Serena said:

i just interpreted it as the sigfried & roy guy could have been a prospective contact for a producer and the apple records guy could have been a consultant, and prince was rockin' the beatles tunes out of respect/enthusiasm for the "love" show, and the whole deal was about a prince-themed production to be staged in vegas while he's on tour, so that the 3121 club could continue to bring in audiences (and money for prince).

doing an all-beatles cover album just is NOT prince's style.

then again, if you'd told me even two years ago that he'd be doing a residency in vegas, i woulda sworn THAT wasn't his style either.

This whole idea to me is

Anx said:

That's a good point you make, even if the contract is extended, it doesn't necessarily mean he'll still perform every weekend. They could have a new thing in the works.

I would love to hear some Beatles covers. Beatles came to the US and their music crossed color lines. I love their songs. They came to the US in the turbulent 60s and their music touched so many. Here's some of my favorites...


Let it Be
Yesterday
Something
She Loves You
The Long and Winding Road <--- a weeper, very sentimental and classic song
Hey Jude <-- another classic!
Come Together
All You Need is LoveA Hard Day's Night
All My Loving
Can't Buy Me Love
Michelle
Get Back
Revolution
...just to name a few


Even if he just covered, "Come Together", "The Long and Winding Road", "Hey Jude","Yesterday", Let it Be" and even "All You Need Is Love"....those are the songs that would be the right choices, for the state of where our country is in right now, like the Iraq War, Darfur, Global fight on Aids, Racism, Present day slavery, Hunger, Homelessness, etc..We need to hear songs like that. That's how the Beatles brought people together through their music during one of the most turbulent times in history..the 60s.




I didn't think much of it at the time, but I went to the Rio on Jan. 20 to see Prince. He did a cover of "Come Together" that night. He killed it stone cold. But an entire album of Beatles' covers? Say it ain't so, Prince!!


www.gakcity.com
[Edited 2/21/07 13:09pm]

Serena said:

well, the buzz is that his vegas stint is done at the end of march, then he goes on tour.

if that's true, what happens to the 3121 club? the jazz kitchen? do they just tear it down, or is prince gonna want to keep making $$$ off the club and have a place to pop in every now and then for a surprise set?

also, i thought one of the concepts of this whole venture was to create a popular venue in vegas for acts that appeal to prince's tastes in music...whatever happened to that all-star roster we saw early on? some of them played 3121, sure...but maybe that will be developed more after prince leaves vegas and goes on tour, who knows?
[Edited 2/21/07 18:36pm]

2elijah said:

Considering we hear about new Prince projects more often than I tie my shoelaces, I'm trying not to give this much thought.

However...

My initial thoughts upon reading this over breakfast is that this would never happen, and if it did, it would be awful. As a huge Prince fan and a huge Beatles fan (yes, my sig has been the same since at least 2001), I can't help but think I would be disappointed by this. Prince and The Beatles are two completely different musical entities for me. The one time they came together, on While My Guitar Gently Weeps from the Hall Of Fame, was supremely sublime - but he hasn't played that since, which I've taken to be a sign that he knows it would not work again - it was one of those magical once-in-a-lifetime experiences. Prince's musical style(s) are so different from The Beatles, even with how varied Prince and The Beatles were themselves. as much as everyone has always claimed ATWIAD to be a Beatles-influenced album, I really have not heard that much. A little, but not much. There's just not enough common ground to make this exciting for me. If Prince were to do a covers-project of one artist, I would think Jimi Hendrix, James Brown or Sly and the Family Stone would be more fitting.

Since breakfast, though, I've been thinking about this more...

Primarily, the fact that the Apple Records 'boss' was there is a huge positive factor, in my eyes. If this is all true, it seems that Prince is working with Apple (and therefore, the remaining Beatles and estates). IF (and this is a big IF) this is an album (which fits with the Revolution title mentioned recently), Prince would be able to release it on Apple Records, which I can only think would be very classy and give it a huge amount of credibility as legitimate Beatles product. Paul/Ringo/Yoko/Olivia also have the power of veto over any Apple Records release, which means they would need to approve this, which I think is appropriate given that Prince doesn't like people covering his songs without his permission.

Also, an ABC exec was there (again, allegedly). I take this to mean a potential TV special.

Remember that The Beatles catalogue is going to be available at iTunes and other online music stores sometime this year, and Beatles CD remasters are also coming at some point this year. Think of the marketing push for all of that. Think of the new wave of Beatlemania. And think of the Superbowl-killing Prince doing an ABC primetime music special performing Beatles songs. Paul McCartney has always been a Prince fan, and given that he would have to approve an Apple Records release, I can imagine he may want to perform with Prince. And since Ringo and Sheila E have been playing together for years, you think he might like to play too?

And Love has been a huge critical (and commercial?) success - I am glad that Love and 3121 have been going on in Vegas at the same time, since it has allowed Prince to soak in some Beatles vibes through osmosis. And according to Mr. Hayes, Prince treated everyone in the 3121 crew to a night seeing Love, which I thought was a classy thing to do and showed that he appreciated the show and the music.

But yeah, this is all coming from one rumor... We'll see...

Olivia Harrison, not Cynthia Lennon...
[Edited 2/21/07 6:55am]

Please Prince....dont. do one track, but not an album.

Gold7 said:

This is so sad for me to say, but I think Prince's recent efforts have been so lacking in "umph" that I'd actually love to hear him do covers of other songs. Maybe this will help him find his Muse.

Especially if he would hire the Clare Fischer Orchestra for this project.

Beetle like songs by prince
Paisley park
Around the world in a day
She's always in My hair
Do U Lie
Dinner with Daloris
Christerpher Tracy's Parade
Zanaalee
Sometimes it snows in April

I dont see the beatle sound in those songs

Dinner with Daloris

dammme said:

Do u lie - Michelle
Christopher Tracy's Parade - Magical Mystery Tour
Sometimes it Snows in April - Julia

dunno about the other 2

you all missed the obvious one.....

Starfish and Coffee

that piano is the most stereotypical beatle like sound...

dammme said:

Do u lie - Michelle
Christopher Tracy's Parade - Magical Mystery Tour
Sometimes it Snows in April - Julia

dunno about the other 2

funkaholic1972 said:

see, this is what i'd LOVE to see prince do...and i'm going to say something sacriligious, but i'd love him to do an album with an orchestra that is NOT led by clare fischer!

i'd like to see him do a live show or an album where he's backed by an orchestra, kinda like KISS and metallica did, or like joni mitchell did with the "both sides now" album.

i always think of the swatches of clare fischer orchestration as decoration or icing on prince's songs when he uses fischer's contributions. it's pretty, but it's kind of minor. i think it would be much more powerful if he were actually performing his music backed by a full orchestra.

I'm inclined to think that Prince wasn't influenced by The Beatles directly, but he was influenced by others who were themselves influenced by The Beatles. Wendy & Lisa are good examples.

Prince himself has said he had never heard While My Guitar Gently Weeps until asked to be involved in it at the Hall Of Fame ceremony. I'm sure he's heard it somewhere before, but perhaps not consciously. Additionally, it wouldn't surprise me at all if he's more familiar with the Michael Jackson version of Come Together than The Beatles' original...

I'm sure all of us hack guitarists would like to see Prince tear up "Day Tripper", just like we do...

I'm inclined to think that Prince wasn't influenced by The Beatles directly, but he was influenced by others who were themselves influenced by The Beatles. Wendy & Lisa are good examples.

Prince himself has said he had never heard While My Guitar Gently Weeps until asked to be involved in it at the Hall Of Fame ceremony. I'm sure he's heard it somewhere before, but perhaps not consciously. Additionally, it wouldn't surprise me at all if he's more familiar with the Michael Jackson version of Come Together than The Beatles' original...