was Paisley Park too much of a burden?

Reply #61 posted 05/01/17 11:08pm

sonshine

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Sorry, i didnt read thru all the replies to the OP so forgive me if this has been said already.
Prince loved PP and i dont believe it ever felt like a burden to him, even tho it actually was to an extent. He had studios in his homes tho before PP so its too hard to say how PP may or may not have affected his production. Its obvious he wanted his own personal recording studio in one way or another. Besides he did not always live at PP. He had homes that were his personal living space for many years with PP being the place where he would go to work.
Its an interesting point tho about recording elsewhere perhaps giving the music an edginess that may have been lacking. He did do a bit of recording elsewhere especially during the earlier years so i suspect he knew the difference it could make. I guess i have to respect his choice and enjoy what we have from him.
All that being said i still dont quite understand why business at PP came to an end when it was such a vibrant, thriving complex at one time. Surely the money PP made from outside artists covered the expenses? Its true the place has a somewhat outdated look, but the shabby appearance of the egg is what really gives off the neglected vibe. Still i have a very hard time believing it was because he simply didnt care anymore. He was dealing with other challenging issues that would understandably cause his focus to be elsewhere.

It's a hurtful place, the world, in and of itself. We don't need to add to it. We all need one another. ~ PRN

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Reply #62 posted 05/02/17 5:01am

muleFunk said:

It's very interesting to hear about Prince's financial burdens but he was always giving money to charities.

I think that whatever disrepair that PP was in it was because he didn't pay attention to those things as much to others.

He did not have a lot of liablitites on his accounting sheet. He was not in debt. I think if he was going to turn it into a museum he would have made repairs and upgraded things a bit.

I am always amazed at people when they talk about upgrading furnishings. Of course things wear out but do average people change out the entire furnishings of their home every few years?

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Reply #63 posted 05/02/17 5:34am

laytonian

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]

.
Absolutely.
Plus that $2.5 million a month is from the '90s when P was paying 127 people every month to do God knows what. He looked around, saw things were out of control and fired a bunch of people.
.
Don't forget, too, that he had the Dakota house (Huntsberries last listed occupants!) and Turks-Caicos places for sale before he died. Those two sales would have brought millions.
.
.

Welcome to "the org", laytonian… come bathe with me.

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Reply #64 posted 05/02/17 5:36am

laytonian

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 project a lot.

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

.
Pushing 70 is even easier. You automatically prioritize and don't realize it.
Plus you have to make a real effort to keep everything new and fresh.
.

Welcome to "the org", laytonian… come bathe with me.

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Reply #65 posted 05/02/17 5:43am

laytonian

laurarichardson said:

muleFunk said:

It's very interesting to hear about Prince's financial burdens but he was always giving money to charities.

I think that whatever disrepair that PP was in it was because he didn't pay attention to those things as much to others.

He did not have a lot of liablitites on his accounting sheet. He was not in debt. I think if he was going to turn it into a museum he would have made repairs and upgraded things a bit.

I am always amazed at people when they talk about upgrading furnishings. Of course things wear out but do average people change out the entire furnishings of their home every few years?

.
Actually, yes. We do. We are constantly upgrading this place.
Our friends do, too.
New furniture, paint. We did a new kitchen in 2014. New electronics.
.
Who wants to BE old?
.

Welcome to "the org", laytonian… come bathe with me.

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Reply #66 posted 05/02/17 5:47am

laurarichardson said:

muleFunk said:

It's very interesting to hear about Prince's financial burdens but he was always giving money to charities.

I think that whatever disrepair that PP was in it was because he didn't pay attention to those things as much to others.

He did not have a lot of liablitites on his accounting sheet. He was not in debt. I think if he was going to turn it into a museum he would have made repairs and upgraded things a bit.

I am always amazed at people when they talk about upgrading furnishings. Of course things wear out but do average people change out the entire furnishings of their home every few years?

that's the kind of thing i'm talking about, i wouldn't want a bunch of shit that people expect updated all the time, and let's face it, we're all victims of this consumerist bullshit. I have musical equipement that I have no reason to update, it does everything i want it to and more, I also have video cameras that I MUST update before I go into videography business, not because it's really necessary but because other people; potential customers, are brainswashed into believing that everything is best if it's at the cutting edge, hell, the human eyes and ears can't tell a difference past a certain point. Anyway, prince was fine, i'm sure, you can't have all that money and all those committments without having loose ends and messes here and there, at least, I don't know of anyone who does. Prince did have a fault of at least partially, not caring a thing about money, you can judge this by his past actions, I think he changed throughout his WB war and maybe it warped his view a bit but I still think he was essentially the same.

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Reply #67 posted 05/02/17 5:51am

laytonian said:
laurarichardson said:

He did not have a lot of liablitites on his accounting sheet. He was not in debt. I think if he was going to turn it into a museum he would have made repairs and upgraded things a bit.

I am always amazed at people when they talk about upgrading furnishings. Of course things wear out but do average people change out the entire furnishings of their home every few years?

. Actually, yes. We do. We are constantly upgrading this place. Our friends do, too. New furniture, paint. We did a new kitchen in 2014. New electronics. . Who wants to BE old? .

i'ts your shit and you do with it what you want, I often work on peoples homes and I just think it's so wasteful but I don't complain as long as they pay. I don't see the need for the most part, I also have customers who let their bushes go wild and shit and it's wierd but one of my best customers is always working on one thing while he lets stickerbushes overrun his property. I happen to think part of it is psychological, it's like they are really trying to reorder their mental furniture and they project it on the external stuff they have. You know, kind of like the house being a metaphor for the soul?

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Reply #68 posted 05/02/17 5:53am

laytonian said:
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]
. Absolutely. Plus that $2.5 million a month is from the '90s when P was paying 127 people every month to do God knows what. He looked around, saw things were out of control and fired a bunch of people. . Don't forget, too, that he had the Dakota house (Huntsberries last listed occupants!) and Turks-Caicos places for sale before he died. Those two sales would have brought millions. . .

wha'ts the dakota house and were the huntsberries chick's fam? why would prince take care of them for so many years?

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Reply #69 posted 05/02/17 5:56am

margi

Doozer said:

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.

Margi says.... Paisley Park was paid for by cash and totalled $3,000,000. The plans for a museum were already underway and maintenance would have been carried out in preparation. With his LLC in place his music was protected and he controlled the revenue from all his music to go to beneficiaries that are not known of and may never be known.
[Edited 5/2/17 6:08am]

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Reply #70 posted 05/02/17 6:14am

laytonian said:
laurarichardson said:

He did not have a lot of liablitites on his accounting sheet. He was not in debt. I think if he was going to turn it into a museum he would have made repairs and upgraded things a bit.

I am always amazed at people when they talk about upgrading furnishings. Of course things wear out but do average people change out the entire furnishings of their home every few years?

. Actually, yes. We do. We are constantly upgrading this place. Our friends do, too. New furniture, paint. We did a new kitchen in 2014. New electronics. . Who wants to BE old? .

Do you do it every year? I do not mean painting I mean a gutting of your kitchen or bathroom. Or the whole house.

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Reply #71 posted 05/02/17 6:18am

PeteSilas said:

laytonian said:
skywalker said: . Absolutely. Plus that $2.5 million a month is from the '90s when P was paying 127 people every month to do God knows what. He looked around, saw things were out of control and fired a bunch of people. . Don't forget, too, that he had the Dakota house (Huntsberries last listed occupants!) and Turks-Caicos places for sale before he died. Those two sales would have brought millions. . .

wha'ts the dakota house and were the huntsberries chick's fam? why would prince take care of them for so many years?

Chick family lived their at one time but some sort of lawsuit came out if as I found it in the court docs. I do not remember seeing anything about the Turks-Caicos property being for sale but there is some sort of problem now with the property that has gone into letigation.

One of the houses musicians stayed in was put up for sale in January of 2016 but he was having another home built.

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Reply #72 posted 05/02/17 6:22am

laurarichardson said:

PeteSilas said:

wha'ts the dakota house and were the huntsberries chick's fam? why would prince take care of them for so many years?

Chick family lived their at one time but some sort of lawsuit came out if as I found it in the court docs. I do not remember seeing anything about the Turks-Caicos property being for sale but there is some sort of problem now with the property that has gone into letigation.

One of the houses musicians stayed in was put up for sale in January of 2016 but he was having another home built.

it's crazy how he forgave chick for so much, i've had people close to me who did things like he did and I still can't forgive them after near 20 years.

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Reply #73 posted 05/02/17 6:33am

PeteSilas said:

laurarichardson said:

Chick family lived their at one time but some sort of lawsuit came out if as I found it in the court docs. I do not remember seeing anything about the Turks-Caicos property being for sale but there is some sort of problem now with the property that has gone into letigation.

One of the houses musicians stayed in was put up for sale in January of 2016 but he was having another home built.

it's crazy how he forgave chick for so much, i've had people close to me who did things like he did and I still can't forgive them after near 20 years.

He took care of a lot of people and generally seems to have forgiven people and can of got over things pretty quickly. Appears if he really did not like you he just stopped speaking to you which is better than going on the war path. I keep saying he had to be the most mellow drug addict on the earth.

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Reply #74 posted 05/02/17 7:29am

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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 project a lot.

What's your point? As someone is literally is pushing 60 and an actor, I can tell you that a two-month rehearsal/performance period for a play - which I used to be able to do standing on my head - now takes a lot out of me. And I'm not touring. I'm still working my full-time day job while I do that - but I get to go home and sleep in my own bed every night.

I think it's pretty obvious that Prince found touring a lot more difficult than he once did. Even with Welcome 2 America (his last real tour), he scheduled it more as several-night events in a few cities - with significant breaks in between.

Let's not forget how he died - and the chronic pain that put him in that elevator. Pushing 60 for Prince was hard fucking work.

We don’t mourn artists because we knew them. We mourn them because they helped us know ourselves.

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Reply #75 posted 05/02/17 7:53am

purplepoppy	^^^ Fine, I'm over 60 and some things are easier. I'm not just talking about the physical. So many of these threads digress into if I were Prince and/or if Prince was like me. We don't know jack and there is beaucoup projection. Yeah, he would have been better off without his home - his pride & joy where fans were invited to hear music and eat pancakes - right. Brand new boogie without the hero.
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Reply #76 posted 05/02/17 8:06am

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purplepoppy said:

^^^ Fine, I'm over 60 and some things are easier. I'm not just talking about the physical.

So many of these threads digress into if I were Prince and/or if Prince was like me. We don't know jack and there is beaucoup projection. Yeah, he would have been better off without his home - his pride & joy where fans were invited to hear music and eat pancakes - right.

But "the physical" is a huge part of touring - which is what we're discussing.

No one said Prince would have been better off without his home - except you, just now. It was only in his last few years that Prince had a residence at Paisley Park, anyway.

So you don't think it was a burden - that it was all parties and pancakes. Fine. But let me ask you this: Who takes care of your home when the seals fail on the windows and you need a new roof? Is your place the size of Paisley Park?

[Edited 5/2/17 8:06am]

We don’t mourn artists because we knew them. We mourn them because they helped us know ourselves.

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Reply #77 posted 05/02/17 8:11am

1Sasha	When Jacqueline Onassis died, people were very surprised that her furnishings were worn out - the rugs were threadbare, etc. So Prince was in good company.
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Reply #78 posted 05/02/17 8:13am

purplepoppy	Really can't go any further here if you don't understand I was being ironic. At my age I just don't have the time, and that's fine. irony - the expression of one's meaning by using language that normally signifies the opposite. synonym - sarcasm sarcasm - the use of irony to mock. synonym - irony edit re below [Edited 5/2/17 14:39pm] Brand new boogie without the hero.
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Reply #79 posted 05/02/17 8:18am

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Do you have time to look up the difference between irony and sarcasm?

We don’t mourn artists because we knew them. We mourn them because they helped us know ourselves.

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Reply #80 posted 05/02/17 11:27am

rdhull

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Genesia said:

Do you have time to look up the difference between irony and sarcasm?

Some of these folks have the most fragile egos. But they put themselves out there lol.

"Climb in my fur."

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Reply #81 posted 05/02/17 11:31am

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rdhull said:

Genesia said:

Do you have time to look up the difference between irony and sarcasm?

Some of these folks have the most fragile egos. But they put themselves out there lol.

Calling out people for doing the exact thing they're doing themselves.

We don’t mourn artists because we knew them. We mourn them because they helped us know ourselves.

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Reply #82 posted 05/02/17 11:48am

rdhull

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How the hell did this become about furniture etc?

"Climb in my fur."

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Reply #83 posted 05/02/17 11:55am

namepeace

rdhull said:

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).

I agree with that on the whole. It seems that MJ saw Neverland as an extension of his personal identity, but not of his artistry. Both artists were also business minded, but for (mostly) different reasons.

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.

None of us truly "get" him though. He's like a Rohrschacht test, even moreso in death.

Great thread.

Good night, sweet Prince | 7 June 1958 - 21 April 2016

Props will be withheld until the showing and proving has commenced. -- Aaron McGruder

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Reply #84 posted 05/02/17 11:56am

kmama07

PeteSilas said:

laytonian said:

laurarichardson said:

He did not have a lot of liablitites on his accounting sheet. He was not in debt. I think if he was going to turn it into a museum he would have made repairs and upgraded things a bit.

I am always amazed at people when they talk about upgrading furnishings. Of course things wear out but do average people change out the entire furnishings of their home every few years?

. Actually, yes. We do. We are constantly upgrading this place. Our friends do, too. New furniture, paint. We did a new kitchen in 2014. New electronics. . Who wants to BE old? .

Interesting point. The same could be said for the inside of my car...

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Reply #85 posted 05/02/17 1:17pm

Se7en

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Anything the size of Paisley Park needs a facilities manager, grounds crew, etc. to function and be maintained properly.

Whose job was it to fix the air conditioning when it broke? Or leaky pipes? I can't imagine Prince in the later years doing ANY of this himself (not even talking about the actual work, I'm talking about even calling anyone).

But, other than "repair" type issues, I can hardly think of PP as a spiritual or creative burden. Everyone wants somewhere to call their own, with their own stuff where they want it, etc.

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Reply #86 posted 05/02/17 1:27pm

rdhull

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Se7en said:

But, other than "repair" type issues, I can hardly think of PP as a spiritual or creative burden. Everyone wants somewhere to call their own, with their own stuff where they want it, etc.

Do you think it had an effect on the music (the released music) and/or career choices?

"Climb in my fur."

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Reply #87 posted 05/02/17 2:35pm

purplepoppy	rdhull said: How the hell did this become about furniture etc? Don't even mention matador pants. All hell will break loose Brand new boogie without the hero.
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Reply #88 posted 05/02/17 2:51pm

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purplepoppy said:

rdhull said:

How the hell did this become about furniture etc?

Don't even mention matador pants. All hell will break loose

Again - fragile-ego'd people pissed off because they're wrong. Move on.

We don’t mourn artists because we knew them. We mourn them because they helped us know ourselves.

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