Since before I had any grasp on Prince's official discography, I would see 'Small Club/ 'Trojan Horse' always touted as something of a holy grail for Prince recordings, especially, of course bootlegs. No doubt it's probably the best recorded document of famous Prince aftershowws of that time, but comparing it with Camden 88 or Park Cafe 87, I've always struggled to see why this is considered on of his best performances?

Yeah, the guitar work on Imagination and Rave is great, no doubt, but how is it any better thean, the Camden show? Also, does anyone else not feel that it's not the most accurate representation of what Prince was doing at the time, due to a lack of Eric Leeds?

Discuss, argue, postulate! What am I missing?

[Edited 11/1/15 11:01am]

I don't know what you're missing, so if you're not getting "it" then you probably never will. I wouldn't worry.

bluegangsta said:

Since before I had any grasp on Prince's official discography, I would see 'Small Club/ 'Trojan Horse' always touted as something of a holy grail for Prince recordings, especially, of course bootlegs. No doubt it's probably the best recorded document of famous Prince aftershowws of that time, but comparing it with Camden 88 or Park Cafe 87, I've always struggled to see why this is considered on of his best performances?

Yeah, the guitar work on Imagination and Rave is great, no doubt, but how is it any better thean, the Camden show? Also, does anyone else not feel that it's not the most accurate representation of what Prince was doing at the time, due to a lack of Eric Leeds?

Discuss, argue, postulate! What am I missing?

[Edited 11/1/15 11:01am]

yeah there are much better Bootlegs like From The Soundboard 1984 and Osaka 3disc set. Fans just buggin as usual

NorthC said:

Sound quality has a lot to do with it. It was so good it was even played in Dutch radio! Also, the Prince hype was at its highest in Europe back then. The whole idea of a world famous superstar doing a jam session in a club after finishing a big show... Who had ever heared of that? After this, the "aftershow" became a phenomenon. Prince fans began looking for it. It got to the point where people would book a ticket for the big show and just forget about it as soon as they heared there was an aftershow. You weren't a true Prince fan untill you'd been to one. All of that started with this CD. It also came just after the non-release of the Black Album. That's what made people realize there was more to Prince's music than just the albums. So the Small Club CD came at exactly the right moment. So we're not just talking about the music here. We're talking about the legend.

Sounds like a had to have been there to appreciate it type thing

paisleypark4 said:

bluegangsta said:

Since before I had any grasp on Prince's official discography, I would see 'Small Club/ 'Trojan Horse' always touted as something of a holy grail for Prince recordings, especially, of course bootlegs. No doubt it's probably the best recorded document of famous Prince aftershowws of that time, but comparing it with Camden 88 or Park Cafe 87, I've always struggled to see why this is considered on of his best performances?

Yeah, the guitar work on Imagination and Rave is great, no doubt, but how is it any better thean, the Camden show? Also, does anyone else not feel that it's not the most accurate representation of what Prince was doing at the time, due to a lack of Eric Leeds?

Discuss, argue, postulate! What am I missing?

[Edited 11/1/15 11:01am]

yeah there are much better Bootlegs like From The Soundboard 1984 and Osaka 3disc set. Fans just buggin as usual

Opinions.

mojo said:

Love it but get where you're coming from, have always preferred Camden and imho the version of Just My Imagination from Camden with Mica Paris is absolutely miles and miles ahead of the one on Small Club

Oh wow, I thought I was the only one!

Because he experiments more and the sound is perfect. People Without is just outstanding and weird. Wish he would play trippy synth more live.

Just the perfect document of an epic middle-of-the-night, anything-goes Prince performance with one of his best bands ever, complete with superb vocals by Bonnie Boyer AND Sheila on drums.

Brendan said:

jdcxc said:

"Miko come on with the, come on..."

Everything on it just sounds wonderful.

NorthC said:

bluegangsta said:

Since before I had any grasp on Prince's official discography, I would see 'Small Club/ 'Trojan Horse' always touted as something of a holy grail for Prince recordings, especially, of course bootlegs. No doubt it's probably the best recorded document of famous Prince aftershowws of that time, but comparing it with Camden 88 or Park Cafe 87, I've always struggled to see why this is considered on of his best performances?

Yeah, the guitar work on Imagination and Rave is great, no doubt, but how is it any better thean, the Camden show? Also, does anyone else not feel that it's not the most accurate representation of what Prince was doing at the time, due to a lack of Eric Leeds?

Discuss, argue, postulate! What am I missing?

[Edited 11/1/15 11:01am]

I was at Trojan and Camden and Camden was by far my my favourite. Although I was drunk at the time, that always gives a different experience!

NorthC said:

Show of hands how many are drunk... Awright! U gonna actually hear what we play tonight? U're not gonna make up the little notes in your mind?

LOL. I remember putting my had up to that!

SquirrelMeat said:

SquirrelMeat said:

bluegangsta said:

Since before I had any grasp on Prince's official discography, I would see 'Small Club/ 'Trojan Horse' always touted as something of a holy grail for Prince recordings, especially, of course bootlegs. No doubt it's probably the best recorded document of famous Prince aftershowws of that time, but comparing it with Camden 88 or Park Cafe 87, I've always struggled to see why this is considered on of his best performances?

Yeah, the guitar work on Imagination and Rave is great, no doubt, but how is it any better thean, the Camden show? Also, does anyone else not feel that it's not the most accurate representation of what Prince was doing at the time, due to a lack of Eric Leeds?

Discuss, argue, postulate! What am I missing?

[Edited 11/1/15 11:01am]

I was at Trojan and Camden and Camden was by far my my favourite. Although I was drunk at the time, that always gives a different experience!

SquirrelMeat said:

The bluesy gospel stuff towards the end seems a bit perfunctory. I know that at the time he had not really performed material like that with his bands, but as we've had so many boots with similar stuff on them later on it's not so exciting to hear it on the Small Club release either.

However, the highlights are definitely great.

bluegangsta said:

Since before I had any grasp on Prince's official discography, I would see 'Small Club/ 'Trojan Horse' always touted as something of a holy grail for Prince recordings, especially, of course bootlegs. No doubt it's probably the best recorded document of famous Prince aftershowws of that time, but comparing it with Camden 88 or Park Cafe 87, I've always struggled to see why this is considered on of his best performances?

Yeah, the guitar work on Imagination and Rave is great, no doubt, but how is it any better thean, the Camden show? Also, does anyone else not feel that it's not the most accurate representation of what Prince was doing at the time, due to a lack of Eric Leeds?

Discuss, argue, postulate! What am I missing?

[Edited 11/1/15 11:01am]

I am glad you have said this as I have always thought this. Without doubt this is a great show and a good document of his aftershows, but there are loads of great shows.

Sometimes a few people revere something and it is assumed everyone else follows.

Personally, I like to make my own opinion as you clearly have.

very overrated in my opinion. Good guitar playing. playing closer to jimi hendrix in my opinon and i do not like jimi hendrix. i prefer other shows. not a full band sound on here. it is just whether it is your thing . i think if you like jimi hendrix albums you will like this more

That boot is a mixed bag for me. While I take a back seat to no one in my adoration of Just My Imagination, I can't actually listen to the whole show. When Bonnie starts caterwauling in the second half, I have to skip ahead. It is just unlistenable.

wow... I own this brilliant bootleg on 3LP vinyl...



[img:$uid]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v67/ecnirp2004/Prince/SmallClubvinyl-1.jpg[/img:$uid]

I never 'got' this show either. 'People Without' is great but the rest is pretty standard for that era. Maybe I need to give it another listen.