I was going through old papers, and I had printed this article out (which means I've had it laying/lying around for 9+ years). I found it to still be relevant and note-worthy. SO much truth in it, still today. You can find it archived on the Pioneer Press website, but you have to buy into the site to read more than the first paragraph. So being the fantastic guy I am, I retyped it for here. I kind of wish, based on Jim's comment about making it through the next 10 years of music (it was published in 2000), that he'd type a follow up of his views on music, sometime in 2010.

Frankly, I would (and probably) have written similar letters in my head, on a.m.p., HQ, and the Org. Don't hate because Walsh is a critic, but read his words. Don't be an ass kisser (and you -- plural -- know who you are), and understand how a good number, probably a majority, of Prince fans see it.

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June 2, 2000
Open letter to Prince: Best gift you can give is a great new record

JIM WALSH POP MUSIC CRITIC

Dear Prince,

Have I got that right? I hear that's what they're calling you these days, because that's what you've told them to call you. Great news; people who haven't been interested in you in years are suddenly interested again. Prince is back, and all that.

Well, remember me? I'm the guy who, for the past seven years, has called you The Artist Formerly Known As Prince, The Artist, TAFKAP, and once, Taffy. I'm the one who stuck up for you, who wrote all that glowing stuff in this newspaper and in the liner notes to your album "The Gold Experience" (I got paid exactly one dollar because I didn't want to go there with you), and now that we're on the cusp of your birthday Wednesday, and a sold-out week-long party out at Paisley Park called "Prince: A Celebration", I need to ask what, exactly, are we celebrating?

Are we celebrating the fact that you haven't made a great record, one that the entire world cared about, in years? That your live show has turned into a stale, predictable -- if phenomenally well-played, as always -- set of oldies and covers? that several lesser lights have made off with your crown because you've been distracted from the task at hand (making music that describes right now) by music industry-grousing, name changes, cryptic religious questions but no answers and hype over artistry?

Count me out, even though my party invitation seems to have been lost in the mail. I'm probably on your enemies list now, because I was only moved by a few songs off your last few records ("Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic", "New Power Soul", and "Crystal Ball"), and I wrote as much.

Then again, maybe you're not mad at me. Maybe it's just that you've moved on, and you're done with me. But I'm not done with you. I care too much, and your music has meant too much to me to stop caring now.

But there are plenty of people who don't care. Almost everyone I know thinks you're cooked. Don't you want to prove them wrong? Forget them, don't you want to surprise yourself? Don't you want to make one more record that nails it, that truly says something and feels innovative? Why don't you get really, truly, weird again -- as weird ass the times demand -- and take us on another journey, not a flashback lunch?

Make no mistake, this is a challenge. I am writing to reach you. And it may be presumptuous for a lowly rock critic to attempt to tell one of the great artists of our time to wake up and smell the muse, but I happen to think that great artists are like great chefs: They've got all the skills and ingredients, but they don't know what we're hungry for if we don't tell them. And, given the state of mainstream music at the moment, I am starved.

So here's the deal: For your birthday, I want a gift. I don't want an interview, or a tour of Paisley Park, or the hem of your garment. I want a great record. What you do best. Something real. Something that blows these say-nothing boy bands and bimbos, divas and playas, out of the water once and for all. And in case you haven't noticed, we could use it because these are strange days, indeed. To wit:

Last Friday, I was sitting at the Loring Bar watching a pretty cool jazz outfit, Moveable Feast, and listened to DJ Wicked spin. Three of the four people I was with admitted that they walk around this town in fear of getting shot.

Why don't you call up Paul Westerberg, another Minneapolis genius your age who is going through his own struggle with silence and relevance, a guy who I'd rather hear blow into two pop bottles on a boom box than most of the stuff that passes ofr "rock" these days, and do "Ebony and Ivory" for the double-oughts?

Where's your updating of "Money Don't Matter 2nite" for this cash-obsessed nation? Do you have another "Adore", the greatest love song the world doesn't know about, in you? Does another "Race" or "Uptown" percolate somewhere deep inside -- something that seeks to unite the melting pot even as it feels like it's about to boil over?

You wrote "We Gets Up" for Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls. How about one for Malik Sealy, and our heartbroken, wounded Wolves, that captures that specific sense of dread and fan-grief that nobody's been able to express with words? How about a grand epic about this technology grog, and how it both fragments and bonds us? Or what about something small, something we can all relate to, about marriage trouble or the death of a loved one?

We are waiting, have been waiting, for your contribution. Instead, we get more funk, joy in repetition, and something called "Cybersingle". Which is fine. But heavens to Bootsy, we already know you're funky and computer-savvy and cutting-edge and all that. What we need are some songs that express what is in our hearts, minds, souls. Some greatness.

Maybe you're resting, or burned out, or in a fortysomething funk, waiting for the songs to come. I can relate. Been there. But you're the one who said, "Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to get through this thing called life", and I feel like I'm going to need machetes to get through the next 10 years, so it'd be nice if you had my back along the way.

And if you're afraid that your best work is behind you -- and who could blame you if you did, after all the great stuff you've given the world? -- remember this: When they were in their early 40's, Elvis and John Coltrane were dead and Elton was coasting, but Bob Dylan made "Infidels", Neil Young made "Freedom", Marvin Gaye made "Here, My Dear", Tom Waits made "Bone Machine", Lou Reed make "New York", John Lennon made "Double Fantasy", Madonna made "Ray of Light", Van Morrison made "No Guru, No Method, No Teacher" and Miles Davis made "Bitches Brew".

So do me a favor. Don't ignore this. When you perform at Northrop Auditorium next Tuesday, don't do an oldie's show, which I already fear you're working up. Show us that you're paying attention.l Seize the moment.

Do you have anything left to say? If not, get out of the way. Don't tease us, because it hurts too much. And don't pretend that you care, because if you cared the way Prince used to care, you'd go into your studio and pull an all-weeker, shake yourself up, throw out the formulas that go you (us) here, splash your canvas with all the desperation, ennui and hope of the age, and set the world on fire again.

May U live 2 see the dawn,

Jim

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By the way, for those who don't know the Malik Sealy reference (because I didn't), from wikipedia: Malik Sealy (February 1, 1970 – May 20, 2000) was an American professional basketball player, active from 1992 until his death in an automobile accident at the age of 30. Sealy played eight seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the Indiana Pacers, Los Angeles Clippers, Detroit Pistons and Minnesota Timberwolves.
http://en.wikipedia.org/w...alik_Sealy

Thanks for posting that. It's been a while since I've seen it.

He had a great run since then

squirrelgrease said:

Yeah, I've caught glimpses of it over the years in my papers. I've been in a scanning mood lately. But since I didn't want to scan a print out, and I couldn't copy it from the site, I just retyped it. It's a good read.

I think Prince has dismissed a lot of critics not (only) because they dislike his music, but because that maybe, indeed, he can't meet a fan's challenge. Maybe he doesn't like critics because they aren't men for him. Perhaps it's because he doesn't like being kept in check. He won't listen to a lot of fans, but someone has to be showing him the occasional review, if he's not finding it himself. He can say he doesn't read them, but he has to at some point, more than once. He's responded to them, he's talked about them, he's addressed them directly in his music, good or bad. Critics are the fans w/ a bigger voice, beyond a blog, or a fan community site/forum.

are there any more recent articles by jim walsh on prince since this was
written?

i'm interested to read what he thinks of his TRC up to now era.

Thanks for posting, haven't seen this in years. I remember thinking it echoed a lot of my own thoughts at the time (and now?)

NouveauDance said:

Still relevant today I think. TRC aside, he has been coasting all decade and TRC was crap.

WIll someone please print this and slip it under his five star hotel suite door ?

he's 51. stop pining for yesteryear. somehow he's been able to still put out number 1 albums and have a public rebirth as one of the world's great guitarist, while stevie's pretty much done, madonna is a circus act, whitney's been on crack and back...on and on and on.

None of this criticism you naysayers constantly offer never really works because you're comparing him to himself. He's not as creative as he was 20 years ago, but he's a far better musician than he used to be. Either way, he's the winner.

What I hear from this article is the frustration of someone who is trying to recapture his youth.

Prince is not the voice of a generation. He is the alternative. He has always been that in my opinion. What I mean is that when he was at his commercial peak with Purple Rain he was the alternative to pop R&B Disco Rap etc at the time. All of the strange/different kids loved Prince because he was different. A rock guitar playing soul singing fair skinned black guy with long curly locks who rides a motorcycle and sings songs with mysterious lyrics.

I'm sure when Prince was singing that famous chorus and said "if anybody up here knows what I'm talkin' about come on raise your hand" many of those kids were blissfully clueless (and may still be) as to the meaning of the song when their hands went up. He was talented and exciting and different.

I used to feel the same way to a certain extent. Waiting for Prince to come back with a killer hit album and show everyone that he's still got it. But for the past 10 years or so I've stopped thinking of him as a hit record vending machine and more like an artist. Who has by the way already produced enough quality material for five careers.

Prince has continued to thrive off of the love of his core fans for many years. I'm cool with him just being who he is right now. I get the feeling that he's just trying to "grow up" personally and professionally and be respected and remembered more for his well rounded musicianship and versatility than for his ability to write one more big hit album. He's been in this business since he was a teenager. He's in his fifties. He can record whatever he likes and hopefully,like fans of the Rolling Stones who keep showing up and paying for those concert tickets, and packing arenas to hear the same songs over and over again, we're there for Prince.
[Edited 10/12/09 9:17am]

gogol said:

What good is a great musician who just plays the same old stuff over and over? You can only polish a song so much before the listener realizes "Eh, I've heard this before." I'd take a lesser great musician who is innovative and creative over a virtuoso anytime.

ernestsewell said:

He's not just a great musician. He's an entertainer. When you entertain you give the people what they want to hear. Period. You can mix in the new with the old but you've got to give the audience what they want.

NouveauDance said:

Honestly, I feel like I could have written that letter, and that's not demeaning Mr. Walsh's original text. I just fully agree with what he wrote. It's still 99% relevant today. The 2000's have been the worst of the three decades for great songwriting on Prince's part, and the 2000's have been horrible in music over all. It's the exception, not the rule, that there has been a really good artist or band or song come out in the past 10 years.

ernestsewell said:

At some point, you're gonna have to start turning to YOUNGER artists for these fresh and innovative sounds you're seeking, dude. In the history of rock n' roll, what post-40 aged artist has come up with some new shit? I mean, seriously. Stop it.

If he put out a killer kick ass album would anybody here notice ?

muleFunk said:

Would he? He does two concerts to celebrate the release of Lotusflow3r in France...and doesn't play a single song from the new albums?

gogol said:

Then if that's true, Prince isn't as great as everyone says.

muleFunk said:

He has.....more times than 6.

Rebeljuice said:

Some people are just way too involved with Prince. Emotionally and mentally.

It's just no different than a love struck young girl who would write to her hero, hoping he would "listen" to her and do what she wants coz she's so desperate for someone else to fill the gap in her life.

ernestsewell said:

Well, I guess he isn't' Neither is anyone else that every says is great, which brings me back to my original point: if you're just gonna compare him to himself, what is the point of all this naysaying?

I just don't get it. You can name an artist that maintained their creativity past their forties. It just doesn't happen.

Is like saying "Well, if Prince is going to die, I guess he isn't as great as everyone says."

He is. But, he's also human.

gogol said:

You didn't read the letter in full, or you read it and already had your response in your head.

Quoted from the letter:

Maybe you're resting, or burned out, or in a fortysomething funk, waiting for the songs to come. I can relate. Been there. But you're the one who said, "Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to get through this thing called life", and I feel like I'm going to need machetes to get through the next 10 years, so it'd be nice if you had my back along the way.

By the way Jim. Prince did tell you "coz in this life, you're on your own!"

[Edited 10/12/09 11:01am]

Bohemian67 said:

...And if d'elevator try and break you down go crazy...listen to someone else!!

Bohemian67 said:

I agree, this guy just seems way too obsessive. It seems the more time & money someone invests in an Artist, the more they feel they have a right to govern what that artist does. The truth is nobody has a right to dictate what Prince should do with HIS art, because it's his & his alone that he chooses to share with people.

He could have stopped writing music altogether 20 years ago & still be living a life of luxury, but he doesn't. He continues to write songs as gifts for his fans. In all honesty people here act like spoiled children - "Daddy, what the hell is this? I HATE CHERRY FLAVOURED LOLLY POPS, I WANT TUTTI FRUTTI LOLLYPOPS!!!!!" Well guess what kiddo, there's a whole candy shop full of artists out there, Prince isn't the only guy with a little flavour & if you searched, you'd probably find a brand new favourite flavour & forget all about the old "tutti frutti".

People have two options - either support Prince, regardless of what you think of his latest album, or not. You could send 1000 letters to Prince asking him to write a record like Sign o The Times or 1999 or do a tour here, play a show there, but Prince does what he wants, when he wants, how he wants. That's how it's always been & how it always will be.

Maybe he doesn't want to write avante garde, 10 minute long songs that leave people in awe. Maybe he just wants to chill, write some simple tunes to pass the time, play a few shows here & there, & relax. He's been working his ass off for 30 years, perhaps he just wants a break.... & he deserves it! Or perhaps he's been working on the most over the top, exciting, ground breaking, jaw dropping album of his life over the past 20 years that will be released tommorow, who knows? The point is, there's really no point obsessing over the actions, reasons & choices of an Artist because odds are, you'll never know the true reason behind something even if you asked him personally, & you DEFINATLEY won't find any closure on a forum, arguing amongst yourselves.

I understand people have grown up with Prince, they've spent a lot of money on him, his music provided the soundtrack to their lives. & in that sense they hold him close to their heart & have a lot invested in him. I feel some people are expecting a hell of a lot from one man, Prince may be a genuis but he's still human. Some people really need to let go, seriously, just chill! Calm down!!!!! LOL

Damn what a rant ey?
[Edited 10/12/09 11:31am]

gogol said:

I coulda sworn it was PRINCE who referred to the '80's as "the good ol' days" during a recent performance in Monaco.

Dewrede said:

so true .....er...who is Jim Walsh and what has he done in the last 10 years?

ernestsewell said:

I did. And the artists and their albums he threw in there as proof was very telling, because all of those albums only garnered critical praise based on nostaglia, just like Musicology did.

And Miles isn't a rock artist, so that can't even save your argument.

ernestsewell said:

As soon as he writes an open letter to Stevie Wonder I will take him seriously.