I saw a Prince dicography list recently that included an album called One Man Jam. I have never heard of it before. The site says something about his early demos and this not being a Prince album at all. What is this album all about? Is this an official album, what does Prince think of it and is it worth listening to?

see below.
if you've got the spare cash and want to buy it, then you can make your own mind up, but i think it's a waste of time myself. each to their own tho'.

From the FAQs.

http://www.prince.org/msg/7/145050

4.8 What is 94 East / Symbolic Beginning / One Man Jam?

Prior to Prince securing a record contract, Prince's early musical adventures resulted in him meeting a musician, Pepe Willie, who had moved to Minneapolis from New York and married Prince's cousin. Pepe Willie offered Prince opportunities to perform on a number of studio recordings with his group, 94 East, dating back to 1975.

In 1986, Pepe Willie released some of these recordings, originally under the title, 94 East: Minneapolis Genius - The Historic 1977 Recordings. Pepe Willie has subsequently released essentially the same recordings, sometimes remixed, on more than one occasion through different record labels and under different titles (Symbolic Beginnings, One Man Jam).

So why does One Man Jam has a Prince Cover?
And did Prince have anything to do with the release?

ludika said:

someone else will know the answer to both (i'm thinking langebleu, borisfishpaw ). i'd always assumed he had zero input in the release.

and the fact that it has a prince photo on the front doesn't mean he approves of the release - all sorts of people own rights in all sorts of things.

ludika said:

To market the recordings to Prince fans, presumably. After all, he plays on the tracks.



He played on the recordings on the release. These were pre-WB/pre-fame recordings, remember, that were not intended for any kind of widespread release. After Prince became successful, the person who owned the recording released it, and has been re-releasing it with different packaging and titles ever since.

It's reported that Prince has spoken to P. Willie to challenge him on why he continues to rehash this material.

I seem to recall the master tapes for these (or some of these sessions) were put up for online auction a year or two ago with a reserve of around £10,000 or so. Bids never reached the figure, and Pepe Le Pimp has been around the block one more time with them.
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