Maybe lucky owners of The Vault book can help me... I've always been wondering about "Blood Is Thicker Than Time", "House In Order", "You Will Be Moved" & "The Undertaker": the album credits Ricky P. as the producer & says that Prince didn't play on them. Though, Prince MUST have recorded his own versions of these songs prior 2 giving them 2 Mavis & Ricky, so what's the real deal? R there different, unreleased, versions recorded by Prince & his band, or r the released versions actually the original Prince recording with just additionnal production (or co-production) by Ricky P.?

Thanx 4 ur help.

Sometimes I guess Prince just writes the songs, perhaps producing a full-on song, other times just a very basic demo, and then the artists re-record the music themselves or using their own band. In this case, courtesy of The Vault:

The Voice, the second Paisley Park album by Mavis Staples, includes five new tracks with Prince songwriting credits: 'The Voice' 'House In Order' 'You Will Be Moved' 'Blood Is Thicker Than Time' 'The Undertaker' (credited to Prince and the NPG memvbers Tommy Barbarella, Michael Bland, Levi Seacer Jr. and Sonny Thompson). The album also features revamped versions of two previously released Prince songs 'Positivity' and 'Melody Cool'. In addition, it includes the unreleased 'A Man Called Jesus' recorded in late 1988 and originally offered to Cat (it was reworked in 1989 when Candy Dulfer's saxophone part was added). Prince wasn't involved in the remaining four tracks on The Voice.

The title track was taped at Paisley Park in April 1991. The rest of the album was recorded and worked on at Paisley Park in the second half of 1992 and early 1993. Prince produced 'The Voice' on which he plays all instruments with the exception of guitar by Levi Secer Jr. and the keyboard by Rosie Gaines. The other tracks with Prince involvement were produced by Ricky Peterson, who also plays many instruments on the tracks. Prince doesn't play on the four newly written tracks; they are performed by a wide range of musicians, including several NPG members, The Steeles, and brothers Ricky and Paul Peterson. Statik is reponsible for additional drum programming on 'Melody Cool' 'A Man Called Jesus' and 'Positivity' (with Kirk Johnson). The three tracks also feature additional instrumentation primarily by Ricky and Paul Peterson, as well as new background vocals by The Steeles.

metalorange said:

I guess u're right . Thanx 4 sharing the vault infos.