I'm entirely for the "leave as it is" politics, but there is some stuff that would benefit from additional work. Here's some examples.

The Family album : although the boot sounds nice, I would love to have Prince vocals over the pristine production that is the official release.

Jill Jones "For Love" could be remixed with Prince's vocals set a bit louder, so we get a real duet.

Of course, we need "When Doves Cry" with the bass, just for curiosity, unless the bass track got the "Wally" treatment.

The alternate "Around The World In A Day" (the one with the bass line) needs a final mix.

The whole "Exodus" album with Prince's vocals (if available), and by extension all songs that have been given away, unless the performance is really dull, something that Prince would maybe do intentionally so the singer would not be influenced too much by his interpretation.

Of course we need all the raw versions, but also "finished" or interesting alternatives to the official releases.

In these digital times, it would be possible to release multi-tracks versions, where you can solo or mute any chosen track, Something that I think he did briefly on thedawn.com (or was it love4oneanother.com?). You just need an app to do that. And I volunteer to program it ("I Wonder U" crowd laughings).


I surely hope for Skipper's legacy to fall in hands that would know how to make profits while preserving the integrity of it all.

It's pretty certain that the Vault has lots of innocuous stuff. But the masterpieces, they need the uttermost respect.


As for the concerts, I highly doubt that every live performance is in there. Recording does not mean he kept every single one of them. But it's fair to assume that the outstanding ones are just waiting to ravish our ears and souls.

Oh, and we also need videos, of course. I was stunned to discover just this morning a rather clean video leak of "4 Those Of U On Valium", the 1st avenue SOTT Tour rehearsal.

[Edited 4/28/16 7:56am]

HelFromInfra said:

http://www.newsweek.com/w...ngs-453113 And so it begins... This is way too sad.

"In the emergency court filing Tuesday, Tyka Nelson asked a Minnesota court to appoint Bremer Trust, a Minneapolis-based wealth management firm that had handled Prince’s finances for many years, as special administrator of Prince’s estate. An organization well-equipped to oversee the star’s finances seems a smart way to proceed."

.

That's a great thing to do, they have handled his finances and know how he worked. The thing that is crazy is that they have drilled into the vault. I dunno about this, but taking an inventory of his items is just for monetary goods right? They aren't going to count any of the music in there are they?

[Edited 4/28/16 7:56am]

bonatoc said:

..
In these digital times, it would be possible to release multi-tracks versions, where you can solo or mute any chosen track, Something that I think he did briefly on thedawn.com (or was it love4oneanother.com?). You just need an app to do that. And I volunteer to program it.
..

That will never happen. People would rip the vocals only and tracks for their own use eg, dance remixes. I can't see that ever happening, it would be good though.

FormerlyAsKnown said:

bonatoc said:

..
In these digital times, it would be possible to release multi-tracks versions, where you can solo or mute any chosen track, Something that I think he did briefly on thedawn.com (or was it love4oneanother.com?). You just need an app to do that. And I volunteer to program it ("I Wonder U" crowd laughings).
..

That will never happen. People would rip the vocals only and tracks for their own use eg, dance remixes. I can't see that ever happening, it would be good though.

That wouldn't hurt sales. Quite the contrary.
Commercially, it wouldn't be such a stupid move.

IstenSzek said:

On his unreleased music:

I've never said this before, but I didn't always give the record companies the best song. There are songs in the vault that no one's ever heard. There are several vaults; it's not just one vault.

Are there full unreleased albums?

Yeah, I like time capsule stuff. I have a couple Revolution albums in the vault and two Time albums, one Vanity 6 album … and tons of stuff recorded in different periods. But so much gets recorded that you don't have time to compile everything. In the future you could put all the best stuff from one particular time period together and then you can release it. It'd just be like if we found a Sly and the Family Stone album and they saved their best stuff. If that's even possible!



from the 2014 rolling stone interview:

http://www.rollingstone.c...e-20160422

His response to the MJ question was eerie; he must've known his death was coming.

On Michael Jackson:
I don't want to talk about it. I'm too close to it.

HatrinaHaterwitz said:

"The decisive moment had arrived. With trembling hands I made a tiny breach in the upper left hand corner. Darkness and blank space, as far as an iron testing-rod could reach, showed that whatever lay beyond was empty, and not filled like the passage we had just cleared. Candle tests were applied as a precaution against possible foul gases, and then, widening the hole a little, I inserted the candle and peered in, Lord Carnarvon, Lady Evelyn [Lord Carnarvon's daughter] and Callender [an assistant] standing anxiously beside me to hear the verdict. At first I could see nothing, the hot air escaping from the chamber causing the candle flame to flicker, but presently, as my eyes grew accustomed to the light, details of the room within emerged slowly from the mist, strange animals, statues, and gold - everywhere the glint of gold. For the moment - an eternity it must have seemed to the others standing by - I was struck dumb with amazement, and when Lord Carnarvon, unable to stand the suspense any longer, inquired anxiously, 'Can you see anything?' it was all I could do to get out the words, 'Yes, wonderful things.' "

The results will be unsealed following any criminal proceedings or 180 days from the April 28 filing, whichever occurs first. October 25th we can finally find out whats in those vaults

This clearly sounds like he DID want his vault material to be released, and maybe even released as it is, without messing with the lyrics or music. And it seems that a lot of material is ready to be released.

So...we don´t really have to feel bad about wanting vault stuff.

I am a bit worried that the vault material will not be managed by the right people. I think a long term project like this needs some involvement from ex-bandmembers and contributors such as Wendy and Lisa, Susan Rogers to some extent (though I would´t really know what her job would be since most of the engineering work seems to be done), and of course some long time fans with vast knowledge about his body of work. I´m thinking of Langebleue, Boris, also people from the Uptown team, Per Nilsen etc.

I am also worried that many of the tapes have deteriorated. They were already in dire need of baking and digitalizing them in 1996 when HM Buff was still working at Paisley. And he said back then that Prince did not really care about that. On the other hand Prince has used old songs for samples, so I am not sure to what extent HM Buff was right.

-

The current folks who are talking in the media don´t strike me as the right people to be trusted with taking care of such a huge amount of material. I don´t care who profits from the vault financially, I don´t mind the family members getting the money and Paisley or Sheila E ...but most of the people I saw being interviewed in the media since Prince passed away simply don´t seem to know much about his music.

I remember when Larry Graham became part of Prince´s camp and he wasn´t even remotely familiar with Prince´s music.

IstenSzek said:

On his unreleased music:

I've never said this before, but I didn't always give the record companies the best song. There are songs in the vault that no one's ever heard. There are several vaults; it's not just one vault.

Are there full unreleased albums?

Yeah, I like time capsule stuff. I have a couple Revolution albums in the vault and two Time albums, one Vanity 6 album … and tons of stuff recorded in different periods. But so much gets recorded that you don't have time to compile everything. In the future you could put all the best stuff from one particular time period together and then you can release it. It'd just be like if we found a Sly and the Family Stone album and they saved their best stuff. If that's even possible!



from the 2014 rolling stone interview:

http://www.rollingstone.c...e-20160422

Locksmith Drills Into Secret Vault at Paisley Park!

Do you think Prince was only one that had the Codes to the vault???

It was just on the ABC evening news. Nothing reported about what's inside, but that the bank was having it drilled open. They showed a quick shot of a blueprint, where one section says "TAPE VAULT B9" Tape Storage was B8. Storage B7, etc. The B stands for Basement level.

.

They touched on the DEA being involved, and a snip of Sheila saying he'd damaged his body over the years jumping off risers with heels on.

tahirih said:

The results will be unsealed following any criminal proceedings or 180 days from the April 28 filing, whichever occurs first. October 25th we can finally find out whats in those vaults

No, the warrant has nothing to do with the inventory Bremer is taking of the Vault.

He had to have some DATs....

Regardless of whether Prince wanted his music to see the light of day, Rogers believes there should be a debate. "Maybe the artist is not thinking clearly about his legacy; there's a moral issue there and it's something we should be talking about."

This makes me cringe. Prince's choices were never a Susan Rogers concern and calling it a 'moral' issue is inflated. Clean drinking water is a moral issue. Susan Rogers getting to hear unreleased Prince tunes is a first world problem.

Astasheiks said:

Do you think Prince was only one that had the Codes to the vault???

I would have expected Kirky J to have them too.

They say there are several dozen unreleased tracks. I was expecting more. I think Id rather them released slowly so we dont have a big gluttonous feast and then it is all over forever.

beatriceau said:

Given the bullshit tabloid nature of a website called ALLHIPHOP.COM, take this news with a grain of salt.

According to their sources, Prince has 2-3 full albums with Stevie Wonder and 1-2 albums with Miles Davis.

That is all.

Love you to the soul that was Prince...wherever you are in the universe.

Peace and love in the life of all Prince.orgers.

mynameisnotsusan said:

beatriceau said:

They say there are several dozen unreleased tracks. I was expecting more. I think Id rather them released slowly so we dont have a big gluttonous feast and then it is all over forever.

Please. With very little effort I can find hundreds of leaked unreleased tracks online. And that will be a small tip of the iceberg.

Just because you or I have access to a song doesn't mean that particular song is still in the vault. I will wait for the truth, but what if Prince destroyed everything which leaked?!

Hi, everyone. Am finally able to post. Still finding it hard to cope with the tragic loss. Was reading all about the Vault drilling (a dreadful thought, really) and suddenly realized something: could there be a video will there, since Prince did not trust contracts of any sort?

1p1p1i3 said:

I think they should dump the lot, wikileaks style, straight onto the Web. In whatever state it is in. Of course, while there's money to be made, it'll be "managed".

That would have been great. People could pore over the material for years.

TheEnglishGent said:

With no will to the contrary, the Vault will come out. It's only a matter of time. It's a simple matter of economics. There is too much $$$$ to be made for all involved.