Susan Rogers is one of the last people Prince would want anywhere near the vault.

This is from the retracted Ebony interview that he gave in December 2015 (the full text is online if you know where to look):

"There was one engineer who said that their sole purpose in life was to get the stuff out of the
vault, and get it copied so it wasn’t lost to the world. I’m trying to figure out if that’s illegal.
Should I fear for my safety that you might need some medical attention? You want to come
up in my vault and you feel like that belongs to you and that’s your purpose? You better find
something to do. That’s scary."

You may not like it, but those are his own words, written in response to her interview with BBC last year. He clearly resented the intrusion.

[Edited 4/24/16 13:05pm]

Wendy and Lisa would be an amzing choice as they have the talent, creativity and expertise to curate the vault.

.

Hopefully if the worldwide distribution of HitNRun 2 proves to be successful, then hopefully the business people will take this opportunity seriously.

.

On another note, didn't Prince say in an interview that the vault already contained two finished albums by the Revolution and one by Vanity 6. So no work would be required.

.

limoncello said:

JudasLChrist said:

Eric had problems getting paid by Prince, and I believe they fought about it. That's what you are probably reading. Also, Prince's forays into Jazz territory were proably not up to Eric's standard. Eric is much more of a heavy hitter in that area than Prince was, but I always understood that Eric respected Prince as a musician.

I've read many of Eric's interviews in which he said he wasn't a fan of Prince's music. There seemed to be no love lost there, but I'd be surprised if he didn't say anything kind in the aftermath of Prince's death so I'm curious to read this statement.

Strange, he was in some of Prince's music. So Eric was only in it for the money

limoncello said:

limoncello said:

I've read many of Eric's interviews in which he said he wasn't a fan of Prince's music.

No you haven't.

JudasLChrist said:

JudasLChrist said:

Susan Rogers -and- Wendy & Lisa to produce, please.. yes.. those 3 are the chosen ones please..

well who am I to know, but they have been there before and can be around again. Making a difference.

I really hope they will and can..... pretty please.... let's pray for that....

paulludvig said:

Have you read Eric Leeds' 'tribute' to Prince. He only talks about himself and his closest friends from that time. Not one word of praise for Prince as a musician.

I'm sorry,but having read the statement, I find that comment pretty absurd.

[Edited 4/24/16 13:16pm]

thedance said:

Susan Rogers -and- Wendy & Lisa to produce, please.. yes.. those 3 are the chosen ones please..

well who am I to know, but they have been there before and can be around again. Making a difference.

I really hope they will and can..... pretty please.... let's pray for that....

I would really like to hear Mark and Matt throw down again on Revolution material, as well. It just needs to be said.

Some guy on MSNBC I think it was Chuck Zwicky? said that he had mixed up to 175 in the vault, songs for prince and they were ready for release.

lazycrockett said:

Eric was actually in the studio with prince most of the time cause Prince couldn't play horns. So from what I gathered in the MSNBC interview. Alan was constantly around, while Wendy, Lisa or Susan was I don't know doing that weird thing like sleep, or eat.

[Edited 4/24/16 11:58am]

[Edited 4/24/16 11:59am]

the creation process Prince was with Susan Lisa & Wendy mostle
Plus Prince had them doing a lot of stuff on the songs

Not to mention Lisa was in studio with Prince longer than all even Susan since 1980 Eric did't come along till 1985. But Madouse music he should be in on. Yet his non chelaunt attitude about Madouse makes me nervous

lol

Eric was given studio time on songs to try to add a sax piece to

I think the 3 Lisa Susan Wendy should be the core and ha

EnDoRpHn said:

I don't really understand why anybody needs to be involved.

If music from the Vault is going to be released, the only task is to clean up the quality of the tapes. It should be an engineer who does it. There is no need to "finish" anything - Prince recorded everything the way he wanted.

limoncello said:

JudasLChrist said:

Eric had problems getting paid by Prince, and I believe they fought about it. That's what you are probably reading. Also, Prince's forays into Jazz territory were proably not up to Eric's standard. Eric is much more of a heavy hitter in that area than Prince was, but I always understood that Eric respected Prince as a musician.

I've read many of Eric's interviews in which he said he wasn't a fan of Prince's music. There seemed to be no love lost there, but I'd be surprised if he didn't say anything kind in the aftermath of Prince's death so I'm curious to read this statement.

I don't think he didn't like Prince music as much as he just wasn't into Prince not being to familiar with him
Mayte wasn't a fan when she met Prince, her mother was.

BanishedBrian said:

I don't really understand why anybody needs to be involved.

If music from the Vault is going to be released, the only task is to clean up the quality of the tapes. It should be an engineer who does it. There is no need to "finish" anything - Prince recorded everything the way he wanted.

IU think putting it together would be the biggest thing

I would hope for actually packaged cds Prince 1977 the Demos
1983 The Purple Rain sessions the Ice Cream Castles sessions Roadhouse garden sessions etc

There are a lot of tracks that were withdrawn from albums at the last moment, you would expect them to be ready for release. There are even albums that were ready and not released.

I have no knowledge about the technical details, but I would agree with the earlier comments 'leave it how he left it'.

Enough tracks to release (only if he wanted it to be released!!).

.

I'm so afraid that tracks finished by others will just not be the real deal, even if it were W&L or whomever.

They must have also changed their musical styles over the years, who says they will still see the '80s track like they did then?

[Edited 4/24/16 13:33pm]

I hope there are enough songs in the vault that aren't all decomposed by now. Many people wanted those tapes transferred to digital but Prince wouldn't allow it. Probably very many are gone with him.

Only one person WILL decide on the Vault and that's Prince.

His WILL will dictate direction.

More from Eric Leeds(http://www.post-gazette.com/ae/music/2016/04/24/Prince-sideman-Eric-Leeds-I-don-t-believe-he-meant-to-grow-old/stories/201604240165):

"Hands down, he’s as remarkable a musician as I can remember ever working with. I would say he's a remarkable musician and on his best day, he was a downright brilliant — not only his instincts but the fact that he had so much music in him he wanted to get out. I'm very grateful that the years I was working with him most closely, from ’84 to ’90, I think those were probably his most creative years, and he was showing a lot of growth in his music. I was lucky to have been there at that time when he was very open to reaching out to other people, including myself and Matt Blisten and Wendy Melvoin and Lisa Coleman. He was very open to the idea of reaching out to others in his music, which I understand he was not prone to do in his early days, and certainly I don't think he did that much in the later years as well. It was just period of time when he realized he was still growing and trying to do a lot of things. He was determined after the success of “Purple Rain” that his next album would be entirely different, and certainly the next album, “Around the World in a Day,” is very, very different, and then came “Parade,” which was the music from “Under the Cherry Moon,” and “Sign of the Times,” which I suspect most critics would look at as perhaps being his high-water mark."

EnDoRpHn said:

paulludvig said:

All of these folks are to self-serving. If they get their hands on the material they will make it look like they wrote everything. They have been able to shape the way we think about Prince's career way to much. Have you read Eric Leeds' 'tribute' to Prince. He only talks about himself and his closest friends from that time. Not one word of praise for Prince as a musician.

Yes I had the same thought. You don't want W&L to be emphasizing the songs that they participated in too much. Maybe get someone impartial to do it, although maybe no one is completely impartial.

BanishedBrian said:

I don't really understand why anybody needs to be involved.

If music from the Vault is going to be released, the only task is to clean up the quality of the tapes. It should be an engineer who does it. There is no need to "finish" anything - Prince recorded everything the way he wanted.

Unreleased tracks and box sets will need mixing, mastering, liner notes etc.

keenly said:

BanishedBrian said:

I don't really understand why anybody needs to be involved.

If music from the Vault is going to be released, the only task is to clean up the quality of the tapes. It should be an engineer who does it. There is no need to "finish" anything - Prince recorded everything the way he wanted.

Unreleased tracks and box sets will need mixing, mastering, liner notes etc.

Sounds like a job for Warner Bros. to me.

paulludvig said:

limoncello said:

Can you post? I've not seen it. I've always read between the lines that Eric Leeds was not a fan of Prince personally, but this is surprising.

Personal tribute from Prince's long-time sax player, the amazing Eric Leeds: 'All right, here we go. Excuse me if this rambles a bit, but what the hell, I'm a tenor player and this is what we do ! Anyone who was really into P's music knew that he was, shall we say "complex". For those of us who worked with him,that was an understatement indeed. It could make things difficult, and at times frustrating, but the adventure was more often than not, worth it. While you're riding a roller coaster, you may know it's not good for you, but when the ride is over, you sure as hell know you've been somewhere ! My task with P was simple. Do whatever he needed me to do to further his musical vision and presentation. You don't really think I WANTED to wear that damn cape, do you ? P's audience on any given night was 12,000 plus. My audience was one ! But within that context was P's "gift" to me. He was ALWAYS generous with the MUSIC. That he thought enough of my playing to have given me so much room to make my noise night after night was as great a compliment as I could receive. And after all the tours, he signed me to his record label, first under the MADHOUSE banner and then under my own name. P often had different ideas about how I should present my music,but at the end of every "discussion" he'd usually just laugh and tell me to go ahead and make some music cause he was gonna dig it anyway. (Did I mention that in addition to rambling I can also sound self-serving ?) But what matters even more are the relationships created because of my involvement with him. First is Paul Peterson, who has become one of my closest musical buddies, both with our group fDeluxe and also with LP Music. And when I needed some piano solos on my first CD "Time's Squared" and asked Prince to do them, he told me the MUSIC needed Ricky Peterson (and he was right !). Trumpeter Matt Blistan (Atlanta Bliss) and I had been playing together for ten years before we ever heard the name Prince. The SMARTEST thing P perhaps ever did was hire Matt. No one had a more musically creative relationship with P than Lisa Coleman and Wendy Melvoin.The band was never the same for me after they left. Susannah Melvoin continues to be one of my closest friends and one of the finest musicians I've worked with. I LOVE adding my two cents to the music she and Paul write. Jellybean Johnson welcomed me into the Family with arms wide open (and he has big arms !). Bobby Z. did me a huge solid by financing my third CD "Now and Again". Matt Fink continues to involve me in various recording projects at his studio. And the band that Sheila E. put together (with help from my brother, Alan), in the mid-90's, E Train, remains one of the hippest bands I ever played with. And, because Prince signed George Clinton to Paisley Park Records, it gave me the opportunity to work with one of my musical heroes. And ,oh yeah, I got to know Miles Davis because of Prince.(Still have a hard time wrapping my arms around THAT). All of this because my brother called me one day and said P is looking for a saxophone player. Now, I'd like to think that even if I had never been involved with P, I would have had an interesting career, but we only have one reality and this is mine. And one other thing, Prince has had a cadre of tremendous horn players in his bands long after I'd moved on. I was fortunate to have been there before the next guys (yeah I mean Mike Nelson and The Hornheads) because there might not have been any reason for me to have been part of it after them. And of course when Maceo Parker (one of my mentors) came aboard, I came back for a minute just to play in a section with him and trombonist Greg Boyer. Very few fans of Prince ever had the opportunity to meet him much less know him. Just keep listening to the music. That's how an artist wants people to know them the best. And while the idea that P is no longer "with us" is still bizarre, I could never imagine him growing old (and I KNOW he couldn't). So in some strange way, perhaps it's only fitting that an artist who we will always think of as young and vital should check out at a relatively young age. Doesn't make it easier to accept right now, but I'm sorry, this cat was not meant to ever be old ! Groove on, P !'

That's a perfectly fitting tribute. One thing I've noticed about some Prince fans is we need to lighten up a bit, jeez.

BanishedBrian said:

keenly said:

Unreleased tracks and box sets will need mixing, mastering, liner notes etc.

Sounds like a job for Warner Bros. to me.

Hell no.

JudasLChrist said:

chewymusic said:

my vote is for Susan Rogers to be involved. She was there, she knows the work.

And I think she has the right idea involving the prominent musisians of the time.

I feel that W+L would treat the material with great care & love.

I liked when George Martin produced the Beatles Anthology releases in the mid-90's. Who better than the guy who recorded the material?

Susan Rogers, Questlove, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, Wendy and Lisa. That's my shortlist of folks who should be on the board of directors for The Vault.

This. Couldn't agree more.

OldFriends4Sale said:

BanishedBrian said:

I don't really understand why anybody needs to be involved.

If music from the Vault is going to be released, the only task is to clean up the quality of the tapes. It should be an engineer who does it. There is no need to "finish" anything - Prince recorded everything the way he wanted.

IU think putting it together would be the biggest thing

I would hope for actually packaged cds Prince 1977 the Demos
1983 The Purple Rain sessions the Ice Cream Castles sessions Roadhouse garden sessions etc

What is needed first are for high quality CDs/mp3s of his albums to be released (as the current CD transfers are terrible), with all the 12" remixes and b-sides included as bonus tracks. That's all something that WB and his estate should be able to do with the use of professional engineers.

Then we get into all the songs that he put into final form - and in many cases previewed to WB in various album configurations - those songs just need to located and cleaned up. (In later years, pristine copies of many things are already in circulation, so there is really no worry if he lost copies, as you can get perfect digital copies from existing boots).

Lastly, we get into songs that he recorded and that only leaked out in poorer quality. The question here is whether he actually kept copies that are now in better condition than what's already circulating. We'll find out... this is where an engineer's input will be most needed. However, I'm skeptical that he kept much of that material to the end... or that if he did, the tapes are still in good enough shape to salvage. We'll see...

BanishedBrian said:

I don't really understand why anybody needs to be involved.

If music from the Vault is going to be released, the only task is to clean up the quality of the tapes. It should be an engineer who does it. There is no need to "finish" anything - Prince recorded everything the way he wanted.

Some of the songs may be unfinished, needing a bassline or whatever, or small errors cleaned up. Possibly multiple takes to go through (say there's 3 takes of the lead vocal, which take should go on the record? Or which are the best of the 3 takes that could be comped together? etc.) In some cases there are several different versions of entire songs. At the very least the songs would need to be mixed and mastered, and that entails more creative decisions (I wouldn't mind if they were mixed and mastered in an 80s style, but they may want to bring them to modern standards with brickwall limiting on the master bus and such - I hope not.)

Personally I'd be happy if the music was simply released in a higher quality form than the boots we have available, rough mix, unmastered and all. But I doubt any major record company would go for that approach.