FYI Camille is male.

This previous thread discusses other "Camille" songs.

https://prince.org/msg/7/270954

It's from 2008, though, so it doesn't include songs from later in Prince's career, like…

Dance 4 Me (MPLSound)

Ol Skool Company (MPLSound)
$ (LotusFlow3r)

And, from the briefly-released "Deliverance" EP that was shut down by the Estate -

I Am

FallinLove2nite (Hitnrun Phase 1)

F.U.N.K. (digital release)

Also

Rock Hard in a Funky Place (The Black Album)

Many of those later songs might not be "purist" Camille tracks, but they certainly use the pitch-altered voice, if that's what you're enjoying listening to.

Welcome to the forum Miitch.

http://www.princevault.co...m:_Camille

Miitch said:

not credited but...would Erotic City fall under a Camille category of music?

Doozer said:

motherfunka said:

VaultCurator said:

jdcxc said:

Prince indicated in a 1997-98 interview that Camille was a French hermaphrodite

Time upon a once
There was a boy named Camille
Now this boy named Camille
didn't know how 2 feel.
Sometimes he was lonely
sometimes he was sad
but most times
he just took 4 granted
all the nice things
that he had.

Some people said they loved him
but Camille said
"Contempt!
Winter, Spring,
Summer, or Fall,
love is no good
unless it's felt by all"

So, naive & terrifically in need
Camille started looking for answers
His paintbrush the questioner,
his canvas the arena,
Camille set out to silence his critics.
"No longer daring" - his enemies laughed.
"No longer glam, his funk is half-assed...
one leg is much shorter
than the other one is weak.
His strokes are tepid,
his colors are meek."

So Camille found a new color.
The color black:
strongest hue of them all.
He painted a picture
called Le Grind --
hittin' so tall.
And then Cindy C --
THE vogue fantasy.
Horns & vocals 2 die 4.
Lollipops -- in yours!

Stroke after stroke callin' all others a joke.
Superfunkycalifragisexi.

Camille rocked hard in a funky place.

Stuck his long funk in competition's face.

Tuesday came. Blue Tuesday.
His canvas full, and lying on the table,

Camille mustered
all the hate that he was able.

Hate 4 the ones who ever doubted his game.

Hate 4 the ones who ever doubted his name.

"Tis nobody funkier -- let the Black Album fly."

Spooky Electric was talking, Camille started 2 cry.

Tricked.
A fool he had been.

In the lowest utmostest.

He had allowed
the dark side of him 2 create something evil.

2 Nigs United
4 West Compton.

Camille and his ego.

Bob George.

Why?

Miitch said:

I'm fairly new to a lot of Prince's music, and recently read about the "Camille" album. I love it, and I'm a particular fan of "If I Was Your Girlfriend", "Shockadelica" and "Scarlet Pussy". I like the concept of the Camille alter ego, and I wondered if there are any Prince songs outside of the Camille album that feature her voice. If there are, can anybody please list some of the, so I can give them a listen?

Shockadelica wasn't on the purposed released

.

Cosmic Day(outtake)

Love or Money (Parade album b side)

U Got the Look (Sign o the Time album)

Crystal Ball (Dream Factory outtake)

Scarlett Pussy (Sheila E outtake)

are a few

.

side 1:
1. Rebirth Of The Flesh
2. Housequake
3. Strange Relationship
4. Feel U Up
side 2:
1. Shockadelica
2. Good Love
3. If I Was Your Girlfriend
4. Rockhard In A Funky Place

welcome to the forum! Although these songs weren't exactly intended for the camille project, some songs that still have that Camille vibe to me are.

Dream Factory

Crystal Ball

Adonis & Bathsheba

Rockhard in a Funky Place

Witness for the Prosecution

Love or Money

3121

Partyman

dm3857 said:

welcome to the forum! Although these songs weren't exactly intended for the camille project, some songs that still have that Camille vibe to me are.

Dream Factory

Crystal Ball

Adonis & Bathsheba

Rockhard in a Funky Place

Witness for the Prosecution

Love or Money

3121

Partyman

Rockhard in a Funky Place was

Witness 4... was just his singing voice, but it does sound like he could go into it when he sings 'I' and 'Now'

Adonis & Bathseba was just sung in his soprano, not camille voice

.

Yes, I always forget Dream Factory which is clearly the C voice

OldFriends4Sale said:

dm3857 said:

welcome to the forum! Although these songs weren't exactly intended for the camille project, some songs that still have that Camille vibe to me are.

Dream Factory

Crystal Ball

Adonis & Bathsheba

Rockhard in a Funky Place

Witness for the Prosecution

Love or Money

3121

Partyman

Rockhard in a Funky Place was

Witness 4... was just his singing voice, but it does sound like he could go into it when he sings 'I' and 'Now'

Adonis & Bathseba was just sung in his soprano, not camille voice

.

Yes, I always forget Dream Factory which is clearly the C voice

There is a later version of Witness 4... that is completely different than the previous ones, and is sung in a altered voice. That's probably the one that dm3857 is referring to.

OldFriends4Sale said:

Vannormal said:

OldFriends4Sale said:

Time upon a once
There was a boy named Camille
Now this boy named Camille
didn't know how 2 feel.
Sometimes he was lonely
sometimes he was sad
but most times
he just took 4 granted
all the nice things
that he had.

Some people said they loved him
but Camille said
"Contempt!
Winter, Spring,
Summer, or Fall,
love is no good
unless it's felt by all"

So, naive & terrifically in need
Camille started looking for answers
His paintbrush the questioner,
his canvas the arena,
Camille set out to silence his critics.
"No longer daring" - his enemies laughed.
"No longer glam, his funk is half-assed...
one leg is much shorter
than the other one is weak.
His strokes are tepid,
his colors are meek."

So Camille found a new color.
The color black:
strongest hue of them all.
He painted a picture
called Le Grind --
hittin' so tall.
And then Cindy C --
THE vogue fantasy.
Horns & vocals 2 die 4.
Lollipops -- in yours!

Stroke after stroke callin' all others a joke.
Superfunkycalifragisexi.

Camille rocked hard in a funky place.

Stuck his long funk in competition's face.

Tuesday came. Blue Tuesday.
His canvas full, and lying on the table,

Camille mustered
all the hate that he was able.

Hate 4 the ones who ever doubted his game.

Hate 4 the ones who ever doubted his name.

"Tis nobody funkier -- let the Black Album fly."

Spooky Electric was talking, Camille started 2 cry.

Tricked.
A fool he had been.

In the lowest utmostest.

He had allowed
the dark side of him 2 create something evil.

2 Nigs United
4 West Compton.

Camille and his ego.

Bob George.

Why?

- We all know Prince ‘wrote’ And did poetry. But also from his writings often came songs to birth... - Imagine if this ‘text’ is a lyric to an unheard Prince declaration in funk. - Just imagine... -

I thought the same many times. Almost like what he did with Coco Boyz, I just hope, but not too hard

TheBigBang said:

OldFriends4Sale said:

Rockhard in a Funky Place was

Witness 4... was just his singing voice, but it does sound like he could go into it when he sings 'I' and 'Now'

Adonis & Bathseba was just sung in his soprano, not camille voice

.

Yes, I always forget Dream Factory which is clearly the C voice

There is a later version of Witness 4... that is completely different than the previous ones, and is sung in a altered voice. That's probably the one that dm3857 is referring to.

from the 1986-1987 period?

I have two versions, but they both sing in his voice, the one sounds a little Camillish but it isn't. The one I'm listening to.

Miitch said:

I'm fairly new to a lot of Prince's music, and recently read about the "Camille" album. I love it, and I'm a particular fan of "If I Was Your Girlfriend", "Shockadelica" and "Scarlet Pussy". I like the concept of the Camille alter ego, and I wondered if there are any Prince songs outside of the Camille album that feature her voice. If there are, can anybody please list some of the, so I can give them a listen?

A great period of music for you to discover. Here's some help for you.

First off, Prince's 'Camille' seemed to change over time. The most common misconception is that Camille is female and features Prince's speeded up voice. This is false, as Scarlet Pussy and Bob George (live) prove, along with his poems.

Camille seems more a state of mind. A cheeky or bad side. Behind it all, Prince was probably initially having fun with the idea that he could release material as a pseudonym and get more material out, but it morphed into an negative alterego when he developed Lovesexy and wanted to leave behind his 'nasty' past.

The only offical tracks credited to Camille are:

Rebirth Of The Flesh

Housequake

Strange Relationship

Feel U Up

Shockadelica

Good Love

If I Was Your Girlfriend

Rockhard In A Funky Place

U Got The Look

Scarlett Pussy

On top of the official credited songs, Prince also references the Black Album as a Camille creation in the Lovesexy tour book poem, although this seems to have been applied retrospectively to fit the narrative of the Lovesexy tour (finding enlightenment). If we really want to get technical, he doesn't directly reference Dead On It or When 2 R In Love, but he does reference the album as a whole and the other tracks directly.

Other contradictions exist, for example, Good Love and Feel U Up were later released as 'Prince' tracks, and although When 2 R In Love was on Camille's 'dark' release, the song resurfaced less than 6 months later on Prince's 'light' release, Lovesexy.

A lot of people like to group together all the Prince songs with the speeded up voice and bundle them as Camille. They sound great togther, but they are not works of Camille, at least, according to Prince.

SquirrelMeat said:

A great period of music for you to discover. Here's some help for you.

First off, Prince's 'Camille' seemed to change over time. The most common misconception is that Camille is female and features Prince's speeded up voice. This is false, as Scarlet Pussy and Bob George (live) prove, along with his poems.

Camille seems more a state of mind. A cheeky or bad side. Behind it all, Prince was probably initially having fun with the idea that he could release material as a pseudonym and get more material out, but it morphed into an negative alterego when he developed Lovesexy and wanted to leave behind his 'nasty' past.

The only offical tracks credited to Camille are:

Rebirth Of The Flesh

Housequake

Strange Relationship

Feel U Up

Shockadelica

Good Love

If I Was Your Girlfriend

Rockhard In A Funky Place

U Got The Look

Scarlett Pussy

On top of the official credited songs, Prince also references the Black Album as a Camille creation in the Lovesexy tour book poem, although this seems to have been applied retrospectively to fit the narrative of the Lovesexy tour (finding enlightenment). If we really want to get technical, he doesn't directly reference Dead On It or When 2 R In Love, but he does reference the album as a whole and the other tracks directly.

Other contradictions exist, for example, Good Love and Feel U Up were later released as 'Prince' tracks, and although When 2 R In Love was on Camille's 'dark' release, the song resurfaced less than 6 months later on Prince's 'light' release, Lovesexy.

A lot of people like to group together all the Prince songs with the speeded up voice and bundle them as Camille. They sound great togther, but they are not works of Camille, at least, according to Prince.

.

It's interesting how Camille began as disguise and ended up as a scapegoat.
.
I think that Camille was born out of necessity. He was a solution to a couple of problems that Prince had at the time. What do we know about the Camille album?
1) All 8 tracks on that original album featured Prince's sped up voice.
2) The album was exceptionally funky. Apart from possibly 'Junk Music' by 'The Flesh', it was the funkiest album he'd compiled at that point in his career.
.
From 1981 - 1984 Prince had 'The Time' as a method of releasing an extra album of his music every year. When 'The Time' broke up, Prince attempted to salvage what remained of 'The Time' and formed 'The Family', and although their album was stunning the band was short lived.
.
Prince needed other artists on board for this scheme, but manufacturing bands didn't seem to be working well for him at the time. Camille was actually a genius move on Prince's part. He effectively manufactured an artist and played the part of it.
.
Now correct me if I'm wrong but I believe another issue Prince had at the time was that he was craving black approval. It's been years since I ready Per Nilsen's book on Prince, but I vaguely remember reading that Prince was unhappy about not getting the radio play on black stations like he used to. Susan Rogers backed this up on the interview she did on 'The Prince Podcast', claiming Prince was convinced that 'Adore' would get him played on black stations again.
.
So it seems that Prince was seen as a main stream pop star at the time, but Camille wasn't. Prince would effectively have a chance to rebuild his black credibility with a fresh slate.
.
Once Prince abandoned the Camille album and decided to incorporate most of the tracks into 'Crystal Ball' he no longer had a reason to keep up the facade, thus the sped up voice was no longer strictly a character trait of the Camille persona. Hence why Prince felt comfortable using the sped up effect on his own songs like 'Partyman', and his regular voice on songs he effectively blamed Camille for such as ' Superfunkycalifragisexy'.
.
The Black album was also a product of the same mindset. He wanted to release more music but couldn't flood the market with Prince records? Well, instead of crediting a false persona, why just not credit anyone at all. And because it mainly consisted of club music, there was also a good chance he could get it played on funk stations.
.
As such it was easy in retrospect for Prince to palm it off as a Camille creation. He possibly even considered it to be a second stab at the Camille album. It even shares a track in 'Rockhard In A Funky Place'.

Interesting take, VaultCurator. Good read.

That Camille album is a blowtorch!!! If we didn't already have all of the tracks, I'd buy that in a heartbeat!!

williamb610 said:

Interesting take, VaultCurator. Good read.

That Camille album is a blowtorch!!! If we didn't already have all of the tracks, I'd buy that in a heartbeat!!

.

Thanks William

.

Well, we do have all the tracks officially except except 'Rebirth of the Flesh' which is my favourite track on the album. Some fans argue that it's as good as released because of the rehearsal recording that was available to NPGMC members. To that I say (1) it's in MP3 quality, (2) it's censored, (3) it doesn't compare to the studio version. Thankfully this rehearsal recording did surface uncensored on the bootleg album Sendai '89 (Sabotage #SAB 186-187).
.
However, the original studio version is off the charts. I love it. The best quality version I have personally is DJ Foefur's remaster. According to this thread New Camille leak and Rebi...er quality a high quality version of Rebirth leaked in 2016, unfortunately I'm struggling to find it. I did buy a Camille boot recently that claimed to be sourced from the original test pressing, but I'm not convinced it is (Buyer Beware: Camille Alb...e edition). Maybe it was, but I don't think it sounded any better that the Foefur version. I'll keep digging.

VaultCurator said:

williamb610 said:

Miitch said:

williamb610 said:

Interesting take, VaultCurator. Good read.

That Camille album is a blowtorch!!! If we didn't already have all of the tracks, I'd buy that in a heartbeat!!

Tbh, I'd buy it anyway.

I would too, but if they ever did release it or if they check topics on this site(hint, hint), they should put some extra unreleased goodies on it.

Does anyone know what became of the only known official Camille vinyl that was won in an auction a couple of years ago?