bashraka said:

Is it time for Prince to eshew background singers altogether? Yes, the Shelby, Liv and Elisa can most certain sing and have great abilities to create great vocal harmonies, but they don't offer anything substantive to his recorded music and artistry. It seems like Prince is bored with this group and is too spineless to fire them. It's just hard to believe that Prince did one of the most excitng and musically challenging tours of his career in One Nite Alone and has traded that for a band that has become this side of stale.

What is your agenda? Yall have a beef w/ anybody Black(particularly) around this dude. Know this w/ clarity. Prince is a BLACK MAN. I know hes light skinned w/ a pointy nose and thats important to you but he dosent give a fuck about it except as it relates to allowing him to play MORE MUSIC and get a little ass on the side. What would be more interesting is to see you start threads about who you approve of. WTF do you like? Why do yall make up w/ fake beefs about people arounnd him? At the height of whatever you think youre looking for, however edwardian he was dressed w /Wendy and Lisa and Bobby Z, it was all so funky cuz HE WAS SO CLEARLY BLACK. So I say and I say again, What is your agenda? Whatever you think youre looking for isnt there. Can these people make a living in peace?

[Edited 7/28/10 23:13pm]

[Edited 7/28/10 23:15pm]

[Edited 7/28/10 23:26pm]

Love them, especially Shelby. Ever since she came on board, she's been one of the highlights of his shows for me. When I go back and listen to some of the boots with the tone-deaf Twinz (they were cute as dancers, though, so I'm not entirely hating), I appreciate the fact that he has quality singers backing him again even more. It wouldn't hurt, though, to switch up some of the songs Shelby sings. Some of the songs have been on the setlist for years.

Speaking of background singers, I wouldn't mind Marva coming back. I always liked her a lot, as well.

Huggiebear said:

They are alright, but Shelby is no Sheila E, and the chances of him getting female singers and musicians on the level of Cat, Jill Jones, WendynLisa and even Rosie are looking thin. The band seems to be turning into some middle of the road touring soul revue.

eireboy34 said:

Huggiebear said:

They are alright, but Shelby is no Sheila E, and the chances of him getting female singers and musicians on the level of Cat, Jill Jones, WendynLisa and even Rosie are looking thin. The band seems to be turning into some middle of the road touring soul revue.

This is really a standout staement in the universe of nonsense. There must be some kind of award for this

Huggiebear said:

They are alright, but Shelby is no Sheila E, and the chances of him getting female singers and musicians on the level of Cat, Jill Jones, WendynLisa and even Rosie are looking thin. The band seems to be turning into some middle of the road touring soul revue.

Although Sheila sings, i believe her main thing in P's bands was drummer ... shouldn't she be compared to one of P's current drummers ? ...

As far as i've known, Cat was a dancer in the tours of 1987/1988, and she added rap to those shows ( "Alphabet Street", etc...)

So... After a brief vacation and much needed rest after the 20Ten gigs (main shows got tired real fast but the aftershows were nice...) all I can say is that Prince needs to drop the backup singers, especially Shelby J. (her voice is fucking annoying) from his recorded material, they're nice people but they ruin good songs that would have been better had he kept his own voice as backup...

20Ten could have been a nice album had it not been ruined by them... And "Laydown" is a shit song which makes me wanna shit in Shelby J's mouth...

On stage they're not as bad but a bit too much and not needed (his Vegas stint was shit but this new crap with them make his main shows look like some cover band doing Prince stuff... It's was even worse than his "Musicology" bore fest...)

They don't add shit to his material other than soulless and even robotic synthesized filler...

Sure they can sing and their harmonies are great, but not for Prince's music... Songs that sounded original and full of energy now sound like boring dime a dozen tripe any so called soul artist from nowadays does...

Prince's main concerts are turning into some boring ass Alicia Keyes or Erykah Badu sleepfest...

Neversin.

I love the backup singers, from the 1st time I saw them on "Turn Me Loose" from the "Leno" show. The band may be signed to 6 year contracts & I think they 1st surfaced as a unit in 06' if i'm not mistaken. The band as a unit shine at times but sometimes they seem very dull. What they were able to do at Super Bowl XLI(show & press-conference), SNL, & the wonderful Prince, Josh , & Cora aftershow from 07' shows they're talent. But there are other times when I just don't feel it & that's something I hardly ever felt with the previous bands with the exception of the mid 96'-99' lineup which for the most part was drummerless!

the backing vocals on the CD sound ok to me, but i havent seen this line-up live.

if it's true that someone is over-singing during gigs then all i have to say to them is:

please don't

KCOOLMUZIQ said:

I think they add a fresh new sound to the mega hit album 20TEN. Prince has finally found use of there voices together. Hearing them on the new versions of Mountains & 1999 live proved that they finally have struck magic in their harmonies with Prince. I say keep them. Plus Shelby brings out a fun side in Prince I haven't seen in years since Wendy & Lisa were fired. He looks so relaxed while he is around her. Speaking of Wendy & Lisa. Shelby J, Liv Warfield & Elisa harmonies rival theres on 20TEN. I'm sorry to disappoint U Wendy & Lisa diehard fans there harmonies are better than theirs now & tighter.... Shelby sounds better with a quartet.

I love the way all 3 singers harmonize. I hope Prince keeps them for a long time.

daPrettyman said:

Huggiebear said:

They are alright, but Shelby is no Sheila E, and the chances of him getting female singers and musicians on the level of Cat, Jill Jones, WendynLisa and even Rosie are looking thin. The band seems to be turning into some middle of the road touring soul revue.

I agree with that at times.

I want 2 hear Prince music ONLY, I also don't want to hear Crazy featuring Shelby I don't want to hear late 70's early 80's non Prince soul jams

I don't mind a cover or 2 in a show like Just My Imagination or Whole Lot of Love

CJBabyDaddy said:

Huggiebear said:

. . . getting female singers and musicians on the level of Cat, Jill Jones . . .

Why wish that on anyone?

Please that's when it was hot & steamy, everything else is built on it

Harlepolis said:

I don't know the other two, but Shelby's voice is all over the place including my goddamn nerves I tried to give that woman a pass,,,,but damn.

The again, hiring a decent female vocalist who's not overly annoying has not been one of Prince' strengthes,,,,,and no, I never liked Rosie Gains' voice either.

Jill Jones was one of his best backing vocalist -live. She had his purple touch and blended in well

And not just because she was fine. lol Sure didn't hurt

I never cared for the over powering female voice in his music

JonnyApplesauce said:

bashraka said:

Is it time for Prince to eshew background singers altogether? Yes, the Shelby, Liv and Elisa can most certain sing and have great abilities to create great vocal harmonies, but they don't offer anything substantive to his recorded music and artistry. It seems like Prince is bored with this group and is too spineless to fire them. It's just hard to believe that Prince did one of the most excitng and musically challenging tours of his career in One Nite Alone and has traded that for a band that has become this side of stale.

What is your agenda? Yall have a beef w/ anybody Black(particularly) around this dude. Know this w/ clarity. Prince is a BLACK MAN. I know hes light skinned w/ a pointy nose and thats important to you but he dosent give a fuck about it except as it relates to allowing him to play MORE MUSIC and get a little ass on the side. What would be more interesting is to see you start threads about who you approve of. WTF do you like? Why do yall make up w/ fake beefs about people arounnd him? At the height of whatever you think youre looking for, however edwardian he was dressed w /Wendy and Lisa and Bobby Z, it was all so funky cuz HE WAS SO CLEARLY BLACK. So I say and I say again, What is your agenda? Whatever you think youre looking for isnt there. Can these people make a living in peace?

I don't think Elisa is black

Shango said:

Huggiebear said:

They are alright, but Shelby is no Sheila E, and the chances of him getting female singers and musicians on the level of Cat, Jill Jones, WendynLisa and even Rosie are looking thin. The band seems to be turning into some middle of the road touring soul revue.

Although Sheila sings, i believe her main thing in P's bands was drummer ... shouldn't she be compared to one of P's current drummers ? ...

As far as i've known, Cat was a dancer in the tours of 1987/1988, and she added rap to those shows ( "Alphabet Street", etc...)

Sheila sang back up almost as much as she played drums, plus she also was upfront for numbers like Erotic City or when she played the timbales or percussion, she was on mic then 2, similar 2 the 1 Night Alone shows and whenever she performs with him in the last 5 years she is singing backup.

Cat also sang just as much as she danced. Well she danced more:SOTT Hot Thang ICNTTPOYM-she had a non singing part. All the number didn't require her dancing. She only rapped on a song or 2

SOTT she was mostly on the side singing with Wally & Gregory

Lovesexy she had a free mic and would shadow Prince

OldFriends4Sale said:

JonnyApplesauce said:

What is your agenda? Yall have a beef w/ anybody Black(particularly) around this dude. Know this w/ clarity. Prince is a BLACK MAN. I know hes light skinned w/ a pointy nose and thats important to you but he dosent give a fuck about it except as it relates to allowing him to play MORE MUSIC and get a little ass on the side. What would be more interesting is to see you start threads about who you approve of. WTF do you like? Why do yall make up w/ fake beefs about people arounnd him? At the height of whatever you think youre looking for, however edwardian he was dressed w /Wendy and Lisa and Bobby Z, it was all so funky cuz HE WAS SO CLEARLY BLACK. So I say and I say again, What is your agenda? Whatever you think youre looking for isnt there. Can these people make a living in peace?

I don't think Elisa is black

Don't even bother. Some people just aren't content unless they make everything about race.

Harlepolis said:

I don't know the other two, but Shelby's voice is all over the place including my goddamn nerves I tried to give that woman a pass,,,,but damn.

The again, hiring a decent female vocalist who's not overly annoying has not been one of Prince' strengthes,,,,,and no, I never liked Rosie Gains' voice either.

yeah me too at times...

Neversin said:

So... After a brief vacation and much needed rest after the 20Ten gigs (main shows got tired real fast but the aftershows were nice...) all I can say is that Prince needs to drop the backup singers, especially Shelby J. (her voice is fucking annoying) from his recorded material, they're nice people but they ruin good songs that would have been better had he kept his own voice as backup...

20Ten could have been a nice album had it not been ruined by them... And "Laydown" is a shit song which makes me wanna shit in Shelby J's mouth...

On stage they're not as bad but a bit too much and not needed (his Vegas stint was shit but this new crap with them make his main shows look like some cover band doing Prince stuff... It's was even worse than his "Musicology" bore fest...)

They don't add shit to his material other than soulless and even robotic synthesized filler...

Sure they can sing and their harmonies are great, but not for Prince's music... Songs that sounded original and full of energy now sound like boring dime a dozen tripe any so called soul artist from nowadays does...

Prince's main concerts are turning into some boring ass Alicia Keyes or Erykah Badu sleepfest...

Neversin.

Harlepolis said:

I don't know the other two, but Shelby's voice is all over the place including my goddamn nerves I tried to give that woman a pass,,,,but damn.

The again, hiring a decent female vocalist who's not overly annoying has not been one of Prince' strengthes,,,,,and no, I never liked Rosie Gains' voice either.

Don't even get me started on Bonnie. I know there are people who loved her and I hate to speak ill of the dead. But she's the reason I can only stomach about half of the Small Club boot. As soon as she starts screaming (especially on Forever In My Life), I hit >

OldFriends4Sale said:

Shango said:

Although Sheila sings, i believe her main thing in P's bands was drummer ... shouldn't she be compared to one of P's current drummers ? ...

As far as i've known, Cat was a dancer in the tours of 1987/1988, and she added rap to those shows ( "Alphabet Street", etc...)

Sheila sang back up almost as much as she played drums, plus she also was upfront for numbers like Erotic City or when she played the timbales or percussion, she was on mic then 2, similar 2 the 1 Night Alone shows and whenever she performs with him in the last 5 years she is singing backup.

Cat also sang just as much as she danced. Well she danced more:SOTT Hot Thang ICNTTPOYM-she had a non singing part. All the number didn't require her dancing. She only rapped on a song or 2

SOTT she was mostly on the side singing with Wally & Gregory

Lovesexy she had a free mic and would shadow Prince

I stand corrected ! My bad, and thanx OldFriends4Sale for your always-informative posts + pix !

At least Shelby isn't Apples...

just sayin'

=0P

Genesia said:

Harlepolis said:

I don't know the other two, but Shelby's voice is all over the place including my goddamn nerves I tried to give that woman a pass,,,,but damn.

The again, hiring a decent female vocalist who's not overly annoying has not been one of Prince' strengthes,,,,,and no, I never liked Rosie Gains' voice either.

Don't even get me started on Bonnie. I know there are people who loved her and I hate to speak ill of the dead. But she's the reason I can only stomach about half of the Small Club boot. As soon as she starts screaming (especially on Forever In My Life), I hit >

You'd think being a Chaka Khan fanatic I would cut those women some slack thing is, those women(Bonnie & Rosie) sang so beautifully when they were not trying to outwail Chaka. I liked their soft singing, and it complemented Prince' music,,,until the throat works flood the place.

Jeeveta Steele is the COMPLETE opposite to me, I loved her when she wailed and hated her nasally whiny singing voice when she tried to sing softly. He could've hired her full time to "wail" for him if he wanted that element.

I know I'll get the side-eye for saying this, but I think Wendy & Lisa complemented him beautifully in the background vocals,,,,their singing voices are very flawed comparing to Rosie, Bonnie & Shelby, but I loved their natural quality, it didn't seem forced(at least not 80% of the times).

Harlepolis said:

Genesia said:

Don't even get me started on Bonnie. I know there are people who loved her and I hate to speak ill of the dead. But she's the reason I can only stomach about half of the Small Club boot. As soon as she starts screaming (especially on Forever In My Life), I hit >

You'd think being a Chaka Khan fanatic I would cut those women some slack thing is, those women(Bonnie & Rosie) sang so beautifully when they were not trying to outwail Chaka. I liked their soft singing, and it complemented Prince' music,,,until the throat works flood the place.

Jeeveta Steele is the COMPLETE opposite to me, I loved her when she wailed and hated her nasally whiny singing voice when she tried to sing softly. He could've hired her full time to "wail" for him if he wanted that element.

I know I'll get the side-eye for saying this, but I think Wendy & Lisa complemented him beautifully in the background vocals,,,,their singing voices are very flawed comparing to Rosie, Bonnie & Shelby, but I loved their natural quality, it didn't seem forced(at least not 80% of the times).

I think that's because Wendy and Lisa didn't harbor any illusions about their vocal abilities.

But Prince tends to get lazy when handling all background vocals himself. Harmonies don't always pan out, and the result is over-induglence. Or schmaltz. (Better with Time, anyone?)

He's always been drawn to Tina-type vocalists. It's the Ike in him. So, I suspect a Shelby/Boni/Rosie-type gospel/soul mama is something he's always going to have handy.

As for him turning into a soul revue traveling act, Prince is a legacy artist wearing his influences on his sleeve. He's always boosted that element of music in his aftershows. So, I don't think it's surprising that we're seeing more of it seep into his recorded work and concerts. As long as the music is good and inspired, I'm happy to see Prince perform it, record it and release it.

[Edited 7/29/10 9:25am]

2elijah said:

KCOOLMUZIQ said:

I think they add a fresh new sound to the mega hit album 20TEN. Prince has finally found use of there voices together. Hearing them on the new versions of Mountains & 1999 live proved that they finally have struck magic in their harmonies with Prince. I say keep them. Plus Shelby brings out a fun side in Prince I haven't seen in years since Wendy & Lisa were fired. He looks so relaxed while he is around her. Speaking of Wendy & Lisa. Shelby J, Liv Warfield & Elisa harmonies rival theres on 20TEN. I'm sorry to disappoint U Wendy & Lisa diehard fans there harmonies are better than theirs now & tighter.... Shelby sounds better with a quartet.

I love the way all 3 singers harmonize. I hope Prince keeps them for a long time.

Genesia said:

Harlepolis said:

You'd think being a Chaka Khan fanatic I would cut those women some slack thing is, those women(Bonnie & Rosie) sang so beautifully when they were not trying to outwail Chaka. I liked their soft singing, and it complemented Prince' music,,,until the throat works flood the place.

Jeeveta Steele is the COMPLETE opposite to me, I loved her when she wailed and hated her nasally whiny singing voice when she tried to sing softly. He could've hired her full time to "wail" for him if he wanted that element.

I know I'll get the side-eye for saying this, but I think Wendy & Lisa complemented him beautifully in the background vocals,,,,their singing voices are very flawed comparing to Rosie, Bonnie & Shelby, but I loved their natural quality, it didn't seem forced(at least not 80% of the times).

I think that's because Wendy and Lisa didn't harbor any illusions about their vocal abilities.

I would love to hear Susannah back Prince live, outside of the Parade shows, I love her skilled voice accompanying Prince on a lot of the Camille Dream Factory SOTT songs

Live and let live, luv 2!

bashraka said:

Is it time for Prince to eshew background singers altogether? Yes, the Shelby, Liv and Elisa can most certain sing and have great abilities to create great vocal harmonies, but they don't offer anything substantive to his recorded music and artistry. It seems like Prince is bored with this group and is too spineless to fire them. It's just hard to believe that Prince did one of the most excitng and musically challenging tours of his career in One Nite Alone and has traded that for a band that has become this side of stale.

You're effin crazy... they're one of the best aspects of his current band.

Huggiebear said:

They are alright, but Shelby is no Sheila E, and the chances of him getting female singers and musicians on the level of Cat, Jill Jones, WendynLisa and even Rosie are looking thin. The band seems to be turning into some middle of the road touring soul revue.

Cat??? Are you serious? I prefer Elisa's voice to JJ's.

KCOOLMUZIQ said:

Speaking of Wendy & Lisa. Shelby J, Liv Warfield & Elisa harmonies rival theres on 20TEN.

Totally agree with that. That's one of the first things I noticed after finishing 20ten for the first time... how well the backing vox are on that album.

OldFriends4Sale said:

I want 2 hear Prince music ONLY, I also don't want to hear Crazy featuring Shelby I don't want to hear late 70's early 80's non Prince soul jams

I can agree with that. But I also understand what P's trying to do by giving them stage time, he sees himself as building them up, giving them an audience, and its true. When they finally are let go, they'll have an audience that would have never bothered with them if they were never associated with him. But that said, I'm over Shelby's live covers. If P needs to give his voice a break during a show I'd rather hear an instrumental jam or something...