Q: Alan, we have a "Bootleg Discussion" forum on www.housequake.com and therefore been pressured often by Prince's management to remove it. We are however in our rights to discuss them. Hence, most Prince fans we know, claim full hearted that they have remained a Prince fan for all those years, mainly because of them. But that aside, Prince's most famous bootleg at the time is of course "The Black Album"; did you or Prince realize at the time (when its release was retracted), it would become one of the most famous & widely circulating bootlegs ever?

Regardless of the obviously illegal status of bootlegs, we would like to know if you consider they are an useful tool for music lovers who want to know every single aspect of the work of their favourite musician.



A:I wish the BLACK ALBUM had NOT been widely bootlegged – maybe the original legit copies would have held their market value – LOL. Bootlegs are a touchy issue. Theoretically, unissued studio recordings have no place on the black (forgive the pun) market – an artist’s prerogative to control the access to his or her recordings shouldn’t be questioned. The behind the scenes glimpse at the creative process might be fascinating to fans and musicologists but ultimately it’s “Peeping Tomish” if the recordings are unauthorized. While I was running Paisley Park Records we captained a major investigation, along with the R.I.A.A. and the F.B.I., into the black market CD’s that were showing up all over the U.S. and Europe. No legal action resulted, other than to confiscate illegal product from dealers. The proliferation of bootlegged material suggested someone who had regular access to the tape vault and suspicion was directed towards several Paisley Park associates and employees. But because Prince himself was so generous (and careless) with cassettes of his unissued material, it was impossible to legally prove guilt in any one direction.

Prince always expressed anger and frustration over these unauthorized records and C.D.s., but there’s no question that they contributed to his mystique and to the loyalty of his die hard fan base. Legalities aside, I felt differently about recordings of concerts. Given the technology that made it so easy for fans to record gigs, it seemed hopeless to try to police it. Furthermore, concerts are, by nature, performances for the public. Of course it’s unethical and illegal for bootleggers to profit from these recordings at the artist’s expense. At the end of the day, I always felt that fans who bought bootlegs knew exactly what they were getting and likely already had each and every legal Prince recording on the market. As cunning as Prince is about exploiting the market place, I suspect that his true inner feelings about bootlegs might be just a little different than what he expresses publicly.

(Copyright & Credits to Housequake.com)
[Edited 4/10/07 10:44am]

Great Thread liberation!

Interesting view of Alan Leeds

LOL!...no shit Sherlock, had access to the tape vault?...hehe, how is it fans seem to know more then PP the RIAA and FBI put together. It don't take Stevie Wonder to know there was direct access to the tape vault, consider the range and quality of the material that surfaced over the years.

Take 1995-96, huge volume of studio recordings, Citylights anyone?, Studio Nights?

Consider the quality of tracks such as All My Dreams or the full length Computer Blue....the quality was SUPERIOR to the masters in the tape vault.

How?...cause the masters were taken out and the audio remastered to modern levels, No doubt there wasn't one simgle source...this is true.

But there was a phase when tapes were just flying out the tape vault under Prince's nose. But that is what i've heard through the grape vine.....

Or the fact we have gazillion versions of "We can funk"...

I never heard a high quality full length Computer Blue

PANDURITO said:

neither did I...

I feel that I'm an incomplete Prince fan

MikeMatronik said:

7 versions?

PANDURITO said:

Fantasia 3CD had an edit of the full 14 minute version, trust me...the full digital quality track does exist (outside the control of PP).

I have a confession to make:

I only have Camille, Emancipation - The Secret Chapter and Dreamfactory...

All the unreleased stuff I had, I deleted from the HD...

MikeMatronik said:

...and you call yourself a Prince fan

Oh, oh!

liberation said:

I don't feel right in listening to unreleased stuff.

MikeMatronik said:

Really?

You must feel bad all the time though

Why?...it's not mortal sin, the Paisley Police won't come-a-knockin'
You haven't stolen sweeties from small children or tortured puppies.....jezz.

PANDURITO said:

no...those are stuff that are going to be released in the near future

liberation said:

nope

MikeMatronik said:

Prince will release stuff in the future?

liberation said:

and Alaska will be thin again!

She's never been a slender girl

I bet liberation is all now

Sorry liberation. it was an inner joke

PANDURITO said:

Few are the chosen ones who now the magic of Olvido Gara!

Think this thread has gone off topic

liberation said:

sorry!

i have no problem with live bootlegs whatsoever and i dont think they harm anyone. would prince's live reputation be as high were not for bootlegs? would "days of wild" be such a fan favorite when played live if it were never bootlegged (live or studio) and only ever released on crystal ball? hardly.

studio bootlegs are a bit different. i can understand completely why prince doesnt want people to hear recordings he obviously didn't feel were a good enough representation of himself to release. i say this, though, despite my computer containing pretty much every studio bootleg that's ever circulated. i think, though, that the kind of people who are going to download those bootlegs are the kind of people who are obsessed with prince's music anyway, own all his official material, and are hardly going to lower their estimation of him as an artist based on a substandard track or two. until "good pussy" finally leaks, that is....
[Edited 4/10/07 12:50pm]

I completely understand Prince's point of view when it comes to bootlegs.
Doesn't stop me from listening to them though!
They're still gonna be 'out there' whether I listen to them or not.
Plus, I always see it as a little insight into Prince's musical 'sketchbook', a
way of seeing some of the ideas he was toying with before arriving at the
final finished piece of work

liberation said:

Hmm...never heard of that one.

think i have c95% of available boot studio tracks , P could and still can release these. Regardsless If he does single CDs or a box set they will not sell in quantity as the only ones really interested are probably 100k hard core purple nutz like us. So P , RELEASE ITTTTT!.

MikeMatronik said:

lol

MikeMatronik said:

yeah, in edited/censored forms.

no thanks.

suomynona said:

there is NO POINT in relasing tracks if he's gonna edit and censor them.