/10 7:41am

ernestsewell

Chasing said:

The mix is raw, but the funk seems so much harder on the BOC files. How did the BOC files get out there, are there any others in such good quality floating about?

26
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Reply #9 posted 05/10/10 7:43am

BlackbeltJones

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ernestsewell said:

vitriol said:

What's exactly that you're calling 'original versions'?

"We Can Funk" from Graffiti Bridge is not the same as the original version recorded a few years earlier. That whole "I'm testing positive for the funk - I'll gladly pee in anybody's cup" routine isn't on the original. The original is almost a tad slower in bpm, and has a rawer, and edgier feel to it.


Yeah, I was never crazy about that "I'm testing positive for the funk - I'll gladly pee in anybody's cup" line on the GB version myself. I do tend to like the older version(s) myself, but the GB version is still a very solid version (in spite of the wizzing & overflowing cup references). It has a great build up @ the end, which I really dig.
It's almost like there is an "event horizon" for stupidity - once you fall below that line, you're too stupid to know you're stupid.
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Reply #10 posted 05/10/10 7:48am

ernestsewell

BlackbeltJones said:

ernestsewell said:


"We Can Funk" from Graffiti Bridge is not the same as the original version recorded a few years earlier. That whole "I'm testing positive for the funk - I'll gladly pee in anybody's cup" routine isn't on the original. The original is almost a tad slower in bpm, and has a rawer, and edgier feel to it.


Yeah, I was never crazy about that "I'm testing positive for the funk - I'll gladly pee in anybody's cup" line on the GB version myself. I do tend to like the older version(s) myself, but the GB version is still a very solid version (in spite of the wizzing & overflowing cup references). It has a great build up @ the end, which I really dig.

I can take either. They're very different songs to me. The GB version is more pop oriented in some ways, and fits the hollow, over-produced sound of the album. The original fits so perfect with "Girl O My Dreams" and "Can't Stop". It's a great little 3-song EP there.
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Reply #11 posted 05/10/10 7:58am

databank

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ernestsewell said:

BlackbeltJones said:



Yeah, I was never crazy about that "I'm testing positive for the funk - I'll gladly pee in anybody's cup" line on the GB version myself. I do tend to like the older version(s) myself, but the GB version is still a very solid version (in spite of the wizzing & overflowing cup references). It has a great build up @ the end, which I really dig.

I can take either. They're very different songs to me. The GB version is more pop oriented in some ways, and fits the hollow, over-produced sound of the album. The original fits so perfect with "Girl O My Dreams" and "Can't Stop". It's a great little 3-song EP there.


The 1986 version you guys are referring to isn't the original. The original is from 1983 and was reworked for GB (the "testing positive" chorus was added by George Clinton). Only a short snippet with awful sound quality is circulating but it confirms that the GB version is very close to the original.
A COMPREHENSIVE PRINCE DISCOGRAPHY (work in progress ^^): https://sites.google.com/...scography/
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Reply #12 posted 05/10/10 8:02am

ernestsewell

databank said:

ernestsewell said:


I can take either. They're very different songs to me. The GB version is more pop oriented in some ways, and fits the hollow, over-produced sound of the album. The original fits so perfect with "Girl O My Dreams" and "Can't Stop". It's a great little 3-song EP there.


The 1986 version you guys are referring to isn't the original. The original is from 1983 and was reworked for GB (the "testing positive" chorus was added by George Clinton). Only a short snippet with awful sound quality is circulating but it confirms that the GB version is very close to the original.

Without that chorus, it's a different song to me, is what I meant.
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Reply #13 posted 05/10/10 8:27am

ufoclub

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I wonder why Dorothy Parker and Starfish and Coffee (minus the alarm clock) are included on Box of Chocolates? I mean back when Chocolate Box first got out wide on vinyl (around the same time as Black Album in later 1988), the tracks were there too... but they seem identical to the released versions from 1987. And then why did they not put the un-segued Joy in Repitition on there?

All Day All Night still sounds like bootleg quality!
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Reply #14 posted 05/10/10 8:29am

ernestsewell

ufoclub said:

I wonder why Dorothy Parker and Starfish and Coffee (minus the alarm clock) are included on Box of Chocolates? I mean back when Chocolate Box first got out wide on vinyl (around the same time as Black Album in later 1988), the tracks were there too... but they seem identical to the released versions from 1987. And then why did they not put the un-segued Joy in Repitition on there?

All Day All Night still sounds like bootleg quality!

Someone mentioned the theory of keeping the original BOC configuration as it was, but with the better-generation copies we hear on BOC.
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Reply #15 posted 05/10/10 9:04am

BlackbeltJones

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databank said:

The 1986 version you guys are referring to isn't the original. The original is from 1983 and was reworked for GB (the "testing positive" chorus was added by George Clinton). Only a short snippet with awful sound quality is circulating but it confirms that the GB version is very close to the original.


That's pretty interesting. I remember someone else mentioning that to me as well (squirrelgrease I think). I don't think I have ever heard that short '83 snippet though, but it sounds as if that song has gone through a journey or two to finally arrive on the GB album.

Nice work on the "Comprehensive Prince Discography" btw - great resource.
It's almost like there is an "event horizon" for stupidity - once you fall below that line, you're too stupid to know you're stupid.
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Reply #16 posted 05/10/10 9:26am

databank

avatar

BlackbeltJones said:

databank said:

The 1986 version you guys are referring to isn't the original. The original is from 1983 and was reworked for GB (the "testing positive" chorus was added by George Clinton). Only a short snippet with awful sound quality is circulating but it confirms that the GB version is very close to the original.


That's pretty interesting. I remember someone else mentioning that to me as well (squirrelgrease I think). I don't think I have ever heard that short '83 snippet though, but it sounds as if that song has gone through a journey or two to finally arrive on the GB album.

Nice work on the "Comprehensive Prince Discography" btw - great resource.


Thanks, can't finish it now but hopefully it should be done by the end of the summer at most ^^
A COMPREHENSIVE PRINCE DISCOGRAPHY (work in progress ^^): https://sites.google.com/...scography/
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Reply #17 posted 05/10/10 10:00am

OnlyNDaUsa

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databank said:

ernestsewell said:


I can take either. They're very different songs to me. The GB version is more pop oriented in some ways, and fits the hollow, over-produced sound of the album. The original fits so perfect with "Girl O My Dreams" and "Can't Stop". It's a great little 3-song EP there.


The 1986 version you guys are referring to isn't the original. The original is from 1983 and was reworked for GB (the "testing positive" chorus was added by George Clinton). Only a short snippet with awful sound quality is circulating but it confirms that the GB version is very close to the original.


was the '83' version ever finished? This is not a case like 'tick tick bang' where there is a complete song. The 86 version that starts with "I could tell U things that get U excited " as oppose to "I'm testing positive" is the earliest complete version know to exist.
"Keep on shilling for Big Pharm!"
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Reply #18 posted 05/10/10 11:17am

databank

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OnlyNDaUsa said:

databank said:



The 1986 version you guys are referring to isn't the original. The original is from 1983 and was reworked for GB (the "testing positive" chorus was added by George Clinton). Only a short snippet with awful sound quality is circulating but it confirms that the GB version is very close to the original.


was the '83' version ever finished? This is not a case like 'tick tick bang' where there is a complete song. The 86 version that starts with "I could tell U things that get U excited " as oppose to "I'm testing positive" is the earliest complete version know to exist.


I don't understand what u mean by "finished". A whole song was obviously recorded but we only have a snippet.
[Edited 5/10/10 11:18am]
A COMPREHENSIVE PRINCE DISCOGRAPHY (work in progress ^^): https://sites.google.com/...scography/
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Reply #19 posted 05/10/10 11:39am

OnlyNDaUsa

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databank said:

OnlyNDaUsa said:



was the '83' version ever finished? This is not a case like 'tick tick bang' where there is a complete song. The 86 version that starts with "I could tell U things that get U excited " as oppose to "I'm testing positive" is the earliest complete version know to exist.


I don't understand what u mean by "finished". A whole song was obviously recorded but we only have a snippet.


what makes you assume it was ever finished? There are many 'songs' than got started but never finished.
"Keep on shilling for Big Pharm!"
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Reply #20 posted 05/10/10 11:40am

vc40

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ufoclub said:


All Day All Night still sounds like bootleg quality!


Maybe because it IS a bootleg??
Busy doin' something close to nothing
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Reply #21 posted 05/10/10 12:11pm

ernestsewell

vc40 said:

ufoclub said:


All Day All Night still sounds like bootleg quality!


Maybe because it IS a bootleg??

yeahthat
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Reply #22 posted 05/10/10 12:15pm

emesem

is this the one that segues from Girl of my dreams/Can't Stop/We can funk...

Love that sequence. Damn shame it never saw the light of day.

"and if that dont work....yeah what?....two three four boom"
[Edited 5/10/10 12:16pm]
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Reply #23 posted 05/10/10 12:53pm

ernestsewell

emesem said:

is this the one that segues from Girl of my dreams/Can't Stop/We can funk...

Love that sequence. Damn shame it never saw the light of day.

"and if that dont work....yeah what?....two three four boom"

Yes, BOC has that.
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Reply #24 posted 05/10/10 1:05pm

databank

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OnlyNDaUsa said:

databank said:



I don't understand what u mean by "finished". A whole song was obviously recorded but we only have a snippet.


what makes you assume it was ever finished? There are many 'songs' than got started but never finished.


I'm still not sure i get what u mean lol
Prince is known for not going to sleep neither allowing ANYONE to go asleep until he considers a song finished. I don't understand what you mean by "finished", though. A song can be reworked and overdubbed, which is often the case with Prince, but how do you determine an unreleased song is finished unless you have an overdubbed, later, version of it circulating or released?
Except maybe for the acoustic version of "Kiss", i can't think of any circulating outtake that can be considered unfinished as in "just one verse and one chorus" or "just a bass line and a voice".
A COMPREHENSIVE PRINCE DISCOGRAPHY (work in progress ^^): https://sites.google.com/...scography/
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Reply #25 posted 05/10/10 2:00pm

vitriol

'Possessed #2', 'Letter 4 Miles' and 'The Line' are examples of songs where the circulating version is not the finished item. There must be more but those were the first ones that came to mind.

And instrumentals known amongst fans like the one we call 'Climax' or 'Wet Dream Cousin' could be considered 'unfinished' songs since they could be only 'exercises' Prince felt like doing or maybe they were worked on later and became finished songs we may not know about.
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Reply #26 posted 05/10/10 2:22pm

ufoclub

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ernestsewell said:

vc40 said:



Maybe because it IS a bootleg??

yeahthat


I'm responding to the claim in the first post on this thread... by "soundboard" I think they meant first generation quality. But if you listen to All Day All Night it sounds much more bootleg in quality than any of the other tracks.
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Reply #27 posted 05/10/10 2:24pm

databank

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vitriol said:

'Possessed #2', 'Letter 4 Miles' and 'The Line' are examples of songs where the circulating version is not the finished item. There must be more but those were the first ones that came to mind.

All these tracks sound pretty much finished to me. Some tracks Prince released were much sparser than this (including "When Doves Cry" or "Kiss"). Unless i missed something (such as musicians or engineers who'd have testified about later overdubs), i think they're quite finished the way we have them.

And instrumentals known amongst fans like the one we call 'Climax' or 'Wet Dream Cousin' could be considered 'unfinished' songs since they could be only 'exercises' Prince felt like doing or maybe they were worked on later and became finished songs we may not know about.

As for these ones it's hard to say since they were never considered for release, but as you say, Prince probably never intended to overdub them in the 1st place, so in that sense they are finished and could perfectly end up the way they are on a future "Crystal Ball" kind of compilation. There isn't much more to hear from repetitive released jams such as "Ten", "Thirteen", "Gangster Glam" or "Get Loose!" and still they definitely are finished.

In the end, when do we consider a song "finished" anyway? Prince only can tell... 4 exemple "Crystal Ball"'s liner notes say that "Last Heart" was considered a "demo" by Prince, but in the end, with Eric's overdubs, it's hard to hear any difference between it and other released songs which might contain less musical elements.

Not to contradict you for the sheer enjoyment of doing so, just that it's not up to us to say if a song was finished or not. For exemple, the released versions of "Something In The Water" or "Nothing Comparse 2 U" sound totally unfinished in comparison to the unreleased, musically more complex, versions, but Prince finished them by taking out elements instead of adding any.

Anyway, what is known is that Prince recorded a song called "We Can Fuck" in 1983 (dubbed "Moral Majority" for the bill that was sent to WB). How much of it was recorded, i have no clue... But it's there...
[Edited 5/10/10 14:29pm]
A COMPREHENSIVE PRINCE DISCOGRAPHY (work in progress ^^): https://sites.google.com/...scography/
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Reply #28 posted 05/10/10 2:45pm

ufoclub

avatar

databank said:

vitriol said:

'Possessed #2', 'Letter 4 Miles' and 'The Line' are examples of songs where the circulating version is not the finished item. There must be more but those were the first ones that came to mind.

All these tracks sound pretty much finished to me. Some tracks Prince released were much sparser than this (including "When Doves Cry" or "Kiss"). Unless i missed something (such as musicians or engineers who'd have testified about later overdubs), i think they're quite finished the way we have them.

And instrumentals known amongst fans like the one we call 'Climax' or 'Wet Dream Cousin' could be considered 'unfinished' songs since they could be only 'exercises' Prince felt like doing or maybe they were worked on later and became finished songs we may not know about.

As for these ones it's hard to say since they were never considered for release, but as you say, Prince probably never intended to overdub them in the 1st place, so in that sense they are finished and could perfectly end up the way they are on a future "Crystal Ball" kind of compilation. There isn't much more to hear from repetitive released jams such as "Ten", "Thirteen", "Gangster Glam" or "Get Loose!" and still they definitely are finished.

In the end, when do we consider a song "finished" anyway? Prince only can tell... 4 exemple "Crystal Ball"'s liner notes say that "Last Heart" was considered a "demo" by Prince, but in the end, with Eric's overdubs, it's hard to hear any difference between it and other released songs which might contain less musical elements.

Not to contradict you for the sheer enjoyment of doing so, just that it's not up to us to say if a song was finished or not. For exemple, the released versions of "Something In The Water" or "Nothing Comparse 2 U" sound totally unfinished in comparison to the unreleased, musically more complex, versions, but Prince finished them by taking out elements instead of adding any.

Anyway, what is known is that Prince recorded a song called "We Can Fuck" in 1983 (dubbed "Moral Majority" for the bill that was sent to WB). How much of it was recorded, i have no clue... But it's there...
[Edited 5/10/10 14:29pm]


"The Line" is not finished because some people have heard the finished version which has horns on it and additional production. I once read a description describing them to sound like a train horn (or was that a train crash, lol).
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Reply #29 posted 05/10/10 3:24pm

vitriol

databank said:


All these tracks sound pretty much finished to me.


All right. But what they sound like to you is not the issue here.

As stated, the circulating version of 'The Line' seems to be missing a lot compared to the finished item.

'Possessed #2' seems to have been completed with vocals. What's circulating amongst collectors is a recording of an earlier stage of the song, before those were added.

Same for 'Letter 4 Miles'. Can't remember where I read the circulating version is unfinished, and can't either remember what's missing. But that's something easy to believe.

The fact that something is circulating and that it may sound pretty much finished to you doesn't imply it's a finished thing. It's only that it leaked before Prince was definitely done with it.
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