Feel U Up is one of the most timeless songs in Prince's catalogue. Demo-ed in 1981, recorded in 1986 then released in 1989.

It doesn't seem to fit any era or genre.

I think a lot of it has to do with the bass sound - so what exactly is going on here? It's not just the higher freq. turned up, that wouldn't quite work. It's not played like a synth...

So what's happening?

It's interesting you said it doesn't fit any era, because it does date so far back, yet sounds perfectly at home on Camille. That's quite a spread of time and sound with him from the Controversy era to the SOTT era.

I have to say, at first it did sound odd as the b-side on "Partyman". To me, Batman was such a specific sound and genre unto itself.

As far as the bass, I guess this sorta negates my previous sentence, but it does seem to recall some of the breaks and plucking in "Partyman". Lotta plucky bits in there. However, to me it seems he's also playing a synth bass line along with the actual bass, so bounces between that plucky vibe we hear in parts of "Partyman", yet has a smoother feel on it like "Controversy" (where it's a synth & bass together I think). What's also interesting is that in parts of the verses, he's playing another synth, a few octaves higher along with the bass. Same hook or phrase, just in the middle C area.

This is interesting because in more recent years, Prince used more and more fills in his songs, where almost every instrument was playing the exact same note. You can hear hints of that in the late 80s versions of "America" or "Girls and Boys". He had totally different parts incorporated into a song. "Delirious" was another that had extra horn parts on the Hit N Run tour in 1986. This whole idea is echoed in recent years in concerts. That said, you can hear a bit of that in "Feel U Up", where the bass is mimicked on two different synths - one bass, one in the alto or treble range.

The genre is Funk.

.............................

'I know I shouldnt put my faith in heroes,but I cant c u any other way' RIP P

bass sounds like something doubletracked. One part (main) is a synth with some slight envelope things in it on the attack and then there's a "real" bass plucking along with it. Would love to play with the multitrack to hear the different parts, but that's more often than not with Prince. There's a lot of buried amazingness in even mediocre tracks.

mediumdry said:

Would love to play with the multitrack to hear the different parts, but that's more often than not with Prince. There's a lot of buried amazingness in even mediocre tracks.

That........is the truth!

Does anyone know where Feel U Up (long stroke) can be found? For sale or otherwise?

williamb610 said:

Does anyone know where Feel U Up (long stroke) can be found? For sale or otherwise?

Do you know how to use Google?

https://www.discogs.com/master/view/109389

Laydown said:

The genre is Funk.

.............................

'I know I shouldnt put my faith in heroes,but I cant c u any other way' RIP P

Yep. It's the same type of material that was on George Clinton's records at the time. Reminds me especially of the stuff on the "Urban Dancefloor Guerillas" album (by "P-Funk All Stars").

I don't think the track would have sounded that out of place on the first LP / CD of SOTT.

novabrkr said:

Laydown said:

The genre is Funk.

.............................

'I know I shouldnt put my faith in heroes,but I cant c u any other way' RIP P

Yep. It's the same type of material that was on George Clinton's records at the time. Reminds me especially of the stuff on the "Urban Dancefloor Guerillas" album (by "P-Funk All Stars").

I don't think the track would have sounded that out of place on the first LP / CD of SOTT.

Indeed.