I recently discovered it. It's amazing how Prince worked hard on this: much more than a mere remix it's a complete re-imagining of this quite mediocre song into a 10 minutes killer-jam, with new horns arrangements and everything.

I wonder if there's been any testimony about how it happened. I also wonder why Prince put so much effort into it instead of just adding a new beat and some synth.

Most likely he was just honored to be able to remix such legends (Aretha Franklin & James Brown together!) and therefore he took the job very seriously. But i also wondered if it wasn't related to the fact that Brown turned out "Chocolate" in 1986. It's almost as if Prince had wanted to claim "You didn't take my song but now i'm much funkier than you are! I can make YOUR song much better and funkier that YOU made it!"

All this is pure speculation on my part. I'd love to hear the story if there's a story to hear.

And if you haven't heard the song, just get it! It's a genuine Prince funk masterpiece in the spirit of "It's Gonna Be A Beautif Night" or "La, La, La, He, He, Hee"!

...
[Edited 5/7/10 10:53am]

databank said:

Well, sort of together.

Wasn't Brown in prison when his part was recorded separately? He was convicted in 1988 and spent time in prison through until 1991.

langebleu said:

i think he was in jail when the song was released, but i have no clue how it happened, weither it was recorded before with Aretha or weither Brown recorded it alone in jail (can you imagine a recording session in a jail? )
[Edited 5/7/10 17:31pm]

Never heard of this. So its a remix done by prince? is his vocals on it? and is it unreleased?

dance4me3121 said:

It's a remix done by Prince with almost everything rerecorded but no additionnal vocals of his.

It was released in 1989: Aretha Franklin & James Brown, "Gimme Your Love". There were a few edits on various versions of the single, but the full maxi-single version is 10:45 long.
[Edited 5/8/10 6:03am]