According to chapter 1 of Duane Tudhal's new book, "Small Grey Monkey" was the working title for what became "Merci for the Speed of a Mad Clown in Summer" on Sheila E's Romance 1600 album.

Who knew?

The latter being definitely the cooler of the two titles lol

But that track didn't have any Prince involvement though right?

embmmusic said:

But that track didn't have any Prince involvement though right?

According to Duane's book he did. A lot of things credited to Sheila were actually Prince creations.

OH!

i better read that freebie, then

(gonna buy the book, don't worry)

Sorry!

won't interrupt again, but i have to make a comment about an entry in the first chapter

about Friday, January 4th, 1985.

"Toy Box" was initially tracked.

It's one of those "this-is-why-i'm-a-Prince-fan" songs.

There is no vaccine for the utter sickness of the bass on this song!!!

Thanks for your patience

nayroo2002 said:

toy box is indeed an underrated gem

Sorry!

Just one more focus point/retrospect/perspective:

...

Susan Rogers. “I think the alternative was unthinkable. He was a kid from a
poor background in North Minneapolis. He had a very loving heart, but I think
Prince was well aware that time matters. He was using this powerful engine, the
engine of his creativity, this incredible brain he had coupled with his unparalleled
work ethic. All of those things he knew he had early in life, so he was going
to use it. He was going to run it as hard as he could until the energy ran out.

Just to be clear, the book still says it's a Sheila track.

billymeade said:

I'm so glad this has been revealed as a Prince composition - as so many people have poo-poo'd a lot of my theories over the years -just beacuse it says so on the record or Princevault says so!

LoveGalore said:

billymeade said:

Just to be clear, the book still says it's a Sheila track.

As opposed to what? Is Glamorous Life a Prince track?

Princevault, DMSR, and the 3rd post here point out that this track is Sheila's band only, with no Prince input.

Dandroppedadime said:

I'm so glad this has been revealed as a Prince composition - as so many people have poo-poo'd a lot of my theories over the years -just beacuse it says so on the record or Princevault says so!

It's NOT a Prince composition.

billymeade said:

Dandroppedadime said:

I'm so glad this has been revealed as a Prince composition - as so many people have poo-poo'd a lot of my theories over the years -just beacuse it says so on the record or Princevault says so!

It's NOT a Prince composition.

You can read Duane's book and decide for yourself but according to PrinceVault, 'Small Grey Monkey' was written by Prince with Sheila E providing percussion.

http://www.princevault.com/index.php?title=Small_Grey_Monkey

DenDen said:

billymeade said:

It's NOT a Prince composition.

You can read Duane's book and decide for yourself but according to PrinceVault, 'Small Grey Monkey' was written by Prince with Sheila E providing percussion.

http://www.princevault.com/index.php?title=Small_Grey_Monkey

Yes, that's the point of this thread. For years, it's been speculated that "Small Grey Monkey" was its own song from those sessions, and so assumed to be Prince + Sheila. Duane has uncovered that it was just the working title for a song Sheila brought to the sessions, which was edited and mixed properly. Princevault will probably have a wave of updates after publication of the new book!

lustmealways said:

LoveGalore said:

billymeade said:

Just to be clear, the book still says it's a Sheila track.

As opposed to what? Is Glamorous Life a Prince track?

Merci 4 the Speed is like 2 Sexy