I'm putting together a Clare Fischer Compilation for a class I'm teaching. I'd like to put special emphasis on the work he's done for Prince. Seeking the Org's assist...

What are some of the most noteworthy Prince/Fischer orchestrations???

Pink Cashmere is my favorite.

Check this out...

http://vimeo.com/29885822#t=3033s

TheBluePrince said:

Check this out...

http://vimeo.com/29885822#t=3033s

Very cool. I'm so glad Prince and Clare Fischer's worlds collided. Awesome musical chemistry.

So funny...I was listening to Pink Cashmere yesterday and wanted to start a thread on Clare Fischer. Honestly, he may have been Prince's greatest collaborator. His swirling, ethereal strings were truly beautiful and added an element to Prince's music no one else (not even the man himself) could have. Maybe Prince was right, and the fact they never met in person is what kept the relationship productive all those years?

the great thing about Clare was that NOTHING he contributed made prince sound more radio friendly .. Clare took wierd cool prince and made him wierder and cooler .. collaborating with Clare is one of the best things prince ever did

I used to chat with Donna (Clare's wife) via email. I always wanted to see Clare perform (in the UK) and he had planned to play at a jazz festival years ago but had to pull out. She always mentioned Clare and how pleased he was with my comments about his work, both for Prince and his solo CDs.

Clare really can't be praised enough.

Pretty sure he worked on Crystal Ball (the song) on which the strings add a depth and vivid clarity to the song. An outstanding piece of work.

I think it's a great shame the two never worked in the same room, but I think that only speaks to Princes admiration.

TrevorAyer said:

the great thing about Clare was that NOTHING he contributed made prince sound more radio friendly .. Clare took wierd cool prince and made him wierder and cooler .. collaborating with Clare is one of the best things prince ever did

...and that sums it up. He didn't try to change Prince, he enhanced Prince and Prince knew it too. Thus the reason he worked with him so often and for so long.

So far on my list, I have Pink Cashmere and I wonder U...

What other notable tracks did Clare add strings to for Prince?

Crystal Ball, Violet The Organ Grinder, Alexa de Paris, An Honest Man...those all feature some impressive orchestration from Mr. Fischer. Pink Cashmere is probably the best though. The interplay between the strings and the guitar towards the end is unbelievable.

By the way, I can't remember the last time I saw a thread that was 100% positive. Good to see Prince and Clare's work is univerally loved around here!

Noodled24 said:

Clare really can't be praised enough.

Pretty sure he worked on Crystal Ball (the song) on which the strings add a depth and vivid clarity to the song. An outstanding piece of work.

I think it's a great shame the two never worked in the same room, but I think that only speaks to Princes admiration.

Indeed! I would like to think that they've at least met in person at some point, though they've never collaborated under the same roof. Certainly there's much respect there. I often wonder how Prince responded to Clare's passing. Death (like everything else), Prince handles differently than most I'd gather...

Adding Crystal Ball to the list. Thanks!

renfield said:

Crystal Ball, Violet The Organ Grinder, Alexa de Paris, An Honest Man...those all feature some impressive orchestration from Mr. Fischer. Pink Cashmere is probably the best though. The interplay between the strings and the guitar towards the end is unbelievable.

By the way, I can't remember the last time I saw a thread that was 100% positive. Good to see Prince and Clare's work is univerally loved around here!

Great list! Thank you. Yes, its one of the many reasons Pink Cashmere is one of my favorite songs ever. To not have arranged the song in the same room, but to still have a litteral musical conversation between the strings and the guitar during the solo IS unbelieveable.

Yeah, I'm an old school Orger, so I'd guess my perspective of Prince may be a bit different compared to that of others.

I'm not a pink cashmere lover, but I adore the Fischer work in Parade. The orchestration in anotherloverholeinyohead is a thing broke my heart in 1986.

I interviewed Brent Fischer for my Parade documentary, and Clare was there with him and spoke a few sentences to us - he obviously wasn't well and I believe we may literally have his last interview. It wasn't long after we did it that he passed away.

Militant said:

I interviewed Brent Fischer for my Parade documentary, and Clare was there with him and spoke a few sentences to us - he obviously wasn't well and I believe we may literally have his last interview. It wasn't long after we did it that he passed away.

You made a Parade documentary?

Check this out...

http://vimeo.com/29885822#t=3033s

This is above great!

These are unheard mixes, Clare's son must have shelves of this stuff...

Makes one fantasize about a Parade Deluxe Edition with a third disc made only of Clare's scores.


As for the compilation...


1 - Crystal Ball
2 - Alexa de Paris
3 - Mia Bocca: Under The Cherry Moon video excerpt, the fountain scene, and the Jill Jones single. Violet Blue is also great stuff.
4 - River Run Dry - The Family
5 - Cross The Line (Live Intro)
6 - Venus de Milo
7 - Christopher Tracey's Parade
7 - The Future (the bridges)
8 - Anotherloverholenyohead (the bridge)

dandan said:

Militant said:

I interviewed Brent Fischer for my Parade documentary, and Clare was there with him and spoke a few sentences to us - he obviously wasn't well and I believe we may literally have his last interview. It wasn't long after we did it that he passed away.

You made a Parade documentary?

I certainly did, for the radio station XFM back in 2011.

Here's the main documentary.

And here's 30 additional minutes that didn't make the main edit.

The Screams of Passion by the Family is definitely noteworthy. I think the Family's album was the first time Clare Fischer's work with Prince appeared on an album.

I thought for the longest time he had contributed to "The Dance" (3121 version) but this must be incorrect as it's not reflected in the liner notes on 3121. I did, however, see in the liner notes that Clare did the string arrangements on "Te Amo Corazon."

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Wikipedia also mentioned "One of Fischer's Prince arrangements was also used in a revised form for the movie Batman." Some site i found (comicsalliance.com) says parts of "Partyman" and "Trust" were heard in the film.

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To add to Motherfunka's comment, Princevault.com says Clare did string orchestration on Prince-penned songs "High Fashion", "The Screams of Passion", "Nothing Compares 2 U", and "Desire." (Also, on "River Run Dry", but that was written by Bobby Z.).

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On NPG's 1998 New Power Soul, he arranged and conducted The NPG Orchestra on "The One" and "Until U're In My Arms Again". He also arranged the orchestra on "Old Friends 4 Sale" off of The Vault, and did orchestral arrangements on several songs from the Kamasutra album.

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Hope this helps.

[Edited 10/26/14 3:31am]

Okay, I watched the whole lecture and enjoyed it. Three things:

1. Prince produced Celine Dion's first English lanquage album. (I hadn't realized that.)

2. Clare cussed like a sailor and it was kind of funny.

3. When describing Prince's ability to play several instruments very well, Clare gave Prince the ultimate compliment: "He's sick."

renfield said:

Crystal Ball, Violet The Organ Grinder, Alexa de Paris, An Honest Man...those all feature some impressive orchestration from Mr. Fischer. Pink Cashmere is probably the best though. The interplay between the strings and the guitar towards the end is unbelievable.

By the way, I can't remember the last time I saw a thread that was 100% positive. Good to see Prince and Clare's work is univerally loved around here!

I'm going to have to dig out VioletTOG... You have to wonder what went through Mr Fischers mind upon hearing a song like that. "He wants the song about a man with a purple monkey humping photographs under a pillow to sound like "movie music"... is he making a porno?

dadeepop said:

Okay, I watched the whole lecture and enjoyed it. Three things:

1. Prince produced Celine Dion's first English lanquage album. (I hadn't realized that.)

I'm not sure he did. He definitely gave her the song "With This Tear". But he's not listed as the producer on the song. Or as a producer on any of her albums (according to wikipedia)

Militant said:

I interviewed Brent Fischer for my Parade documentary, and Clare was there with him and spoke a few sentences to us - he obviously wasn't well and I believe we may literally have his last interview. It wasn't long after we did it that he passed away.

Wow. What an honor that must have been.

I knew I could count on you all! There are some treats in here! I didn't know about Te Amo Carazon, love that song. The One, another favorite.

I find it no coincidence that some of the Prince tracks I groove to the most, have some Fischer arrangement within them. Too cool.

The point I'm trying to make to my class is; communicating with each other within the song. Dizzy and The Bird did it. Prince and Clare did it... and so on.

Noodled24 said:

dadeepop said:

Okay, I watched the whole lecture and enjoyed it. Three things:

1. Prince produced Celine Dion's first English lanquage album. (I hadn't realized that.)

I'm not sure he did. He definitely gave her the song "With This Tear". But he's not listed as the producer on the song. Or as a producer on any of her albums (according to wikipedia)

Yeah, I wasn't sure about that either. Maybe he had some uncredited input.

Happy we were able to help with the compilation project! I found an thread from 2012 that containes a link to a Peach and Black Podcast: Special Tribute Episode to Clare Fischer. Check it out --> http://prince.org/msg/7/375941.

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He also worked on "Damn U" and Bria's "Elixer" (info courtesy of toejam, who seems to have known all of Clare's work with Prince ).

Bluu said:

Happy we were able to help with the compilation project! I found an thread from 2012 that containes a link to a Peach and Black Podcast: Special Tribute Episode to Clare Fischer. Check it out --> http://prince.org/msg/7/375941.

.

He also worked on "Damn U" and Bria's "Elixer" (info courtesy of toejam, who seems to have known all of Clare's work with Prince ).

^ Damn U is outstanding. There is a part where the strings build and just release a wonderful melody Prince throws in a couple of notes on the guitar that sound like they're dancing with the strings.

Does anyone know the last thing Mr Fischer worked on for Prince? He really has been a key colaborator with Prince throughout the years.

There's also The Ladder/Our Destiny.

Militant said:

dandan said:

You made a Parade documentary?

I certainly did, for the radio station XFM back in 2011.

Here's the main documentary.

And here's 30 additional minutes that didn't make the main edit.

Enjoyed listening to this. Thanks

I believe Prince also used some of Clare's orchestrations in a more 'sampled' way, not sure of the songs(?) but Prince literally took parts and layered them across tracks which seems to go against normal song structure to create atmosphere/mood. I'm sure Scandalous is one of those songs.

TheBluePrince said:

Check this out...

http://vimeo.com/29885822#t=3033s

I'd heard the audio from this, but I hadn't seen video. I'd love to hear more--I mean, it's just so odd to think of how different things may have sounded, and I get the idea that Prince usually got these fuller orchestrations from Fischer and then did all sorts of picking and choosing. I'd love to hear all of it.