Bambi82 said:

OldFriends4Sale said:

Prince & the Revolution rehearsing

I love "17 Days" from this rehearsal so much. I love the rehearsals and sounchecks, too. I just love watching how they interact with each other and watching Prince in command. I always loved watching he and Wendy together. It saddens me that they are no longer friends.

Yes, those were some seriously special times, I mean he was right around the corner from SuperStardom, their lives and his especially would be altered 4 EVER

OldFriends4Sale said:

Yes, those were some seriously special times, I mean he was right around the corner from SuperStardom, their lives and his especially would be altered 4 EVER

I know, I wonder if they had known then if they would change anything? I can imagine it was fun for a while but I think I would get tired of being "PRINCE" and the "the people who worked with Prince" kwim?

brookinz said:

INTERVIEW * MAY 1997

THE ARTIST
By Spike Lee

SL: Do you feel that you successfully incorporated rap into your music. Sometimes it felt like it was just stuck on.

the Artist: I've gotten some criticism for the rap I've chosen to put in my past work. But there again, it came during my friction years. If you notice, not a lot of that stuff is incorporated into my sets now. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised when you hear the new remixes we are working on. On the rap tip though, it is an old style and I have always done it kind of differently -- half sung, you know, like "Irresistible Bitch" and some of the other things I use to do.

MUSICIAN (1997)

APRIL 1997 * MUSICIAN

The Sound of Emancipation

You've said that Emancipation was created in a freer climate than that under which you recorded for Warner Bros. Yet there doesn't seem to my ears to be a significantly "freer" sound on the new album than in your earlier work.

Well, when you're in the creative process, the first thing you naturally think about is the "bombs," the great ones that you've done before. You want to fill in the slots on your album with the songs that will make everyone the happiest: fans, musicians, writers, and so on. I used to try to fill those gaps first whenever I was trying something new, or wait to challenge myself to do another great one.

This means that you think about singles: time constraints, for example, and the subject matter. [For that reason] my original draft of "Let's Go Crazy" was much different from the version that wound up being released. As I wrote it, "Let's Go Crazy" was about God and the de-elevation of sin. But the problem was that religion as a subject is taboo in pop music. People think that the records they release have got to be hip, but what I need to do is to tell the truth.

So lyrically you've got more freedom than before. What about the music itself?

If you're working in a happier atmosphere, you'll hear things differently and play them differently. "Courtin' Time" [from Emancipation] is different from "Had U," from Chaos & Disorder. That whole album is loud and raucous, but it's also dark and unhappy. Same with The Black Album.

The problem was that regardless of what I heard in my head, I'd work with the sounds I had in front of me. Actually, I seldom wrote at any instruments. But I'm definitely into letting sounds dictate...not the way I write a song, but the way I develop my ideas. "In This Bed" [from Emancipation] is experimental; as we were working on it, I put a guitar on the ground and just let it start feeding back. After a while I hit this button and let the feedback pattern repeat. Does this mean that instruments have a soul or a life of their own? Will they end up writing the song?

It's like how Mayte and I got married, I took her to see the neighborhood where I was raised as a baby. When we got there, everything was gone: The house where I grew up, all the buildings, everything had been torn down, except this one tree that I used to climb on when I was a kid. That's all that was left. So I went over to this tree, put my hand on it, and let the memory of that time flow back into me. If that's what energy is all about, if this tree could remind me of something, even if it looks raggedy and old, that's the most beautiful thing. The sounds in my music are chosen with a lot of love too, and always with the idea of which color goes with which other color.

How do you know whether to do the bass part in a song on synth or bass guitar?

I'll listen to the kick drum. The bass guitar won't go as deep as the synth, and the kick drum tells me how deep I have to go. My original drum machine, the Linn, had only one type of kick. I think I had the first Linn. I did "Private Joy" [from Controversy] with a prototype of that Linn.

I remember when Miles Davis came to my house. As he was passing by my piano, he stopped and put his hands down on the keys and played these eight chords, one after the other. It was so beautiful; he sounded like Bill Evans or Lisa [Coleman], who also had this way of playing chords that were so perfect. I was wondering whether he was playing games with me, because he wasn't supposed to be a keyboard player. And when he was finished, I couldn't decide whether it was him or an angel putting his hands on the keys.

The point is that you recognized something in what Miles was doing, a kind of excellence that you might not hear in the work of other musicians.

For me, excellence comes from the fact that God loves me. But what is excellence? You've heard about these people who will bomb a building and kill all these people in God's name. You could say that they did an excellent job at what they were trying to do, right? Now, when I look at my band, Dyson is a different kind of guitar player than Mike. She looks cool, she has that kind of punk attitude. But that's her; that's not Mike. Lisa was never an explosive keyboard player, but she was a master of color in her harmonies; I could sing off of what she had with straight soul. I don't know if the people in the band I'm with now will go on to greatness on their own, but everything they do gives me something that I need right now.

Yet your songs don't rely on samples in a structural sense. Unlike a lot of dance-oriented musicians, you use samples to adorn rather than to support a tune.

I am so glad you said that! I've heard a whole lot of musicians who have had a hit record and then come to Paisley Park to set up and jam with the New Power Generation. Now, I'm not a judge, but I know when I see someone jamming and when I see someone drownin' [laughs]! I have to pull their plug and save some of their asses. Man, learn your instrument! Be a musician! You can't call yourself a musician if you just take a sample and loop it. You can call yourself a thief, because all you're doing is stealing somebody else's groove. Just don't call it music.

How can you tell when the song you're working on has potential?

Well, see, I can't say anything about that, because I hate criticizing music. If you judge something, maybe that means you get judged back someday. I wouldn't tell you that some song you wrote isn't any good. I wrote this song called "Make Your Mama Happy" that would probably frighten you. And this other song I wrote, "Sexual Suicide," has this horn section that's nothing but baritone saxes; it sounds like a truck coming at you. So who can say?

You noted that one element of using music technology is that the instruments themselves might end up "writing the song." While some artists seem to consider this a reason not to pursue sequencing and sampling, as if the products somehow shift control of the creative process away from the person, you take a more intriguing view, as if you have an almost organic partnership with the tool of your trade. How, then, do you get to know a new instrument?

Something very soul-like attracts me 2 some instruments moreso than others. It starts with the sound and then the shape. I dig instruments that appear as if the makers were in love with them.

You've had a number of customized guitar designs over the years, including the "white guitar" from Purple Rain; to what extent does playability factor into your design for these instruments?

I have compromised playability 4 the look of an instrument in many instances. Keyboards, though, have 2 have "the touch." Everything is sort of patterned after the 1st violet piano I received as a gift in 1986. Chords are important. Every note in a chord is a singer 2 me. This approach gives music its life. 2 look at music this way is a reason 4 living, as far as I'm concerned.

iZsaZsa said:

If you're working in a happier atmosphere, you'll hear things differently and play them differently. "Courtin' Time" is different from "Had U," I never thought to play these back to back! He's wonderful!! [Edited 3/21/14 13:02pm]

Yeah, listen to Had U and then listen to The One. Same singer, different target audiences.

.

To comment on the hearing things differently more: the closing suite of The Beatles' Abbey Road. Growing up, I had always heard that as a loss of a romantic relationship. Several years ago after losing my sister, I heard it again and almost every line in there applies to any loss. It hit me a whole different way.

Se7en said:

Oh no - the girl in Had U in definitely DONE. There's no coming back from that one!

Se7en said:

OldFriends4Sale said:

How can you tell when the song you're working on has potential?

Well, see, I can't say anything about that, because I hate criticizing music. If you judge something, maybe that means you get judged back someday. I wouldn't tell you that some song you wrote isn't any good. I wrote this song called "Make Your Mama Happy" that would probably frighten you. And this other song I wrote, "Sexual Suicide," has this horn section that's nothing but baritone saxes; it sounds like a truck coming at you. So who can say?

I found this paragraph interesting. I remember reading it before but now it just reminds me that he just creates and puts out what his mind produces and he doesn't judge his music. He has the perspective that someone might like something that doesn't appeal to another.

lezama said:

PURplEMaPLeSyrup said:

That Spike interview was maybe his best ever. Spike is a true fan.

I have a song title Susannahs Blues from an aftershow
not the clearest but it gives that feel of a very intimate peak into that time and the creation of music,

Le New Morning, Paris,France - Aug 24th 1986

This instrumental was recorded live with The Revolution at a soundcheck in Paris on August 25th 1986 but was premiered the night before at Le New Morning club and, incidentally, is not a blues number. Prince's father, John L. Nelson (RIP), who joined the band onstage for a while at Le New Morning played some piano on this version.

*blue -Prince's words

starts out with a start sound of tuning instruments
and then you hear audience people more clearly women screaming
aaaahhhhhwwwww
"Prince is cute!"
music pics up
"Mico
Mico?!!
sings Micooo
music breaks
chearing
There he is right now
ahhhh do it
(intro)Mico Weaver
chearing
I thought he was going 2 be outside trying 2 talk 2 one of these French girls
laughter
Who's that man with the dark glasses on?
U look important
U look kinda important
Can u play something
I looked on that wall and saw his face
looked over on that wall and saw his face
chearing, bluesy music
Prince starts scatting a bit
B flat right quick
let me see what u got
music picks up
bass drums piano guitar
the band gets in2 a groove
piano soloing
wooooo
That's what I get 4 calling someone up on stage
horn into/Prince vocalizing:
Da da
da da
da da dah dah dah dah da
da da
da da
da da dah dah dah dah da

on the 1 yall
bass
big band song break close out
I don't know who U was, but u was bad


August 24. 1986
"Le New Morning " Paris
Guest-John L. Nelson
1.I Can't Get NextToYou Babe(Al Green)
2.Love Or Money
3.Red House
4.An Honest Man
5.Strange Relationship
6.Last Heart
7.Head
8.Anotherloverholenyohead
9.Soul Power inst (James Brown)
10 Controversy
11 Love Bizarre
12 Do Me Baby
13 17days
14 Piano Jam

Prince during a rehearsal

BASS PLAYER
November, 1999

His Highness Gets Down!
By Karl Coryat

Do It All Night

The Artist cues up a Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic tune. Hands flying over the board, he solos the drums and bass, which he played on Graham’s Moon 4-string (see below). "Hear that? That’s the bass sound. I just turn it up full," he says, pantomiming diming all the knobs at once with the edge of a hand. The old Prince bass feel is right there, ghost-notes and vibrato laden with greasy funk. "There’s bass all over this record, and it’s seriously funky," he adds as he hits stop after only a few bars. "One of the funkiest records of recent years. There’s no good funk happening these days. I’m still waiting for George Clinton to do something."

The Artist first picked up bass years after he began playing guitar in 1975 -- which, in turn, was years after he started playing the family piano. "Bass was a necessity," he confesses. "I needed it to make my first album." Already a solid drummer, he translated his rhythmic chops to the bass, and everything fell into place fairly quickly. "That’s the thing about playing both bass and drums -- the parts just lock together. Lenny Kravitz is the same way. If you solo his drum part on 'Are You Gonna Go My Way,’ it sounds like, hey -- he ain’t that good. But put everything on top and it comes together. He just gets high on the funk."

So how can a bassist achieve that kind of lock with a live drummer? "I’ll tell you how Larry Graham does it: through his relationship with God. Bootsy plays a little behind the beat -- the way Mavis Staples sings -- but Larry makes the drummer get with him. If he wants to, he can stand up there and go [mimics 16th-note slap line] all night long and never break a sweat." Like the whirling dervishes of Sufi tradition? Exactly. But isn’t it possible to create music as deep as Graham’s without drawing inspiration from a higher power? "No, it isn’t. All things come from God and return to God. I wouldn’t say it necessarily needs to come from a higher place -- but it does need to come from another place."

BASS PLAYER
November, 1999

His Highness Gets Down!
By Karl Coryat

Release It

Of course, The Artist is less known for bass than for the controversial eroticism of such early songs as "Head," "Do Me Baby," and "Darling Nikki." Yet it seems many of his more lurid lyrics are backed by bass-heavy arrangements. Is there a connection between the two? "I’ve never thought about that," he muses with a smile. "But no, there isn’t. Bass is primal, and it reminds me of a large posterior - but both spirituality and sexuality originate higher up in the body. I see them as angelic."

The Artist’s all-time biggest hit, "When Doves Cry" [Purple Rain], is most distinctive because of its lack of a bass line. The song had one but it was pulled at the last minute. "They were almost done editing the movie," he explains, referring to his big-screen debut in Purple Rain. "‘When Doves Cry’ was the last song to be mixed, and it just wasn’t sounding right." Prince was sitting with his head on the console listening to a rough mix when one of his singers, Jill Jones, walked in and asked what was wrong. "It was just sounding too conventional, like every other song with drums and bass and keyboards. So I said, ‘If I could have it my way it would sound like this,’ and I pulled the bass out of the mix. She said, ‘Why don’t you have it your way?’" From the beginning Prince had an inkling the tune would be better bass-free, even though he hated to see the part go. "Sometimes your brain kind of splits in two -- your ego tells you one thing, and the rest of you says something else. You have to go with what you know is right."

So bass can work against a song then? "Not necessarily. ‘When Doves Cry’ does have bass in it -- the bass is in the kick drum. It’s the same with ‘Kiss’ [Parade]: The bass is in the tone of the reverb on the kick. Bass is a lot more than that instrument over there. Bass to me means B-A-S-E. B-A-S-S is a fish."

OldFriends4Sale said:

---

BASS PLAYER
November, 1999

His Highness Gets Down!
By Karl Coryat

Do It All Night

The Artist cues up a Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic tune. Hands flying over the board, he solos the drums and bass, which he played on Graham’s Moon 4-string (see below). "Hear that? That’s the bass sound. I just turn it up full," he says, pantomiming diming all the knobs at once with the edge of a hand. The old Prince bass feel is right there, ghost-notes and vibrato laden with greasy funk. "There’s bass all over this record, and it’s seriously funky," he adds as he hits stop after only a few bars. "One of the funkiest records of recent years. There’s no good funk happening these days. I’m still waiting for George Clinton to do something."

I'm trying to remember which Rave tune has especially funky bass. Is it Baby Knows?

BASS PLAYER
November, 1999

His Highness Gets Down!
By Karl Coryat

Starting with 1982’s 1999, Prince began crediting a band, the Revolution, on his recordings. Though he still played many of the parts, over the next few albums the Revolution played an increasingly important role. "I wanted community more than anything else. These days if I have Rhonda [S., formerly The Artist’s primary live bassist] play on something, she’ll bring in her Jaco influence, which is something I wouldn’t add if I played it myself. I did listen to Jaco -- I love his Joni Mitchell stuff -- but I never wanted to play like him." The Artist still raves about the original Revolution bassist, Brown Mark (who took over for Andre Simone), calling him the tightest bass player next to Graham himself.

THE OBSERVER (2006)

A decade later when I met him again in a hotel suite in London, it was more Mona Lisa than Cheshire Cat - coolly supercilious, ultimately indecipherable. Then, he took me to task for things other people had told me about him, hooting uproariously at the notion that any of them was in a position to talk about him. The fact that one, engineer Susan Rogers, had sat by his side on hundreds of occasions at his Paisley Park studio carried little weight with him.

.

Prince: 'You think Susan Rogers knows me?' he asked. 'You think she knows anything about my music? Susan Rogers, for the record, doesn't know anything about my music. Not one thing. The only person who knows anything about my music [pause for very pointed effect] ... is me.'

.
Susan Rogers: "Yes, Prince is correct on this, but only in one sense. In another sense, namely the experience of listening to music created by another, Prince knows his music the least. Because creating music and consuming music are two distinct processes."

Chapter 9 Alone:Wally
The Rise & Fall of Prince


The dispute over Crystal Ball left Prince frustrated & depressed.
And to make matters worse, his relationship with Susannah Melvoin was spinning out of control for the last time.
In the months since the couple had concluded their brief attempt at cohabitation in Prince's Chanhassan home, their fighting had continued taking an emotional toll on the both of them. In December 1986, Susannah finally decided she had had enough; she packed her things and returned to Los Angeles San Fernando Valley, joining Lisa & Wendy
...

One evening shortly after Sussanah's departure, Susan Rogers could tell something was very wrong when Prince came down to the basement studio. Looking disconsolate and barely speaking, he began constructing a song around a meloncholy piano pattern. His spoken lyrics portrayed a fictional dialogue between himself and Wally Safford, a dancer in the band. Sounding sad and lost, Prince asks Wally to borrow $50 and some sunglasses so he can impress his lover, but then changes his mind and returns the items telling Wally that since he is alone now, he has no one to spend the money on. Prince was accompanied only by piano throught the verse, but guitar bass and drums enter as the song built to a chorus on which he sings the phrase "o-ma-la-di-da"


Watching Prince construct the song which he called "Wally", Rogers was stunned by the honest emotion and wistfull resignation it conveyed. She saw the song both as a farewell to Susannah and a means of expelling the poison of failed relationship.

"Do you know that malady means sickness, illness in French?" Prince asked Rogers. Refering to the phrase he sings in the chorus. "It's almost like the word melody, isn't it?" Prince who rarely exposed his inner feelings, even in his music, was groping for a metaphor that would convey his feeling of loss. Rogers felt it was a turning point in his songwriting.

But as the session continued, Prince started to distance himself from the creation. He added extraneous instruments to diminished the songs clarity. A percussion part that cluttered the verse, detracting from the lyrics.

Don't you think it was better before, Prince?" Rogers said. "Maybe we should stop"
He ignored her, adding the synthizer riff. Soon it became clear to her: He was intentionally destroying the song. After larding the piece with additional instruments, he finally spoke. "Now put all 24 Channels on record and erase it." he told Rogers

"No, you can't do this!" Rogers said dismayed by the prospect of losing the statement at the core of the song.

"If you don't I will," Prince responded
Rogers stood her ground, and Prince was forced to operate the soundboard himself, as he destroyed his own music.

"Wally" like his relationship with Susannah, Wendy & Lisa involved more emotional intensity than Prince was willing to accept. "I thought it was the greatest thing he had ever done" says Rogers. I had waited years to hear a Prince song like this. I ached for him to be this honest.

Yet Princes refusal to explore his feelings was not altogether surprising. Rogers had discussed the topic of depression with him and found Prince contemptuous of the notion.
"He thought it was practically a sin to be depressed" she remembered. Many other associates have observed that Prince -not only in his relationships, but even in his music -is cryptic and unrevealing of his deepest feelings. "His music is very passionate, but he doesn't let himself open up emotionally" observed Marylou Badeaux. "

...