Krid said:

I had always wondered - was the long version of America taped in one long take (with the tape eventually rolling out), or were there various takes recorded? There seem to be overdubs of course , but is the background just one long take? What about the drums and drum machine? Certainly a repetitive groove… Anyone in the know? PrinceVault wasn’t really clear…

According to Duane Tudahl's book, it was a single take + overdubs, but the song had been jammed on a lot beforehand.

databank said:

Krid said:

I had always wondered - was the long version of America taped in one long take (with the tape eventually rolling out), or were there various takes recorded? There seem to be overdubs of course , but is the background just one long take? What about the drums and drum machine? Certainly a repetitive groove… Anyone in the know? PrinceVault wasn’t really clear…

According to Duane Tudahl's book, it was a single take + overdubs, but the song had been jammed on a lot beforehand.

Yeah, there's no real reason to do a 20+ minute song and just piece it together. The Revolution could stop on a dime. There's no reason, being over-rehearsed anyway, that they couldn't just play this song for 25 minutes or something.

The song sorta reminds me of the extended jam part of "Take Me With U" from the PR tour. Just that one-chord vamp/jam thing. But who knows where it came from.

This song and "I Would Die 4 U" the long ass version are really exhaustive in their mere existence. Can you imagine just playing on that for a half hour? Like - "Bruh, when it lunch?! I gotta pee!"

TrivialPursuit said:

databank said:

According to Duane Tudahl's book, it was a single take + overdubs, but the song had been jammed on a lot beforehand.

Yeah, there's no real reason to do a 20+ minute song and just piece it together. The Revolution could stop on a dime. There's no reason, being over-rehearsed anyway, that they couldn't just play this song for 25 minutes or something.

The song sorta reminds me of the extended jam part of "Take Me With U" from the PR tour. Just that one-chord vamp/jam thing. But who knows where it came from.

This song and "I Would Die 4 U" the long ass version are really exhaustive in their mere existence. Can you imagine just playing on that for a half hour? Like - "Bruh, when it lunch?! I gotta pee!"

It was daily routine for them. Just look at Soul Psycholdelicide, which lasts one hour.

I think the most worrisome aspect, more than the need to pee or eat, is the dangers of tendinitis: just imagine playing a bassline in a loop for an hour, day after day... Thankfully, they were young, but we know from Sheila and Prince at least that there eventually were physical consequences to all this jamming

databank said:

TrivialPursuit said:

Yeah, there's no real reason to do a 20+ minute song and just piece it together. The Revolution could stop on a dime. There's no reason, being over-rehearsed anyway, that they couldn't just play this song for 25 minutes or something.

The song sorta reminds me of the extended jam part of "Take Me With U" from the PR tour. Just that one-chord vamp/jam thing. But who knows where it came from.

This song and "I Would Die 4 U" the long ass version are really exhaustive in their mere existence. Can you imagine just playing on that for a half hour? Like - "Bruh, when it lunch?! I gotta pee!"

It was daily routine for them. Just look at Soul Psycholdelicide, which lasts one hour.

I think the most worrisome aspect, more than the need to pee or eat, is the dangers of tendinitis: just imagine playing a bassline in a loop for an hour, day after day... Thankfully, they were young, but we know from Sheila and Prince at least that there eventually were physical consequences to all this jamming

.

I vaguely remember reading, perhaps from BrownMark, that he developed skills for playing with one hand and eating a sandwich with the other during long rehearsals

[Edited 7/10/25 5:10am]

Kares said:

Thanks for all the info.... Looks like I must get the Duane Tudal book Always wanted to buy it, somehow never did this..

Krid said:

Thanks for all the info.... Looks like I must get the Duane Tudal book Always wanted to buy it, somehow never did this..

You do, and there's 2 of them now

databank said:

It was daily routine for them. Just look at Soul Psycholdelicide, which lasts one hour.

I think the most worrisome aspect, more than the need to pee or eat, is the dangers of tendinitis: just imagine playing a bassline in a loop for an hour, day after day... Thankfully, they were young, but we know from Sheila and Prince at least that there eventually were physical consequences to all this jamming

Whatshername was talking once about her or her family played so hard for so long (years) that they peed blood. I thought - you playing with your bladder?