I've never done a Diamons & Pearls era thread so here goes

Introducing 2 new (dancers/singer) Diamonds & Pearls, incl Mayte Garcia

revamped NPG band

Levi Seacer jr being the last of the 1980's Purple Soldiers

& the Sunshine Cloud guitar

rel October 1. 1991

1.Thunder
2.Daddy Pop
3.Diamonds & Pearls
4.Cream
5.Strollin'
6.Willing And Able
7.Gett Off
8.Walk Don't Work
9.Jughead
10.Money Don't Matter 2 Night
11.Push
12.Insatiable
13.Live 4 Love

[Edited 11/24/10 7:04am]

Prince & The New Power Generation
Prince
Mayte Garcia (dancer)
Levi Seacer Jr, (g)
Sonney Thompaon (b)
Rosie Gaines (key)
Tommy Barbarella (key)
Michael Bland (dr)

The Game Boyz
Kirk Johnson ( dancer, percussion)
Tony Mosley ( dancer, Rapper)
Damon Dickson ( dancer)

NPG Horns Heads

Brian Gallagher ( tener sax)
Kathy Jensen ( baritone sax)
Dave Jenson ( trumpet)
Steve Strand ( trumpet)

Horn Heads (Prince's NPG Horns), Horn Section

This group of extraordinarily talented horn players has been gathering international acclaim from artists and critics alike since 1991. Members of The Horn Heads have performed and/or recorded with artists such as Prince, Janet Jackson, Rod Stewart, Babyface, James Brown, Aretha Franklin, Lenny Kravitz, Ray Charles, Tony Bennet, Dizzy Gillespie, Doc Severinson, just to name a few. They have appeared on over 100 commercial releases.

As members of Prince and the NPG, the group has contributed to over 20 CDs and performed from more than 2 million people worldwide.

As a solo ensemble the Horn Heads covering the music of American Masters from Duke Ellington and Miles Davis to Leonard Bernstein and Rogers and Hammerstein.

The Horn Heads are Mike Nelson on trombone, Kathy Jensen and Kenni Holman on sax and trumpeters Dave Jensen and Stever Strand.

[Edited 11/24/10 7:17am]

Diamonds And Pearls

This will be the day
That U will hear me say
That I will never run away

I am here 4 U
Love is meant 4 2
Now tell me what U gonna do

If I gave U diamonds and pearls
Would U be a happy boy or a girl?
If I could I would give U the world
But all I can do is just offer U my love

Which one of us is right
If we always fight?
Why can't we just let love decide? (Let love decide)

Am I the weaker man
Because I understand
That love must be the master plan? (Love is the master plan)

If I gave U diamonds and pearls
Would U be a happy boy or a girl?
If I could I would give U the world
Cuz all I can do is just offer U my love

D 2 the I 2 the A 2 the M
O 2 the N 2 the D 2 the pearls of love
D 2 the I 2 the A 2 the M (2 the M)
O 2 the N 2 the D 2 the pearls of love

There will come a time (There'll come a time)
When love will blow your mind (Your mind)
And everything U look 4 U'll find (Take a look inside, yeah)

That will be the time (That'll be the time)
That everything will shine (Oh yeah)
So bright it makes U colorblind (U will be colorblind)

If I gave U diamonds and pearls
Would U be a happy boy or a girl?
If I could I would give U the world
But all I can do is just offer U my love

{repeat CHORUS again}
(Pearls, yeah yeah)
(Give U the world)
(All I can do)

If I gave U diamonds and pearls (Diamonds)
Would U be, would U, would U a happy boy or a girl? {fade out}
(Would U, would U, would U be happy little baby)
If I could I would give U the world

© 1991 Controversy Music - ASCAP

Diamonds and Pearls" is the title track to Prince and The New Power Generation's 1991 hit album.The song is an upbeat ballad, given a rock edge with guitar and heavy drumming. The song also features the powerful vocals of NPG member Rosie Gaines. The ballad is an expression of love and not lust, as is the theme on some of the other singles from the album. The song was a Top 10 hit, reaching #3 in the U.S. and the top spot on the R&B charts.

The repeated lyric "If I gave U diamonds and pearls, would U be a happy boy or a girl?" echoes the lyrics "I'll buy U diamonds and pearls only if U're good girl" from Prince's 1982 song, "International Lover".

Levi Seacer Jr. was quoted saying that his was one of P's best albums when it comes to ballads and charting music. I would agree with that.

Thanks OFFS.

That pic of him with his arms in the air just seems to say "this is what sounds like when doves cry"

Like the pic with the bubbles too.

My faves from this album Cream, Money dont matter 2nite, Gett off, Willing and Able, D&P and Strollin...speaking off I heard they was a video for Strollin'...Is that true?

Bohemian67 said:

Thanks OFFS.

That pic of him with his arms in the air just seems to say "this is what sounds like when doves cry"

Like the pic with the bubbles too.

Welcome

here's when it went downhill imo

i only love a few songs from this album (though the ones i do like are terrefic) but diamond and pearl were so hot lol

Dewrede said:

here's when it went downhill imo

Agreed. I was seriously disappointed when I bought this album. I became a fan in late 88 and swiftly bought the back catalogue and was then a firm fan. I bought Batman, Grafitti Bridge and D and P's when they came out and was sorely disappointed. My expectations were way high.

ConsciousContact said:

Dewrede said:

here's when it went downhill imo

Agreed. I was seriously disappointed when I bought this album. I became a fan in late 88 and swiftly bought the back catalogue and was then a firm fan. I bought Batman, Grafitti Bridge and D and P's when they came out and was sorely disappointed. My expectations were way high.

i assume u were happy with the love symbol album Musically its a terrefic album. Would have been even better if he had taken a few of those filler tracks out.

full painting album here=

Great album, beautiful vid's and good memories!

After GB this wasn't a dissapointment at all 4 me;

Prince back in the charts with music I loved...

This album helped put some money back in2 his pocket.

I wasn't a fan of this period, after GB I was a bit embarrassed

Lost the excitement, Money Don't Matter 2Night always moved me though

it's the opposite of Diamonds & Pearls. A very reflective song

this era, was waay to clean for me, the look was a bit too Hollywood

it

June 3. 1991

th China Club, Los Angeles

"Daddy Pop"
"Jughead"
"Gett off"
"Purple Rain"
"Bambi"
"Nothing Compares 2 U"
"Round And Round"
"Thieves In The Temple"
"The Question Of U"
"Elephants & Flowers "
"Skin Tight"(The Ohio Players)

what i love most about this era is his cute hair, the yellow guitar, the song cream & it's my husbands fave album

DIAMONDS AND PEARLS
PRINCE AND THE NEW POWER GENERATION
Paisley Park/Warner Bros.

PRINCE HAS NEVER SOUNDED SANER than he does on Diamonds and Pearls. After his obsessive struggles -- in terms that were deeply insular and allegorical -- with spirituality and sexuality on Lovesexy and Graffiti Bridge, Minneapolis' resident genius has refocused his attention on his first love: pop songcraft. The results are hardly Prince's most monumental work, but they do reveal a long-buried subtlety and -- dare I say it? -- modesty.

Range is the name of the game on Diamonds and Pearls, but not the sprawling stylistic hybrids that characterized such masterworks as Dirty Mind and Sign o' the Times. Rather, Prince limits himself to fleshing out a carefully bound pop formalism. His creative madness -- a chorus of car horns in the delightful "Walk Don't Walk" or the interlocking keyboards of "Daddy Pop" -- is strategically women into (relatively) conventional structures. The album is packed full of irresistible hooks, though some -- like the dreamy chorus of the title track -- seem hastily pasted onto unfinished songs.

The album introduces the New Power Generation, which proves fully capable of jumping from the sly garage rock of "Cream" to a light ska groove in "Willing and Able." Drummer Michael B. is an especially impressive anchor, helping give Diamonds and Pearls the most band-oriented sound of Prince's career. It is telling, though, that the hardest rocker on the album -- "Thunder," a roof-raising plea for salvation -- is the one track Prince handles all by himself.

Less successful are the attempts to integrate rap into Prince's pop universe. A verse or two by N.P.G. rapper Tony M. in "Willing and Able" is a fine addition, but giving him an entire song -- "Jughead," a silly attempt at a new dance craze -- is simply a waste. Tony's rapping style, also featured on "Push," is functional, but his rhymes are insubstantial. "Housequake," on Sign o' the Times, was a great dance "instruction" song because Prince so clearly loved the James Brown funk he was aping; in contrast, "Jughead" sounds like an obligatory effort at including a genre with which Prince has never been comfortable.

The recurrent themes of Diamonds and Pearls are lighthearted self-motivation and positive thinking -- "Push until U get 2 higher ground" or just "walk on any side U like." Most ambitious is "Live 4 Love," a grinding seven-minute internal monologue of a troubled fighter pilot, while "Insatiable," the requisite seduction ballad (still Prince's most underrated style), is simply gorgeous, highlighting his effortless to great effect. But only the bass-heavy first single, "Gett Off," includes the loopy lewdness we have come to expect from Prince. "Slip yo dress down like I was strippin' a Peter Paul's Almond Joy" may not make a whole lot of sense, but it's got the demented excess that much of Diamonds and Pearls seems to be missing.

-- ALAN LIGHT

ROLLING STONE, OCTOBER 17TH, 1991

favorite songs from this album: "Get Off","Cream""Strollin'"Live 4 Love" and "Insatiable".

"Walk Don't Walk" is fun,but it sounds like it's missing something.Very demo-like.

I used to like the title track but these days,it annoys me for some reason.

I LOVE the "DIAMONDS and PEARLS" album and era. The videos were excellent, the music was fantastic and PRINCE was superb!

I only wish I was able to attend the tour.

OldFriends4Sale said:

aww like that pic!

OldFriends4Sale said:

always loved the buttons and shape to this suit!

This is actually that I miss the most...look-wise. I LOVED the way Prince dressed and looked during this era. And I loved his attitude during this era. The cd itself is great! I like most of the songs on here.

Dewrede said:

here's when it went downhill imo

totally.

lavender1983 said:

My faves from this album Cream, Money dont matter 2nite, Gett off, Willing and Able, D&P and Strollin...speaking off I heard they was a video for Strollin'...Is that true?

Yes, it's on the Diamonds and Pearls video collection.