Prince is dead

[Satan]

Prince & VH signed their deals with Warner Brothers around the same time, so I'd imagine they were equally as shitty.

As for why he had to give up his own name and use that dumb symbol while he worked out his legal bullshit, it has to do with the fine print of WB somehow having "legal rights" to a name. Even if the name was on his goddamned birth certificate, as it was in his case. This is also why that Tony Iommi solo album from 1986 was labeled "Black Sabbath", though it wasn't remotely any such thing. WB thought they could make money off it by using the name. Didn't work out all that well.

[vandeleur]

Major difference between prince and vh is he wanted to release an album A month they wanted to do one every ..... Well never lol

[Satan]

Major difference between prince and vh is he wanted to release an album A month they wanted to do one every ..... Well never lol

I saw some comment on line earlier today that speculated he had some 500 albums worth of material in the can. I'm sure that's an exagerration, but I'd bet he's got more material in storage than Hendrix did. Hell, Jimi only had a three year recording career, and they're still releasing "new" material from him over 40 years later. If Prince recorded at even half that pace, he would have to have a few dozen albums worth at least.

One thing I know exists is a collaboration with Miles Davis, which WB apparently passed on because they didn't think they could sell a jazz record. Miles was one of the first guys Prince wanted to see, once he finished his immigration paperwork, of course.

[Seshmeister]

Major difference between prince and vh is he wanted to release an album A month they wanted to do one every ..... Well never lol

Indeed. Prince has released 8 albums since Van Halen reformed.

Even including Van Hagar albums, at the current rate it will take Van Halen 216 years to catch up with Prince's album output and that's just the official releases...

[DONNIEP]

I think donnie it's different if you actually have a slave

The correct term is employee

[DONNIEP]

As far as how much material Prince left behind - I'd bet it is a ton. The guy was known as a notorious studio rat. So I'd bet he does a shit ton of material recorded.

[cadaverdog]

It’s a real shame about Prince. He was supposed to receive a lifetime achievement award but I suppose they could give it to;


The artist formerly known as prince…..

The cadaver once known as Prince.

[Edwards3rdWife]

In '79 or '80 a friend and I went to see Rick James and Prince was the opener. We were fried but I remember it was a great concert, and this was before Prince broke out. We all loved the hell out of Prince, he was so damn funky and you couldn't be still when his music was on. He was reclusive, yes, but a genius and a true artist. Playing all the instruments on his albums ? Unreal.

The craziest part is that my family is from Chanhassen. Prince's mansion was near my grandparents' house. My father is buried in Chan, and seeing it on TV is just surreal.

I was sad about MJ, but his death wasn't that surprising. Prince ? I'm absolutely floored.

[Seshmeister]

The cadaver once known as Prince.

The problem isn't that it's too soon, it's just weak material...

[DONNIEP]

The problem isn't that it's too soon, it's just weak material...

At least you didn't say "weak sauce". Which should be an automatic death sentence for anyone who posts it. Along with "you're soaking in it". Fuckin gayest shit I've ever seen in 37 years of interwebz whatever.

[twonabomber]

Indeed. Prince has released 8 albums since Van Halen reformed.

And about half of the material on those albums is good. Each has it's moment, but they don't last long.

As far as how much material Prince left behind - I'd bet it is a ton. The guy was known as a notorious studio rat. So I'd bet he does a shit ton of material recorded.

I recently read that some of what's in the vault may not be finished. I hope whoever is left in charge doesn't do like Sony did and hire a bunch of shitbags to re-work some of Michael Jackson's stuff. I would probably trust Questlove with the Prince material, and I'm not sure who else.

In '79 or '80 a friend and I went to see Rick James and Prince was the opener. We were fried but I remember it was a great concert, and this was before Prince broke out. We all loved the hell out of Prince, he was so damn funky and you couldn't be still when his music was on. He was reclusive, yes, but a genius and a true artist. Playing all the instruments on his albums ? Unreal.

The craziest part is that my family is from Chanhassen. Prince's mansion was near my grandparents' house. My father is buried in Chan, and seeing it on TV is just surreal.

I was sad about MJ, but his death wasn't that surprising. Prince ? I'm absolutely floored.

Rick James accused Prince of ripping off his act...and then after Prince got the Time and Vanity 6 started, James came up with the Mary Jane Girls and Process and the Doo-Rags.

[twonabomber]

The Trader's Den has a ton of Prince bootlegs on the first page today. I was on the site yesterday and downloaded a Prince show from Madrid, July 22, 1990. It's still seeding. Listened to it last night, a decent FM recording. Then had been awake an hour or so when one of the Prince groups on FB posted about EMS being called to Paisley Park. TMZ crashed shortly after that, as did prince dot org. Switched to http://www.startribune.com/ , who's Jon Bream has written about Prince since the late 70's.

Going through some of the live bootlegs and thinking I was glad to get to see him four times, including on the Purple Rain tour. Sesh wrote about attending one of the O2 Arena aftershows and I found a bootleg of it...I scrawled "Sesh's Aftershow" on the CD in black Sharpie. Got Purple Finale playing now, soundboard of the last Purple Rain tour show at the Orange Bowl in April of '85. Not sure what I'll queue up next. Gonna be a long night.

[Jetstream]

Prince was twice the musician Edward Van Halen is... and unlike Ed, he really does have a vault of actual songs

[twonabomber]

Sirius has made channel 50 into the Prince tribute channel. Going way back, so far I've heard 17 Days (B side of When Doves Cry), then Love Sign from his mail order 1-800-NEW-FUNK CD, and now 1+1+1 Is 3 from the Rainbow Children.

[twonabomber]

How Prince and critic Jon Bream learned to see eye to eye

By Jon Bream Star Tribune

I knew him for six years before he looked me in the eye.

Yes, Prince was very shy. Until he got onstage. Or until you got to know him.

If you got to know him, he was smart, articulate, aware, spiritual, observant, clever, joyful, silly, sweet, generous, thoughtful, impulsive, complicated, spontaneous and cuttingly funny.

If you saw him onstage — either with one of his superbly drilled bands or on his recent solo piano tour — you witnessed arguably the most dazzling and well-rounded talent of the past 40 years.

Prince had all of the trappings of self-indulgent rock stardom — custom-made look-at-me outfits, purple limousines and motorcycles, a squad of bodyguards, dishes emblazoned with his glyph, phone calls to his employees in the middle of the night, and on and on.

Having covered him since 1977, when he was recording his one-man-band debut for Warner Bros., I got to see him up close and personal, witnessing the great (concert after concert), the bad (on Arsenio Hall’s TV talk show he burned a review I wrote about one of his albums) and the ugly (events where he was expected to perform but didn’t).

Summoned to Denver

Perhaps one incident typifies how Prince rolled.

In May 2013, I was trying to set up a telephone interview with 3rdEyeGirl, Prince’s new backup band. On the day of my deadline, Prince’s publicist e-mailed at 3 p.m. She asked whether I could be in Denver that night for an interview with the band — and “maybe Prince will talk to you.”

Not even Prince can charter a private plane on two hours’ notice, so I flew commercial, arriving between Prince and 3rdEyeGirls’ two concerts that night. After the second show, I went to a club with his band to wait for Prince. He called his manager — Prince didn’t have a cellphone — and asked to talk to me. He wanted my review of the show.

It was a normal conversation. No airs, no arrogance. And no indication that whatever I said might lead to an interview.

Prince finally showed up at 4 a.m. We talked till 6:20 a.m. His rules, of course: No tape recorder, no notebook. Just conversation. Look each other in the eye.

Another journalist there wasn’t a music critic, so Prince asked me to explain Sly & the Family Stone. He approved of my discussion of the cultural and musical significance of Sly, but said, “You left something out. That’s how I learned how to play bass.”

Indeed, Prince taught himself how to play bass guitar by listening to Family Stone bassist Larry Graham, who would later move to Minnesota and became a close friend and a spiritual mentor.

The public perceived that Prince had a contentious relationship with the Minnesota music critic who covered him the most. I became an insider in the early years, interviewing him in 1978 for 90 minutes with no one else in the room. (“I’ve never talked this much in my life,” he said at the end of the session, his giant Afro hid under a floppy newsboy cap.) There were invites backstage, the “Purple Rain” premiere and party in Hollywood, and various private events.

But when I gave Prince a copy of my unauthorized 1984 biography (“Prince: Inside the Purple Reign”) during rehearsals for his Purple Rain concert tour, he went crazy. He didn’t have control of his own story. And he was a control freak.

I was persona non grata during the 1990s after some honest but negative reviews of his albums and the “Graffiti Bridge” movie.

However, at a 1996 listening party for his “Emancipation” album at Paisley Park, he said in front of 75 folks: “Jon, you and I should bury the hatchet. We need to talk.”

That talk didn’t come until Denver 16 years later.

He certainly read what I wrote about him, though. At one point that night he turned to me and said, “This is no wig,” referring to a piece in which I had speculated that he was wearing an Afro wig. “And Jon Bream, what happened to all your hair?”

We burst into laughter.

The Prince of Chanhassen

After forming his backup trio 3rdEyeGirl in the fall of 2012, the Minnesota music monarch’s demeanor changed. He became the refreshed Prince of Chanhassen. Gone was the intensely aloof, mysterious rock star of old. He seemed mature, acting like a 50-something adult, not a petulant celeb. He championed his collaborators, treating them as equals, not puppets or playthings.

He began opening Paisley Park more frequently to the public (and journalists).

He even threw a spontaneous private party and concert in October when the Minnesota Lynx won the WNBA championship — and he attended the clinching game.

Last Saturday, Prince welcomed fans to Paisley Park once again for a dance party with a DJ. The Internet had lit up the day before with stories of his private plane making an emergency landing in the wee hours after two concerts in Atlanta. He wanted to reassure fans that he was alive and well.

I watched as he played “Chopsticks” on his brand-new purple piano, showed off a metallic purple guitar and spoke briefly — words that seem sadly ironic in retrospect: “Wait a few days before you waste any prayers.”

The last time I saw him was Tuesday night, when Prince and a few members of his band attended a concert by soul/jazz singer Lizz Wright at the Dakota Jazz Club. He was a fan of music as well as a music-maker.

For a change, he stayed for the entire show — even the encore — then made his exit through the kitchen door, strutting with that unmistakable Prince attitude, his gold embossed cane slung over his shoulder, his Afro disappearing into the night.