I don't seem to have a reference, but what are the strings from "Push" (on Diamonds and Pearls) from? I know they're Clare strings, and I know that they were taken from another song he worked on for Prince. I just don't recall what they are. Is there more than one song's strings he used on "Push". There's at least two different sections he's using throughout.

Pink Cashmere?

Dave1992 said:

You're asking, or telling? Cuz I don't know.

for some reason it sounds like Crystal Ball to me.... but now that Pink Cashmere is mentioned, it could be.....

Whoa - I was just thinking this the other day when it randomly came up on Shuffle. They're from Crystal Ball... which is interesting because "Walk Don't Walk"'s "la la la la" chorus is from Rebirth of the Flesh- Maybe Prince listens to his vault more than he lets on

[Edited 3/30/10 20:53pm]
[Edited 3/30/10 20:54pm]

billymeade said:

It was noted in Per Nilsen's book that a lot of "Rebirth" was used in other songs, and he thought the song would never be released, and he's right on both counts. The only version we'll probably ever have is the live rehearsal from NPGMC. But it does make all the Camille album songs officially released in some capacity, officially.

ernestsewell said:

I never really understood why Per assumed Rebirth wouldn't be released because of that. Maybe back when the original first couple of "Documentary" books came out in the early 90's that might have been a fair assumption. But he/Uptown have repeated it in subsequent books in spite of the fact that Prince has recycled a LOT of stuff in the meantime. Melodies, lyrics, beats, string parts, entire songs....

errant said:

I think it's a fair assessment. There's SO much from that song that Prince has used elsewhere.

He noted also:


To me, Per's assumption was just that "Rebirth" had been hacked, borrowed from, and recycled enough that if he released it, it'd end up sounding more like a mish-mosh of other songs, rather than an original song in itself (despite it being an original song anyway).

ernestsewell said:

I can't listen to the songs right now, that's why I can't confirm it. But from what I remember it sounds like, I think it might be Pink Cashmere, although I never really realised before...

ernestsewell said:

well his opinion as to the quality of the song itself is enough to make one disregard anything else he might have to say about its usefulness in the future.

ernestsewell said:

That may be, but the same could be said for "Rave Unto the Joy Fantastic" (show's up in "The Max", "200 Balloons", "Batdance"), and that was still released.

I think he hasn't released it because it had Wendy & Lisa on it, whereas the released rehearsal of it did not.

But back to the original post - were you able to match up Crystal Ball with Push?
[Edited 3/31/10 8:51am]

errant said:

That's a bit narrow for you, I think. Everyone is going to have a different opinion on something. That doesn't negate every single thing they'll ever say about any particular subject. How boring is everyone was exactly the same, no?

For me, "Rebirth" is messy, and hard to keep track of, or understand. It does show Prince's level of creativity and ballsy-ness in his writing back then. But it also shows the few times in the 80's when he's had a total lack of structure or discipline. However, having said all that, I can appreciate it's place on the Camille track listing, and take it for what it's worth. But the "worth" of the track, for me, is less than the other Camille tracks. I respect it though, because it's a part of Prince history, from a pivotal time, and with the great quality bootleg from 30 Years of Unreleased Funk that recently came out (with its original segue into "Play In The Sunshine" from the original Crystal Ball configuration), it's a firm part of all the songs we know of Prince.

So does my take-it-or-leave-it attitude countermand anything else I have an opinion on? Of course not. Per is a smart fellow, and knows his Prince history. The man ran Uptown for heaven's sake. We just have to take it all with a grain of salt, I suppose.

As far as the song, since it has cursing in it, I doubt Prince would ever release it anyway - at least unedited.

It's posts like these that keep me coming back to the org. Thanks guys!

There are strings in this song? Are you referring to the violins? I listened to this last night. gotta listen right now to see if I hear what you're saying

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

There's orchestral parts that are obviously real strings, not a synth. I remember hearing that Clare strings from another Prince song were used on "Push". I feel now that it's strings from "Crystal Ball".

I can see why he had to lift the strings from elsewhere - if Clare had been asked to arrange for "Push", he would've passed out laughing.

"I like to step / all night long"

is it from 2 songs? i cant listen tp push right now but pink cashmere sounds right, unless it is from more than 1. was this not the same case for t'amo corozone? (i.e was recycled clare fischer)

Always thought this description of ROTF ("unfocused and fairly unremarkable rocker") was pretty accurate, and accounted for why it wasn't released.

I don't dislike it, but I never really quite saw the hoo-haw over it either, I think it's over-rated.