I'm wondering what and why Prince chooses to release in relation to his outtakes. Why do you think some outtakes have not officialy seen the light of day? It makes you wonder if he is or indeed was, concerned about public reception or over scrutiny from the press. There's to some extent some pretty raw and honest lyrical content in his outtakes; 'Im sorry, Im just gonna have to rape you' being arguably the most offensive lyric he's ever written, 'Maceo, blow your horn' the most blatant homage to a musical peer that (to date) he hadn't recorded with, 'God is Alive' arguably the most honest song about his religious beliefs (up to that point). Did he re-record 'Do Yourself Favour' purely in the self belief he could do a better job then 94 East? Were 'There's Others Here With Us' and 'Moonbeam Levels' not released because they and pardon the terminology wouldn't 'make no sense to nobody but (your)himself?
[Edited 7/21/08 6:33am]

I believe that Prince also knows the art of being timely...and I am not only speaking of musically...I believe that Prince has put songs away for a rainy day.

I think there are a lot of reasons he doesn't release stuff.

First, his output was limited by Warner Brothers. He probably could've/would've done twice as many albums in the 80s, had he been allowed.

The fact that he wasn't allowed to put out more material gave rise to other issues - timeliness being one. I'm sure there are some songs that - for whatever reason - he feels have passed their "sell by" date. There's also the question of "fit." Many of his older songs were written with inclusion in a specific album in mind - and it didn't happen. If an older song doesn't fit in the context of a newer album, he wouldn't use it.

And maybe he just ain't feelin' 'em anymore.

JDInteractive said:[quote] There's to some extent some pretty raw and honest lyrical content in his outtakes; 'Im sorry, Im just gonna have to rape you' being arguably the most offensive lyric he's ever written,

Damn what song was that from?

Erika2k8 said:[quote]

JDInteractive said:

Extra Loveable

I hope this doesn't come off as cold but with all of this trying to disect why these outtakes have never been officially released, maybe it's just as simple as he just doesn't want to release these songs. He might have found better songs to fit the type of albums that he made at the time. Who knows.

Genesia said:

He keeps rehashing old stuff into new jackets, as he has always done. Why is there to let us know if Planet Earth is not something from 1986?

Different versions of the same song also shows Prince tinkers on certain songs longer than on others, not alway making them better. The version of We Can Funk with The Revolution is way better than the one with George Clinton.
Old Friends 4 Sale got new lyrics due to the personal nature of the original lyrics.
I think it is safe to assume that there is not one reason why some stuff is vaulted, while others, like Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic get released, around 11 years after initial conception.

I think Prince has lots of different recording processes that determine where a song ends up; the sessions for a Madhouse project or stuff like N.E.W.S. or Kama Sutra are so specific, he just records what he needs, as he has a picture inside of his head and releases it if he is happy about it.

Other sessions are jam-based or he goes into the studio to record a one off he has got stuck in his head, like PoomPoom, which the liner notes state 'was not intended for any project'.

And then there are the album sessions; albums like Around The World In A Day are composed around the A-side/B-side principal; a certain amount of songs, strong side openers, ballads often last tracks on sides and trippy album closers. So I suppose when recording (or assembling an album) he might have a concept. When it comes to that I would love to find out his deeper thoughts on assembling the Lovesexy album.

While putting together an album, Prince must shove them around. Best example is the sequencing known for the Dream Factory/Crystal Ball/SOTT albums; Prince kept on recording while aseembling, which meant some songs were thrown back into the vault.
The ones he really, really liked he put on b-sides of singles, of course. For which lots of us are grateful; I am glad we got good versions of Shockadelica and Good Love, for instance.

And then there are the ones Prince really likes himself, but can not fit into a category. I think regular Crystal Ball (outtake album) releases would be a great internet tool to keep fans happy, by just putting out the stuff they already have (and love better quality version of) and lace them with unkown stuff. He would not even have to do publicity cuz we'd eat that stuff up like crazy. And it would not even hurt his new material.

But what makes Prince so uptight about his older unreleased stuff is just guessing material for peeps like us, of course. In the end, it's his call. And in some cases, I do not mind they do not get re-recorded or released in edited version. Imagine what the present-day-Prince would do to the 1987 version of Rebirth Of The Flesh. "This is life, doodlehead, this is real." I can do without that.

Theres nothing unusual about musicians keeping songs under wraps, see Dylan and Bowie for instance, it's part of their appeal and they know it. I'm sure P enjoys reading threads like this

Handel said:

I am sure nothing on here would make him lash out like PFUnk. I still wonder why Prince was SO angry as to re-record a song as answer in the PFU-site. It was probably cuz the sites were using a tool normally reserved to himself; the media. I think he hates it when people paint a weird picture of his carefully construed public persona.

HamsterHuey said:

You mean when they shine a light through the paper-thin veneer.

NouveauDance said:

Depends. Prince's life has always been very private and what he wanted to share with us he shared in the form of music, mostly. Everything he wanted to share had to go through him. When people take that control away, it punches him probably harder than 'normal' peeps like you and I; people want to get on his good side for all the wrong reasons, so friendship issues probably run way deeper than any of us could ever understand.

Same thing goes for his music; often it is the way he wants to share his stuff with the world. SO this is probably why he is so pouncy when people record covers of his songs. He sees his music as his legacy, I suppose. ANd he seems overly aware of this ever since becoming a Jehova Witness, alas for all the wrong reasons. But not totally strange; they re-wrote the bible so many times, it must come natural to religious people to propagandise their message.