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Reply #30 posted 05/01/17 1:07pm

Doozer

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I would hope that even Prince would answer "it's a lot of work, but it's worth it for the musical freedom it affords me." There was a price to pay for having that type of a facility on notice at any moment to be ready to record, rehearse, produce clothing, etc., but that's what he wanted. Had it been too hard to overcome, I think we would have seen a selloff or more renting of the facilities in later years. Prince knew he could tour the hits whenever he wanted to make up for any financial shortcomings he had. He always had a way of overcoming financial strees, and he was fortunate that doing so involved doing what he loved most: playing live.

Who knows what type of collateral was put up to get PP built, but if you think of it in terms of a home loan in the US, which averages 30 years, it could have been paid off by 2018 had there been no refinancing involved.

Check out The Mountains and the Sea, a Prince podcast by yours truly and my wife. More info at https://www.facebook.com/TMATSPodcast/
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Reply #31 posted 05/01/17 1:22pm

NME01

Great topic, and obviously there's no real correct answer.

I can't help but feel PP was the start of a huge change for Prince. Within a few years of PP opening he would fire his management, make an ill-advised movie, face huge financial strains, and ultimately sign 'that' WB deal which was all about money, not creative freedom.

If he had put good management in place to run PP commercially, then perhaps it would have been a best of both worlds scenario. I cannot imagine how much money he had to sink into that place.
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Reply #32 posted 05/01/17 3:09pm

bibrose

laurarichardson said:

chaocracy said:

Being at Paisley quite a bit before he passed away I was surprised how run down things were when you looked close. Old lamps from Target in the 90's on stage, ancient furniture and carpet, broken down video projectors, the egg just sitting empty and unfinished. Then after he died going in the atrium on the tour everything just looked very stuck early 90's and not updated. I just don't think he cared anymore or only cared about the music. Having to fix it up meant having to deal with people which he didn't want to do.

As far as going someplace to work vs working in your home the musician Nick Cave gets dressed for work each day in a suit and goes to what looks like a regular office to write music. he says if he did it from home he wouldn't get anything done and it forces you to work going somewhere. Maybe walking down to the studio was that for Prince.

He was going to have to put money into it to turn it into a museum some renovations just to meet zoning rules. After all it was more about the acoustics and equiptment then living space.

Did working from home (PP) hurt or help his music? I would say that it gave him the freedom to shut out the world and indulge in his passion surrounded by creative talent that he enjoyed having jam sessions with, and withdrawing to create new music when he needed to withdraw. All the artistes who visited or worked at PP spoke very highly of the creative energy that permeated the place.

I would say PP was a place that P loved very much but the overhead costs must have been high. Randy Phillips said: "He had huge overhead. Paisley Park was $2.5 million a month. It didn't make sense to have all those studios and that soundstage. It was never profitable."

The advantage that P had is that he did not mind touring (MJ hated touring with a passion) -- so he could always arrange and go on a tour to raise whatever money he needed. Apparently, during the recent celebration part of the ceiling fell off during a performance. This may be an indication that PP needs extensive repairs.

The thing that struck me when P's assets were listed is that he had a lot of long-term assets (buildings, vehicles, and equipment) but not a lot of cash (the gold bars were estimated at less than $1.0 million). Prior to his passing, P had a renovation project undertaken for the PAAM concerts.

Another thing that he has not been discussed a lot is that some of P's Minnesota properties went into foreclosure in 2011 and he paid the relevant property taxes and took the properties off the foreclosure list in 2013. There is the tendency for people to assume that P had a lot of cash when in reality things were not always so smooth sailing for him. People who complain that he was not generous with his ex-wives do not realize that perhaps, he did the best that he could under his circumstances for both ex-wives with whatever he could afford at the time.

I hope that PP is able to generate sufficient revenues to survive. To hedge against the risk of PP folding up business and shutting down, I hope that the heirs will consider reviving P's charity in his name so that it can be used to continue his philantropy work. The irony is that each of the heirs can now use P's wealth to establish their own charities while there is no functioning charity for P himself.

Here are some relevant links:

http://www.billboard.com/...ect-design

http://www.rollingstone.c...y-20160505

http://www.citypages.com/...re-6621826

http://www.startribune.co...120478049/

“The world as we have created it is a process of our thinking. It cannot be changed without changing our thinking.” – Albert Einstein
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Reply #33 posted 05/01/17 3:18pm

rdhull

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bibrose said:

The advantage that P had is that he did not mind touring (MJ hated touring with a passion) -- so he could always arrange and go on a tour to raise whatever money he needed.

He did? How do you/we know?

Touring is a grueling affair and logistical nightmare. He was pushing 60. There's a difference in liking to perform live and touring.

The upkeep of the Park seems like it forced him into touring in the past (Nude tour , Emancipation tour etc).

"Climb in my fur."
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Reply #34 posted 05/01/17 3:27pm

purplepoppy

"Pushing 60" is different when you get there. You'll see (lord willing and the crick don't rise). Some things are actually easier, some aren't. People project a lot.

[Edited 5/1/17 15:32pm]

Brand new boogie without the hero.
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Reply #35 posted 05/01/17 3:28pm

rdhull

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purplepoppy said:

"Pushing 60" is different when you get there. You'll see if you get there. Some things are actually easier, some aren't. People assume a lot.

Find me a musician in the world who says touring is easier at near 60 then when they were 20-25.

"Climb in my fur."
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Reply #36 posted 05/01/17 3:32pm

NorthC

Prince didn't really tour an awul lot in his later years. I saw him in 2010 and when I saw the tour dates, it was something like one concert per week. The last real European tour was in 2011 and it was in July-August. Same for the tours in 2012. And then with 3EG it wad mostly Hit & Run gigs in small theaters. So he didn't really do big tours in his later years. He surely was no BB King, who played concerts year-round until his death!
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Reply #37 posted 05/01/17 3:33pm

rdhull

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HerecomethePurpleYoda said:

It IS a blessing!

+ if not, there wouldn't b a place 4 parties, celebrations, museum, etc.

So count ur blessings.

That was a blessing for the fans. And maybe to some extent, having the ability to throw a few celebrations and parites throughout the years may have been a blessing to him as a way to interact with his audience in a personal way.

But overall? And did it change things: they way he directed his career?

"Climb in my fur."
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Reply #38 posted 05/01/17 3:34pm

rdhull

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NorthC said:

Oh yeah, I often thought about this, how building his own studio influenced the man and his music. All those great 1980s albums were made BEFORE Paisley Park opened. It's one thing to record in your basement studio, but quite another to have a multi million dollar complex with staff and all. It became a business. And that's why Prince made commercial records like Batman and Diamonds & Pearls. He needed the money if he wanted to keep the place running. And that's why he signed that $ 100,000,000 contract with WB. Also with your own studio, it's easier to lock yourself up in your own world. And that's why Prince's music didn't really move forward from the late 80s. Being a fantastic musician and having a fantastic studio doesn't automatically lead to great songwriting. You need to get out into the world to find something to write about.

you wanna get married?

"Climb in my fur."
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Reply #39 posted 05/01/17 3:35pm

NorthC

rdhull said:



purplepoppy said:


"Pushing 60" is different when you get there. You'll see if you get there. Some things are actually easier, some aren't. People assume a lot.




Find me a musician in the world who says touring is easier at near 60 then when they were 20-25.


In a recent interview, Bob Dylan said that he doesn't find touring as hard as he used to. wink
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Reply #40 posted 05/01/17 3:35pm

purplepoppy

rdhull said:

purplepoppy said:

"Pushing 60" is different when you get there. You'll see (lord willing and the crick don't rise). Some things are actually easier, some aren't. People assume a lot.

Find me a musician in the world who says touring is easier at near 60 then when they were 20-25.


I didn't say it wasn't different. Why ask the question if you already know the answer? How old are you?

[Edited 5/1/17 16:12pm]

Brand new boogie without the hero.
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Reply #41 posted 05/01/17 3:36pm

rdhull

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paulludvig said:

Hard to say because we don't know what he kept in the vault from the 90's and onwards. Maybe it affected his choices when it came to releasing music, but not so much what he recorded?

True. Im sure he has many non commercial recordings.

But when you become a fatcat with responsibilities, you also change.

I remember being shocked watching the special olympics with him singing Diamonds n Pearls. I was like "Things done changed."

.

[Edited 5/1/17 16:01pm]

"Climb in my fur."
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Reply #42 posted 05/01/17 3:40pm

PeteSilas

rdhull said:

1Sasha said:

I think it simply cost so much money to maintain - money that wasn't rolling in the past 12 years or so after Musicology - that he may have decided to let some things slide in terms of building maintenance. We know that he operated the complex with a very small staff, and had eliminated security by 2016. He owned real estate other than PP which he kept, rather than selling to be able to pay to maintain PP at the highest level. Part of me thinks he just didn't care anymore.

But did it effect the music. Did he make the mainstream, basic, too accessible Diamonds n Pearls album because he need a hit and money just to keep PP afloat etc?

I mean without that behemoth complex, he was relatively a free man (in Paris..and more ). No ties to have to do something and be somewhere to have it running.

Would he created some thkngs that were not for mass appeal? Like Beautiful Strange type of sounds?

.

[Edited 5/1/17 9:14am]

Prince worked around the clock on so many different facets of music that I could see the use for paisley, he performed whenever he wanted to too, music was his life. I think it was more a two edeged sword than anything. He could record whenever he wanted, as long as he wanted, whatever he wanted, with privacy. That's the other thing, if he didn't own a studio, motherfuckers would be coming and going, and meddling and interfering with the process.

the thing I would do different if it was me instead of prince, I wouldn't have nowhere near the staff, nowhere near the space, nowhere near the expenses. I mean, do you really need a wardrobe department? He had hairstylists, tailors, and a lot of people he didn't even know running around the park doing god knows what for him.

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Reply #43 posted 05/01/17 3:40pm

rdhull

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1725topp said:

rdhull said:

On the famed New Years Eve 87 boot where Miles Davis is a guest star, Prince states at the beginning the ups and downs fiscally of the Park/Label. Seems like even THEN it was something to be reckoned with. I wonder how many tours and albums as one offs were completed just to keep that place running. And what his music and such would have been like sans having the Park as something that needed continual attention to keep it afloat.

There is something to be said (yeah? what?) about travelling to other studios and the ambiance of the city that studio is n, making do with what's available and not. Having everything there at your whim, like PP, did it influence the music? Anyone ever work from home for a spell? Theres a difference in your work practive when you have all day, in your own home, draws, hair uncombed etc.

Was PP an albatross around his neck or was it a blessing? both?

*

Being completely subjective in my answer, as it relates to working in one's personal space or in an "office" or "official work" space, I think this has more to do with one's personality. As a poet and short story writer, I'm more productive at home. I don't like writing at the coffee shop, the park, the mall, on the airplane, or any of those places. And, as a teacher, I even like grading papers at home. When I'm grading papers on campus, there are, of course, students who want to conference and even other faculty who just like to stick their heads in my office door just for the hell of it. But, at home, I'm completely alone to think, read, and write. Often, I must set a timer to remind myself when it's time for lunch and dinner. And, I know I shouldn't admit this, but I've even gotten irritated when my wife has arrived home from work, especially if I'm working on something in which I'm completely engrossed and she wants to "talk," God help me. (It takes everything in my power not to scream at the top of my lungs, “No, I’m not remotely interested in what your coworker said today about the new vacation policy!”) Additionally, the writer Ernest Gaines wrote all of his most noted works in the same room of the same house over a period of twenty years. In fact, when he moved from Louisiana to California, he found that he could not be as productive in his new space as he was in his old space. So, I guess it depends one one's particular personality. But, I, for one, love working alone at home.

I feel you 100% on all aspects, including being in something , being sinspired, and someone trying to talk to you when youre in "the zone lol.

But Ive read countless stories from musicians about recording here, there, and everywhere, and how it effected the song, the singing...the attitude. Thats rock n roll baby. Having your own private Xanadu where Kubla Khan decreed...has to also have an effect. How?..........

"Climb in my fur."
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Reply #44 posted 05/01/17 3:47pm

rdhull

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Se7en said:

chaocracy said:

Being at Paisley quite a bit before he passed away I was surprised how run down things were when you looked close. Old lamps from Target in the 90's on stage, ancient furniture and carpet, broken down video projectors, the egg just sitting empty and unfinished. Then after he died going in the atrium on the tour everything just looked very stuck early 90's and not updated. I just don't think he cared anymore or only cared about the music. Having to fix it up meant having to deal with people which he didn't want to do.

As far as going someplace to work vs working in your home the musician Nick Cave gets dressed for work each day in a suit and goes to what looks like a regular office to write music. he says if he did it from home he wouldn't get anything done and it forces you to work going somewhere. Maybe walking down to the studio was that for Prince.


If you watch the documentary "Sound City" byt Dave Grohl, the studio complex itself was a complete piece of shit. I mean, people would literally piss in the corners (according to stories in the interviews).

Didn't matter what it looked like, or smelled like, just mattered what it sounded like . . . which according to everyone involved it had damn-near perfect acoustics for recording music.

Paisley Park is obviously much better off in shape than Sound City was at the end, and it seems like there will be updates now that it's being professionally maintained as a museum (new carpet, paint, repairs, etc).

Im sure there were different intnesities of those playing CBGB and then later Radio City music Hall.

"Climb in my fur."
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Reply #45 posted 05/01/17 3:51pm

bibrose

NorthC said:

Prince didn't really tour an awul lot in his later years. I saw him in 2010 and when I saw the tour dates, it was something like one concert per week. The last real European tour was in 2011 and it was in July-August. Same for the tours in 2012. And then with 3EG it wad mostly Hit & Run gigs in small theaters. So he didn't really do big tours in his later years. He surely was no BB King, who played concerts year-round until his death!

I did not intend to give the impression that touring is something P loved. I said he "did not mind" touring. He was not well but still continued the PAAM concerts. Tours are something he could do to generate a lot of cash in a short time because he was not selling a lot of CDs, and did not have a large presence in the online music sites like Spotify which pay a pittance anyway.

Prince Vault did not list a lot of tours for 2012 and 2014 and no tours were listed for 2015. Although he did perform in concerts that were not recorded. He seemed to have performed mostly one-off concerts from 2012 through 2015.

http://princevault.com/in...urs_(2010)


http://princevault.com/in...Tes_(2010)

“The world as we have created it is a process of our thinking. It cannot be changed without changing our thinking.” – Albert Einstein
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Reply #46 posted 05/01/17 3:52pm

rdhull

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tab32792 said:

Idk. On one hand I think so but at the same time he was recording most music pre 87 in his basement lol also saying the music didn't move forward post 80's isn't a fair assessment at all. There was plenty of great music since. It was just different. That's personal opinion tho. Most artists are defined by album 3. By Batman he was pretty much defined. That's like 11 years of greatness for himself AND other people. So would you think he'd not be burnt out? Even still. He kept going even til the end.

I never said the music didnt move forward. I asked of PP albatross could have effected the music, the writing, the everything.

Hell yeah the music was different. What would Lovesexy have been made in a basement of a mansion, or studio in NY, LA, and elsewhere?

"Climb in my fur."
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Reply #47 posted 05/01/17 3:54pm

rogifan

PeteSilas said:



rdhull said:




1Sasha said:


I think it simply cost so much money to maintain - money that wasn't rolling in the past 12 years or so after Musicology - that he may have decided to let some things slide in terms of building maintenance. We know that he operated the complex with a very small staff, and had eliminated security by 2016. He owned real estate other than PP which he kept, rather than selling to be able to pay to maintain PP at the highest level. Part of me thinks he just didn't care anymore.





But did it effect the music. Did he make the mainstream, basic, too accessible Diamonds n Pearls album because he need a hit and money just to keep PP afloat etc?



I mean without that behemoth complex, he was relatively a free man (in Paris..and more ). No ties to have to do something and be somewhere to have it running.



Would he created some thkngs that were not for mass appeal? Like Beautiful Strange type of sounds?



.


[Edited 5/1/17 9:14am]



Prince worked around the clock on so many different facets of music that I could see the use for paisley, he performed whenever he wanted to too, music was his life. I think it was more a two edeged sword than anything. He could record whenever he wanted, as long as he wanted, whatever he wanted, with privacy. That's the other thing, if he didn't own a studio, motherfuckers would be coming and going, and meddling and interfering with the process.


the thing I would do different if it was me instead of prince, I wouldn't have nowhere near the staff, nowhere near the space, nowhere near the expenses. I mean, do you really need a wardrobe department? He had hairstylists, tailors, and a lot of people he didn't even know running around the park doing god knows what for him.


How long did that last though? Seems like by the mid 90s a lot of that didn't exist anymore. And then of course for a few years in the mid 2000s he lived in LA.
Paisley Park is in your heart
#PrinceForever 💜
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Reply #48 posted 05/01/17 3:58pm

rdhull

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namepeace said:

great question from one of the originals, rdhull.

But I say when all plusses and minuses are considered, no.

The arguments financial/logistical burdens and missed creative opportunities are valid.

But at the end of it all, Prince considered Paisley Park an extension of himself.

He leveraged his superstardom to have his own label and own complex for that reason. This sounds a bit sanguine, but he poured his resources into it because he'd poured himself into it.




Maybe this is the gist of it all? That it was him form the git go..even before he hd it built from WB with the PR money. Like that was a goal inside of the ure artist. Having one's own mecca to create. I remember wondering why Michael never did anything like this before? Yes, he was about the biz, negotiating the beales catalogue, nevermind the bullocks of artistry. Prince was almost opposite. He fought and worried about the art (while yes still being about the biz).

And your comment about putting himself into it is not the least bit sanguine. Its seems like the truth. Why it took me so long to realize that part makes me feel like I still did not get Prince like most of yall do/did even after all these years.

"Climb in my fur."
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Reply #49 posted 05/01/17 4:04pm

PeteSilas

1725topp said:

rdhull said:

On the famed New Years Eve 87 boot where Miles Davis is a guest star, Prince states at the beginning the ups and downs fiscally of the Park/Label. Seems like even THEN it was something to be reckoned with. I wonder how many tours and albums as one offs were completed just to keep that place running. And what his music and such would have been like sans having the Park as something that needed continual attention to keep it afloat.

There is something to be said (yeah? what?) about travelling to other studios and the ambiance of the city that studio is n, making do with what's available and not. Having everything there at your whim, like PP, did it influence the music? Anyone ever work from home for a spell? Theres a difference in your work practive when you have all day, in your own home, draws, hair uncombed etc.

Was PP an albatross around his neck or was it a blessing? both?

*

Being completely subjective in my answer, as it relates to working in one's personal space or in an "office" or "official work" space, I think this has more to do with one's personality. As a poet and short story writer, I'm more productive at home. I don't like writing at the coffee shop, the park, the mall, on the airplane, or any of those places. And, as a teacher, I even like grading papers at home. When I'm grading papers on campus, there are, of course, students who want to conference and even other faculty who just like to stick their heads in my office door just for the hell of it. But, at home, I'm completely alone to think, read, and write. Often, I must set a timer to remind myself when it's time for lunch and dinner. And, I know I shouldn't admit this, but I've even gotten irritated when my wife has arrived home from work, especially if I'm working on something in which I'm completely engrossed and she wants to "talk," God help me. (It takes everything in my power not to scream at the top of my lungs, “No, I’m not remotely interested in what your coworker said today about the new vacation policy!”) Additionally, the writer Ernest Gaines wrote all of his most noted works in the same room of the same house over a period of twenty years. In fact, when he moved from Louisiana to California, he found that he could not be as productive in his new space as he was in his old space. So, I guess it depends one one's particular personality. But, I, for one, love working alone at home.

that's pretty funny, i have the same experience when i'm practicing or working on music. To begin with, i've never been a social person, i don't like people very much and music is a very private and even selfish endeavor. The hardest part for me, today, is just keeping the world back. I'm exhausted by it and it's the first thing that comes to mind when I think "i've got to go practice(compose,write, whatever)" the world and the people in it are not very sympathetic to artists. They resent them, want to make them just like everyone else,even hate them. A poet, ee cummings even had a quote about that, how you're working against a world that is going nonstop to make you like everyone else. It's exhausting, and I've been doing it for 30 years, so I can see that Prince, more or less, did the right thing.

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Reply #50 posted 05/01/17 4:13pm

PeteSilas

rdhull said:

purplepoppy said:

"Pushing 60" is different when you get there. You'll see if you get there. Some things are actually easier, some aren't. People assume a lot.

Find me a musician in the world who says touring is easier at near 60 then when they were 20-25.

springsteen would probably say so, touring is a lot harder depending on what stage you're in. a 20 year old springsteen who had to sleep in a truck bed would probably say it's easier today with everything at his beck and call. but yes, there is something to be said for youth.

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Reply #51 posted 05/01/17 4:16pm

PeteSilas

NorthC said:

Prince didn't really tour an awul lot in his later years. I saw him in 2010 and when I saw the tour dates, it was something like one concert per week. The last real European tour was in 2011 and it was in July-August. Same for the tours in 2012. And then with 3EG it wad mostly Hit & Run gigs in small theaters. So he didn't really do big tours in his later years. He surely was no BB King, who played concerts year-round until his death!

on that note, i once told my cousin how much of a pain in the ass it was to travel to alaska to see family, she then told me she saw bb king getting off a plane from alaska as she was getting on and how much older than me he was. but....i'm not rich, i don't make money travelling, a job won't let you travel whenever you want to. Coming up with a couple grand to travel is stupid to me but my cousins always think i should do it, i told them no more a couple years ago.

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Reply #52 posted 05/01/17 4:40pm

1725topp

rdhull said:

1725topp said:

*

Being completely subjective in my answer, as it relates to working in one's personal space or in an "office" or "official work" space, I think this has more to do with one's personality. As a poet and short story writer, I'm more productive at home. I don't like writing at the coffee shop, the park, the mall, on the airplane, or any of those places. And, as a teacher, I even like grading papers at home. When I'm grading papers on campus, there are, of course, students who want to conference and even other faculty who just like to stick their heads in my office door just for the hell of it. But, at home, I'm completely alone to think, read, and write. Often, I must set a timer to remind myself when it's time for lunch and dinner. And, I know I shouldn't admit this, but I've even gotten irritated when my wife has arrived home from work, especially if I'm working on something in which I'm completely engrossed and she wants to "talk," God help me. (It takes everything in my power not to scream at the top of my lungs, “No, I’m not remotely interested in what your coworker said today about the new vacation policy!”) Additionally, the writer Ernest Gaines wrote all of his most noted works in the same room of the same house over a period of twenty years. In fact, when he moved from Louisiana to California, he found that he could not be as productive in his new space as he was in his old space. So, I guess it depends one one's particular personality. But, I, for one, love working alone at home.

I feel you 100% on all aspects, including being in something , being sinspired, and someone trying to talk to you when youre in "the zone lol.

But Ive read countless stories from musicians about recording here, there, and everywhere, and how it effected the song, the singing...the attitude. Thats rock n roll baby. Having your own private Xanadu where Kubla Khan decreed...has to also have an effect. How?..........

*

Yeah, no doubt it's a balance of the private sanctuary and communal engagement. The writer James Baldwin swung between the extremes of needing twelve hours of isolation and twelve hours of wild raging parties. He needed the contact of people to be inspired, but he needed the isolation to create/produce/finish what his societal engagement had given him. It's also like PeteSilas asserted that artists are trying to swim in the waters while not getting drowned by the currents, especially when it seems that artists are always, somehow, swimming against the communal current. But, I definitely get your point as well that inspiration is everywhere, and what we create can be changed/transformed or just inspired by being in a new place or having a new experience. Yet, for some of us, we may get inspiration from many places/endeavors, but we need that safe space in which to create. And, I guess the ultimate question is: "Is too much of a good thing a bad thing?" And, of course, it can be. As much as I complain about my wife's "intrusions," especially when she keeps bringing other people's children to our home, I am thankful, begrudgingly but thankful nonetheless, that she keeps me grounded and connected to what's happening beyond my four walls. I'll have to admit that at least two of my published poems and one of my published short stories were inspired by issues that she shared with me. Still, I don't need to know everything that her coworker said about every new workplace policy.

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Reply #53 posted 05/01/17 4:42pm

1725topp

PeteSilas said:

1725topp said:

*

Being completely subjective in my answer, as it relates to working in one's personal space or in an "office" or "official work" space, I think this has more to do with one's personality. As a poet and short story writer, I'm more productive at home. I don't like writing at the coffee shop, the park, the mall, on the airplane, or any of those places. And, as a teacher, I even like grading papers at home. When I'm grading papers on campus, there are, of course, students who want to conference and even other faculty who just like to stick their heads in my office door just for the hell of it. But, at home, I'm completely alone to think, read, and write. Often, I must set a timer to remind myself when it's time for lunch and dinner. And, I know I shouldn't admit this, but I've even gotten irritated when my wife has arrived home from work, especially if I'm working on something in which I'm completely engrossed and she wants to "talk," God help me. (It takes everything in my power not to scream at the top of my lungs, “No, I’m not remotely interested in what your coworker said today about the new vacation policy!”) Additionally, the writer Ernest Gaines wrote all of his most noted works in the same room of the same house over a period of twenty years. In fact, when he moved from Louisiana to California, he found that he could not be as productive in his new space as he was in his old space. So, I guess it depends one one's particular personality. But, I, for one, love working alone at home.

that's pretty funny, i have the same experience when i'm practicing or working on music. To begin with, i've never been a social person, i don't like people very much and music is a very private and even selfish endeavor. The hardest part for me, today, is just keeping the world back. I'm exhausted by it and it's the first thing that comes to mind when I think "i've got to go practice(compose,write, whatever)" the world and the people in it are not very sympathetic to artists. They resent them, want to make them just like everyone else,even hate them. A poet, ee cummings even had a quote about that, how you're working against a world that is going nonstop to make you like everyone else. It's exhausting, and I've been doing it for 30 years, so I can see that Prince, more or less, did the right thing.

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I am a self-described misanthrope who often finds most other people’s company a bother. I have grown to accept that I like books, records, and films more than I like people. Yet, I accept that I need people because they give me something to write. And, I’ll give my wife this credit. At least she’s not one of those folks who think that a concert or a film is a proper time to have a conversation or take a damn selfie. Who are these people who talk during an entire concert? Or, is it that I’m just mad that most of my bootlegs would be perfect except for that one damn drunken idiot who talks during the entire time of the show.

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Reply #54 posted 05/01/17 4:53pm

PeteSilas

1725topp said:

PeteSilas said:

that's pretty funny, i have the same experience when i'm practicing or working on music. To begin with, i've never been a social person, i don't like people very much and music is a very private and even selfish endeavor. The hardest part for me, today, is just keeping the world back. I'm exhausted by it and it's the first thing that comes to mind when I think "i've got to go practice(compose,write, whatever)" the world and the people in it are not very sympathetic to artists. They resent them, want to make them just like everyone else,even hate them. A poet, ee cummings even had a quote about that, how you're working against a world that is going nonstop to make you like everyone else. It's exhausting, and I've been doing it for 30 years, so I can see that Prince, more or less, did the right thing.

*

I am a self-described misanthrope who often finds most other people’s company a bother. I have grown to accept that I like books, records, and films more than I like people. Yet, I accept that I need people because they give me something to write. And, I’ll give my wife this credit. At least she’s not one of those folks who think that a concert or a film is a proper time to have a conversation or take a damn selfie. Who are these people who talk during an entire concert? Or, is it that I’m just mad that most of my bootlegs would be perfect except for that one damn drunken idiot who talks during the entire time of the show.

ya, and the funny thing is, opposites really do seem to attract. I attract talking motherfuckers by being quiet and introverted, i attract what I call "little boys" by being so individualist, they come to me looking for what their father didn't give them and I hate it. I don't like being rude so I end up losing a lot of time just avoiding people, making sure that I go places at times when most everyone has left etc.., Like I said, Prince did the right thing when you weigh it all out, he really did. You compare his productiveness with anyone else and really, no one else compares in my opinion.

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Reply #55 posted 05/01/17 4:57pm

PeteSilas

also, it is true that the artist needs the community. joseph cambell has said that the artist doesn't look at him self as part of any community but that he no doubt is. However, i think the artist is someone who expresses the community, much like a shaman does, in a schizoid manner, meaning he has to assimilate what the culture offers, withdraw into himself and come forth with something new and vital from it. However, there are just too many people and too many distranctions in modern life, it's a big reason why we will see fewer and fewer artists like Prince, Duke Ellington, Mozart.

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Reply #56 posted 05/01/17 5:39pm

1Sasha

rogifan said:

1Sasha said:

I think it simply cost so much money to maintain - money that wasn't rolling in the past 12 years or so after Musicology - that he may have decided to let some things slide in terms of building maintenance. We know that he operated the complex with a very small staff, and had eliminated security by 2016. He owned real estate other than PP which he kept, rather than selling to be able to pay to maintain PP at the highest level. Part of me thinks he just didn't care anymore.


I'm not following. How did the other real estate he owned pay for PP? How was he making money off that property?



You misunderstand. Without a lot of money coming in on the music side, Prince could have sold those other properties to bring in cash, some of which would have paid the PP bills.
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Reply #57 posted 05/01/17 5:52pm

skywalker

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Paisley Park is NOT financial burden to a wealthy person. A big complex in Chanhassen would be cheaper than a modest mansion (or studio) in LA or NY. It's like someone said: it seems perplexing to spend millions to have/maintain a studio in the middle of a MN farm field, yet if a rock star spends the same amount on coke...no one questions
[Edited 5/1/17 17:54pm]
"New Power slide...."
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Reply #58 posted 05/01/17 7:23pm

rdhull

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skywalker said:

Paisley Park is NOT financial burden to a wealthy person. A big complex in Chanhassen would be cheaper than a modest mansion (or studio) in LA or NY. It's like someone said: it seems perplexing to spend millions to have/maintain a studio in the middle of a MN farm field, yet if a rock star spends the same amount on coke...no one questions [Edited 5/1/17 17:54pm]

I never thought of it as a wasted investment. But think of the operating logisitcs. The yearly taxes. Maintenence. Employees.

"Climb in my fur."
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Reply #59 posted 05/01/17 7:38pm

PeteSilas

prince had financial issues going back to about 88, at least that was the rumor. it's been said the lovesexy tour lost money, that was prince though, take your money and put it all back into your craft, i can't see a fault with that as a musician. I can only say that the extra stuff would ha ve been unnecessary for me. I do a lot of labor work on people's houses, doing a lot of shitty work that they do not want to do, and it makes me glad i don't have a house and it makes me not want a house. You see, the more you add onto anything the more complicated things get, the more things can go wrong. If it were me, I would have done it on a much smaller scale but i would have done the same thing because you cannot beat ownership, you just can't, you don't have to deal with the headaches of begging people to do anything, haggle over prices so on the whole, he traded one set of headaches for another but I think he did the right thing. One interesting thing i heard on here was that he hadn't even done an album there until lovesexy, i always thought that the complex was built right after Purple Rain and he did all his work there, i didn't know it took that long to get the place running. I also do not know if i'd let many people in if i had a place like that, it's human nature to disrespect property that doesn't belong to them, prince has had a lot of stuff stolen, i'm sure lots of damage done to the building by the kinds of jackasses we've seen after his death posting selfies while they fuck with his shit. Humans are very invasive creatures, if they can get away with it, they'd be digging around everywhere in that place.

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