What do you guys think are the most important bootlegs in Prince history?

I'm not talking about the best bootlegs, but the most important bootlegs in Prince history.

"Small Club" would have to be the most significant. It was the first soundboard Prince boot with crystal clear sound. The tracklisting was just amazing.

Second off would have to be the 1984 Birthday show at First Avenue. A soundboard of an artist that was about to become the biggest thing on the planet, right before the release of his biggest album.

https://goo.gl/PgYqiO

suomynona said:

https://goo.gl/PgYqiO

If I was asking about the "best bootlegs", I would have posted in that thread.

I'm not.

I would also add the 1981 Dirty Mind NYC show and the Orange Bowl Last PR Show.

I'm going to cover performances, not just bootlegs, because frankly everything not released by him that we have is a bootleg - it's used and redistributed without a network's approval. So I'm using a broader brush here.

Purple Rain pre-show (1983): More than the 1984 birthday show, I think the August 1983 show, where the PR tracks were recorded is a much bigger and important piece of Princestory.

Birthday Rehearsal (Warehouse 1984): Back to the birthday show, what's more signifcant is the Warehouse rehearsal (often wrongly referred to as the basement tape). I think that's where "All Night, All Day" was recorded. The dates are the same, and since Prince taped everything, there's every reason to think that their rehearsal of the song was used as the basis for Jill Jones' album.

Paris 1981: I do agree with bookwomen that the Paris show (more than the NYC show) for Dirty Mind is signficiant. The NYC show is almost identical, but Paris showed him more than trudging through a show with an audience that couldn't have cared less. They were quiet, tame, and indifferent. All this being said mostly, as there were some people cheering and enjoying it - they were the minority. To stand up there and do songs like "Head" shows a lot of balls (which we saw often, unfortunately LOL).

Small Club (1987): I think Small Club is incredibly significant for many reasons. The opening track, the tightness of the band, the professionalism of the musicians, and even his comfort level, telling jokes.

The Flesh: When this leaked in 2014 or 2015, it was something fans had been really waiting for in great quality for a long time. It included a 20 something version of "Junk Music", that was originally around 45 minutes. It was Prince unleashed, experimenting, and was the prelude to the Madhouse project. Its sensibilities can be heard on The Family, and Parade.

The Rebels: While it isn't a favorite album of mine, I do fully recognize it's totally random yet focused music ideology. It was Prince dipping his toes in the rock pool (which he'd done with stuff like "Bambi" or "I'm Yours").

The Undertaker: While Prince was in a state of constant angst for quite a few years in the 90s, it was The Undertaker that had him flat out, musically, giving the record business the middle finger. It wasn't so much lyrically, and had nothing to do with the pseud-storyline. It was a 3-piece that didn't give a fuck about anything. It could have been all instrumental, and the same angst would have been translated.