dystopiandanceparty said:

irreverence said:

I like your writing, thank you for sharing.

But as a true Prince fan I will also start by disagreeing with you

I Spend My Time Loving You is one of my absolute favorite early Prince tracks. So cool, leaned back and mellow. And the fact that it goes on and on may be a problem for some, but for me it just adds to an athmosphere of having all the time in the world. Of spending his time loving someone.

Dissent is welcome! I totally get why you love the song. Honestly, his performance is gorgeous. It's crazy to me that these songs were recorded by someone as young as 17; his voice is phenomenal, not just technically (I'm not a good judge of that anyway) but in terms of already having a personal style. He doesn't really sound like anyone else--certainly no other male singer of his era.

Also the guitar running through it all, his voice following it, then making small licks. The guitar is the song, in many ways.

JudasLChrist said:

AlexHahn said:

I'm wondering if anyone has any information -- or even semi-informed speculation -- about how the recordings in the Anderson basement were created. Four-track cassette recorders were not widely available until about 1979. Four-track reel-to-reel machines were available by 1976, but probably would have cost nearly $1K. That's a lot of money in those days. If Prince and Andre had that kind of money, they probably would have used it for actual studio time. Also, if they had a credible multi-track machine in the basement, why wouldn't they have used it for band recordings?

Is it possible he actually used several standard cassete machines, recording the first performance on one, and then recording that performance on to another while adding vocals? That would explain the terrible fideility. However, some of the cuts which can be streamed on Youtube seem to have stereo panning. How to explain that?

I would love to have more information about the creation of these songs in Anderson basement.

Oh, I think it's pretty obvious he did a soundon sound thing with two tape recorders. I used to do that, too, and the sound is pretty recognisable.

Yeah, I always assumed it was super lo-fi dubbing, but it would be interesting to hear from someone with more authority. I wonder if Andre remembers.

irreverence said:

dystopiandanceparty said:

Dissent is welcome! I totally get why you love the song. Honestly, his performance is gorgeous. It's crazy to me that these songs were recorded by someone as young as 17; his voice is phenomenal, not just technically (I'm not a good judge of that anyway) but in terms of already having a personal style. He doesn't really sound like anyone else--certainly no other male singer of his era.

Also the guitar running through it all, his voice following it, then making small licks. The guitar is the song, in many ways.

Yes! His playing is so fluid and mature for a kid right out of high school. I'm not much of a musician myself, but I kicked around in bands as a kid so I am very familiar with the typical and even above-typical level of teenage guitarists' musicality. Prince played better at 17 than a lot of grown-ass people.

Hi all: I wasn't planning on finishing this until tomorrow, but I got done a day early so what the hell, here it is now. This one's about the instrumental recordings circulating from Moonsound: https://princesongs.org/2...rumentals/

I have to admit I'm really enjoying these.

morningsong said:

I have to admit I'm really enjoying these.

Thank you! Everyone's feedback on here really means a lot--I've been lurking on prince.org for 12 years on and off and have a lot of respect for the community. When I first saw trackbacks from this site I sort of low-key geeked out.

By the way, if anyone is starved for more Prince content, this blog is doing a "Prince Summer" and it's been pretty fun so far: https://andresmusictalk.wordpress.com/ (full disclosure: I'll probably be doing some guest posting there starting soon--I was totally going to recommend it to the group before I found that out, though!).

Not really a new post today, but a roundup of the posts thus far as I clear the deck for For You: https://princesongs.org/2...1975-1976/

If you haven't checked it out yet, this is a convenient time to hop on board.

Thanks for keeping us updated!

This thread could be a good reference source.

Another new post: Soft and Wet

First officially-released song! This is probably my favorite so far...it comes closest to what I initially envisioned, in that it's almost entirely about the song itself. Plus we're lucky enough to have a few early versions circulating, so I got to document the progress. Lots of fun.

I am still reading Zach! I look forward to your blog posts each week, good stuff!

AnnaStesia10 said:

I am still reading Zach! I look forward to your blog posts each week, good stuff!

Thank you!

dystopiandanceparty said:

irreverence said:

Also the guitar running through it all, his voice following it, then making small licks. The guitar is the song, in many ways.

Yes! His playing is so fluid and mature for a kid right out of high school. I'm not much of a musician myself, but I kicked around in bands as a kid so I am very familiar with the typical and even above-typical level of teenage guitarists' musicality. Prince played better at 17 than a lot of grown-ass people.

I don't know when you will get to it, but another great gem that still holds up today is the touching "Leaving for New York" - great melody, great voice, great piano.

Also: "Make It Through the Storm" - good stuff!

[Edited 7/14/16 13:42pm]

irreverence said:

dystopiandanceparty said:

Yes! His playing is so fluid and mature for a kid right out of high school. I'm not much of a musician myself, but I kicked around in bands as a kid so I am very familiar with the typical and even above-typical level of teenage guitarists' musicality. Prince played better at 17 than a lot of grown-ass people.

I don't know when you will get to it, but another great gem that still holds up today is the touching "Leaving for New York" - great melody, great voice, great piano.

Also: "Make It Through the Storm" - good stuff!

[Edited 7/14/16 13:42pm]

Next week!

New post: Leaving for New York

I think I mentioned, this is an earlier recording--I took a little poetic license by using it as a way to talk about the demise of Grand Central/Champagne. I do think there's a little of that being funneled into the song, too; I mean, he just happened to write a song about leaving for New York in the months immediately before he actually left for New York?

Curious to hear what others think of this song. I definitely slept on it for a long time (as I did with most of his 1976 recordings, tbh), and I still think it shows that he was very early in his development as a songwriter. But again, the performance totally carries it. I listened to this in the car the other day and was completely transfixed.

Great blog! everytime I receive an email with an update I head out to it and read the new entry. looking forward to doing that a lot in the future

Freek99999 said:

Great blog! everytime I receive an email with an update I head out to it and read the new entry. looking forward to doing that a lot in the future

That is so gratifying to here! Please, everyone, keep stroking my ego

Good stuff, about if the song Leaving For New York was really about a girlfriend, or about the break up of the band, or a mixture of both, I really cannot tell. You never know with Prince's lyrics unless he straight out and addressed it or someone in this group or inner circle of friends at the time.

+++

Man I was just pondering after reading this recent post that you will have things to write about Prince forever....I mean the extent of his career and the body of his work alone, minus the side projects and protege's. It is unreal!!!

AnnaStesia10 said:

Good stuff, about if the song Leaving For New York was really about a girlfriend, or about the break up of the band, or a mixture of both, I really cannot tell. You never know with Prince's lyrics unless he straight out and addressed it or someone in this group or inner circle of friends at the time.

+++

Man I was just pondering after reading this recent post that you will have things to write about Prince forever....I mean the extent of his career and the body of his work alone, minus the side projects and protege's. It is unreal!!!

Yeah, I've been trying not to think about how long-term a project this will be lol. It's super daunting, but also exciting. But Prince is an artist who really encourages this kind of extended, obsessive engagement; I think it will also be really interesting once I get to the stuff I don't know as well (basically everything post-1989, hahaha). I think I'll learn a lot.

By the way, I've updated the roundup page for pre-For You material with "Leaving for New York," so if anyone is just starting out, here's a good place: https://princesongs.org/2...1975-1976/

What an exciting time to be a writer especially when someone is a fan of Prince. Yes a daunting task, but what a task it is. I think Prince would be proud of your interest and this style of documentation.

I love it! I re-read them I am one of those readers who likes to re-read to absorb it more into my brain. I am learning some things I did not know fully about the early years and I am sure I will find out more items about things I thought I knew.

Peace -

New post: Baby

I look at the weird story Prince told about meeting Danielle Mauroy, a minor producer in NYC, and the song's debt to Philly soul. Also, more facetiously, a brief mention of the guy who for a brief moment maybe kinda sorta seemed like he might be the subject of the song (but not really).

By the way, I just found out that he played this on the Piano and a Microphone Tour. Any recordings floating around? NOT soliciting, to be clear--just want to know if it's worth looking. I'd love to hear this sung by a more mature voice.

Great blog, I am enjoying your writing!!

New post today: Make It Through the Storm

I know I've seen on the org that this song has its fans. I like it fine, but find it kinda...deliberately lightweight? I can definitely see why it didn't make it on either For You or the 1977 press kit/demo...I dunno, what do you all think? Am I being too dismissive?

The Loring Park Sessions were randomly making the rounds on the Internet a month or two ago...pretty interesting stuff, and as I argue, compelling proof that Bobby Z was a better drummer than most give him credit for.

dystopiandanceparty said:

The Loring Park Sessions were randomly making the rounds on the Internet a month or two ago...pretty interesting stuff, and as I argue, compelling proof that Bobby Z was a better drummer than most give him credit for.

Playing instrumental 7 as i speak

I've just started reading this

Therapeutic, thank you

I'm loving it and have signed up for updates - just one thing - I tried to leave a comment on the second instsallment (Sex Machine: Grand Central, etc etc) but it's not showing up...Have I done something wrong?

Dibblekins said:

I'm loving it and have signed up for updates - just one thing - I tried to leave a comment on the second instsallment (Sex Machine: Grand Central, etc etc) but it's not showing up...Have I done something wrong?

Hey there--I'm pretty sure I've taken care of this. I have it set so I have to approve the first comment from a particular user; just trying to avoid spam!

dystopiandanceparty said:

Dibblekins said:

I'm loving it and have signed up for updates - just one thing - I tried to leave a comment on the second instsallment (Sex Machine: Grand Central, etc etc) but it's not showing up...Have I done something wrong?

Hey there--I'm pretty sure I've taken care of this. I have it set so I have to approve the first comment from a particular user; just trying to avoid spam!

Yes, it's fine...I've left a few comments here and there - absolutely LOVING it! This is going to be an undertaking of epic proportions; I am full of admiration for your dedication! Thank you so much!