According to princevault:

"Make It Through The Storm is an unreleased track recorded in Summer 1976"

Although Prince's versions remain unreleased, Sue Ann Carwell released a version of the song in 1981, as the b-side of her single Let Me Let You Rock Me, but with different music, written by Chris Moon; since Prince's original input was limited to music, he had no contribution in the released version, so the track is listed here as unreleased."

It's quite likely that Prince didn't approve Chris Moon and Sue-Ann's release and that Moon probably did this in retaliation for the song Prince hadn't credited him for on the first or second album (I forgot which song it is). Now it's also obvious that Prince tolerated this since he didn't sue (he copyrighted the song at ASCAP, though, something Moon had not done).

Now I have both versions (Prince's bootleg and Sue-Ann's release) and, well... some arrangements details apart IT'S THE SAME SONG!!!

It's NOT a different song with the same lyrics, it IS the same bloody song, with the same melody, etc. !!!

Therefore, approved or not, it's an official and legal release of a Prince song!!!

So do I have shit in my ears or what???

Listen to both versions back to back and let me know if you hear two different songs or what...

Thanks

that's why most collectors have the Sue Ann 7" in their collection ....

So what's the deal? Why ain't it considered a Prince-composed song?

Same goes with Do Yourself A favor BTW: since Jesse's co-writing credits are actually Prince's unreleased additions on Pépé's song (Jesse's version is a clone of Prince's version, with no additional musical element), I don't understand why it's not considered a Prince song. ("Jesse Johnson released a similar version, also titled Do Yourself A Favor, on his album Shockadelica, in 1986, but it misses Prince's own lyrical contribution to the track, a humorous spoken section in his "Jamie Starr" voice, so his version is not considered to have any input byPrince." -> )

Both may have been unapproved but they're not bootlegs either, and fact is that both contain musical input by Prince that remain totally unreleased outside these versions. Why Princevault denies this fact beats me

Am I nuts or what?

[Edited 4/30/12 10:35am]

I just fucking heard it. The Sue Ann version is quite different, with that harder guitar. You need to clean out your ears. The keyboard solo, everthing,.

same lyrics diffrent music.

Arrangements are for the most part different but the melody and the song structure are the same. Ain't a melody part of a composition? Are Chaka's I Feel For You and Sinead's NC2U different compositions just because they have been arranged differently???

C'mon guys, seriously??? U hear different MELODIES?

[Edited 4/30/12 22:37pm]

Even the chords are the same, and the first seconds: past the short drum intro on P's version, the keyboard line is exactly the same on both songs "laaaaaa... la-la-la-la". How can anyone say these are different songs? I wish I could post Prince songs here I'd compare them part by part by posting snippets.

U guys are talking about different arrangements, not COMPOSITIONS.

[Edited 4/30/12 23:02pm]

I can't find the Sue Ann Carwell song but the Jesse Johnson version of Do Yourself A Favour is on Youtube.

I think the reason PrinceVault says it's not got any Prince input or isn't a 'Prince' song is because Johnson has re-recorded all Prince's parts and the actual writing credit belongs to Pepe Willie, so even the Prince version is technically a cover.

I'll need to dig out my 94 East CD to see what the original sounded like in the 1970s but I'd guess Prince wrote the little synth licks etc and that's why it's kinda odd to think of it as not being a Prince song, as Johnson essentially covered the Prince version.

But I couldn't say for definite unless I heard the 94 East original. It's a messy situation that's for sure. For what it's worth, Prince's version sh*ts all over Jesse Johnson's.

lmao, just heard it. Wow. What constitutes 'new music' really? I mean, re-recorded definitely, but as someone above says, the vocal melody is almost identical for most of the song.

What about chord structure? Has it been changed completely or is it still the same underlying chords?

Just as the Jesse Johnson song, it sounds like a cover of the Prince version.

I can understand why the PrinceVault have taken the stance they have though, but I'm not sure myself.

For Do Yourself A Favour I'd have to listen to the original but OK, Pepe Willie wrote the words and music even if Prince added a lot of new music to it. For Make It Through The Storm though...I'd give Prince a musical writing credit for the vocal melody alone regardless of the chord structure.