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Thread started 01/28/18 7:54pm

MattyJam

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Anyone else still prefer the original Family album songs to Prince's versions?

I actually prefer the original Family versions to Prince's takes. I think in part it's because the songs are more fleshed out and produced on the actual record, whereas Prince's originals sound like early demos.

I was also surprised by some of the vocals on Prince's versions. I always assumed St Paul's vocals on The Family were direct copies of Prince's guide vocals, but after hearing Prince's versions, it does sound as if St Paul really added his own slant and character to the songs.
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Reply #1 posted 01/28/18 8:17pm

dance4me3121

i dont care for Paul's singing so yeah i prefer Prince's Versions

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Reply #2 posted 01/28/18 9:24pm

Militant

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Some of them I prefer The Family version - Screams of Passion clearly works better as a duet, for example.


Others, I prefer P's demos.


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Reply #3 posted 01/28/18 10:52pm

coldasice

Nope
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Reply #4 posted 01/29/18 1:34am

tbokris

No PP can't really sing. Mutiny is terrible.

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Reply #5 posted 01/29/18 2:34am

OperatingTheta
n

Pristine Prince versions of these tracks would represent a new classic album for me, so no.
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Reply #6 posted 01/29/18 3:10am

jaawwnn

Nice to have both. I do see the Family album as it was released as something that Prince wanted released that way, it'd be a bit disrespectful to him to say his guide vocals are how they should be heard. If he had been releasing the tracks themselves who knows how it might have sounded.

At the same time I recognise that he was just recording so much stuff that there's every chance that if he had been allowed to release a new album every month under his own name in the 80's he would have done so.

So yeah, nice to have both.

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Reply #7 posted 01/29/18 3:34am

MattyJam

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Don't know why y'all ragging on St Paul. Granted, he's no Prince (who is?), but I think he sounds great in The Family.
[Edited 1/29/18 3:35am]
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Reply #8 posted 01/29/18 5:05am

LonelyStarfish

Lol no & SP's lack of stage presence made them terrible live imo
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Reply #9 posted 01/29/18 5:34am

OldFriends4Sal
e

St Paul (and Susannah) did very good on the Family album

.

One thing that sorta bugs me about people who 'prefer' Prince on everything is

.

1. It was Prince's vision to extend his music(ical kingdom) and he could not do that singing everything

2. If Prince sang everything, we would not have the volume of music just from 1981-1987 Prince, the Time, Vanity 6, Sheila E, Apollonia 6, the Family, (Mazarati), Jill Jones, Madhouse and those exta songs: Sugar Walls, Wouldn't U Love 2 Love Me, etc

.

I love Screams of Passion as released. If Prince did a duet with Susannah that would have been hot, I wish he did a duet with Jill Jones on G-Spot and I wish there was a Vanity 6 Prince duet. We at least got Prince on some Time stuff like Tricky the Walk etc

I also love Prince's vocal of Screams of Passion

.

the Prince & the Revolution version of Desire is WONDERFUL, just like them on Noon Rendezvous

but I also love the Family/Sheila E renditions of the songs.

.
These different expressions tell different sides of a story.

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Reply #10 posted 01/29/18 5:35am

OldFriends4Sal
e

tbokris said:

No PP can't really sing. Mutiny is terrible.

that is crazy, Paul Peterson CAN sing

I guess Prince didn't know what he was doing when he chose him to sing lead...

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Reply #11 posted 01/29/18 5:47am

laurarichardso
n

OldFriends4Sale said:



tbokris said:


No PP can't really sing. Mutiny is terrible.




that is crazy, Paul Peterson CAN sing


I guess Prince didn't know what he was doing when he chose him to sing lead...


-/-He choose him for his looks and skills as a musician. He does not have a good voice as had no stage presence. Paul was not first protege who had a sub par voice.
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Reply #12 posted 01/29/18 5:51am

OldFriends4Sal
e

laurarichardson said:

OldFriends4Sale said:

that is crazy, Paul Peterson CAN sing

I guess Prince didn't know what he was doing when he chose him to sing lead...

-/-He choose him for his looks and skills as a musician. He does not have a good voice as had no stage presence. Paul was not first protege who had a sub par voice.

He chose him for his voice, he does have a good voice.

You just don't care for his voice, that is the difference.

Even Morris Day had to develope his stage presence over time and could not even dance.

Sheila E was constantly pointed at for having no sex appeal or to much like Prince and not herself on her shows.

Even Prince's earlier shows were considered not so spectacular

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Reply #13 posted 01/29/18 6:20am

MattyJam

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OldFriends4Sale said:

St Paul (and Susannah) did very good on the Family album

.

One thing that sorta bugs me about people who 'prefer' Prince on everything is

.

1. It was Prince's vision to extend his music(ical kingdom) and he could not do that singing everything

2. If Prince sang everything, we would not have the volume of music just from 1981-1987 Prince, the Time, Vanity 6, Sheila E, Apollonia 6, the Family, (Mazarati), Jill Jones, Madhouse and those exta songs: Sugar Walls, Wouldn't U Love 2 Love Me, etc

.

I love Screams of Passion as released. If Prince did a duet with Susannah that would have been hot, I wish he did a duet with Jill Jones on G-Spot and I wish there was a Vanity 6 Prince duet. We at least got Prince on some Time stuff like Tricky the Walk etc

I also love Prince's vocal of Screams of Passion

.

the Prince & the Revolution version of Desire is WONDERFUL, just like them on Noon Rendezvous

but I also love the Family/Sheila E renditions of the songs.

.
These different expressions tell different sides of a story.


Completely agree.

I think with some fans, it's blind worship that makes them biased towards anything which Prince laid a vocal take on. It's almost as if the actual music is an afterthought.

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Reply #14 posted 01/29/18 6:48am

laurarichardso
n

OldFriends4Sale said:

laurarichardson said:

OldFriends4Sale said: -/-He choose him for his looks and skills as a musician. He does not have a good voice as had no stage presence. Paul was not first protege who had a sub par voice.

He chose him for his voice, he does have a good voice.

You just don't care for his voice, that is the difference.

Even Morris Day had to develope his stage presence over time and could not even dance.

Sheila E was constantly pointed at for having no sex appeal or to much like Prince and not herself on her shows.

Even Prince's earlier shows were considered not so spectacular

A lot of people do not care for his voice. He was not picked for his voice just like Morris and Sheila E are not the best singers.

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Reply #15 posted 01/29/18 7:04am

OldFriends4Sal
e

laurarichardson said:

OldFriends4Sale said:

He chose him for his voice, he does have a good voice.

You just don't care for his voice, that is the difference.

Even Morris Day had to develope his stage presence over time and could not even dance.

Sheila E was constantly pointed at for having no sex appeal or to much like Prince and not herself on her shows.

Even Prince's earlier shows were considered not so spectacular

A lot of people do not care for his voice. He was not picked for his voice just like Morris and Sheila E are not the best singers.

Prince picked him for his voice. Do the research

And as I said, and you agree, 'people do not care for his voice/you do not care for his voice' is doesn't mean he cannot sing.

None of them were SANGERS, so it was more than just them holding a note well.

But Morris Day Sheila E St Paul Susannah could sing.

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Reply #16 posted 01/29/18 7:05am

OldFriends4Sal
e

MattyJam said:

OldFriends4Sale said:

St Paul (and Susannah) did very good on the Family album

.

One thing that sorta bugs me about people who 'prefer' Prince on everything is

.

1. It was Prince's vision to extend his music(ical kingdom) and he could not do that singing everything

2. If Prince sang everything, we would not have the volume of music just from 1981-1987 Prince, the Time, Vanity 6, Sheila E, Apollonia 6, the Family, (Mazarati), Jill Jones, Madhouse and those exta songs: Sugar Walls, Wouldn't U Love 2 Love Me, etc

.

I love Screams of Passion as released. If Prince did a duet with Susannah that would have been hot, I wish he did a duet with Jill Jones on G-Spot and I wish there was a Vanity 6 Prince duet. We at least got Prince on some Time stuff like Tricky the Walk etc

I also love Prince's vocal of Screams of Passion

.

the Prince & the Revolution version of Desire is WONDERFUL, just like them on Noon Rendezvous

but I also love the Family/Sheila E renditions of the songs.

.
These different expressions tell different sides of a story.


Completely agree.

I think with some fans, it's blind worship that makes them biased towards anything which Prince laid a vocal take on. It's almost as if the actual music is an afterthought.

Yep, I don't think they understand it is actually a disrespect in some sense to Prince's legacy.

1981-1987 was GRAND because of Prince and his proteges

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Reply #17 posted 01/29/18 7:25am

BoraBora



I strongly prefer the Family's versions of "Desire" and "Nothing Compares 2 U".

The strings and the choice of differente drums (no drums on NC2U, obviously) to me add a lot to the mood of those 2 tracks.



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Reply #18 posted 01/29/18 7:32am

databank

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I agree with everything Matty and Oldfriends said here.
A COMPREHENSIVE PRINCE DISCOGRAPHY (work in progress ^^): https://sites.google.com/...scography/
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Reply #19 posted 01/29/18 7:46am

Genesia

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While I love Prince's "work in progress" version, The Family gets my nod for Screams of Passion for one reason: Clare Fischer's strings. They really make that song.

We don’t mourn artists because we knew them. We mourn them because they helped us know ourselves.
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Reply #20 posted 01/29/18 8:02am

gandorb

BoraBora said:



I strongly prefer the Family's versions of "Desire" and "Nothing Compares 2 U".

The strings and the choice of differente drums (no drums on NC2U, obviously) to me add a lot to the mood of those 2 tracks.





Curious,which Prince version of Nothing Compares are you using for comparison purposes? I really liked the BFTP6 version, and prefer it to the Family version.
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Reply #21 posted 01/29/18 8:18am

thedance

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I dislike the Family version of NC2U.. barf

Those strings, they sounds out of key, make the sound "false".

Even she is so controversial, Sinead O'Connor took the song to a complete different and much higher level, IMHO... she made an ordinaire song to a beautiful classic:

I (still) haven't heard a good Prince (studio) version.

NC2U from The Hits 3cd, with Rosie, this is weak.

I would love to hear another with P on vocals, from The Vaults.... hopefully this kind (studio version), exists....?

Prince 4Ever. heart
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Reply #22 posted 01/29/18 8:21am

OldFriends4Sal
e

thedance said:

I dislike the Family version of NC2U.. barf

Those strings, they sounds out of key, make the sound "false".

Even she is so controversial, Sinead O'Connor took the song to a complete different and much higher level, IMHO... she made an ordinaire song to a beautiful classic:

I (still) haven't heard a good Prince (studio) version.

NC2U from The Hits 3cd, with Rosie, this is weak.

I would love to hear another with P on vocals, from The Vaults.... hopefully this kind (studio version), exists....?

what about the 1984 (PR sounding) version?

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Reply #23 posted 01/29/18 8:25am

jdcxc

thedance said:

I dislike the Family version of NC2U.. barf

Those strings, they sounds out of key, make the sound "false".

Even she is so controversial, Sinead O'Connor took the song to a complete different and much higher level, IMHO... she made an ordinaire song to a beautiful classic:

I (still) haven't heard a good Prince (studio) version.

NC2U from The Hits 3cd, with Rosie, this is weak.

I would love to hear another with P on vocals, from The Vaults.... hopefully this kind (studio version), exists....?



I agree that Sinead’s version is the best, but the song is anything but ordinary. It’s a true songwriting classic- one of Prince’s American Songbook entries. It will be covered until the end of time. The lyrics are so smart, poignant, touching and universal.
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Reply #24 posted 01/29/18 9:12am

BoraBora

gandorb said:

BoraBora said:



I strongly prefer the Family's versions of "Desire" and "Nothing Compares 2 U".

The strings and the choice of differente drums (no drums on NC2U, obviously) to me add a lot to the mood of those 2 tracks.



Curious,which Prince version of Nothing Compares are you using for comparison purposes? I really liked the BFTP6 version, and prefer it to the Family version.



Yes, I refer to the BFTP6.

I like that P version, but I think the "somewhat cold" drums detract from the overall melanchonic theme of the song.



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Reply #25 posted 01/29/18 8:02pm

robertgeorge

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I never liked St Paul's voice. Prince was looking for that Duran Duran money or some quote like that.

Paul sounds too robotic and rehearsed when he is copying those Prince guide vocals so never has sounded too funky.

Prince often thought his production and svengali effect could make up for the Carmen Elecrtra's, Mayte, V6, Apollonia 6....

As such I prefer Prince's vocals over weak(er) vocals and since I am on prince.org and not stpaul.org it is hardly abnormal.

I will concede his vocals never stopped me from enjoying and playing my copy of the album, so it is not horrible, just average. So I can't say St Paul punk of the month or anthing like that.

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Reply #26 posted 01/30/18 6:13am

laurarichardso
n

robertgeorge said:

I never liked St Paul's voice. Prince was looking for that Duran Duran money or some quote like that.

Paul sounds too robotic and rehearsed when he is copying those Prince guide vocals so never has sounded too funky.

Prince often thought his production and svengali effect could make up for the Carmen Elecrtra's, Mayte, V6, Apollonia 6....

As such I prefer Prince's vocals over weak(er) vocals and since I am on prince.org and not stpaul.org it is hardly abnormal.

I will concede his vocals never stopped me from enjoying and playing my copy of the album, so it is not horrible, just average. So I can't say St Paul punk of the month or anthing like that.

co-sign biggrin

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Reply #27 posted 01/30/18 6:49am

OldFriends4Sal
e

Genesia said:

While I love Prince's "work in progress" version, The Family gets my nod for Screams of Passion for one reason: Clare Fischer's strings. They really make that song.

Yes

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Reply #28 posted 01/30/18 7:17am

OldFriends4Sal
e

MattyJam said:

OldFriends4Sale said:

St Paul (and Susannah) did very good on the Family album

.

One thing that sorta bugs me about people who 'prefer' Prince on everything is

.

1. It was Prince's vision to extend his music(ical kingdom) and he could not do that singing everything

2. If Prince sang everything, we would not have the volume of music just from 1981-1987 Prince, the Time, Vanity 6, Sheila E, Apollonia 6, the Family, (Mazarati), Jill Jones, Madhouse and those exta songs: Sugar Walls, Wouldn't U Love 2 Love Me, etc

.

I love Screams of Passion as released. If Prince did a duet with Susannah that would have been hot, I wish he did a duet with Jill Jones on G-Spot and I wish there was a Vanity 6 Prince duet. We at least got Prince on some Time stuff like Tricky the Walk etc

I also love Prince's vocal of Screams of Passion

.

the Prince & the Revolution version of Desire is WONDERFUL, just like them on Noon Rendezvous

but I also love the Family/Sheila E renditions of the songs.

.
These different expressions tell different sides of a story.


Completely agree.

I think with some fans, it's blind worship that makes them biased towards anything which Prince laid a vocal take on. It's almost as if the actual music is an afterthought.

yep, they do themselves a disservice

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Reply #29 posted 01/30/18 8:01am

2freaky4church
1

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Christgau wasn't a fan:

"The Family [Warner Bros., 1985]
Paisley Park's attempt to pick up where the Time left off, this has the beats to prove it, but the best of them is cursed with a witlessly glamorous ersatz-Morris vocal and lyric and two others are instrumentals. Then there's the slow stuff, most of it cursed with damply purple ersatz-Prince vocal and lyric. Maybe some enterprising rapper will rip off the tracks. Till then, rest content with this Inspirational Verse: "Your body it covers my tower/Ecstasy is ours." C+"

That is a silly lyric. Wonder what he means there?? hmm

All you others say Hell Yea!! woot!
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