PRINCE ultra rare 1977 Promo Kit pre-signing to Warners
ONLY 15 MADE IN EFFORT TO GET HIM HIS 1st RECORD DEAL

THIS IS A MUST HAVE FOR ANY PRINCE FAN. EXTREMELY RARE ITEM. YOU WILL NEVER SEE ONE OF THESE AGAIN!

PERFECT FOR FRAMING IN A DISPLAY!


CURRENTLY ON EBAY - ITEM #300395010731

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eB...CA:US:1123

I will end auction early if you are interested.

Here is an unbelievable Prince rarity--the first ever press kit made for Prince, in 1977, prior to his having a record deal. Prince's manager, Owen Husney of American Artists, made 15 of these (Owen had his own ad agency, so this was designed and printed in-house) in an effort to get Prince a record deal. This is one of only two of these I know to still exist, and it's in mint condition. The custom envelope-style sleeve (with perhaps the only smiling photo of Prince you'll ever see) holds 4 inserts, each measuring 8.5" x 10.5". Also included is Warner Bros' first-ever press release for the newly signed Prince, who was just 18 years old. Also in mint condition, this measures 8.5" x 11." Of course this is guaranteed authentic without time limit. Surely a museum quality collectible !

On the back of the press kit, there are management credits. In an effort to learn more about this unique item, the original owner contacted Owen Husney about it, and here's what he wrote him in an email:

Hi:

Thank you for contacting me with your questions, re: Prince Press Kit.

Yes, what you have is the "first ever" press kit for Prince. It is very rare. It was what I used to present him to the labels along with the demo tape. A bit of trivia: I owned the advertising agency that designed the piece...and even at that the kits cost us over $100.00 apiece to produce and print. We made only 15 kits and they had to be first class. There was no need to print more as we had targeted only 8 labels for presentation. This was in 1977 so it was before he was signed to WB. The kit had a purposeful design...one quote, one picture per page. He was so talented, and his demo awesome that I figured the less said the better. The music would speak for itself. If an A&R person read the quote, started asking questions, and wanted to know more...then we had 'em. Also, the press kit went along with a demo tape that was on a silver reel to reel tape inside a tape box with the same design. Flying from Minneapolis we arrived in LA armed and ready....three piece suits...demo tapes on silver reels...and a first class press kit. Suffice it to say we made the deal!

I know where most of the 15 kits wound up. I have only one in my possession and its split apart and framed on my office wall.

Please feel free to contact me if you have further questions.
Regards,
Owen Husney.

Note: Some people have asked me about the provenance of this press kit and how I know it is authentic. I obtained this Press Kit from a former Exec. VP of Warner Bros. Records in the 90's who art directed a number of Prince's album covers, including "Diamonds and Pearls," the "Symbol" album and "The Hits" compilations. He obtained this from a former co-worker who has had it since it was originally made by Owen Husney.

**Also Included are a Signed Letter of Provenance on Warner Brothers letterhead from the former VP of Warner Brothers. And a Signed Letter of Provenance from Owen Husney himself and a breakdown of where all the original press kits went.**

Shipping: Item must ship Priority or Express Mail USPS with Delivery Confirmation and $2000 insurance. Below Shipping rate is an estimate of that.[img][/img][img][/img]

Looks legit and appears to have the right documentation from the right people.

I have a color copy of this somewhere with some writing across it.

I never saw this before... and I'm NOT questioning its legitimacy.

But this looks SO un-70s?!

It actually looks very 70's in person. All the photos are one of a kind from the 70's that were taken in a shoot his manager set up. It's from before the "For You" record. Warner Brothers, after signing him, copied the design of this press kit to do a PR sheet for "For You" - it's also comes with this and is one of the images if you look at it on ebay. I am more than happy to answer any questions about it.

Like i said, i won't question it, i was just wondering. The overall design, the fonts, the visual structure, all looks very modern. The pages resemble the 21 nights type of design, for example.
And has anybody noticed that the "Prince" font on the front is VERY similar to the one recently used for Lotusflower? Funny, that.

But again, i believe it's legit. I don't have the necessary bucks at the mo, unfortunately.
[Edited 2/9/10 2:34am]

I have one of the pages from this kit hanging on my wall. (The page with his picture in the middle and his age/stats) I so hope its one of only 15! I can also confirm it was purchased way before any 21 nights or Lotusflower project!

FunkyDissCo said:

It is legit, in my belief.

That's what the press kit looked like. The font used (and a variation of it on Lotusflow3r) is actually one of the earliest sans-serif fonts.

funksoldier said:

For sure you have one of the pages of one of the original 15 kits.

The manager took his kit and framed all the pages.

PLEASE post hi-res scans of this item

The one thing I have always wondered about this is, if this was sent to try and get Prince a record deal then why is there a warner brothers logo on the final page and a reference to his first album?
[Edited 2/16/10 13:46pm]

funksoldier said:

Very, very good question. It's totally contradictory with what Owen Husney wrote in his letter.

DEN DE DEN DEN

Very nice item. I had (and sold) several press kits from the WB days a couple of years ago, including one page from this kit. I think each press kit went for over $100 US iirc. Just my opinion, but I think the starting bid price is a little high. But, hey, if you can get someone to bite, good for you.

Also, I believe the photographs were taken by a photographer named Robert Whitman. He had a show at a gallery here in NYC about two years ago (to the day) that included some of the photos you can see in the press kit. There was an interview with Whitman on Housequake, and I believe he also confirmed that he was hired to take photos for a press kit. I saved the interview; if you want me to post the relevent parts here, I can.



.
[Edited 2/18/10 18:26pm]

muskiediver said:

I agree.

DevotedPuppy said:

That would be really cool.

Okay, I guess he didn't mention it as much as I remembered, but I definitely recognize some of the photos from the press kit (pics. 1 and 6 from the ebay listing) from the gallery show. (I went to the opening.) When it was posted on HQ, they made it really fancy with the pictures interspersed. It is weird that both Owen and Whitman say this brochure was made to 'shop' Prince around but it does have the WB logo on the back... Maybe they added that page to the other pages after he was signed?



Telephone interview with Robert Whitman
Regarding Prince: Pre-Fame photography exhibition at the Black & White Gallery, New York (February 16—March 17, 2007)
Special thanks to: Aidan, Drew, and Jodi



3. How did this photo shoot with Prince come about? What were the photos going to be used for? Were any of the photos used by Prince?

Basically friends of mine, Owen Husney and Gary Levenson, were his managers at the time, and Minneapolis even in those days was big in music ... I heard his first tape, and they thought, “this guy is going to be big”…We were all very young at the time…they asked if I would do a shoot for him for a little brochure or something to get sent to the different record companies.

I went to see Prince in the studio, and they (my friends/Prince’s managers) knew I was a starting out photographer, and they asked if I would be interested in doing these shots for a brochure they were sending out. They put together a nice brochure, but I don’t know whatever happened to it, I don’t remember even seeing it.


4. At the time the photographs were taken, did you have the feeling that Prince was going to go on to become a superstar? What were your impressions of him?

I thought he was so extremely talented, really amazing, but you know I was a photographer... I didn’t know that much about the [music] industry...but I’d never seen anybody so excited...** My friends were in the music industry, so I assumed…but they also had people who just came and went, you never know [who’s going to “make it big”]. Going to see him play, he was very pleasant but aloof. He was a young kid at the time. I think he was 17, and I think I was like 3. I started taking photographs when I was three…haha, no, really I was 25, 26—probably 27or 28.



8. Which photo(s) is your favorite and why?

Oh, I love the one in front of the wall at the music store, it’s called the Schmidt music company in Minneapolis, and I really love that picture because it’s really from that time and he really looks interesting and there are old cars in the background and a woman standing in the background.
Also some of the headshots I did with the backlighting…and some where he’s just having fun on the street…and I think there’s one where he’s giving the picture the finger.

Looking back on these pictures, my style is still very similar…very real, trying to capture a moment. Being a young photographer, I was still trying to develop my style in those days.



10. Were there any of the shots that Prince particularly liked (or disliked)?

You know to be honest with you I can’t remember, I’m sure they [Prince’s managers] showed him the photos from the shoot and the ones they were going to put in the brochure, and I assumed that he liked them. I shot him 3 or 4 different times, and each time I showed him the photos and it seemed like he was pretty pleased.


11. Who came up with the concept for the shoot?

It was the manager, and myself, probably. We had discussed ideas…like one of the shots was at the manager’s house, and some were on the street…and we shot at the music store and my studio. You know, I had a little hole in the wall studio in those days.


12. Do you recall at whose house the photo of Prince at the piano and at the table with a guitar was taken?

That was Owen’s house.


13. Was there a stylist?

I think he figured out what he wanted to wear and brought his clothes, and there were the managers…


14. A technical question: what type of camera, equipment, film, etc. did you use for these photos?

I’m sure it was a Nikon 35 mm camera, and it was Tri-Ex black and white film, which I still use today.


15. How long was the shoot (days, weeks)?

We shot about 3—4 different times.


16. What year was it?

Circa ‘78 – I’m not exactly sure, it was ‘77, ‘78 – right around that time.


17. How much film was shot?

A lot. Altogether I have 17 rolls of film, over a period of 3-4 photo shoots. Thirty-six exposure rolls.


Footnotes:
**He means his friends in the music industry (Owen & Gary) were really excited about Prince.

^ Thanks for posting that. I never knew whose house that was until now. Whoever did that interview asked all the right questions.

That WB logo and info about Prince's first album really is a mystery, I guess it's possible they added it after the deal as you speculate, but this particular kit supposedly came from a WB executive - so it seems even more odd. Maybe it was made for display at the offices of Warner Bros...

I also have that last page with the WB logo.
I think that is more a press kit that was available for the For You album, as mine also came with a Minneapolis Tribune april 30, 1978 photocopied interview.