This rare 'live' funk track from "The Work" has become one of my favourites - it's SO SO funky! I put it on when I'm in the gym and when preparing to go out for the night!

Anyone know the background to it? It's so good!! I'm surprised it's not more spoken about.

Long track too - like 12-13 minutes.

Love it when Prince shouts at "SOMETHING FOR THE WHITE PEOPLE!" before breaking out an awesome rock guitar solo over the funky backing chords.

http://www.princevault.co..._Something

princevault.com is currently a little scant on The Flesh, so here's what The Vault (book) has to say about it (a few posts down): http://prince.org/msg/7/325018

[Edited 1/19/11 11:33am]

^^ The Flesh album is probably the one i want Prince to release more than anything, i still hold out hope that we will get it one day.

TheDigitalGardener said:

^^ The Flesh album is probably the one i want Prince to release more than anything, i still hold out hope that we will get it one day.

Me too

But you two know you will be pissing liquid gold before that happens, right?

NouveauDance said:

TheDigitalGardener said:

^^ The Flesh album is probably the one i want Prince to release more than anything, i still hold out hope that we will get it one day.

Me too

Didn't someone create a thread saying 3121 was his most creative era ever or something like that?

NouveauDance said:

princevault.com is currently a little scant on The Flesh, so here's what The Vault (book) has to say about it (a few posts down): http://prince.org/msg/7/325018

28 December 1985
Prince gets together with Eric Leeds, Sheila E. and Levi Seacer Jr. to jam at Sunset Sound.
The quartet recorded a highly spontaneous "Paisley Jam" session. Eric played saxophone, Sheila drums, Levi bass, while Prince alternated between guitar and piano. Eight instrumentals were committed to tape:


"Slaughterhouse"
"U Just Can't Stop"
"Run Amok"
"Mobile"
"Madrid"
"Breathless"
"High Colonic"
"12 Keys"


They were given titles simply to facilitate their identification. Accordingly "Madrid" was named so because it had a kind of Spanish feel, while "Mobile" (referring to Mobile, Alabama) was a bluesy piece. Similarly "12 Keys" featured mmany key changes (the song incorporates a portion of the melody of "The Question Of U"). Eric went into the studio the next day to record saxophone and flute over dubs on some of the "Paisley Jam" tracks.

30 December 1985
Fired up by the results of the "Paisley Jam", Prince is back in the Sunset Sound studio with Eric, Sheila and Levi. They recorded "U Gotta Shake Something", "Voodoo Who" and "Finest Whisky" during another highly relaxed session. By now, Prince was beginning to realise that the music they were creating was highly exciting and perhaps worthy of release.

5 January 1986
Lisa Coleman, Wendy Melvoin and her brother Jonathan, join the line-up of Prince, Eric, Sheila and Levi in the Sunset Sound studio for an exhausting seven-hour session, the so-called "Everybody's Jam". Six of the pieces hat were recorded were given titles:


"Groove in C Minor"
"Slow Groove in G Major"
"Groove in G Flat Minor"
"Junk Music"
"Up From Below"
"Y'all Want Some More?"


During this session, Prince played primarily drums, while Sheila and Jonathan played percussion, Lisa piano and Wendy guitar and bass.

22 January 1986
An album is assembled from the instrumental sessions held in late Dec. 1985 and early Jan. 1986. Around 20 minutes of the 45 minute "Junk Music" was going to make up side one of the LP, while "Up From Below", "Y'all Want Some More?" and "A Couple Of Miles" were planned for side two of the LP. No test pressing of The Flesh LP was ever made, however, and the album was shelved when Under The Cherry Moon and other activities demanded Prince's full attention.

// So the tracklist for the LP was sequenced:

Side A:
1. Junk Music

Side B:
2. Up From Below
3. Y'All Want Some More?
4. A Couple Of Miles [This was recorded as a tribute to Miles Davis in late December]

//

Featuring largely improvisional music, the Flesh sessions allowed Prince to stretch out musically and develop his musical vocabulary. The Flesh can be seen as a forerunner to Prince's later Madhouse project in more wanys than one.
Much like Madhouse, the musical focus of The Flesh was on instrumental music, basically funk jams with a distrinct jazz flavour added by Eric Leeds, who was given the opportunity to contribute more actively to Prince's music. And much like Madhouse the plan was ro release The Flesh album "anonymously" with few details about the participants and certainly no mention of Prince's involvement.

The Flesh instrumentals remain unreleased, although part of the melody for "Madrid" was later re-used by Eric for "Andorra" on his 1991 Times Squared album. Additionally, some 30 seconds of "Junk Music" made it into Under The Cherrymoon as background music (in the scene where Tricky and Christopher are arguing over what type of man Mary Sharon prefers).

Further Sunset Sound sessions in January included work on several tracks for Jill Jones' album. Before leaving for L.A. in late January, Prince taped 2 songs for Dream Factory, "Last Heart" and "It's A Wonderful Day".

[Edited 1/19/11 11:33am]

Thanks for sharing, I'm going to add this to the Flesh sessions I posted earlier in the Parade era thread. As well as add to my own files

vitriol said:

But you two know you will be pissing liquid gold before that happens, right?

I would donate an organ to have this in perfect lossless quality.................time to dust off that old Yamaha.

OldFriends4Sale said:

NouveauDance said:

Me too

Didn't someone create a thread saying 3121 was his most creative era ever or something like that?

Exactly.

OldFriends4Sale said:

Didn't someone create a thread saying 3121 was his most creative era ever or something like that?

Hmmm, people should refrain from posting when they're heavily drunk...

vitriol said:

OldFriends4Sale said:

Hmmm, people should refrain from posting when they're heavily drunk...

LOL 1983-1986 was crazy

1985-1986 even more so

Yes, this song is fantastic. The first time I heard it I couldn't help thinking that if Prince wanted to include a fifteen minute song on Crystal Ball he should have went with "U Gotta Shake Something" over "Cloreen Bacon Skin."

U ever seen a black man play guitar with no clothes on?

OldFriends4Sale said:

vitriol said:

Hmmm, people should refrain from posting when they're heavily drunk...

LOL 1983-1986 was crazy

1985-1986 even more so

What does any of that have to do with 3121?

TheDigitalGardener said:

vitriol said:

But you two know you will be pissing liquid gold before that happens, right?

I would donate an organ to have this in perfect lossless quality.................time to dust off that old Yamaha.

Jimmy Black and the Whites!

DaveDare79 said:

This rare 'live' funk track from "The Work" has become one of my favourites - it's SO SO funky! I put it on when I'm in the gym and when preparing to go out for the night!

Anyone know the background to it? It's so good!! I'm surprised it's not more spoken about.

Long track too - like 12-13 minutes.

Love it when Prince shouts at "SOMETHING FOR THE WHITE PEOPLE!" before breaking out an awesome rock guitar solo over the funky backing chords.

I completely agree. I do the same with this track. Gym workout, jogging, driving, cleaning house. It just makes you want to move. A very fun piece of funky music.