I was preparing to an ATWIAD love thread, TheKing662 started one on who's who on the album cover, let's talk about the music here. There was a lot going on behind this album.

Around the World in a Day 4.22.1985
© 1985 Paisley Park

The album was released without any publicity, simply turning up in record stores to the surprise of fans.

Overall, the album was not as radio-friendly as 1999 or Purple Rain,
but it still had two U.S. top 10 hits,
went double platinum and was an important step in Prince's musical evolution, incorporating new instruments and musical styles.


Around the World in A Day
Cello Oud Fingercymbals & Darbuka performed by David Coleman
Tamborine by Jonathan Melvoin
Background vocals performed by David Coleman, Susannah&Jonathan Melvoin & the Revolution
Recorded at Paisley Park by Susan Rogers & David Leonard

Paisley Park
Violin performed by Novi Novog
Recorded at Paisley Park by Susan Rogers, David Leonard & Peggy Mac

Condition of the Heart
All instruments and voices performed by Prince
Recorded at Sunset Sound by Peggy Mac

Raspberry Beret
String section: Novi Novog-Violin
Suzi Katayama-Cello
David Coleman-Cello
Recorded at Paisley Park by Susan Rogers

Tamborine
All instruments and voices performed by Prince
Recorded at Paisley Park by David Leonard

A m e r i c a
Tamborine: Brad Marsh
Recorded at Paisley Park by Susan Rogers
* full Revolution composition

Pop Life
Drums performed by Sheila E.
String interlude composed & conducted by Lisa & Wendy
Performed by Sid Page, Marcev Dicterow
Vaj-violins
Denyse Buffum, Laury Woods -Viola
Suzi Katayama, David Coleman -Cello
Tim Barr, Annette Atkinson -Stand up Bass
Recoreded at Sunset Sound by Peggy Mac

The Ladder
[John L. Nelson & Prince]
Saxophone playing by Eddie M.
Background voices are Susannah, Taj, Wendy & Lisa
Recorded at Mobile Audio by David Tickle

Temptation
Saxophone by Eddie M.
Recorded at Capitol Records by David Leonard

Cover painting: Doug Henders
LP Design & Assembly: Laura Li Puma


[Edited 6/2/09 9:23am]

Prince unveils new studio album
'Around the World in a Day' should be out in April

BY MICHAEL GOLDBERG

PRINCE'S SEVENTH ALBUM, Around the World in a Day, should be in record stores before the end of April. The LP, which was recorded both at Price's home studio in Minneapolis and at Hollywood studios, contains nine tracks that, according to the LP's credits, were "produced, arranged, composed and performed by Prince and the Revolution."

Prince unveiled the record on Thursday, February 21st. Warner Bros. Records executives received a phone call late in the afternoon that day informing them that the label's biggest star would be arriving at their Burbank headquarters in forty-five minutes. Interoffice phones buzzed with the news, and a huge crowd of Warners staffers hurriedly assembled in the front lobby.

At about five p.m., a shiny purple limousine pulled up outside the record company's building. Prince stepped out of the car, along with his father, John L. Nelson; his bodyguards; his managers; and Revolution guitarist Wendy Melvoin. Dressed in a long, purple antique kimono and striped, pajama-type pants, Prince clutched a single pink rose as he entered the building. Obviously pleased and looking quite confident, Prince smiled as the crowd greeted him with tumultuous applause. "I've seen Fleetwood Mac and David Lee Roth and Shaun Cassidy and everyone walk into this building," said one Warner Bros. employee, "but nothing like this."

Prince's entourage trooped past more fans crowded along the stairways and corridors, up to a fourth-floor conference room that had been hastily decorated with hundreds of purple helium balloons and white streamers. About 150 Warners staffers and executives -- including president Lenny Waronker and board chairman Mo Ostin -- were crammed into the room. Except for a few words with Ostin, Prince was silent. He sat on the floor with Wendy and his father, stared at the ground and held on to the rose as tapes of the album played at full volume.

Side one of the album includes the LP's title track, which was written by Prince, his father and David Coleman, who is the brother of Revolution keyboardist Lisa Coleman. The songs uses such unusual as an oud, finger cymbals and a darbuka to create a Middle Eastern feel. "Paisley Park," named after Prince's home studio, is a buoyant rocker reminiscent of the Beatles' "Strawberry Fields Forever." The ballad "Condition of the Heart" is a solo performance by Prince that features a Keith Jarrett-style piano intro and a falsetto vocal, while "Raspberry Beret" is another track that recalls the Beatles' psychedelic period ("She wore a Raspberry beret/The kind u find in a secondhand store/And if it was warm, she wouldn't wear much more"). The final cut on side one is "Tambourine," a heavily rhythmic track with a Bo Diddley beat. It's sung and played by Prince alone.

Side two contains "America," which plays off "America the Beautiful" and has an American Indian feel ("America, America, God shed his grace on thee/America, America, keep the children free"). "Pop Life," another Beatles-influenced number, includes drumming by Sheila E. and a string interlude "composed and conducted by Lisa and Wendy" ("What u putting in your nose/Is that where all your money goes?") "The Ladder" is a gospel-flavored song written by Prince and his father. It features a female chorus that includes Lisa, Wendy and Wendy's sister Susannah Melvoin. The album's epic is "Temptation," an eight-minute-and-twenty-one-second song that Prince has been performing in concert. It begins with Hendrix-style guitar and ends with a weird rap that sounds like a dialogue between Prince and God. Prince says, "I'm talkin' about the kind of temptation that'll make you do things. I'm talkin' about sexual temptation." An electronically altered low voice says, "You have to want it for the right reasons." And Prince responds, "I'm sorry. I'll be good. This time I promise. Love is more important than sex. I understand. I have to go now."

The album's first single, "Paisley Park" (back with a nonalbum song called "She's Always in My Hair"), was to have been released on February 27th, the day after Prince won three Grammys. A few days before the awards ceremony, however, Prince abruptly changed his mind, deciding not to release the single. One source at Warner Bros. said Prince didn't want the song to compete with "We Are the World," the USA for Africa record, which he declined to participate in.

Until late last month, details about the album were closely guarded secrets. At Warner Bros., only a handful of top executives knew about it. Still, rumors began circulating in music-business circles, and at least one advance tape got into the hands of a rival record-company executive.

In the Warner Bros. conference room, every song was greeted with applause, and before the last cut ended, Prince vanished. Said a Warners source, "Everyone sort of stood up and applauded after the record was over, and then he wasn't there anymore."

ROLLING STONE, APRIL 11, 1985


[Edited 6/2/09 6:17am]

OldFriends4Sale said:

What is the hand written note from?

Around the World in a day

We all question, “How the story started, and how it will end.”
Everyone suffers from, “Temptation,” looking for, “The Ladder.”
We can go “Around the World in a Day” in a plane as easily as we can come to realize that humanity is bound together afflicted by the sins of the world. Sadly, not even the sound of a, “Tambourine,” can alert some people to the mutual swim against the current.
The “Pop-life” culture of “America” and throughout the world still allows freedoms so easily abused.
Everyone endures some kind of “Condition of the Heart.”
Each one of us as an individual cell in the body of humanity is both blessed by those that have come to “The Cross” and are equally afflicted by those cells that have not yet escaped their own prison.
In order for the Human Soul to heal from these pre-existing conditions, we must choose to exchange an unforgiving hat of ideas, for a kind “Raspberry Beret.”
This is the principle meaning of the park.
“Admission is easy, just say you believe,” Prince so sweetly sings…
“Love is the color this place imparts.” That is so beautiful.
“Paisley Park,” is in your heart.
Tame

mostbeautifulboy said:

If I'm not mistaken, it's printed in the Purple Rain tour book.

Raspberry Beret-
She's Always In My Hair -Bside rel 5.15.1985

I remember when this came out, we were still in the throes of Purple Rain(was the tour done yet?) Raspberry Beret got a lot of air play were I lived. The video was a real piece of art versus Prince's previous videos visually.





And it's interesting how the cartoon section of the videos barn scene is from the deleted scenes from Purple Rain where the Kid & Apollonia are on the bike and end up at a barn and have sex. It was supposed to be a very sexually explicit scene.



1 2 1 2 3

Yeah

I was working part time in a five-and-dime
My boss was mr. mcgee
He told me several times that he didnt like my kind
cause I was a bit 2 leisurely

Seems that I was busy doing something close 2 nothing
But different than the day before
Thats when I saw her, ooh, I saw her
She walked in through the out door, out door

She wore a
Raspberry beret
The kind u find in a second hand store
Raspberry beret
And if it was warm she wouldnt wear much more
Raspberry beret
I think I love her

Built like she was
She had the nerve 2 ask me
If I planned 2 do her any harm

So, look here
I put her on the back of my bike
And-a we went riding
Down by old man johnsons farm

I said now, overcast days never turned me on
But something about the clouds and her mixed

She wasnt 2 bright
But I could tell when she kissed me
She knew how 2 get her kicks

She wore a
Raspberry beret
The kind u find in a second hand store
Raspberry beret
And if it was warm she wouldnt wear much more
Raspberry beret
I think I love her

The rain sounds so cool when it hits the barn roof
And the horses wonder who u are
Thunder drowns out what the lightning sees
U feel like a movie star

Listen
They say the first time aint the greatest
But I tell ya
If I had the chance 2 do it all again

I wouldnt change a stroke
cause baby Im the most
With a girl as fine as she was then

(raspberry beret)
The kind u find (the kind u find)
The kind u find (in a second hand store)
Oh no no
(raspberry beret)
(and if it was warm)
Where have all the raspberry women gone? (she wouldnt wear much more)
Yeah (raspberry beret)

I think i... I think i... I think I love her

(raspberry beret)
No no no
No no no (the kind u find)
(in a second hand store)
(raspberry beret)
Tell me
Where have all the raspberry women gone? (and if it was warm she)
(wouldnt wear much more)
(raspberry beret)
I think I love...

[Edited 6/4/09 17:47pm]

song orchastrated around Jill Jones

Whenever I feel like givin' up
Whenever my sunshine turns 2 rain
Whenever my hopes and dreams are aimed in the wrong direction
She's always there tellin' me how much she cares
She's always in my hair

She's always in my hair, my hair

Whenever I feel like not 2 great at all
Whenever I'm all alone
Even if I hit the wrong notes
She's always in my boat
She's always there tellin' me how much she cares
She's always in my hair

She's always in my hair, my hair

(Maybe I'll marry her)
Maybe I'll marry her, maybe I won't
Maybe I will not
Let me tell U, baby (Even if I was a gigolo all my life)
If I was a gigolo all my life
She'd still be there tellin' me just how much she really cares
(She cares)
She's always in my hair

She's always in my hair, my hair

Yeah

Listen...
Whenever I feel like givin' up
Whenever my sunshine turns 2 rain
Whenever my hopes and dreams are aimed in the wrong direction
She's always there tellin' me just how much she cares
(Tellin' me how much she cares)
Tell me, baby
Always in my hair

She's always in my hair, my hair


[Edited 6/2/09 6:43am]

Tame said:

WoW TAME??!! That's so poetic, only someone who appreciates this album could express it like this, thanks 4 sharing that

Ahh Good Times...

chapter 6 Hangover p74 Possessed

...he now opened himself more to genuine exchange of ideas.


Prince previewed the album for Warner bros.
during a ceremonious listening party
for about 20 company officials
in early February 1985 in Los Angeles.
Joni Mitchell and Prince's father John L. Nelson
were among the special guests present.
Attendees were seated on the floor of a large conference room,
and as the high pitched flute that begins "Around the World in A Day"
lilted from the speakers,
Prince & Lisa walked in holding flowers;
the whole scene was according to one attendee very Haight Ashbury

-Possessed: the Rise & Fall of Prince p 77

David Coleman did the music for the title track.

OldFriends4Sale said:

My favorite Prince album. My only Number One!
There's really nothing like Around The World In A Day.
Thanks for starting this thread!

coolcat said:

David Coleman (Lisa Colemans brother)
Around the World in a Day was composed by David during studio time given 2 him by Prince 4 David's birthday


Around the World in a Day 2:46 demo 5min 46 sec original demo
the original demo of the song it was recorded in the 1984 sessions.
[There is a version with a bass line too]
another demo circulated as:Around the World in a Day (eavesdropped in intimate moments)

Open your heart, open your mind
A train is leaving all day
A wonderful trip through our time
And laughter is all U pay

Around the world in a day, oh!
Around the world in a day

Now dig...
Loneliness already knows U
There ain't no reason 2 stay
Come here, take my hand, I'll show U
I think I know a better way, y'all

Around the world in a day, ow!
(Listen 2 me now)
Around the world in a day
All the babies sing it now

Ooh la, la
Ooh la, la, la, la
No, sha, sha
No, no shouting every day (No shouting every day)
No shouting (No shouting)
No, no shouting
Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha

The little one will escort U
2 places within your mind
(The former is red, white, and blue)
Former is red, white, and blue!
(The latter is a purple climb)
The latter is a purple - come on and climb!

Around the world in a day, sugar (Oh, baby)
Around the world in a day
Come on, say it!
Around the world in a day
Say papa, I think I wanna dance!

(In summer she's sweeter)

Around the world in a day {repeat to fade}
Oh yeah!
All the little babies sing around the world
A government of love and music boundless in its unifying power {fade out}
A nation of art 2 production
Sharing ideas, a shower of flowers
Definately a different sound and feel 2 what originally came out of Uptown & Erotic CityThis song was actually written/musically by David Coleman (Lisa's brother) This song does not include a bass line. Yet there is one during the live performances. Very ethnic sounding and a greater usage of strings and Middle Easter instruments.This song is similar to Sexuality, in that it's presenting a state of mind, versus Paisley Park, which takes it further to being a inner place as well as a gather place like: Uptown, Erotic City, 3121, and a way of living:People' s who hair on one side is swept back...


[Edited 6/2/09 9:26am]

I still say almost evrything Prince did in the 80's was pure genious.

Cover painting: Doug HendersLP Design & Assembly: Laura Li Puma

Prince: The cover art came about because I thought people were tired of looking at me. Who wants another picture of him? I would only want so many pictures of my woman, then I would want the real thing. What would be a little more happening than just another picture [laughs] would be if there was some way I could materialize in people's cribs when they play the record.

How do you feel about people calling the record "psychedelic" ?

Prince: I don't mind that, because that was the only period in recent history that delivered songs and colors. Led Zeppelin, for example, would make you feel differently on each song.

Electrifying Mojo Interview with Prince 1985
MOJO: Let's talk about the album, Around The World In A Day... which I think was one of the greatest albums.

PRINCE: My favorite!

MOJO: It's absolutely my favorite, without question. Tunes like "Around The World In A Day," "Paisley Park." What type of mood were you in when you recorded that album?

PRINCE: Yeah, I sorta had an f-you attitude, meaning that I was making something for myself and my fans. And the people who supported me through the years -- I wanted to give them something and it was like my mental letter. And those people are the ones who wrote me back, telling me that they felt what I was feeling.

MOJO: What's a day like, in the life of Prince?

Prince: Not long ago I talked too George Clinton, a man who knows and has done so much for funk. George told me how much he liked Around the World in a Day. You know how much more his words meant than those from some mamma-jamma wearing glasses and an alligator shirt behind a typewriter?

Around The World in a Day has always been, to me, one of his more interesting albums.

In many respects, it's nowhere near as impressive as Purple Rain...

But to me, it is an inexplicably funkier record with an overall atmosphere of really unsettling and claustrophobic atmospherics. The guitar hits in "Paisley Park" are menacing, "Tambourine" sounds like Prince is trapped in a box, "America" seems to simply end before ever truly taking off, the clutter before "Pop Life", the spaces in between "Temptation"...

To me, its a relatively scary album.

Sometimes I feel that some of the songs are weak, ("Tambourine" in particular) But other times I can feel differently...

It's just a really unique album to me. Great headphone album.

shonenjoe said:

You said Tambourine sounds like Prince is trapped in a box
I think that is the feeling he tried to convey
Cause it's about masturbation and lusting after most likely an adult magazine model... reminds me of Tick Tick Bang

I loved the drum work on this track from the start.
I fellow Prince fan recently said he just found out what that song
was about... I laughed hard on that. Tambourine sound like something that could either be on Dirty Mind or the Black album,


Oh my God here U are
Prettiest thing in life I’ve ever seen
Close my eyes what’s it like,
What’s it like inside your tamborine’
Oh my God, there I go
Falling in love with the face in a magazine (uh oh, not again)
All alone by myself
Me and I play my tamborine
Tamborine
Tamborine
Tamborine
Tamborine
Long days, lonely nights
Tamborine
Long days, lonely nights
Tamborine
I don’t care 4 1 night stands
With trolley cars
That juggle 17
I just want 2 settle down and
Play around
My baby’s tamborine
Tamborine what are U
Why are U the star of
All my dreams
(Star of all my dreams, are U a good tamborine)
Are U good, are U bad
Are U just unnecessary means
Tamborine
Tamborine
Tamborine
Trolley cars
Long days, lonely nights
2 bad we’re not allowed 2 scream (yeah, yeah, too bad)
Guess that I’ll stay at home
All alone and play my tamborine (aww)
Tamborine
Tamborine
Tamborine
Tamborine
The tamborine
[Edited 6/3/09 6:54am]

Wow what a fantastic album,

Raspberry Beret,
Paisley Park,
Pop Life,
America

the greatest 12 inches

The album did receive a huge about of pre release publicity. WB couldn't help themselves. There were huge record store displays up two weeks before the release in the UK.

Great album, but a shocker at the time.

The original artwork is always a hoot.

I think Purple Rain & Around the World in a Day had very strong B side singles
the long versions were even more interesting and had a lot of history behind them.

Girl - America [Bside]
1984 12" single: 21:46 2 October 1985

Hello: Pop Life Bside:6:38

She's Always In My Hair
Raspberry Beret-Bside 5.15.1985

i remember that everyone else wanted Purple Rain II. i was excited by the changes. sometimes i think that for me the concept and atmosphere of this album is as important as the music.

The 2nd song that 'touched' me from this album. Without the words, something about the music just pulled me in and connected me emotionally. I think I enjoy the album cut just as much or more than the extended version. Near the end, you hear what sounds like people at an amusement park, but it's actually crowd sounds from when the band opened for the Rolling Stone back in what 78-79?

The crowd threw vegatables at them, what I thought was a pinball machine was probably tomatoes and lettuce hitting the stage and instruments
Then you hear "THROW THEM OUT" ... I guess that's pop life...

POP LIFE

Whats the matter with your life
Is the poverty bringing u down?
Is the mailman jerking u round?
Did he put your million dollar check
In someone elses box?

Tell me, whats the matter with your world
Was it a boy when u wanted a girl? (boy when u wanted a girl)
Dont u know straight hair aint got no curl (no curl)
Life it aint real funky
Unless its got that pop
Dig it

Pop life
Everybody needs a thrill
Pop life
We all got a space 2 fill
Pop life
Everybody cant be on top
But life it aint real funky
Unless its got that pop
Dig it

Tell me, whats that underneath your hair?
Is there anybody living there? (anybody living there)
U cant get over, if u say u just dont care (dont care)
Show me a boy who stays in school

And I'll show u a boy aware!
Dig it

Pop life
Everybody needs a thrill
Pop life
We all got a space 2 fill
Pop life
Everybody cant be on top
But life it aint real funky
Unless its got that pop
Dig it

What u putting in your nose?
Is that where all your money goes (is that where your money goes)
The river of addiction flows
U think its hot, but there wont be no water
When the fire blows
Dig it
[Edited 6/3/09 6:52am]

Prince: Jesse [Johnson, former guitarist for the Time] is the only one who went away who told what happened, what really went down with the band. He said there was friction, because he was in a situation that didn't quite suit him. Jesse wanted to be in front all the time. And I just don't think God puts everybody in that particular bag. And sometimes I was blunt enough to say that to people: "I don't think you should be in the frontman. I think Morris should."

Wendy, for example, says, "I don't want that. I want to be right where I am. I can be strongest to this band right where I am." I personally love this band more than any other group I've every played with for that reason. Everybody knows what they have to do. I know there's something I have to do.

What sound do you get from different members of the Revolution?

Bobby Z was the first one to join. He's my best friend. Though he's not such a spectacular drummer, he watches me like no other drummer would. Sometimes, a real great drummer, like Morris, will be more concerned with the lick he is doing as opposed to how I am going to break it down.

Mark Brown's just the best bass player I know, period. I wouldn't have anybody else. If he didn't play with me, I,d eliminate bass from my music. Same goes for Matt [Fink, the keyboard player]. He's more or less a technician. He can read and write like a whiz, and is one of the fastest in the world. And Wendy makes me seem all right in the eyes of people watching.

How so?

She keeps a smile on her face. When I sneer, she smiles. It's not premeditated, she just does it. It's a good contrast. Lisa is like my sister. She'll play what the average person won't. She'll press two notes with one finger so the chord is a lot larger, things like that. She's more abstract. She's into Joni Mitchell, too.

Hello
recorded in the Spring of 1985 Hello is essentially a blow by blow description of the events/evening of the We Are the World session, 4 The Tears In Your Eyes is the song Prince gladly wrote instead. Sheila E attended the We Are The World recording.
background vocals by Lisa Wendy & Jill Jones








1.28.1985 Prince & Jill JonesPermalinkdowntown L.A. on the way 2 Carlos & Charles rest.


Hello (Hello) Hello (Hello) {x3}
I tried 2 tell them that I didn't want 2 sing
But I'd gladly write a song instead
They said OK and everything was cool
Till a camera tried 2 get in my bed (Hello)
My bed (Hello) (Hello)

I was sittin' pretty with a beautiful friend ("Oh darling")
When this man tries 2 get in the car
("Hey Prince, come on, give us a smile, eh?")
No introduction, "How've U been?"
Just - "Up yours! Smile, that's right, U're a star!" (Star)

U call 'em bodyguards but I call 'em my friends
I guess I'm used 2 havin' 'em around
And cameras by nature like rewards
That's the trouble I get when I'm Uptown

I'm not afraid 2 die cuz I know there's a better place 2 go
(Don't be afraid cuz there's a better place 2 go)
I eat what I want, whole wheat toast
(U can eat what U want, anything is cool in moderation)
And I'm happy, and that's 4 sure

We're against hungry children, our record stands tall
But there's just as much hunger here at home
We'll do what we can if y'all try 2 understand
A flower that has water will grow
And a child misunderstood will go
Hello! {x3}
(Hello)

Everybody

Gotta he..., gotta he... he... hello!

I haven't lost my desire
I wouldn't beg U
Instead of playin' deduction of what 2 do
They called me rude often
When I called their hand
They judged me and told me that we're through
"Why can't U be like the others?"
I cried out over and again
"Why can't U learn 2 play by the rules?"
But maybe at last it's the end
Because I am not like others
I'm unique in the respect I'm not U

I know in my heart I would try 2 love U
I wouldn't try 2 hurt U despite all the ways U try 2 hurt me
U call me a fraud, an uncaring wretch
But I'm an artist and my only aim is 2 please
Between U and yours, myself and mine
Isn't life cruel enough without cruel words, cruel words?
U see, words are like shoes
They're just something 2 stand on
I wish U could be in my shoes
But they're probably so high, U'd fall off and die
4 U words are definitely not shoes
They're weapons and tools of destruction
And your time is boring unless U're putting something down
What would life be if we believed what we read
And a smile is just hiding a frown?
Come now, isn't life a little better with a pair of good shoes?


4 The Tears In Your Eyes

Long ago there was a man
Who changed stone 2 bread with one touch of his hand
He made the blind see and the dumb understand
And He died 4 the tears in your eyes (Your eyes)
Many people came from all around
2 hear this man preach with glorious sound
He spoke of man in harmony and love abound
And He died 4 the tears in your eyes (Your eyes)

He died 4 the tears in your eyes (Your eyes)

CHORUS:
4 the tears in your eyes if they're tears of sorrow
4 cents may be all that they're worth
4 the rising sun each day assures us
The meek shall inherit the earth, the earth

Faith is a word we all should try
In describing the man who willingly died
Believe that your sorrow, hunger, and fears
Is less than the tears in your eyes, your eyes

Your eyes, your eyes
Less than the tears in your eyes (Your eyes)

I remember I heard "4 The Tears In Ur Eyes" on dansih tv, and I quickly fell in love with this beautiful song,

yes they played music back then, in between programs - and then when the PARADE album was released in '86 I was so disappointed this track wasn't included.

Beautiful song, I love both versions

Memories.... from back then....

I wore that album out in the summer of '85.

the cartoon footage from this video was gleemed from the infamous Barn scene that was cut from Purple Rain.

Wow, what a great thread in honor of a great album! I especially dig the interview snippet where Prince talks lovingly about his Revolution bandmates.

Novi Novog (appeared on MANY Prince recordings and associated artists)

Music: Eclectic, High strung instrumental quartet Novi Novog and her viola have been heard and seen on recordings, films and concert stages all over the world. She is one of LA's top session musicians, with a long list of credits including solos on Prince's "Purple Rain" and "Raspberry Beret," The Doobie Brothers' "Black Water", and album appearances for such diverse artists as Shaun Colvin, Bonnie Raitt, Terrance Trent D'Arby, Carly Simon, 10,000 Maniacs, Cher, James Taylor, Spinal Tap, Madonna, Tom Petty and Tangerine Dream. Her touring credits include such names as Frank Zappa, The Doobie Brothers, Aretha Franklin and Jennifer Warnes. A valley girl from North Hollywood, CA, Novi began playing piano at age four. When she was eight, she took up the violin, then moved on to viola. As part of the American Youth Symphony, Novi studied under Mehli Mehta, then attended California Institute of the Arts on scholarship under Louis Kievman, where she received the American String Teachers Award. Novi has recorded several albums with her own groups - Freeway Philharmonic (Sheffield Lab), Chunky, Novi & Ernie featuring her cousin Lauren Wood (Warner Bros. Records) and Sumner (Elektra/Asylum). Novi combines the background and training of the most intense classical disciplines with the improvising and listening abilities of a great jazz musician. She is one of the most versatile musicians in the Los Angeles scene, equally at home in classical, jazz, pop or rock

Also part of the trio - Chunky, Novi & Ernie. (Warner Bros.- 1977)

Musicians:Guitars: Lee Ritenour, Jay Graydon...
Background Vocals: Michael McDonald, Trian Porter, Sherlie Mathews...
Drums: Russ Kunkel, John Guerin...
Percussion: Steve Foreman, Bobby Hall, Milt Holland
Sax, Flute: Jim Cowger, Ian Underwood
Piano: Bill Payne
Strings: David Campbell, Nick DeCaro