or andy kaulkin's "live band" one take production

Would Prince let anyone ( else ) take the reigns ? Who would dare ?

Just asking ...

Prince produces himself just fine. He's had 4 USA number one albums, I should think that's more than most producers or artists producing themselves, certainly over the time period involved. 3121 being number one surely makes him an 'in' producer right now (alright, the ticket promotion helped but only because he has built a fan-base that are so desperate to see him live that they would buy multiple copies. I'm sure many other artists would utilise that promotion strategy if they could). I'm sure there are many artists who would love Prince to produce them if only he was someone they could hire.

I think the definition of 'producer' has changed over the years, particularly recently with the huge amount of singers incapable of producing a note themselves or of having an original song idea. A producer should be someone who enables the artist or band to achieve the vision they have for their music but don't have the over-all knowledge to accomplish it. Someone to book the studio, hire technicians and session musicians, make day to day decisions on how best to record the music to achieve the effect the artists envisage. For all of that, Prince doesn't need anyone.

These days producers now create the sound for the artist - they have a particular sound the artist comes to them for and direct the artist so that they fit in with this sound. If Prince did this, sure his music might sound a bit like someone elses, but is that what we want? Is that growth? A producer is there to make a hit album, not encourage growth.

I refute the idea that Prince's music has not grown over the years, it's grown as much as any other artist I could think of and therefore the notion that 'a musician cn never grow if they produce themselves' is false. Each of Prince's albums have been unique visions from his own imagination, not the imagination of anyone else, and not all have been completely successful but part of growth is making mistakes, not constantly taking a safe established route ie changing your sound and trying new things.

Most people say that Prince should have a producer to stop him from releasing certain songs or make him re-do songs better. You would be hard to find someone with the experience that Prince has whose decisions are going to be any more valid than Prince's own. Even people with the calibre of Quincy or Stevie can make mistakes, and often do, so that is not inherently a solution.