billymeade said:

Any pictures of Chris Moon? I don't think I've ever seen the guy.

In the early 1970s Chris Moon (a Brit) became interested in recording technology, he purchased a slew of advanced recording equipment and began searching for musical acts that interested him. He carted his equipment out to gigs and rehearsal halls to make demo recordings. Moon recorded several demos and live gigs with Skogie and the Flaming Pachucos before their move to Los Angeles in the summer of 1976.

Chris Moon was one of the first to discover Prince's musical talent and he was an important factor in getting his career underway. They met in 1976 when Prince came through his Moonsound Studio to record material with his band, then known as Champagne.

Moon had aspirations as a songwriter, having written poetry and song lyrics since he was a teenager, and after seeing Prince at work in the studio, he approached him about collaborating. In exchange for writing and playing the music, Prince would get free studio time. The deal served both well; Moon could turn his lyrics into songs and Prince was able to learn about recording techniques and develop as a songwriter and musician. Their teaming-up contributed to the breakup of Champagne and led to Prince's decision to become solo artist.

Chris Moon can take some credit for his early collaboration with Prince, the famous "naughty implied sexuality" approach to songwriting, and introducing Prince to Owen Husney, who became his first manager. He parted ways with Prince, more than 20 years ago

Thank you for this thread, now I want to buy an original For You mint vinyl albym.

jn2 said:

Thank you for this thread, now I want to buy an original For You mint vinyl albym.

lol I know what you mean, I want to get all these singles on the 45 and just hear the neddle touch down. and Go to an old 'neighborhood' studio that hasn't been touch since the 70s lol

Matt, since you go further back with Prince, let's hear how you and he first got together.
Fink: Well, I began playing in bands when I was about 12. My broth-er – he’s three years old-er than I am – was play-ing in bands in junior high, and I got his hand-me-down Farfisa organ. We started doing junior high dances, bar mitz-vahs, weddings, the usu-al things. The nucleus of that band stayed together all the way through high school, with a few changes. When I was in my junior year of high school, I was already playing in nightclubs; I was too young, so I had to lie about my age. Sound typical?

Sounds like a pretty generic American Top 40 cover band expericence to us.
Fink Exactly. Then, when I was about 21, .". I went from the Minnesota bar scene right . into Prince. He was forming a band, and I ‘: auditioned for it because knew the drummer, ' Bobby Z. I called Bobby and asked if I could try out for the band, because they were advertising for musicians. I was interested, because Prince was the only local act at that : time that had been signed by Warner Bros.

Was he part of a different local scene in Minneapolis than you were?
Fink: At the same time I was playing in clubs around the Midwest, he was doing the same thing. Sut it was different, because he had an all-black group. In those days, things were still somewhat segregated here. I didn’t even know who Prince was until Bobby played me his demo tape late in '77. Then I said, 'Let me know when this guy’s ready to do something or when he gets signed, be-cause I'd like to meet him and get involved." That's how it came about. I got into the group in November '78.

Were the seeds of his style as people know it today apparent even in that demo tape,,
Fink: Yes, I would say so. If you listen to Prince's first album [For You], that's where he was musically on the demo tape.

What instruments were you playing then?
Fink: By the time I joined him, my peronal setup was just a Minimoog, a Rhodes, a Farfisa VIP 345 with a Leslie speaker cabinet, and a Freeman string synthesizer. At that same time, he had all this gear he bought with money from his record deal, so I integrated what I had with what he had. I got rid of the Freeman and went to an ARP String Ensemble, and the old Oberheim Four-Voices and S.E.M. modules. I kept the Minimoog, and added a [Hohner] Clavinet and an ARP Pro-Soloist... a lot of stuff! It was a Rick Wakeman kind of setup. Then, as time went on, I pared things down, and every year kept updating as things changed.

Clearly, Matt, you’ve had some formal training
Fink: I had jazz teachers over the years. I did have some musical training in public school, but l didn't go to college. When I was about 14, I began studying jazz with a local teacher, Tom Weekend. I said, "I want you : to teach me how to play rock organ." He kind of laughed at me and said, "I don't do that. I teach jazz. ‘But we'll start you out on Hammond 8-3." I did that for a while, then I Just with piano because that was my main instrument; I had had six or seven years of classical training up to that point.

Describe your audition for the gig with Prince.
Fink At that time, his first albumhad been out about three months. He had gotten everyone he needed for the band except for one more keyboard player.

Is it true that Jimmy Jam auditioned for the job?
Fink: I believe he did, amongst about ten other guys. There was another guy who had actually been hired, but he became impatient because nothing was realty happening, so he left to work with someone else. When that slot opened up, I had my window of opportunity. I went in, and the first thing Prince said to me was, "So tell me. Did you learn the song 'So Blue'?" That was on the first album. I said, "No,'. I didn't. Oh, God!" Then he laughed and said, "Don't worry about it. There's no keyboards on that one." So he played a joke on me, just to break the ice, Then we started jaming on stuff. l had brought my Minimoog along. It was my solo instrument at the time, and I could do quite well with it He didn't have one, so that impressed him quite a bit.

Were you trying to show off your chops or to find a way of discreetly backing him up?
Fink: At first, I was showing off my chops. Then we played "Soft and Wet," the single at the time; I had tried to cop as much as I could from the record, but there was a Clavinet part in the song that was mixed so far back in the track that it was wally difficult to get the rhythm. I did what I thought was the part, and he looked at me and said, 'well, that's linda close." l said, 'V/hy don't you just show me what it isf l can't hear it in the mix." He came over and showed me the part for about five minutes. And I copped it. I was the only guy who did up to that point.

Why? What was so hard about that part?
Fink: It was a very tricky rhythm. The voicings that he used were interesting too. He has a great knowledge of voicings. He told me, "Play the part as'big as 'you can, with both hands."

What did he mean by "big'?
Fink: For the most part, if there are horn punches or something like that, he’ll want you to play with as wide a range as you can, to make it sound full. That means to play every note you possibly can with-out making it sound bad [laughs]. So if you were playing, like, a minor 7(9) chord, he'd want you to throw the fourth in there. If you were playing a Cm9, your left hand would start on the g„ then you'd have the F, the G, the g, the C, and then the D up on top. The right hand would be playing the same thing, only with the C on top.

That’s where your jazz background proved helpful.
Fink: Yeah, it really came in handy for me.

It also probably depends on the sounds you're using.
Fink: Anyway, I kept coming back for about three weeks white he was trying to figure out who he wanted. A lot of it had to do with looks, too. There could have been some cats who played their butts off, but they didn’t look right for the band.

So how did you look?
Fink: I was pretty rocked out. That's what he wanted. And he wanted an integrated band. The original group had thee black guys up front and three white people in the back a drummer, a keyboard player, and a female. He was trying to break the color barriers that were in place at the time.

In the early days, we were all groping for images of how we wanted to look onstage. Prince pretty much left it up to each individual member of the band to figure it out – of course, with his final approval. I’ll never forget the first videos we did. I hadn’t been able to come up with anything he liked, so he hand-ed me a kind of khaki paratrooper jump suit real Army issue. Then I found some real weird space-age sunglasses. That was my image for the first video. Then I rented a gold satin tails-type tuxedo with black lapels and wore that with no shirt underneath for the next video. The next thing we did was American Bandstand our first television appearance. Our bass player, Andre Cymone, who has gone on to produce Jody Whatley and a lot of other people, wore clear plastic pants with red underwear, red suspenders, and a black tank top. He was in them for so long that they steamed up with condensed sweat. I wore a black and white striped jail outfit. And Prince was wearing dancer's knee-high stockings with boots.

We Can Work It Out

Singing in his regular voice, Prince sells himself to Warner Bros. Records as the lyrics "Making music naturally, me and WB" indicate. Ironically, 20 years later, is now free from any contract with Warner Bros. It's likely he recorded this outtake after signing a contract for his first 3 albums in June, 1977.

But before making his final decision, Prince voiced an important concern directly to Warner Bros. officials:He didn't want to be pigeonholed as an R&B artist. "I'm an artist and I do a wide range of music," Prince insisted. "I'm not an R&B artist, I'm not a rock n roller. At a time when most labels, including Warners, had seperate "black music" departments, Prince dreaded the idea of limiting his appeal in any respect.

The executives said all the right things, and Prince signed a three-album contract with Warner Bros. on June 25, 1977, just weeks after turning nineteen. An association began that would become one of the most fruitful and lucrative-but also one of the most frustating and embarrassing - in the company's venerable history. For the moment, Ostin and Waronker felt nothing but confidence-they had an artist who might be a once-in-a-generation talent. Had they paused, however, the executives might have wondered about the darker side of Prince's passion and ambition, and they might have wondered how such a fiercely independent figure would react to the constraints that inevitable arise from working within a major U.S. corporation. For an artist like Prince, how much control would be enough?

At a celebration luncheon with company executives, he seemed shy and awkward. After the fete, though, he recorded a song that represented his own way of communicating with his new patrons. Called "We Can Work It Out," the unreleased song's lyrics can only be interpreted as an expression of hope that the Prince-Warners partnership would be a happy one. It ended, though, with the sound of an explosion.

-Possessed: the Rise & Fall of Prince

We Can Work It Out

Now that I know your name and U know mine
Ain't it just about time that we got 2gether?
We should make such beautiful music 4ever
Oh, 2gether 4ever

Put your trust in me, I'll never let U down
Cuz I know I can count on U 2 help me make it
Ain't no doubt about it
We can work it out, work it out
I know we can work it out
Work it out, work it out
Ooh wee!

CHORUS:
Hope we work it out, I hope we work it out
(Everybody sing) Hope we work it out, I hope we work it out
Hope we work it out, I hope we work it out
(Everybody sing) Hope we work it out, I hope we work it out

Makin' music naturally, me and W.B. (CHORUS)
Music 4 the young and old, music bound 2 be gold
Work it out

Hope we work it out, I hope we work it out {x2}

Hope we work it out, I hope we work it out (Can we work it out?)
Hope we work it out, I hope we work it out (I want 2 work it out)
Hope we work it out, I hope we work it out
(Everybody sing) Hope we work it out, I hope we work it out
Hope we work it out, I hope we work it out
(Everybody sing) Hope we work it out, I hope we work it out
Hope we work it out, I hope we work it out
(Everybody sing) Hope we work it out, I hope we work it out

Makin' music naturally, me and W.B. [/color]

I'm Yours

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah!
Up until the other day
There remained an empty space within my bed
Then I took one look at U
And naughty things that we could do danced within my head

CHORUS:
Never have I ever made love before
Never have I wanted 2 till now
Lover, can't U see I want U more and more?
Take me baby, yeah, I'm yours!

Ah, love me any way U want
But please love me now
I'll do anything U want
U're the teacher, show me how

CHORUS

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah!

Specific recording dates for the released version are not known, but the album was recorded at the Record Plant, Sausalito, CA, USA, from 1 October 1977 to 22 December 1977, before overdubs and mixing took place, in early January 1978 at Sound Labs, Los Angeles, CA, USA

-PrinceVault

Summer 1976 at Moonsound Sessions

* Unidentified musician - flute

Aces* is an unreleased track recorded in Summer 1976 at Moonsound, Minneapolis, MN, USA

Like many of the other tracks recorded during these sessions, the lyrics were written by Chris Moon and the music by Prince. Moon has described the track as experimental in nature, lasting around 7 minutes long, with Mediterranean and Indian sections.

Diamond Eyes Unlike many of the other tracks recorded during these sessions, the lyrics were written by Prince rather than by Chris Moon, and the music was also by Prince. The track remains unreleased.

Don't Forget is an unreleased track recorded in Summer 1976 at Moonsound, Minneapolis, MN, Like many of the other tracks recorded during these sessions, the lyrics were written by Chris Moon and the music by Prince. The track remains unreleased.

Don't Hold Back is an unreleased track recorded in Summer 1976 at Moonsound, Minneapolis, MN

Like many of the other tracks recorded during these sessions, the lyrics were written by Chris Moon and the music by Prince. The track remains unreleased.

Fantasy*

is an unreleased track recorded in Summer 1976 at Moonsound, Minneapolis, MN

Like many of the other tracks recorded during these sessions, the lyrics were written by Chris Moon and the music by Prince. The track remains unreleased.

Make It Through The Storm is an unreleased track recorded in Summer 1976 at Moonsound, Minneapolis, MN

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.

Since We've Been Together

is an unreleased track recorded in Summer 1976 at Moonsound, Minneapolis, MN,

Prince then re-recorded the song with Sue Ann Carwell on lead vocals in Summer, 1978, at Prince's France Avenue Home Studio, Edina, MN,

Surprise is an unreleased track recorded in Summer 1976 at Moonsound, Minneapolis, MN,

Unlike many of the other tracks recorded during these sessions, the lyrics were written by Prince rather than by Chris Moon, and the music was also by Prince. Similar to the track Baby, recorded during the same sessions, the lyrics of Surprise dealt with an unexpected pregnancy.

The song remains unreleased.

-PrinceVault

14-track demo tape, Moonsound, Minneapolis, spring – December 1976 – no known order
Instrumental (7:25) – possibly titled Farnborough
Aces (Prince/Chris Moon)
Diamond Eyes (Prince/Chris Moon)
Don’t Forget (Prince/Chris Moon)
Don’t Hold Back (Prince/Chris Moon)
Fantasy (Prince/Chris Moon)
Love Is Forever #1 (Prince/Chris Moon)
Make It Through The Storm #1 (Prince/Chris Moon)
Piano Intro (0:40)
Soft And Wet #1 (3:22) (Prince/Chris Moon)
Surprise (Prince/Chris Moon)
Baby #1
I’m Yours #1
Jelly Jam #1 (Instrumental)
Leaving For New York #2
Since We’ve Been Together #1
For You #3 (1:19)
For You #4 (1:20)
Outro (0:13)

Let’s Talk Dirty Forever

Of the numerous strange, beautiful, and magical moments captured within the clothbound odyssey that is Purple Snow: Forecasting the Minneapolis Sound, this image of bassist Andre Cymone has continued to stand out. Who manufactures such a shirt? What are they advertising? And where can we buy some? (Anyone from the Twin Cities who can make some sense of this campaign, please do.)

Between rolling out a new album and preparing for an upcoming show at Minneapolis’s 7th Street Entry, the Cymone estate found time to make good on several kidding-but-not-kidding conversations about reproducing these garments. We suppose now the only logical course of action is to send Andre Cymone a T-shirt of Jon Kirby wearing a T-shirt of Andre Cymone wearing the “Let’s Talk Dirty” T and repeat process until the universe collapses in on itself.

https://numerogroup.wordp...rple-snow/

Prince and Dez Dickerson at the Capri Theater in 1979

Is there an actor/musician in the wings, a now-unrecognized future star that will someday rival the artistry of Prince, whose January 1979 concert at the Capri is ranked as one of his five best, and at which he signed his first recording contract?

http://www.thecapritheate...hp?paged=2



The Capri Theater
2027 West Broadway
Minneapolis, MN 55411



1.6.1979 Capri Theater Minn

Prince played his first shows as a solo artist at the Capri Theater, which sits at the corner of Broadway and Logan Ave. N. in north Minneapolis. The shows took place on January 5 and 6, 1979, and the proceeds from the tickets sold the first night (which cost a mere $4) went toward the Capri.

Prince’s career was already moving forward by the time he played the Capri shows—he had signed to Warner Bros. Records in 1976 when he was just 17, and recorded and released his debut For You in early 1978. But it wasn’t until the winter of 1979 that Prince formed a band and performed his first solo show. At the Capri, he was joined by childhood friend and former Grand Central and Champagne bandmate André Cymone, Bobby Z, Dez Dickerson, Matt Fink, and Gayle Chapman.

According to a fan setlist, Prince began the first show with the title track off his debut album, “For You,” and also performed the songs “Soft and Wet,” “So Blue,” and “Just as Long as We’re Together.” Longtime Star Tribune critic Jon Bream was at the show and wrote that Prince “strutted across the stage with grand Mick Jagger-like moves and gestures. He was cool, he was cocky, and he was sexy.”

Here’s an excerpt from the book Prince: Inside the Music and the Masks by Ronin Ro that details his first concert:

http://blog.thecurrent.or...solo-show/

OldFriends4Sale said:

OldFriends4Sale said:

Not to go too far off-topic, but is THAT^ an ankh or a regular cross Prince is wearing?

TonyVanDam said:

OldFriends4Sale said:

Not to go too far off-topic, but is THAT^ an ankh or a regular cross Prince is wearing?

an ankh

OldFriends4Sale said:

TonyVanDam said:

Not to go too far off-topic, but is THAT^ an ankh or a regular cross Prince is wearing?

an ankh

I knew it! Prince was knowledgeable about symbolism since day one.

JUST AS LONG AS WE'RE 2GETHER

1976
Husney, Prince, and attorney Levinson got on a plane for Los Angeles and visited the swank offices of five labels: Warner Bros, CBS, A&M, RSO, and ABC/Dunhill. The manager and attorney made the initial pitch, after which Prince came in and said just a few words. The approach worked; after hearing the demo tape, the executives were curious to see the teenager who had pulled this off, and they were mesmerized by his oddly quiet manner. CBS then booked time at Village Recorders Studios and asked Prince to undertake an audition of sorts. He recorded "Just As Long As We're Together," one of the songs on his demo, as the executives looked on.

summer 1977
Ostin agreed, and Prince was flown to Amigo Studios in Los Angeles. Waronker and other officials discreetly drifted i and out as Prince recorded another version of "Just As Long As We're Together." As Husney recalled, "He thought these people were janitors." The executives, after watching Prince play every instrument as he constructed the song in the better part of a day, decided it would be folly to force a producer upon him; an artist this talented and headstrong would simply have to learn on the job. "Okay, we're going to have to burn a record on the guy," Waronker grumbled to Husney after the session.
-Possessed: the Rise & Fall of Prince

TonyVanDam said:

OldFriends4Sale said:

an ankh

I knew it! Prince was knowledgeable about symbolism since day one.

Looks like he's been into egyptology to some degree since back then

In Love

Recording dates for the song itself are not known, but the album was recorded at the Record Plant, Sausalito, CA, USA, from 1 October 1977 to 22 December 1977, before overdubs and mixing took place, in early January 1978 at Sound Labs, Los Angeles, CA, USA.

Ever since I met you, baby
I've been wantin' to lay you down
But it's so hard to get you
Baby, when you never come around
Every day that you keep it away
It only makes me want it more
Ooh baby, just say the word
And I'll be at your door

What more do I have to say?
I really wanna play in your river

Fallin', fallin', fallin' in love
I'm fallin', baby, deeper every day
(In love)
You're breakin' my heart and takin' me away
(In love)
I'm fallin' baby, girl, what can I do?
I just can't be without you

Ever since I met you, baby
There's been somethin' inside of me
That keeps me wantin' you
Baby, won't you set me free?
Take off these chains, girl

And I'll take off yours
There's no one in the world, baby
That I wanna love more

What else do I have to say?
I really wanna play in your river

Fallin', fallin', fallin' in love
I'm fallin' baby, deeper every day
(In love)
You're breakin' my heart and takin' me away
(In love)
I'm fallin' baby, girl, what can I do?
I just can't be without you

I'm fallin' in love
I'm fallin' baby, deeper everyday
(In love)
You're breakin' my heart and takin' me away
(In love)
And I'm fallin' baby, girl, what can I do?
I just can't be without you

I'm fallin', I'm fallin'
(In love)
I'm drownin' baby, in my love foy you
(In love)
You're breakin' my heart and takin' me away
I just don't, I don't know what to say

In love
In love
Oh baby-girl, you're takin' me away
Oh baby, baby, oh baby, baby
In love
In love

I wasn't exactly sure if this pic was from this same era...

"America, have you heard?
I got a brand new dance and it's called "The Bird"

Averett said:

"America, have you heard?
I got a brand new dance and it's called "The Bird"

Best picture in THIS thread!

Averett said:

"at first I thought he was on of the Sylvers Brothers".....me too. There's one interview I remember reading where the writer asked him 'if anyone ever told him he looked like one of the Sylvers"....and I think his reply was; "Is there anything I can do to change that?"....Averett, that picture of P w/ the white Strat has made my afternoon...never saw that one before.

SPYZFAN1 said:

"at first I thought he was on of the Sylvers Brothers".....me too. There's one interview I remember reading where the writer asked him 'if anyone ever told him he looked like one of the Sylvers"....and I think his reply was; "Is there anything I can do to change that?"....Averett, that picture of P w/ the white Strat has made my afternoon...never saw that one before.