I got this off of a fan's Simpsons website. This was written in April 1999.

I don't know how true it is. I have never heard this story or read it anywhere.

Skip to the bold parts for the jist.
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A FUNKY TALE BEHIND A "MISSING" SONG
There's a good reason that last fall's (1998) release of "The Yellow Album" didn't include the song "My Name is Bart," according to the producer of this second album of Simpsons music. John Boylan says it was Prince himself (now The Artist) who withdrew the song after the album's release was delayed.
Geffen Records originally planned to release "The Yellow Album" in 1993. But for reasons never made public, the record company didn't do so until this past November.

By then, this musical effort drew mixed reviews from critics and fans, who certainly appreciated the album's long-awaited release but complained that many of the 10 tunes sounded dated. There were also complaints that the final mixes sounded strangely sped-up, as if someone was trying to make Bart & Co. sound like Alvin and the Chipmunks.

But the biggest mystery was why the album didn't include an 11th song, "My Name is Bart," which long had been rumored as Bart singing a parody of "My Name is Prince."

Well, a couple of months ago, a bootleg advertised as a "test pressing" of "The Yellow Album" popped up for sale on the Internet. And -- voila! -- it included "My Name is Bart," as well as slight variations of "Hail to Thee, Kamp Krusty" and "The Ten Commandments of Bart." Some who heard the pressing observed that several of the songs, including "Sisters Are Doin' It For Themselves," play at the correct speeds on the bootleg.

The lyrics for "My Name is Bart" are different from "My Name is Prince," although there are similarities in the chorus: "My name is Bart, and I am funky. My name is Bart, the one and only. I did not come to (bleeped) around. Let's get this straight. Let's get it down."

The suggestiveness of Prince's song is pretty much gone, replaced in part with Bart's complaining -- ironically, enough -- about bootlegs: "I seen those TV shirts. I seen that face. I've seen the phony Bart all over the place. That Bart's a bootleg. That Bart's a fake. He's out to fool you, man! He's on the take."

We contacted Boylan last week to clear up the mystery. In an e-mail he insisted that the final retail release of "The Yellow Album" indeed plays at the correct speed.

As for the additional song, Boylan said, "'My Name is Bart' was produced and written by Prince, with new lyrics by me and some Simpson writers." The vocal was actually a "demo take" featuring the voice of Bart, Nancy Cartwright, and was never meant to be heard publicly.

"Since the album was not released according to the original schedule, Prince took the song back as was his right under the deal, renamed it 'My Name Is Prince,' and released on one of his albums. This was obviously before he became TAFKAP," Boylan said, referring to the fact Prince in the mid-1990s began referring to himself as The Artist Formerly Known as Prince.

By the way, we should note that we typically don't write about bootlegs, primarily because there are plenty of licensed Simpsons goods to talk about. But the story of "My Name is Bart" is part of the history of a legitimate licensed release. And now that this bootleg is being distributed among fans, finding out the truth about this missing song was just 2 good 2 ignore.

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Anybody possibly have a copy of this?
[This message was edited Mon Aug 2 21:01:07 2004 by doeineffect]

Yes this is true, and yes I have a copy.

Seasons 3 and 4 of Simpsons commentaries (and I also think a Futurama commentary, not sure though), also talk about Prince. He was going to be a guest star which would have been great. The only problem is he demanded that the script they used be one written by his chauffeur or bodyguard or something stupid. Naturally the script was not Simpsons calibre, and Prince, in his "my way or get bent" style, pulled out from guesting.