So he recorded it twice in the same month? That's pretty out of character of him isn't it?

It does makes sense though, the unreleased version doesn't fit the cold, harsh style of the 1999 album overall, it's too warm and jazzy (or faux-jazzy if you prefer).

Nice to see music being discussed here again. My go-to version is the 1984 Birthday Party performance. But, the one that sent chills down my spine was the last time I saw him perform it in 2014...

imprimis said:

CherryMoon57 said:

Ok, so that goes back to my initial understanding that the unreleased version is that of the Kiowa Trail and the album version is the sunset sound one. Unless I am missing something. The other info I was talking about re. the unreleased version with just a mention of an unnamed studio location is the one that appears at the bottom of the page, which I had also copied earlier above.

.

I got confused, and a bit worked up, when someone mentioned the discussions on this forum from the past where the reverse attribution was claimed. PV used to endorse that view. So we are all on the same page now then.

No worries

purplethunder3121 said:

Nice to see music being discussed here again. My go-to version is the 1984 Birthday Party performance. But, the one that sent chills down my spine was the last time I saw him perform it in 2014...

Wow... I'm not surprised, that must have been something.

The unreleased version is my favourite. Can't explain why, I just feel it more.

imprimis said:

[1] I believe the album version, instrumentally, was laid down similarlly to the outtake version, but modified into the Kraftwerk/Gary Numan-esque abstraction through the mixing and revision processes (similar, perhaps, to the 1983 'Irresistible Bitch' and 'When Doves Cry')

.

[2] The 1982 'Strange Relationship' has a lot in common with the outtake SITW(DNC) structurally.

1 - Irresistible Bitch sounds entirely re-recorded to me. Maybe because of the drums. IB is entirely organic drums based, which is odd, after so much Linn on the "1999" album.
The "Linn" Irresistible Bitch/Feel U Up is quite different,
I don't hear any of the gimmicks that made it to the B-sides.

I think he found the musicality of the phrases during the "Linn jam", and then later found the proper sonic mood for each. He found where the words were to fall on the beat, he knew he wanted to express this and this feeling, but the proper emotional and sonic sceneries came afterwards.

I love the jam because it's always fun to hear Prince unabashed when he's working, the way he yells ("Feel U Up!"), and sometimes kicks the mike (SITW(DNC) official: "— Bitch! You think U're special? Well so do I!").

2 - I dunno... :
SR: m7 - 4m7 - 4m7 - m7 (or sometimes live closer to m7 - 4m7 - 6M - 5Maug - m7)
SITW: m7add4 - 6Madd6 - 4/6Madd6 - 6Madd6
...and the choruses are entirely different.

SR is a kind of slow boogie-woogie honky-tonk with a wah-wah bass,
it has a NeilYoungish quality of some kind... A bit Cat Stevens maybe...
the SITW(DNC) outtake is more like Terminator II : the machines have taken control.
It reminds me of Blade Runner. Those early synths pads, they sure had a big fat sound once laid on a big fat multi-track Apex tape. Prince had JBL for monitors at Sunset Sound. No wonder his analog records sound incredible on vintage JBLs.

I love that the same theme, which is basically "women drive me nuts", has transitioned from the hots (Irresistible Bitch/Feel U Up), to the paranoia and the dangers of the open couple (SITW), to an "adult McCartney" love blues: SR is appropriate for Camille, as the song can be interpreted by both genders and it still would work.

"Can't live with U, can't live without U" at the end of SR is tragically funny, beautiful, and tongue-in-cheek. It's discrete, it says "that's what it's all about" in a delicate way, but it's a strong statement.
The 1987 lament from Bono gets older every year, just the "sad cuckold" version of the same theme: "how do you make an open couple work". Of course I'm thinking about Prince's relationship with Vanity.
All the songs we mention come roughly around the same era, right?

Speaking of SR, I just can't help it! That Hammond stabs...

bonatoc said:

imprimis said:

[1] I believe the album version, instrumentally, was laid down similarlly to the outtake version, but modified into the Kraftwerk/Gary Numan-esque abstraction through the mixing and revision processes (similar, perhaps, to the 1983 'Irresistible Bitch' and 'When Doves Cry')

.

[2] The 1982 'Strange Relationship' has a lot in common with the outtake SITW(DNC) structurally.

1 - Irresistible Bitch sounds entirely re-recorded to me. Maybe because of the drums. IB is entirely organic drums based, which is odd, after so much Linn on the "1999" album.
The "Linn" Irresistible Bitch/Feel U Up is quite different,
I don't hear any of the gimmicks that made it to the B-sides.

I think he found the musicality of the phrases during the "Linn jam", and then later found the proper sonic mood for each. He found where the words were to fall on the beat, he knew he wanted to express this and this feeling, but the proper emotional and sonic sceneries came afterwards.

I love the jam because it's always fun to hear Prince unabashed when he's working, the way he yells ("Feel U Up!"), and sometimes kicks the mike (SITW(DNC) official: "— Bitch! You think U're special? Well so do I!").

2 - I dunno... :
SR: m7 - 4m7 - 4m7 - m7 (or sometimes live closer to m7 - 4m7 - 6M - 5Maug - m7)
SITW: m7add4 - 6Madd6 - 4/6Madd6 - 6Madd6
...and the choruses are entirely different.

SR is a kind of slow boogie-woogie honky-tonk with a wah-wah bass,
it has a NeilYoungish quality of some kind... A bit Cat Stevens maybe...
the SITW(DNC) outtake is more like Terminator II : the machines have taken control.
It reminds me of Blade Runner. Those early synths pads, they sure had a big fat sound once laid on a big fat multi-track Apex tape. Prince had JBL for monitors at Sunset Sound. No wonder his analog records sound incredible on vintage JBLs.

I love that the same theme, which is basically "women drive me nuts", has transitioned from the hots (Irresistible Bitch/Feel U Up), to the paranoia and the dangers of the open couple (SITW), to an "adult McCartney" love blues: SR is appropriate for Camille, as the song can be interpreted by both genders and it still would work.

"Can't live with U, can't live without U" at the end of SR is tragically funny, beautiful, and tongue-in-cheek. It's discrete, it says "that's what it's all about" in a delicate way, but it's a strong statement.
The 1987 lament from Bono gets older every year, just the "sad cuckold" version of the same theme: "how do you make an open couple work". Of course I'm thinking about Prince's relationship with Vanity.
All the songs we mention come roughly around the same era, right?

Speaking of SR, I just can't help it! That Hammond stabs...

Ohhh, this is why IB sounds so different from 1999 album and Purple Rain, because of the use of live drums, and indeed this song is much more organic sounding.