Alright, Prince Estate!

Here's hoping you guys release the Undertaker CD at some point...soon!

I'd love to bump this along with my Jimi Hendrix shit! 2 of the greatest guitarists to ever do it!

Oh pur-lease, that album is easily gotten as a bootleg. Why do you lot want the same as what's already out there?

BartVanHemelen said:

Oh pur-lease, that album is easily gotten as a bootleg. Why do you lot want the same as what's already out there?

To be honest it's never never been officially released in audio, the first video release is one of the rarest Prince items ever, video cassette only, and the second, mainstream release video version only exists on 2 obsolete formats and has been OOP for 20+ years. Of course it's been bootlegged and of course it's easy to find, but then again it makes sense to hope for the entirety of P's back catalogue to receive proper rerelease over time, if only for the legacy.

Now yeah, it won't change our lives.

I would love to have a proper A/V version of that session. I'll always support an official production!

databank said:

BartVanHemelen said:

Oh pur-lease, that album is easily gotten as a bootleg. Why do you lot want the same as what's already out there?

To be honest it's never never been officially released in audio, the first video release is one of the rarest Prince items ever, video cassette only, and the second, mainstream release video version only exists on 2 obsolete formats and has been OOP for 20+ years. Of course it's been bootlegged and of course it's easy to find, but then again it makes sense to hope for the entirety of P's back catalogue to receive proper rerelease over time, if only for the legacy.

Now yeah, it won't change our lives.

I thought the tracks got dolled out with the original NPGMC?

EDIT: Just checked PrinceVault and found out I was wrong.

http://www.princevault.co...Undertaker

[Edited 8/13/18 11:14am]

djThunderfunk said:

is the japanese undertaker video the same audio as that unreleased CD?

luvsexy4all said:

is the japanese undertaker video the same audio as that unreleased CD?

IIRC, the video has sounds (effects & "actor") that are not on the CD which is the music only.

alandail said:

djThunderfunk said:

I thought the tracks got dolled out with the original NPGMC?

EDIT: Just checked PrinceVault and found out I was wrong.

http://www.princevault.co...Undertaker

[Edited 8/13/18 11:14am]

I thought they did too. Maybe as a video? And maybe it was the lotus flower site?

Or maybe even the ahdio shows?

djThunderfunk said:

luvsexy4all said:

is the japanese undertaker video the same audio as that unreleased CD?

IIRC, the video has sounds (effects & "actor") that are not on the CD which is the music only.

That's right. There's a quite unpleasant moment of the girl throwing up during The Ride.

BartVanHemelen said:

Oh pur-lease, that album is easily gotten as a bootleg. Why do you lot want the same as what's already out there?

I would certainly pay for an official release but don't want it. I'm with you on wondering why people keep calling out for things we already have. I would love to get unheard releases.

TheEnglishGent said:

BartVanHemelen said:

Oh pur-lease, that album is easily gotten as a bootleg. Why do you lot want the same as what's already out there?

I would certainly pay for an official release but don't want it. I'm with you on wondering why people keep calling out for things we already have. I would love to get unheard releases.

In my not-so-humble opinion, it does absolutely need to come out. And, while I like others feel that P&M83 should be some kind of bonus or limited release, I think Undertaker deserves a widespread release. But.... not yet.

We should get something we've never heard first.

TheEnglishGent said:

BartVanHemelen said:

Oh pur-lease, that album is easily gotten as a bootleg. Why do you lot want the same as what's already out there?

I would certainly pay for an official release but don't want it. I'm with you on wondering why people keep calling out for things we already have. I would love to get unheard releases.

I want all of the stuff we know about plus all of the stuff we don't. A Long overdue start is to just make everything that was ever released anywhere available. It's mind boggling that this hasn't happened. The Undertaker is in this list, as are things like the Sacrifice of Victor video aftershow and tracks like She Spoke to Me.

Are these official albums even available anywhere:

The Black Album

Emacipation

Rave Un2

Rave In2

The Rainbow Children

20Ten

Crystal Ball/The Truth/Kamasutra

Xpectation

One Nite Alone

Girl 6

It looks like several of these are on Tidal, but some of those I don't see anywhere else. ANd some I don't even see on Tidal.

djThunderfunk said:

alandail said:

djThunderfunk said: I thought they did too. Maybe as a video? And maybe it was the lotus flower site?

Or maybe even the ahdio shows?

Poor Goo and The Undertaker (the song) were released separately in both audio and video on NPGMC, but not the whole thing.

[Edited 8/13/18 19:46pm]

alandail said:

djThunderfunk said:

I thought the tracks got dolled out with the original NPGMC?

EDIT: Just checked PrinceVault and found out I was wrong.

http://www.princevault.co...Undertaker

[Edited 8/13/18 11:14am]

I thought they did too. Maybe as a video? And maybe it was the lotus flower site?

Maybe I'm thinking of the Sacrifice of Victor aftershow, but I don't see where that was released either

luvsexy4all said:

is the japanese undertaker video the same audio as that unreleased CD?

As far as I know there exists 2 different audio edits and 3 different video edits:

.

- The original recording, as on the bootleg CD and as planned for the cancelled magazine release, had a super limited release on video format on 1993/12/06, direct mail order from Paisley Park only (and maybe for a very short time in the NPG Stores, too, I'm not sure). I've never seen this footage but it's been reported to exist by Uptown and The Vault book, and an orger who has it once posted a picture of the cassette on the Org at my request. It's incredibly rare (AFAIK that orger was the only one in the community to have it), and both Uptown and that orger said the audio track is the same as the 36 mn CD version, without the Vanessa Marcil footage. As said above, this version has been bootlegged with pristine sound quality in audio, but AFAIK the video version has never been ripped digitally and isn't making the rounds online. I'd give a lot to see it

.

- The later, wider WB release from 1995/03/06, that exists both on cassette and LD. This one has some editing to The Undertaker and Poor Goo made, the original studio version of Dolphin and the Vanessa Marcil snippets added to it (including the vomiting on The Undertaker, which is totally unexpected and absolutely hilarious when you have it in audio only). I'm not sure whether it was that one or TSOV video but apparently NPGMC offered a cheap, homemade copy of either one of them (as well as The Beautiful Experience film) for purchase at some point in early 2001, but reportedly quality was very bad. The Undertaker and Poor Goo from this version were also made available as both audio and video files on NPGMC in late 2001.

.

- Then again, there is a third video edit, that remains unreleased but that's been circulating on bootlegs: this one is an intermediate version between the 2 above, with the Marcil footage already added to it, but still has the Undertaker session version of Dolphin and possibly no other edits done to the other tracks (I'm not sure about that last part). Another difference is that opening and end credits credit the film and songs to instead of Prince. I'm not sure how that leaked but it's possible that this version was the version sent to the NPG Stores for customers to watch (it wasn't available for sale at this stage, but people have reported being able to order a drink and watch it on site back then).

.

[Edited 8/13/18 19:44pm]

alandail said:

alandail said:

djThunderfunk said: I thought they did too. Maybe as a video? And maybe it was the lotus flower site?

Maybe I'm thinking of the Sacrifice of Victor aftershow, but I don't see where that was released either

IIRC TSoV definitely was added to Lotusflow3r.com, with Japanese subtitles, but I don'tr ecall The Undertaker being on there.

databank said:

luvsexy4all said:

is the japanese undertaker video the same audio as that unreleased CD?

As far as I know there exists 2 different audio edits and 3 different video edits:

.

- The original recording, as on the bootleg CD and as planned for the cancelled magazine release, had a super limited release on video format on 1993/12/06, direct mail order from Paisley Park only (and maybe for a very short time in the NPG Stores, too, I'm not sure). I've never seen this footage but it's been reported to exist by Uptown and The Vault book, and an orger who has it once posted a picture of the cassette on the Org at my request. It's incredibly rare (AFAIK that orger was the only one in the community to have it), and both Uptown and that orger said the audio track is the same as the 36 mn CD version, without the Vanessa Marcil footage. As said above, this version has been bootlegged with pristine sound quality in audio, but AFAIK the video version has never been ripped digitally and isn't making the rounds online. I'd give a lot to see it

.

- The later, wider WB release from 1995/03/06, that exists both on cassette and LD. This one has some editing to The Undertaker and Poor Goo made, the original studio version of Dolphin and the Vanessa Marcil snippets added to it (including the vomiting on The Undertaker, which is totally unexpected and absolutely hilarious when you have it in audio only). I'm not sure whether it was that one or TSOV video but apparently NPGMC offered a cheap, homemade copy of either one of them (as well as The Beautiful Experience film) for purchase at some point in early 2001, but reportedly quality was very bad. The Undertaker and Poor Goo from this version were also made available as both audio and video files on NPGMC in late 2001.

.

- Then again, there is a third video edit, that remains unreleased but that's been circulating on bootlegs: this one is an intermediate version between the 2 above, with the Marcil footage already added to it, but still has the Undertaker session version of Dolphin and possibly no other edits done to the other tracks (I'm not sure about that last part). Another difference is that opening and end credits credit the film and songs to instead of Prince. I'm not sure how that leaked but it's possible that this version was the version sent to the NPG Stores for customers to watch (it wasn't available for sale at this stage, but people have reported being able to order a drink and watch it on site back then).

.

[Edited 8/13/18 19:44pm]

Fullasoul's bootleg DVD, The Undertaker Deluxe, has 2 versions which they list as Prince Version (with Dolphin Studio) and Version (with Dolphin Live).

While I'm not in a rush for the estate to release before releasing actually unheard content, I've always wanted to own this officially. I would love a vinyl release of The Undertaker, and think it would make an amazing Record Store Day exclusive.

If there's a few recordings like The Undertaker in the vault - and I imagine that it's likely there is - it would be great for the estate to release them as a series.

alandail said:

alandail said:

djThunderfunk said: I thought they did too. Maybe as a video? And maybe it was the lotus flower site?

Maybe I'm thinking of the Sacrifice of Victor aftershow, but I don't see where that was released either

.

They sold some craptastic PAL-to-NTSC dub of a Japanese broadcast of something, could be SOV.

databank, thanks a lot for pointing out the differences, haven't noticed that before!

That said, I just watched the laserdisc version of the video. Obviously, it is a great performance, and I also would love to own an official lp or cd of the soundtrack!

But also obviously, when viewing the performance, I get the impression that this was a very unhappy period for Prince/0{+>. There's not even one smile on his face during these 40 minutes. No interaction at all with Sonny + Michael B. Also, knowing what we know today, the storyline is very disturbing. Vanessa Marcil popping pills, throwing up, the whole black & white thing, and of course the title song: Don't let the devil make U/dance with the Undertaker. Knowing that there were about a million sessions similar to this one during the years at Paisley Park, why did he choose to release this one, albeit almost semi-officially? Of course to show us that he could play guitar like the best of them all. But why did he choose this dark theme, this storyline, these visuals?

And just to get it out of my system, as everybody is talking about what he likes to be released from the vault: Please let me have the Paisley Park show from Sept 8, 1995 featuring gorgeous covers of People get ready and Heaven must be like this plus excellent renditions of Shy, Funky Design and, of course, Sometimes it snows in April. Thanks!!

But of course, I also take Piano & A Microphone 1983...

BartVanHemelen said:

BartVanHemelen said:

alandail said:

Maybe I'm thinking of the Sacrifice of Victor aftershow, but I don't see where that was released either

.

They sold some craptastic PAL-to-NTSC dub of a Japanese broadcast of something, could be SOV.

That was a VHS copy of The Beautiful Xperience recorded from a Japanese television broadcast. I still have mine.

kindofblue said:

databank, thanks a lot for pointing out the differences, haven't noticed that before!

That said, I just watched the laserdisc version of the video. Obviously, it is a great performance, and I also would love to own an official lp or cd of the soundtrack!

But also obviously, when viewing the performance, I get the impression that this was a very unhappy period for Prince/0{+>. There's not even one smile on his face during these 40 minutes. No interaction at all with Sonny + Michael B. Also, knowing what we know today, the storyline is very disturbing. Vanessa Marcil popping pills, throwing up, the whole black & white thing, and of course the title song: Don't let the devil make U/dance with the Undertaker. Knowing that there were about a million sessions similar to this one during the years at Paisley Park, why did he choose to release this one, albeit almost semi-officially? Of course to show us that he could play guitar like the best of them all. But why did he choose this dark theme, this storyline, these visuals?

You shouldn't read too much into it.

The anti-drugs theme was common in P's lyrics at the time, and the film's antidrugs theme comes from The Undertaker's lyrics that blame both violence and drugs fort unnecessary deaths.

The dark theme was also cohesive with it being Prince's "serious" psychedelic hard rock record. An artist knows when to be light and when to be dark: sonically this project called for darkness, hence the absence of smiles or apparent absence of communication between Prince and the band (a single smile would jave ruined the mood of the whole performance).

Whether this was a happy period for Prince or not is debatable, but if you look at other videos from mid-1993 such as TSOF or some Act I/Act II tour footage, Prince would also smile and have fun with both audience and bandmembers. My recollection of the 2 Act II shows I attended is of a very relaxed and playful Prince. I find the London 1992 footage much more concerning: Prince looks extremely tense on it and it isn't justified by the show's theme. But anyway on The Undertaker he had to look serious. As he sang in the song Make Believe: "it's only a movie".

Jestyr said:

BartVanHemelen said:

.

They sold some craptastic PAL-to-NTSC dub of a Japanese broadcast of something, could be SOV.

That was a VHS copy of The Beautiful Xperience recorded from a Japanese television broadcast. I still have mine.

SOV was shown on VH1

Actually you can hear Sonny T laugh in the background during P's guitar solo..I forget which one..probably on "The Ride"...I loved the NPG power trio...wish they had released more stuff.

SPYZFAN1 said:

Actually you can hear Sonny T laugh in the background during P's guitar solo..I forget which one..probably on "The Ride"...I loved the NPG power trio...wish they had released more stuff.

Maybe, there is more stuff by them, in the Vault! We can only hope!!! I'm still hoping for the "psychedlic Time album" and other things that are surely in there. Maybe Sonny, Michael B and Prince tore it up on some other days.

Prince Estate? Are you reading?!!!!

SOV and Undertaker videos were both released on NTSC Laserdisc in Japan.

Jestyr said:

BartVanHemelen said:

.

They sold some craptastic PAL-to-NTSC dub of a Japanese broadcast of something, could be SOV.

That was a VHS copy of The Beautiful Xperience recorded from a Japanese television broadcast. I still have mine.

BartVanHemelen said:

Oh pur-lease, that album is easily gotten as a bootleg. Why do you lot want the same as what's already out there?

luvsexy4all said:

Jestyr said:

That was a VHS copy of The Beautiful Xperience recorded from a Japanese television broadcast. I still have mine.

SOV was shown on VH1

MTV Europe, too. It wasn't announced (or if it was I didn't know), I didn't expect it and then it was there Prince live poppin' on my TV screen and I was like wow WTF?! It was aired twice on a weekend and I happened to be in front of the TV both times.