There are hundreds of outtakes available on the internet. I don't understand how they saw the light of day. We all know Prince is a control freak. How come all the outtakes leaked? Corrupt studio engineers?

For a long time, the leaks were due to Doctor Fink's cocaïne bills.

sarkozyiszeman said:

That's pretty rough.

christos7 said:

That's the truth.

I've wondered this too! What about after Dr. Fink -- there's so many outtakes from 1989-1998. For example -- how did the three versions of "Shy" get leaked, or the two versions of "Gold" and the 4+ versions of "Come"? I realize alot of the material prince compiled for various projects that didn't get released mainstream but may've been put in the hands of outsiders -- but that doesn't explain ALL the remixes and outtakes!

Maybe it was Prince's Gemeni "woman" living inside of him that released them and finally in 1999 he convinced her to stop

christos7 said:

That was really uncalled for. Seriously! Fink is a really good guy and friendly to the fans. Why diss him?

sarkozyiszeman said:

Are you serious? I never read this in any Prince biography.

Jatrig said:

Yes, I'd like to get an answer to this question as well.

Jatrig said:

haha...

anything's possible, I suppose.

When I heard that whole confession of there being another person inside him, I was willing to embrace it... I believe its possible with the deep stuff he creates.

But I'd stand by him thru a lot of whatever... cuz I'm devoted.

All I know about the "leakings" is that Paisley Park employees who weren't 100% loyal to Prince did 2 to make an extra buck here and there.

sarkozyiszeman said:

I thought it was Dez who put a lot of them out.

There have always been outtakes esp around the 87 era. Prince even had a little hand in some of them seeing the light of day ala Prince Fan Club and that Charade outtake you could get if you were a part of the fan club.

Then a slew came out mid 90's right after his squabble with the WB...during the angry/gold era. IMHO...prince put a lot of them out there himself. Not sure of the real reason. Probably there were a multitude of reasons for this like getting the music out there, beating the bootleggers at their own game etc.

I once saw a boot that made me question this as well. The CB was about to come out and then the track list got leaked. Many...MANY were flaberghasted at the amount of material NOT included on the set. IMO, this could be because WB owned the masters to some of the material P wanted on the CB set. THEN a Boot called "Dreams" came out. Let's just say that it was what most fans wanted the CB package to be. Beautiful artwork, Nice Packaging etc. I noticed that there were photos inside the booklet that had the time sig on them. As we know P owns rights to all the pictures taken of him, one can assume that Prince had a hand in this particular package.

I believe I once read that Bobby Z was the one who leaked out the City Lights boot. Anybody else heard the same?

DifferentPsuedenum said:

Yeah, I heard that too..but come on people. It only has to get in one persons hands who's willing to circulate it further. Many booted tracks sound like they have gone through several generations of copies before being released. The Avenue is a good example. I would think someone who had close access to that source would've been able to release a version without the tape damage during When U Were Mine, it's obviously been copied through several pairs of hands before being booted.

mynameisnotsusan said:

There is a difference between Live Boots and Outtake boots and how they get into fans hands. The outtake stuff is by those close to Prince or Prince himself. The live recordings...I've read that certain sound engineers during tours would think a recording too good to not keep out of the public's hand/ear and would basically pass it off to whom ever so that it would live somehow.

The Big Question : Why Did Most Outtakes Stop Around 1998

Must i support some ones cocaïne habit

Christaro said:

I was thinking the same damn thing!

DifferentPsuedenum said:

This is true....Just ask Harold Lewis of UPTOWN Magazine.

Heard his brother Duane, had hand in it also

There's 6 City Lights boots..

christos7 said:

Ha Ha! There is a song u didn't know about, that's what u get for smart assing me!

Christaro said:

OH COME ON!!!!!

The reason that the music is out is coz he wants it to be.

Bootlegs were Prince's first way of releasing all the stuff that WB wouldn't!!!

It then grew and now it's where it is.

You got it right. Prince is a control freak!!! If he didn't want it to get out then it wouldn't be so!

However; it is!!!!.... Make you think no? Control over all.....

superspaceboy said:

That scenario would be a rare exception. Mostly it's a person with a recorder crotched and a disguised mike.

Christaro said:

You know, this is a very good question. A friend of mine and I were just discussing this. Is it Warner Brothers (we all know the problems Prince was having with them)? One of his sound engineers? Still, with the sound engineers and with Prince wanting to always be in control, wouldn't they have to sign some kind of an agreement with Prince, stating that whatever is recorded in the studio stays there? Guess we'll never know for sure.

carlluv said:

For real?

We just need some nut with $1000s and willing to do what the GnR fans did and start offering the money for outtakes/demos. Stuff must be around and not in circulation. With the right amount of cash you could bring the songs to you.

Prince is behind the leaks. Doe anybody remember seeing bootlegs being sold at stands inside of prince concerts during the 1980's and early 90's? I used to see them at shows all of the time. i was just too poor to buy any at the time.

* Has anybody ever bought a bootleg at a prince concert?

Eric Leeds said in an interview said: Prince is not responsible any leaks

madhouseman said:

For fuck sake, you guys have no sense of humor whatsoever ! Relax, chill out, take it easy !

He was a friendly guy who sold tapes on the market along with Bobby Z. What can I do about it ?

What can I do if Wendy, Bobby and Dr Fink were heavy on cocaïne as well ?!
And Bobby was the on having serious financial difficulties sometimes as well.


[Edited 9/8/07 3:10am]
[Edited 9/8/07 3:11am]

the main source for the releases was WB. Prince would submit many tracks to them for inclusion onto his albums and would change his mind. I know a guy who was bootlegging them for a while (1988-1991 stuff mostly). Others were offering large sums of money for things, but it always seemed pretty classless to do that, if you were a fan. Back in the day, songs got traded but I don't remember anyone that I trusted actually selling them. That would have been a violation of the agreement from the source. It always amazes me that there are some people who don't respect that.