http://www.chron.com/cs/C...mp/2710768

Aug. 1, 2004, 2:15AM


Then and now: Prince has gone from the bump-and-grind days of Dirty Mind, left, to marriage, monogamy and Musicology, right.



Prince of wails
The Artist formerly known as raunchy steps back into the spotlight with a master's in Musicology

By BRUCE WESTBROOK
Copyright 2004 Houston Chronicle
After a decade of lying low, Prince is back with a vengeance. His return began with February's Grammy telecast and a sensational, show-opening duet with Beyoncé. It continued with his March induction into the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame. And it is peaking this summer with the million-selling album Musicology and concert tour, which hits Toyota Center Friday and Saturday. This year's multipronged attack comes from a wildly innovative rock wonderboy, who's evolved continuously since his explosion in the '80s.
Prince has left behind the brash, lewd showman who recorded the trailblazingly explicit Dirty Mind album and simulated sex acts on stage.

Don't get us wrong -- he hasn't gone mellow. He still enthralls crowds with furious energy and dazzling flamboyance, whirling and spinning with rapturous sass while singing and playing with soulful fervor and uncanny precision.

But Prince no longer utters profane lyrics or warbles explicit sex songs. Rather, his meticulous fusions of rock, funk, soul, jazz and pop reflect grown-up concerns (The Marrying Kind) and pleasures more musical than carnal.

Often wearing jewelry, makeup and tailored silk suits, Prince remains a dapper dandy of a rock star. But he no longer poses for photo shoots in skimpy briefs or in the buff. Hey, he's 46.

Besides, he's embraced monogamy and marriage. Wed on New Year's Eve of 2001 to Manuela Testolini, a former employee, Prince shares with her his newfound faith in Jehovah's Witnesses.

He also remains a Minneapolis homebody, recording his masterworks at Paisley Park, a suburban sound palace. In this sanctuary of sound, Prince can tweak and fiddle to his heart's content, often playing each instrument and singing each note. If the concert stage is Prince's pulpit, the private studio is his rectory.

During ebbs and flows in his popularity and visibility, studio work has been a constant in his career. Yet Prince Rogers Nelson also remains as big a musical maverick as when he signed his first record deal with Warner Bros.

It wasn't a great deal -- the label claimed more of the profits than he wanted -- but he did receive rare artistic control of his work. His ensuing albums were adventurous if uneven forays into rock-funk experimentation, but Prince got all the credit -- or blame. No number-crunching label executive ever has dictated the song sequence on a Prince album. And now that he's formed his own company, NPG Records, he has no need for labels, anyway.

Prince is now lord of his own recording kingdom, taking control of his music at the retail level. As the Beatles tried and failed to do with Apple Records, he's asserted artistic independence by carving out financial independence.

Just as Mel Gibson made a fortune by financing his film The Passion of the Christ, Prince has become his own investor, covering all production costs. By assuming the risk, he reaps more reward. Prince pays minimal fees to Sony for manufacturing and distributing his albums.

"They (Sony) respect my career, and they understand that it's important that we own the work, so there isn't an issue about that," Prince told CNN in a rare interview.

He's even circumvented Sony by offering a copy of Musicology with each ticket to his concert tour, factoring the CD's value into the ticket price. Fans receive their CDs as they exit the arena.

Prince likes to call this "one-stop shopping." He's even arranged for the record industry to recognize such ticket-linked sales along with conventional retail transactions, thus boosting his chart ranking. The tour has sold out in many cities. Houston's Friday show is a virtual sellout, and a packed house is expected Saturday.

Joined by his band, the New Power Generation, Prince launched his tour with unusual flair. The opening show -- March 29 in Los Angeles -- was broadcast to movie theaters with high-definition projectors. That included Houston's Edwards Marq*E, which showed the concert to two packed houses. For a $15 ticket, patrons also got a copy of the new CD.

Such bold marketing moves were perhaps inevitable after the rancor between Prince and Warner. Saying that he was being exploited, he changed his name to an unpronounceable symbol in 1993 and penciled the word "slave" on his face.

While unreleased tracks were cycled through the music machine to fulfill contractual obligations, Prince retreated from the pop-cultural summit. Waiting for his contract to expire at the end of 1999, he tinkered and dabbled. But he never stopped stoking his artistic fires -- which perhaps explains how he burst back on the scene this year, as if he'd never left.

As songsmith and as performer, Prince is so respected by his peers that, even alongside greats such as George Harrison, Jackson Browne, Bob Seger and ZZ Top, he was the only one inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame this year in his first year of eligibility (which comes 25 years after a debut recording). He also was virtual headliner for the induction show at New York's Waldorf Astoria Hotel. After drawing lavish praise in a retrospective segment, Prince performed the evening's first -- and longest -- set.

Just as he showed 20 years ago on the 10 million-selling album Purple Rain and accompanying semi-autobiographical film, he was a guitar maestro. Prince played stinging, frenzied riffs while strutting and spinning across the stage. He also was an energetic vocalist, singing with falsetto wails and soulful bombast.

While exploring musical possibilities, Prince has written and recorded hundreds of songs -- most of which he's never released. But in middle age, he also seems to be gaining awareness of his legacy, embracing the past while pointing to the future.

"Musically, I think I've evolved by the simple fact of working on my spirit as a human being," Prince told CNN. "I've been studying the Bible as of late, and it's begun to play a major role in my life. So it's going to affect everything, especially the music, because music is so dear to me. That said, I don't know if I'm getting to be a better guitar player or a better singer or anything like that, but I feel more confident in my gifts."

This year, along with new material more mainstream than the esoterica he'd toyed with for years, Prince has been playing neglected vintage songs. Besides some of Musicology's 12 tracks, audiences are hearing Little Red Corvette and the title tune for Purple Rain. Prince resists the now-dated 1999 -- a party anthem he wrote in 1983 -- and sexually aggressive songs, but anything else seems fair game.

Perhaps he realized that his comeback couldn't happen without nods to the songs that made him a star. Yet for a musical genius, Prince seems to keep his ego in check. Though his new album earned raves, he described it in an interview with the New York Times as just another day at the office.

"I make all kinds of records," Prince said. "For this album, I didn't feel like making some grand statement. It ain't like me trying to pull the trigger back and annihilate something. I'm just chillin.' "

This article appeared in the Sunday magazine insert "Zest", and the picture they used (a drawing) is really good. There are a couple good photgraphs, too. I've bumped around on the Houston Chronicle's website, (www.chron.com) but can't find it. If any of you run across it, please share a link.

RodeoSchro said:

H-Town here I come

Have the party freaks waiting