Dear Family,

I realised there are lots of stuff (both easy and hard to find) which could help to create collection of bootlegs covering different areas of Prince music.

But among lots of releases and labels circulated thare are overlaps and differentiation in quality.

Therefore I kindly ask all of you to share knowledge from your experience what are the best options to cover specific area of Prince music, i.e.

- Album X outtakes and live stuff - "Label name", item Y

- 2DickBoy era - "Label name", item Y

etc.

That would work as a perfecc guidance for me (instead of fidning tonns of poorr quality stuff)

Many thanks in advance.

Best regards,

Denys

P.S. Moderators: I hope this topic is not against the rules as I am not trying to promote any label - but rather get feedback from those who already heard that stuff

[Edited 7/23/17 23:36pm]

I think this is a nice website for a starter:

http://www.smallclub.org

[Edited 7/24/17 4:06am]

BlueShakooo said:

I think this is a nice website for a starter:

http://www.smallclub.org

[Edited 7/24/17 4:06am]

thank U

For me, it started with a love of Sign "O" The Times. At first, I just wanted the bootlegs that surrounded that release.

Take it slow. One boot at a time instead of collections downloaded in bulk. Absorb each one rather than get overloaded and overwhelmed.

Pick an era or tour and ask others what their favorites are within that era or tour.

Use resources like the bootleg review sites & PrinceVault to help narrow your search.

You should find much to enjoy for years to come.

From the perspective of a fellow newcomer to the boots (only been getting them for about a year), I have found the entire Blast From the Past series the most helpful starting place. It has the majority of heralded studio boots on it. Even though there is some repetition in there, it is easier and more enjoyable to go through than the more comprehenve but more erratic workit 2.0 series.

djThunderfunk said:

Take it slow. One boot at a time instead of collections downloaded in bulk. Absorb each one rather than get overloaded and overwhelmed.

Pick an era or tour and ask others what their favorites are within that era or tour.

Use resources like the bootleg review sites & PrinceVault to help narrow your search.

You should find much to enjoy for years to come.

Good advice for someone heading out on this epic journey.

TheEnglishGent said:

djThunderfunk said:

Take it slow. One boot at a time instead of collections downloaded in bulk. Absorb each one rather than get overloaded and overwhelmed.

Pick an era or tour and ask others what their favorites are within that era or tour.

Use resources like the bootleg review sites & PrinceVault to help narrow your search.

You should find much to enjoy for years to come.

Good advice for someone heading out on this epic journey.

For me, 29 years ago, it was: Go to every Mom & Pop record store you can find, in every town you can travel to. Scour the back of Goldmine looking for traders/sellers. Go to Record Conventions (yes, that was "a thing", much like Comic Conventions). Somehow meet and network with other fans...

Phew, it's waaaay easier these days.

If I were you, I wouldnt do it. Dont even start. Trust me.

rdhull said:

If I were you, I wouldnt do it. Dont even start. Trust me.

djThunderfunk said:

rdhull said:

If I were you, I wouldnt do it. Dont even start. Trust me.

Im tryin not to have the curse /the sickness passed on.

rdhull said:

If I were you, I wouldnt do it. Dont even start. Trust me.

Telling the truth it feels like obsession now.

Basically I might be good with finding few P&M and 3rdEyeGirl shows and relax.

But I have strange feeling of possibility re missing something important

Take as an example "Billu sunglasses": way long self-repetitive jam.

But - at the very end you fidn amazing guitar rendition of "Strange relationship" )

These are the moments why I adore Prince as my favorite musician

rdhull said:

djThunderfunk said:

Im tryin not to have the curse /the sickness passed on.

Pass it on me. please )

I already have 1,3 Tb of Prince stuff - and looking for more.

It is like an interesting music journey

Knightoflight said:

rdhull said:

If I were you, I wouldnt do it. Dont even start. Trust me.

Telling the truth it feels like obsession now.

Basically I might be good with finding few P&M and 3rdEyeGirl shows and relax.

But I have strange feeling of possibility re missing something important

Take as an example "Billu sunglasses": way long self-repetitive jam.

But - at the very end you fidn amazing guitar rendition of "Strange relationship" )

These are the moments why I adore Prince as my favorite musician

See..the obsession ..da..i...shit, I was too late to stop it. Dude, there will be no relaxing for you hereon out. I'm sorry I couldn't warn you sooner.

Welcome to The Purple Sickness

I was all cured after 20 years but I got infected again.

Enjoy the nod out my friend...feel it in your veins going thru your whole body...just dont use any dirty needles.

[Edited 7/24/17 11:49am]

Start with the 1984 Birthday Show and with Small Club.The rest is really up to you. And the research is half the fun.

1. Buy yourself a 1TB or even better 2 TB portable HD (this should last you a while)

At time goes on you might end up filling up all available space on your pc

2. Grab everything you see as soon as its available

When something new is released grab it ASAP, stuff dissapears faster than you know it.

Its better than wating for it to magicly re-appear somewhere or another

3. If posible and u want the best source go for FLAC / Wav files (Flac seens to be the popular online)

Some people are fine with mp3, but not me

And if u have a huge hard drive space is not an issue

4. There are known bootleg lables. Go for those.

5. sort your collection as best u can or see fit

Because my collection is for me personaly.. and me only i tend to split them by

1: Outtakes
2: Live dates
3: Rehearsals

4: Associated artist

5: Compolations (which are best not trying to sort out)

6: DVDs

I sorted a tons of stuff!!

But theres always more to sort out, and its hard to know where to continue.

Some people dont like to break sets, but i do.. its mine and easier to sort and find.. etc..

but i do have a hard time breaking some sets

And if u break sets its best to use meta data to keep tabs on your files (again time consumming)

Exapmle : By breaking sets : i mean if u have a 3 cd set and its 2 different shows but split on 3 cds i will separate each show into its own folder and by date

Added :

6. Some stuff only leaks in mp3 format.

So i do have a special "Mp3 Only" folder in my flac collection

7. have fun and enjoy

I see a bunch of typos

anywho good luck

[Edited 7/24/17 15:23pm]

rdhull said:

If I were you, I wouldnt do it. Dont even start. Trust me.

Lies.. Its worth it

rdhull said:

If I were you, I wouldnt do it. Dont even start. Trust me.

"I've got a new version of this, does it sound better than the version i had before? It might well do. I'll check the general consensus on the org. Oh It might do!, do i delete that old version and keep the new one? Do I have to rename the files again? Creat a new 'Vault' category in iTunes? Delete this, replace that?. Do I keep all these copies of 'We Can Funk' I've collected over the years? or just keep the best sounding ones? When's the next time I will listen to that old hissy version anyway? Never? Should I keep it though still? Hours of work pissing about ahead. I'm so confused. etc."

x 100's of songs.

[Edited 7/24/17 19:17pm]

be thankfull u didnt have to go thru 25+ years of hearing watered down shit

[Edited 7/27/17 18:25pm]

Knightoflight said:

Marrk said:

rdhull said:

If I were you, I wouldnt do it. Dont even start. Trust me.

"I've got a new version of this, does it sound better than the version i had before? It might well do. I'll check the general consensus on the org. Oh It might do!, do i delete that old version and keep the new one? Do I have to rename the files again? Creat a new 'Vault' category in iTunes? Delete this, replace that?. Do I keep all these copies of 'We Can Funk' I've collected over the years? or just keep the best sounding ones? When's the next time I will listen to that old hissy version anyway? Never? Should I keep it though still? Hours of work pissing about ahead. I'm so confused. etc."

x 100's of songs.

[Edited 7/24/17 19:17pm]

Not only that but mainly going down the rabbitt hole that sucks you in when you her an off song and fall in love all over again and again. Incresing the fandom of purple music. Not being a regular casual fan but a die-hard. And all that entails.

Who wants to go through all that ..its a curse

If you can find the Uptown books that detailed all bootlegs at those times- great info is in there...they would update it from time to time.

That way you could decide what to look for, your preference etc.

You shouldn't get all at once. Take it (very ) slow.
The beauty of us who started mid 80's was that some boots were really like whole new albums, and we enjoyed it that way. Listening to one studio boot for a whole year like it was a new album. The sound was less good, but to me that was a detail compared to the joy of a handful new songs.

The best examples imo: Chocolat, Crucial, Yellow. Of course you have to look at it in the right time-frame: many or most of the songs on those boots weren't yet released (in a weaker version mostly).

purplethunder3121 said:

i dont know wtf this means...but any kramer is a-ok