I have been listening to Dream Factory recently and found myself wondering what exactly do we know about it's creation? I know there are several track listings as the album evolved but apart from that not a great deal else.

e.g. Lyrics, musicians, writing credits etc..

Is there a definitive detailed synopsis [similar to Uptowns analysis of official albums] of how the album came into being???

Can anyone shed any more light on this beautiful, creative master-piece??

Sorry to be dumb, but what is the most common tracklist. I have heard that the Dream Factory was to be the definitive album around the 87 period for prince. Is it in anyway similar to my dream album 'Crystal Ball' (the original)??

Whiskas31 said:

No need to be sorry.

For speed i attach my thread but there are others that show the evolution of the track-list.


http://www.prince.org/msg/7/182299

KAB said:

Thats great, thanks!! Although I think I prefer the SOTT listing. My dream album would still be Crystal Ball though. I hope one day this will get released as a limited edition album. This would have been - without doubt, the Prince album to own. well, I must dream on!!
[Edited 8/30/06 6:37am]

I found this in an old file I had on my pc but I want to know more!!!!


Read here for more details on The Vault:
http://www.uptown.se/2004...ault.shtml

Order your copy of The Vault here:
http://www.uptown.se/2004...ault.shtml

ISBN 91-631-5482-X
_____

EXCERPTS FROM THE ORIGINAL SCRIPT FOR THE VAULT (Courtesy of Housequake)
Joints 4 Days: The Recordings (1986-1988)
Recording Sessions

1985 (II) – 1986 (I) sessions

Released:
• 4 The Tears In Your Eyes - The Hits/The B-Sides
• Alexa De Paris - single track
• An Honest Man - Crystal Ball
• Anotherloverholenyohead - Parade
• Christopher Tracy’s Parade - Parade (originally titled “Little Girl Wendy’s Parade”)
• Do U Lie? - Parade
• Dream Factory - Crystal Ball
• Eternity - Sheena Easton: No Sound But A Heart
• For Love - Jill Jones: Jill Jones
• Girls And Boys - Parade
• Hello - single track (later on The Hits/The B-Sides)
• Holly Rock - various artists: Krush Groove – performed by Sheila E.
• I Wonder U - Parade
• Kiss - Parade
• Last Heart - Crystal Ball
• Life Can Be So Nice - Parade
• Little Rock - Eric Leeds: Times Squared (originally titled “Drawers”)
• Love On A Blue Train - Sheila E.: Sheila E.
• Love Or Money - single track
• Mountains - Parade
• My Man - Jill Jones: Jill Jones
• New Position - Parade
• Old Friends 4 Sale - The Vault… Old Friends 4 Sale (released with revised lyrics)
• The Question Of U - Graffiti Bridge
• Sexual Suicide - Crystal Ball
• Sometimes It Snows In April - Parade
• Splash - NPG Online LTD website (later also NPG Music Club website)
• Under The Cherry Moon - Parade
• Venus De Milo - Parade

Released in re-recorded version:
• Neon Telephone - Three O’Clock: Vermillion

Unreleased:
• 12 Keys
• A Couple Of Miles
• All My Dreams
• Breathless
• Call Of The Wild
• Can I Play With U?
• Come Elektra Tuesday
• Conversation Piece
• Empty Room
• Euphoria Highway
• Evolsidog
• Finest Whiskey
• Fun Love
• Go
• God Is Everywhere
• Groove In C Minor
• Groove In G Flat Minor
• Heaven
• High Calonic
• It’s A Wonderful Day
• Junk Music
• Killin’ At The Soda Shop
• Living Doll
• Madrid
• Married Man
• Mobile
• My Sex
• Others Here With Us
• Polka-Dot Tiger
• Run Amok
• She Pony
• Slaughterhouse
• Slow Groove In G Major
• Stella And Charles
• Tibet
• Twosday
• (U Got The) Good Drawers
• U Gotta Shake Something
• U Just Can’t Stop
• Up From Below
• Voodoo Who
• Y’All Want Some More?
• Zebra With The Blonde Hair

This listing covers the Parade sessions and other recordings made after the conclusion of the Purple Rain tour, from April 1985 to mid-March 1986, when the Dream Factory sessions began in earnest.

Sessions for Parade commenced at Sunset Sound on April 17th 1985. Prince assembled the first configuration of the new album on May 1st 1985. It included nine songs: “Little Girl Wendy’s Parade” / “New Position” / “I Wonder U” / “Under The Cherry Moon” / “Others Here With Us” / “Life Can Be So Nice” / “Sometimes It Snows In April” / “Old Friends 4 Sale” / “All My Dreams.” Three of the songs were dropped when Prince continued working on Parade back in Minneapolis: “Old Friends 4 Sale,” “Others Here With Us,” and “All My Dreams.” “Old Friends 4 Sale” was revised in 1991 with new, considerably less personal lyrics. The ‘91 version was released on The Vault… Old Friends 4 Sale in 1999.

Prince worked with Jill Jones on songs for her album in May and early June 1985. Sessions for her album had commenced in the summer of 1983 when she recorded her vocal on “Mia Bocca,” a 1982 track. She also took over “G-Spot,” which was originally written for Purple Rain (ousted by “Darling Nikki”) and considered for the projected second Vanity 6 album, which was shelved. However, Prince was far too busy in 1984 with Purple Rain and records with The Time, Apollonia 6, and Sheila E. to do any more work with Jill at the time so it wasn’t until May 1985 that he was able to focus his attention on Jill’s album. They investigated a wealth of songs from Prince’s back catalogue and recorded several new tracks, including “Living Doll,” “Married Man,” “My Sex,” “Killin’ At The Soda Shop,” “My Man,” and “For Love.”

Prince returned to Minneapolis for a June 7th birthday concert at the St. Paul Prom Center. On June 18th, he flew to France in preparation for the Under The Cherry Moon film. Back in Minneapolis, sessions for Parade continued throughout July and August at a new Eden Prairie warehouse on Washington Avenue, which had been rented after the Flying Cloud Drive warehouse was abandoned in late 1984. This warehouse was used for recordings and rehearsals until Paisley Park began operations in July 1987.

On August 16th, Prince left to go to France to shoot Under The Cherry Moon. He was back in Minneapolis in late November 1985. Post-production work on the film began in Los Angeles in early December. Work on Parade was completed at Sunset Sound in mid-December. Shortly after applying the finishing touches to Parade, Prince recorded “Dream Factory,” which set him on the road to his next album. However, he had not yet made a firm commitment to the project as he wasn’t sure what his next step was going to be.

Another recording project in late 1985 and early 1986 was The Flesh sessions at Sunset Sound. The Flesh can be regarded as a forerunner to Prince’s Madhouse project since the focus was on jazz-flavoured instrumental music. An LP titled The Flesh was assembled on January 22nd 1986, containing a 20-minute piece titled “Junk Music” (making up side one of the record), “Up From Below,” “Y’All Want Some More?”, and “A Couple Of Miles.” No test pressing was made and the album was aborted when other activities demanded Prince’s full attention.

Prince continued recording at Sunset Sound off-and-on until March of 1986, after which time he did most sessions in his studio in his new Chanhassen home or at the warehouse. A two-week period of sessions with Jill Jones was held in February. The first sequence of Jill’s album was completed on February 22nd 1986 (track listing not known). However, Prince realised he was not going to have enough time to complete the project on his own so it was turned over to David Rivkin.
_____

1986 (II) sessions

Released:
• 2 Nigs United 4 West Compton - Black Album
• Adore - Sign O’ The Times
• The Ballad Of Dorothy Parker - Sign O’ The Times
• Bob George - Black Album
• Boy’s Club - Sheila E.: Sheila E.
• The Cross - Sign O’ The Times
• Crucial - Crystal Ball
• Crystal Ball - Crystal Ball
• Easy Does It - Eric Leeds: Times Squared (originally an untitled instrumental)
• Eight - Madhouse: 8
• Feel U Up - single track (later on The Hits/The B-Sides)
• Five - Madhouse: 8
• Forever In My Life - Sign O’ The Times
• Four - Madhouse: 8
• Good Love - various artists: Bright Lights, Big City (later also on Crystal Ball )
• Hot Thing - Sign O’ The Times
• Housequake - Sign O’ The Times
• If I Could Get Your Attention - Taja Sevelle: Taja Sevelle
• If I Was Your Girlfriend - Sign O’ The Times
• It - Sign O’ The Times
• It’s Gonna Be A Beautiful - Night Sign O’ The Times
• Joy In Repetition - Graffiti Bridge
• Koo Koo - Sheila E.: Sheila E.
• Le Grind - Black Album
• Make Your Mama Happy - Crystal Ball
• Movie Star - Crystal Ball
• One - Madhouse: 8
• One Day (I’m Gonna Make You Mine) - Sheila E.: Sheila E.
• Play In The Sunshine - Sign O’ The Times
• Power Fantastic - The Hits/The B-sides
• Pride And The Passion - Sheila E.: Sheila E.
• Rockhard In A Funky Place - Black Album
• Seven - Madhouse: 8
• Shockadelica - single track (later on The Hits/The B-Sides)
• Sign O’ The Times - Sign O’ The Times
• Six - Madhouse: 8
• Six And ½ - Madhouse: single track
• Slow Love - Sign O’ The Times
• Starfish And Coffee - Sign O’ The Times
• Superfunkycalifragisexy - Black Album
• Telepathy - Deborah Allen: Telepathy
• Three - Madhouse: 8
• Train - Mavis Staples: Time Waits For No One
• Two - Madhouse: 8
• U Got The Look - Sign O’ The Times
• Violet Blue - Jill Jones: Jill Jones
• Yo Mister - Patti LaBelle: Be Yourself

Released in re-recorded versions:
• Baby Go-Go - Nona Hendryx: Female Trouble
• Girl O’ My Dreams - T.C. Ellis: True Confessions

Unreleased:
• A Place In Heaven
• Adonis And Batsheeba
• And How
• And That Says What?
• Baby Doll House
• The Ball
• Big Tall Wall
• Blanche
• Boy U Bad
• Can’t Stop This Feeling I Got
• Coco Boys - (live drums version)
• Coco Boys - (drum machine version)
• Cosmic Day
• Data Bank
• Eggplant
• Emotional Pump
• Everybody Want What They Don’t Got
• Frustration
• In A Large Room With No Light
• Interlude
• It Ain’t Over ‘Til The Fat Lady Sings
• Love And Sex - (different from 1984 track of the same title)
• Nevaeh Ni Ecalp A
• Nine - (different from “Nine” on Madhouse: 8)
• Pony Ride
• Rebirth Of The Flesh
• Susannah’s Blues
• Visions
• Walkin’ In Glory
• Wally
• We Can Funk
• When The Dawn Of The Morning Comes
• Witness 4 The Prosecution - (Dream Factory March 1986 version)
• Witness 4 The Prosecution - (October 6th 1986 version)

Unreleased cover versions:
• Rescue Me - (written by Raynard Miner/Carl Smith, performed by Fontella Bass)
• Get On Up - (written by Moorer/Sheppard, performed by The Esquires)

The above listed songs were recorded from mid-March to late December 1986. During this period of intense studio work Prince recorded Madhouse’s 8 and three different albums that were discarded before Sign O’ The Times was assembled.

The long road to what would eventually become Sign O’ The Times started with Dream Factory, planned as the fourth album attributed to Prince and The Revolution. The Dream Factory sessions proper began in mid-March 1986 when Prince returned to Minneapolis after working mostly in Los Angeles during the winter of 1985-86. He now began working in his new state-of-the-art home studio. Although he continued working now and then at Sunset Sound, most of his recording sessions until Paisley Park opened were held in his home studio. He also staged occasional sessions in the rehearsal warehouse, primarily live recordings with The Revolution (or parts thereof).

An early, tentative version of Dream Factory was compiled on cassette in late April 1986. At this early stage, the album was going to be an 11-track single LP. Side one: “Visions” / “Dream Factory” / “It’s A Wonderful Day” / “The Ballad Of Dorothy Parker” / “Big Tall Wall” / “And That Says What?” Side two: “Strange Relationship” / “Teacher, Teacher” / “Starfish And Coffee” / “A Place In Heaven” / “Sexual Suicide.” In addition to eight songs committed to tape since December 1985, this version included the 1985 Parade-era reject “Sexual Suicide” and two 1982 songs that had been given an overhaul by Wendy Melvoin and Lisa Coleman in 1985, “Strange Relationship” and “Teacher, Teacher.”

As work on Dream Factory proceeded it became evident that Prince had too much first-rate material for a single-LP. The album had grown into a 19-track double LP by the time a new version was assembled on June 3rd. Side one: “Visions” / “Dream Factory” / “It’s A Wonderful Day” / “The Ballad Of Dorothy Parker” / “It.” Side two: “Strange Relationship” / “Teacher, Teacher” / “Starfish And Coffee” / “Interlude” / “In A Large Room With No Light” / “Nevaeh Ni Ecalp A” / “Sexual Suicide.” Side three: “Crystal Ball” / “Power Fantastic.” Side four: “Last Heart” / “Witness 4 The Prosecution” / “Movie Star” / “A Place In Heaven” / “All My Dreams.” The new additions since the 11-track sequence were tracked in April and May of 1986, with the exception of “Last Heart” (recorded in January), “Power Fantastic” (March 1986), and the Parade leftover “All My Dreams.” The strangely titled “Nevaeh Ni Ecalp A” (“A Place In Heaven” spelled backwards) features a short piece of “A Place In Heaven” in reverse.

Although this configuration of Dream Factory was mastered, Prince didn’t consider it a final version as he continued working on songs for the album. At one point, there was talk of doing a Broadway-style musical, which may have been called Dream Factory. Prince recorded four songs live with the expanded Revolution for this project on June 17th and 18th: “Can’t Stop This Feeling I Got,” “Girl O’ My Dreams,” “We Can Funk,” and “Data Bank.”

The final configuration of Dream Factory, now an 18-track double LP, was sequenced on July 18th. Side one: “Visions” / “Dream Factory” / “Train” / “The Ballad Of Dorothy Parker” / “It.” Side two: “Strange Relationship” / “Starfish And Coffee” / “Interlude” / “Slow Love” / “I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man.” Side three: “Sign O’ The Times” / “A Place In Heaven” / “Crystal Ball.” Side four: “The Cross” / “Last Heart” / “Witness 4 The Prosecution” / “Movie Star” / “All My Dreams.” Other sequences of Dream Factory exist (assembled between the June 3rd and July 18th versions) with slightly different song sequences. “I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man” was a reworked and extended version of a 1982 track. The Dream Factory project was aborted in late July when Lisa and Wendy announced to Prince that they wanted to go their own way and Prince made the decision to disband The Revolution.

Prince and his entourage left for Europe and the Parade tour on August 9th. A soundcheck and concert in Paris, August 25th, were recorded using a mobile truck. The soundcheck session included, amongst other tracks, “Coco Boys,” “Susannah’s Blues” (an instrumental), “Strange Relationship,” “Last Heart,” Al Green’s “Can’t Get Next To You,” and a first run-through of “It’s Gonna Be A Beautiful Night.” Included on the list are only “Susannah’s Blues,” “Coco Boys” (live drums version), and the concert recording of “It’s Gonna Be A Beautiful Night,” which was later thoroughly revamped for release on Sign O’ The Times.

Upon his return from the one-month Parade tour of Europe and Japan, Prince threw himself into The Dawn, a new film project. Planned as a musical, The Dawn concerned two rival bands, one of them called the Coco Boys. He recorded three songs for the project, “Crucial,” “Coco Boys” (drum machine version), and “When The Dawn Of The Morning Comes.” Prince never saw The Dawn project through to its completion, although the scenario of two rival bands would be incorporated into Graffiti Bridge. Prince’s next project was an album of instrumental jazz-flavoured funk and rock under the Madhouse moniker. He recorded Madhouse’s 8 at breakneck pace in his home studio from September 28th to October 1st.

In early October, Prince decamped to Sunset Sound, working there until late December 1986. Apart from songs for his own use, he recorded a final song for Jill Jones’ album, “Violet Blue,” and worked on tracks for Sheila E.’s third Paisley Park album, Sheila E. An early sequence of Sheila’s album was finished on October 21st (track listing not known).

Later in October, Prince embarked on yet another album project, Camille, which was going to be attributed to “Camille,” comprising tracks featuring his voice speeded-up. To put the Camille plan into practice, he recorded five new tracks over a nine-day period, October 27th to November 4th, adding a remixed version of “Strange Relationship,” “Housequake,” recorded earlier in October, and “Shockadelica, which came from a home studio session in September. The Camille album was sequenced on November 5th. Side one included: “Rebirth Of The Flesh” / “Housequake” / “Strange Relationship” / “Feel U Up.” Side two: “Shockadelica” / “Good Love” / “If I Was Your Girlfriend” / “Rockhard In A Funky Place.”

Camille was given a Warner Bros. catalogue number and a projected January 1987 release date. A test pressing was also made of a possible single, containing “Shockadelica” coupled with “Housequake.” Instead of pursuing the Camille project, however, Prince decided to expand on the record by incorporating other tracks recorded earlier in the year. “Rebirth Of The Flesh” is the only Camille track that remains unreleased, although a live rendition of the song was made available from NPG Music Club in 2001. Three of the Camille songs ended up on Sign O’ The Times (“Housequake,” “Strange Relationship,” and “If I Was Your Girlfriend”); “Rockhard In A Funky Place” was included on the Black Album; “Good Love” was released in March 1988 on the soundtrack album to the film Bright Lights, Big City and again on the Crystal Ball three-CD set in 1998; two tracks became B-sides, “Shockadelica” and “Feel U Up” (of “If I Was Your Girlfriend” in 1987 and “Partyman” in 1989, respectively).

Later in November 1986, Prince began work on an intended three-LP album set entitled Crystal Ball. A 22-track sequence was completed on November 30th. It contained on side one: “Rebirth Of The Flesh” / “Play In The Sunshine” / “Housequake” / “The Ballad Of Dorothy Parker.” Side two: “It” / “Starfish And Coffee” / “Slow Love” / “Hot Thing.” Side three: “Crystal Ball” / “If I Was Your Girlfriend” / “Rockhard In A Funky Place.” Side four: “The Ball” / “Joy In Repetition” / “Strange Relationship” / “I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man.” Side five: “Shockadelica” / “Good Love” / “Forever In My Life” / “Sign O’ The Times.” Side six: “The Cross” / “Adore” / “It’s Gonna Be A Beautiful Night.”

The projected Crystal Ball album incorporated seven songs resurrected from the Camille album (only “Feel U Up” was rejected) and eight tracks that had been included on Dream Factory (“Strange Relationship” was also a track on Dream Factory, but the Crystal Ball recording was lifted from Camille). In addition to these songs, Crystal Ball contained three songs completed in November 1986 after the Camille project had been aborted (“Adore,” “It’s Gonna Be A Beautiful Night,” “Play In The Sunshine”), three songs recorded in August 1986 when Prince had cancelled the Dream Factory project (“Hot Thing,” “The Ball,” and “Forever In My Life”), and one song from July 1986 that was never included on Dream Factory (“Joy In Repetition”).

While many of the Crystal Ball tracks had been included on various configurations of Dream Factory, they were mostly songs with fairly limited input by Revolution members. Accordingly, Crystal Ball was for all purposes a return to Prince’s earlier one-man projects and the album was planned as a solo project, bearing the familiar imprint, “Produced, arranged, composed, and performed by Prince.” Not unexpectedly, the proposed three-LP set met with resistance from Warner Bros.’ chief executives. They balked at the production expenses of doing a three-LP set and questioned the sales potential because of the high price it would require. Reluctantly accepting the record company’s decision to shrink the album to two LPs, Prince reduced the album from three LPs to a 16-track two-LP, re-titling it Sign O’ The Times. He added a new song to the 15 remaining Crystal Ball tracks, “U Got The Look,” which he recorded at Sunset Sound on December 22nd 1986.

was there a cover?