The orginal unreleased version from 1985 is still one of his best songs ever. Prince was getting criticized by the press at that point. He had a falling out with jimmy jam and terry lewis. One of his most heartfelt songs ever recorded.

[Edited 8/2/11 18:35pm]

Love the original.

The song "Old Friends 4 Sale" was written in 1985 
and was featured in Prince's movie "Under The Cherry Moon" but not included on the soundtrack "Parade". 
The original song contained lyrics with veiled references about the firing of Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis of The Time 
and "Big" Chick Huntsberry, his former bodyguard, 
who supposedly sold a fictious story about Prince to a tabloid to support his cocaine habit. 

The song was re-recorded in 1991 with less personal lyrics, and released in 1996.

Prince Talks Interview April 1985

Prince is fiddling with the tape deck inside the T-Bird. 
On low volume comes his unreleased "Old Friends 4 Sale," 
an arrow-to-the-heart rock ballad about trust and loss. 
Unlike "Positively 4th Street" -- which Bob Dylan reputedly named after a nearby Minneapolis block -- 
the lyrics are sad, not bitter. "I don't know too much about Dylan," says Prince, "but I respect him a lot. 
'All Along the Watchtower' is my favorite of his. I heard it first from Jimi Hendrix."

"Old Friends 4 Sale" ends, 
and on comes "Strange Relationships," and as-yet-unreleased dance tune. 
"Is it too much?" asks Prince about playing his own songs in his own car. 
"Not long ago I was driving around L.A. with [a well-known rock star], 
and all he did was play his own stuff over and over. 
If it gets too much, just tell me."

Incredible track, blues from a guy who rarely gave us blues, especially at that time. Did the genre proud, I didn't hear this song until a couple years ago, he was so prolific in those years that it didn't matter that a gem like this was left unincluded on anything of the time. Honestly, it's better than most of ATWIAD and just as good as anything on Parade. This song, amongst others of the ample work he's done just makes me impatient with the bitching of the fans here. He's given way more quality work than any artist I can think of and all we do is shit on him for it.

mozfonky said:

Incredible track, blues from a guy who rarely gave us blues, especially at that time. Did the genre proud, I didn't hear this song until a couple years ago, he was so prolific in those years that it didn't matter that a gem like this was left unincluded on anything of the time. Honestly, it's better than most of ATWIAD and just as good as anything on Parade. This song, amongst others of the ample work he's done just makes me impatient with the bitching of the fans here. He's given way more quality work than any artist I can think of and all we do is shit on him for it.

i also remember the rolling stone and still have my original copy with the interview, nothing "supposed" about chicks selling him out. I wished i saved the enquirer too, chick painted prince to be a paranoid superstar, with pictures of marilyn monroe all over his house, it was just a part of the backlash which prince had to counter (for you kids who weren't there, a lil history).

Many times people ask me "Which is the best song Prince ever wrote?".

Most of the times I answer: "This one".

The song has that same private, intimate atmosphere as How Come You Don't Call Me Anymore? has. As if you weren't supposed to hear it, and you almost feel guilty you did.

AzifWeKare said:

Many times people ask me "Which is the best song Prince ever wrote?".

Most of the times I answer: "This one".

The song has that same private, intimate atmosphere as How Come You Don't Call Me Anymore? has. As if you weren't supposed to hear it, and you almost feel guilty you did.

for my money, i don't think prince's other music has been as riveting meaning making me stop whatever I'm doing and just listen than when he has done some blues, avalanche had the same type of effect on me. Old friends had fantastic lyrics too, makes me wonder who did all the strings and production on it. the whole thing sounded so well developed around P's piano playing. I don't think Claire Fischer did anything on it. Great track, like hearing a man naked, maybe that's why he didn't release it.

the orig version is fantastic....

A painfully great song.

I'm not the biggest fan of the official release, though it's okay.

mozfonky said:

... makes me wonder who did all the strings and production on it. the whole thing sounded so well developed around P's piano playing. I don't think Claire Fischer did anything on it.

I'm pretty sure it was Clare Fischer. He is at least credited for it on the The Vault version.

OldFriends4Sale said:

The song "Old Friends 4 Sale" was written in 1985 
and was featured in Prince's movie "Under The Cherry Moon" but not included on the soundtrack "Parade". 
The original song contained lyrics with veiled references about the firing of Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis of The Time 
and "Big" Chick Huntsberry, his former bodyguard, 
who supposedly sold a fictious story about Prince to a tabloid to support his cocaine habit. 

The song was re-recorded in 1991 with less personal lyrics, and released in 1996.

Prince Talks Interview April 1985

Prince is fiddling with the tape deck inside the T-Bird. 
On low volume comes his unreleased "Old Friends 4 Sale," 
an arrow-to-the-heart rock ballad about trust and loss. 
Unlike "Positively 4th Street" -- which Bob Dylan reputedly named after a nearby Minneapolis block -- 
the lyrics are sad, not bitter. "I don't know too much about Dylan," says Prince, "but I respect him a lot. 
'All Along the Watchtower' is my favorite of his. I heard it first from Jimi Hendrix."

"Old Friends 4 Sale" ends, 
and on comes "Strange Relationships," and as-yet-unreleased dance tune. 
"Is it too much?" asks Prince about playing his own songs in his own car. 
"Not long ago I was driving around L.A. with [a well-known rock star], 
and all he did was play his own stuff over and over. 
If it gets too much, just tell me."

1985 Rolling Stone Interview is my favorite of all time. Prince and his father seemed so cool. And I love the mood of the interview. Prince riding in his T-Bird, his father showing off his BMW.

The original indeed is one of the grandest gemstones in the Prince crown for me. If there was ever a Paisley Park era box set- Which their should be- It would most definitely showcase this song. Nothing but love love love for this song <3

AzifWeKare said:

mozfonky said:

... makes me wonder who did all the strings and production on it. the whole thing sounded so well developed around P's piano playing. I don't think Claire Fischer did anything on it.

I'm pretty sure it was Clare Fischer. He is at least credited for it on the The Vault version.

According to the interview 1985 I posted it was most likely Lisa Coleman (& possibly Wendy) Lisa is very skilled in orchestral composition. She's done a lot of in Prince's music. Wendy & Lisa composed the strings in the song Purple Rain too

OldFriends4Sale said:

AzifWeKare said:

I'm pretty sure it was Clare Fischer. He is at least credited for it on the The Vault version.

According to the interview 1985 I posted it was most likely Lisa Coleman (& possibly Wendy) Lisa is very skilled in orchestral composition. She's done a lot of in Prince's music. Wendy & Lisa composed the strings in the song Purple Rain too

doesn't sound like Clare fischers other stuff, I figured it was someone else. I think he also is singing about wendy, lisa, his management, jimmy jam, terry lewis, the time in that song and just expressing how overwhelmed he felt. it sounds like people were putting a bug in his ear even then about Lisa and Wendy ruining his music. Probably management guys. And of course he expressed his dissapointment with how quickly people turn for a buck. The lyrics were fantastic for a guy who I don't give a lot of credit for great lyrics.

So the consensus is that nobody likes the rerecorded version that was released right?

mozfonky said:

OldFriends4Sale said:

According to the interview 1985 I posted it was most likely Lisa Coleman (& possibly Wendy) Lisa is very skilled in orchestral composition. She's done a lot of in Prince's music. Wendy & Lisa composed the strings in the song Purple Rain too

doesn't sound like Clare fischers other stuff, I figured it was someone else. I think he also is singing about wendy, lisa, his management, jimmy jam, terry lewis, the time in that song and just expressing how overwhelmed he felt. it sounds like people were putting a bug in his ear even then about Lisa and Wendy ruining his music. Probably management guys. And of course he expressed his dissapointment with how quickly people turn for a buck. The lyrics were fantastic for a guy who I don't give a lot of credit for great lyrics.

I believe it was about Wendy not Lisa

People assumed Prince replaced Dez with Wendy

when it was Dez who left and Wendy was added

I don't think it was about ruining the music because this song

from what I know was recorded or the lyrics written before the release of ATWIAD music

Yes this is 1 of my favorites next to Power Fantastic

local radio station used to play it as a promo 4 the new album and movie

darlingomo said:

So the consensus is that nobody likes the rerecorded version that was released right?

I about that album for the expressed purpose of having the OF4Sale that I had from 1986 on cd

I gave it away after hearing it

darlingomo said:

So the consensus is that nobody likes the rerecorded version that was released right?

I haven't really listened to it.

OldFriends4Sale said:

mozfonky said:

doesn't sound like Clare fischers other stuff, I figured it was someone else. I think he also is singing about wendy, lisa, his management, jimmy jam, terry lewis, the time in that song and just expressing how overwhelmed he felt. it sounds like people were putting a bug in his ear even then about Lisa and Wendy ruining his music. Probably management guys. And of course he expressed his dissapointment with how quickly people turn for a buck. The lyrics were fantastic for a guy who I don't give a lot of credit for great lyrics.

I believe it was about Wendy not Lisa

People assumed Prince replaced Dez with Wendy

when it was Dez who left and Wendy was added

I don't think it was about ruining the music because this song

from what I know was recorded or the lyrics written before the release of ATWIAD music

Yes this is 1 of my favorites next to Power Fantastic

local radio station used to play it as a promo 4 the new album and movie

not here they didn't, it was nowhere to be heard in seattle as far as I know. then I never liked radio. As far as when the song was written, i don't know, but the lyrics "you're kingdom is falling" and other people helping to "take you higher" could only have been Wendy and Lisa which is a thing we still argue about. I assumed it was a song written after Chick gave his interview but I don't know. I guess prince felt betrayed, rightly or wrongly by all of the people who turned on him, not taking into account how badly he paid and mistreated some people. chick wasn't one of those though, he kept chick on payroll for a long time after he left. Maybe he played it during the interview as a dig at him. Who knows. Prince usually is very passive-aggressive in how he deals with those matters.

OldFriends4Sale said:

mozfonky said:

doesn't sound like Clare fischers other stuff, I figured it was someone else. I think he also is singing about wendy, lisa, his management, jimmy jam, terry lewis, the time in that song and just expressing how overwhelmed he felt. it sounds like people were putting a bug in his ear even then about Lisa and Wendy ruining his music. Probably management guys. And of course he expressed his dissapointment with how quickly people turn for a buck. The lyrics were fantastic for a guy who I don't give a lot of credit for great lyrics.

I believe it was about Wendy not Lisa

People assumed Prince replaced Dez with Wendy

when it was Dez who left and Wendy was added

I don't think it was about ruining the music because this song

from what I know was recorded or the lyrics written before the release of ATWIAD music

Yes this is 1 of my favorites next to Power Fantastic

local radio station used to play it as a promo 4 the new album and movie

Hey, we have similar tastes! Old Friends 4 Sale and Power Fantastic are maybe my favourite outtakes, together with All My Dreams.

My favourite version of Old Friends 4 Sale is the one recorded on the 20th of April, 1985, the one with no strings on it. When strings were added, it sounded spectacular, but, in my opinion, some intimacy was lost. And the one released in 1998... is not bad, but quite inferior to the original.

The Power Fantastic version released in 1993 is also very far from the one recorded with The Revolution, which is... fantastic, actually.

[Edited 8/3/11 14:27pm]

"Little do they know they will never pass go, unless I take them higher"

"Green and White returns to Blue"

"The same people that said they would die for me, sold some old pictures of all my little memories...for chumpchange"

"But life is no more and life is no fun without fantasy"

Some of my favorite lines of all time from this song...master of metaphor...arguably some of the deepest poems/lyrics in his catalog

-Phonk

I thought it was going to be appreciation for the forum member. I apprectiate you OldFriends4Sale! Your era threads are tops!

darlingomo said:

So the consensus is that nobody likes the rerecorded version that was released right?

Wrong, I like it, but I prefer the original(s).

The original version is classic Prince and simply one of his best written and arranged tunes EVER It is one of those songs that cracks open the shell of his carefully layered public image. It was like so some things do bother this guy, he does feel something. I could go on and on about this song but I will spare you.

OldFriends4Sale said:

AzifWeKare said:

I'm pretty sure it was Clare Fischer. He is at least credited for it on the The Vault version.

According to the interview 1985 I posted it was most likely Lisa Coleman (& possibly Wendy) Lisa is very skilled in orchestral composition. She's done a lot of in Prince's music. Wendy & Lisa composed the strings in the song Purple Rain too

Nah, AzifWeKare is right. It's Clare Fischer. According to the vault.com Clare Fischer arranged and recorded orchestration for the song at some point in mid-late 1985. No member of the Revolution had involvement in the recording process

,

[Edited 8/4/11 10:45am]

Rinluv said:

OldFriends4Sale said:

According to the interview 1985 I posted it was most likely Lisa Coleman (& possibly Wendy) Lisa is very skilled in orchestral composition. She's done a lot of in Prince's music. Wendy & Lisa composed the strings in the song Purple Rain too

Nah, AzifWeKare is right. It's Clare Fischer. According to the vault.com Clare Fischer arranged and recorded orchestration for the song at some point in mid-late 1985. No member of the Revolution had involvement in the recording process

,

[Edited 8/4/11 10:45am]

ok, i was just pointing out they sounded very different from his other orchestrations, more like bb kings strings on the thrill is gone than real classical stuff which of course claire contributed usually.

Rinluv said:

OldFriends4Sale said:

According to the interview 1985 I posted it was most likely Lisa Coleman (& possibly Wendy) Lisa is very skilled in orchestral composition. She's done a lot of in Prince's music. Wendy & Lisa composed the strings in the song Purple Rain too

Nah, AzifWeKare is right. It's Clare Fischer. According to the vault.com Clare Fischer arranged and recorded orchestration for the song at some point in mid-late 1985. No member of the Revolution had involvement in the recording process

How do you say no Revolution member had involvement, when Prince said in the interview that these were 2 songs Wendy & Lisa were working on Old Friends 4 Sale & Strange Relationships. Maybe the vault has this one wrong

Javi said:

OldFriends4Sale said:

I believe it was about Wendy not Lisa

People assumed Prince replaced Dez with Wendy

when it was Dez who left and Wendy was added

I don't think it was about ruining the music because this song

from what I know was recorded or the lyrics written before the release of ATWIAD music

Yes this is 1 of my favorites next to Power Fantastic

local radio station used to play it as a promo 4 the new album and movie

Hey, we have similar tastes! Old Friends 4 Sale and Power Fantastic are maybe my favourite outtakes, together with All My Dreams.

My favourite version of Old Friends 4 Sale is the one recorded on the 20th of April, 1985, the one with no strings on it. When strings were added, it sounded spectacular, but, in my opinion, some intimacy was lost. And the one released in 1998... is not bad, but quite inferior to the original.

The Power Fantastic version released in 1993 is also very far from the one recorded with The Revolution, which is... fantastic, actually.

Cool

I love just about everything from the Parade-Dream Factory sessions including the Junk Music/Flesh sessions Camille/Crystal Ball music the Family music

But yeah Old Friends 4 Sale, (intro)Power Fantastic, All My Dreams, Heaven

such a prolific time

Back during this time Prince was not seen as HE is 2day.People saw a Cry Baby that did not speak.When this song first saw light fans were the only ones that cared.It was very hard trying to talk 2 non fans-there only saw high heels.SAD!

DMSRCMC12 said:

Back during this time Prince was not seen as HE is 2day.People saw a Cry Baby that did not speak.When this song first saw light fans were the only ones that cared.It was very hard trying to talk 2 non fans-there only saw high heels.SAD!

I never thought of him as a cry baby, I don't remember that being something associated with Prince especially since he hardly spoke or did interviews

I think a lot of liked that he was mysterious and only spoke during a concert/singing