Prince Week, Epilogue: Sheila E. - Fe

I hope you've found this week's Prince posts entertaining. To be honest, it kind of burnt me out as most of these posts are so long. Over the next week my posts will be a bit more sporadic as I'm going to relax and play around with my new turntable, but I'll be around, I'll be answering e-mails and comments, and I will still be writing posts. In particular, there will be some Prick/Lucky Pierre/Kevin McMahon posts that I'm sure fans of his and NIN will find very interesting. I'm also going to be talking about Sean Carlin from Dink and what he is up to and I just got a very kind e-mail from David Williams, so there may be more Jungle Brothers details in the near future. So, don't go anywhere, because there is a lot more to come and I promise, I'm not going anywhere, just taking a few days to relax.

Before I start my little break, I wanted to post one more Prince-related obscurity. Sheila E. was one of Prince's proteges, one of his drummers and sometimes his girlfriend. It's often glazed over how talented she is in favor of her Prince connection, which is really ridiculous when you see her credits. Visit her wikipedia page and prepare to be blown away if you doubt me! That said, Sheila had a rather tumultuous relationship with the purple one and, when it was over, she decided to continue recording as a solo artist for Warner Brothers. Her first Prince-free release was the dance/pop album Sex Cymbal, but apart from the title track, the album wasn't a big seller. It's common knowledge from there that Sheila disappeared as a pop-artist and returned to her Latin percussion roots, becoming a member of Gloria Estefan's band and performing with many others before eventually reappearing as a solo recording artist in the early 2000s, but what a lot of people don't know is that she recorded another album for Warner Brothers after Sex Cymbal.

Not much is known about Fe. People became aware of it when someone sold a Warners internal cassette of the album on ebay a few years ago. A very high quality rip of the album eventually surfaced online and has been quietly shared among fans of Sheila and Prince since. I've read criticisms that the album is far more subdued than her live shows and that some of the material was re-recorded for her early 2000s albums, but I still enjoyed Fe very much. Sheila even went so far as to re-record The Glamorous Life as a full-blown Latin percussion party jam, probably knowing that it would be her big chance at getting the album seen by the mainstream. Unfortunately, it must not have been enough for Warners, as the album was shelved and remains unreleased, but credit must be given to whomever purchased that cassette for transferring it and sharing it with the world, especially after paying the ridiculous fee of $461 in the auction!

I guess the lesson to be learned here is for proteges not to consider themselves has-beens just because their mentors don't need them anymore. Prince has a long and well documented history of being far less than kind to his proteges, attempting to control every move of their careers until they look like copycats of his style. Some people might see that as a savvy business plan on Prince's part, but very few of his artists ever benefitted from their connections to him so I have to believe it's proof of his raging ego. So, props to all of his supposed proteges who have gone on to do well for themselves in whatever fields they have chosen. And massive props to Sheila E. for being Sheila E.! Hell, even Prince asked to re-hire her eventually! Enjoy!


Sheila E. - Fe

01 Fe
02 Regalame
03 Distantes
04 Tu Para Mi
05 Rumera Mulata
06 Guantanamera
07 Soy Feliz
08 Te Nesesito
09 Amado
10 La Vida Glamarosa (The Glamorous Life)
11 Fuerza

Prince Week, Day One: BLAME PRINCE

I don't think I've said much about my relationship with the purple one, but it's rather convoluted and has led me to the point where I love his older stuff but have no appetite for anything new he may release, at least not if it's "new" music. With Prince, just because he says it's "new" it doesn't mean he didn't write it twenty years ago. A lot of his songs, both for himself and other artists, are re-treads he wrote and recorded years earlier. Sometimes the re-treads are practically identical. A great example of this, which I'll post later this week, is The Time's Chocolate. It was written for Purple Rain/Ice Cream Castles but shelved. A tape exists of the 1983 recording with a guide vocal by Prince doing his Morris Day impersonation and the backing track is IDENTICAL to that of the released version! Hell, Morris went so far as to use most of Prince's improvisations on the released version and Prince even makes an appearance, from the scratch vocal, as the annoying waiter! It's pretty incredible but, after listening to enough Prince records, these things aren't that shocking.

If we want to talk about shocking, or at least confusing, we can talk about Prince's long list of proteges and the unavailability of their catalogs. Prince owns the rights to just about everything released on his Paisley Park label, despite the fact Warner Brothers were his source of income for it's signings, and everything the label released, apart from his own albums, is out of print, has never been reissued and most likely never will be. The only exceptions are pre-Paisley Park releases by Sheila E. and The Time, all of which use the same masters that they have been pressed from for years, same as all of Prince's Warners catalog. Apparently, within the last decade Warners/Rhino had green-lit a Time greatest hits release, but due to Prince's bullshit, even a remastered collection of their hits and some rarities could not be issued, and it looks like Warners owns those masters to boot! I guess that's what you get when you let one of your most prolific artists write, record and create bands for your label, but it honestly seems very unfair, both to the label and the artists.

Anyway, there are tons of great records Prince was involved in that are no longer unavailable for reasons only the purple one and his lawyers may know, but due to the power of the internet we can now enjoy these classics regardless! So, to kick off the week, I've prepared a small compilation of some rather rare Prince-related singles and productions which are otherwise completely unavailable. This will probably be the smallest of the Prince posts this week, at least in terms of content, so make sure you come back for much more over the next few days. I've got lots more where this came from!


BLAME PRINCE

01 The Time - Tricky
For many years, this was the last new track The Time had ever released, and it barely qualifies as a Time recording, let alone a full-fledged track. This was released as the B-Side to Jungle Love and, despite starting with Morris goofing on someone (I've heard reports the whole track is a goof on George Clinton), Prince takes over doing his best Morris impression while Morris and others laugh in the background. The backing track may be from the same sessions that produced Cloreen Bacon Skin which was recorded during the What Time Is It? sessions.

02 Apollonia 6 - Sex Shooter (Long Version)
This is the 12" version of the fabulous Sex Shooter. Unlike the album version, this goes on for near seven minutes and is much closer to the original draft of the song. A demo with Vanity singing over a less complete version of the backing track with Prince on backup vocals exists, and it's a bit funkier to boot, but this version is still great.

03 Andre Cymone - The Dance Electric (Long Version)
Andre was a member of Prince's earliest professional band before The Revolution became Prince's official group. He went solo and was openly miffed with Prince, but Prince, surprisingly enough, tried to squash whatever disagreement remained by giving Andre this excellent track recorded around the time of Around The World In A Day. There are versions of this with Prince singing, and apart from the vocals, they are identical to one another. There is a actually a VERY LONG version of this track where Prince solos all over the place and the bands rocks out. That will be hear soon enough, but for now you can enjoy the excellent released version.

04 Jill Jones - Mia Bocca (Extended)
This song was written around the time of Parade/Under The Cherry Moon and actually makes a brief appearance in the film as background music early on. It was given to Jill for her solo album in 1987, easily one of the best Prince-produced albums ever released. This version is a little different from the album version, having been remixed for single release.

05 The Family - The Screams Of Passion (Extended Version)
Another song from a Prince-produced project. The Family and Jill Jones' albums are some of the best things Prince ever did that didn't carry his name, and it's ridiculous that they're not available at least digitally. This song is a great slice of eighties dance/funk and this version was released on it's corresponding 12".

06 Sheila E. - Holly Rock (Extended Version)
Holly Rock was released on the Krush Groove soundtrack and as a single, but has never appeared elsewhere. Despite being listed as an Extended Version, this is probably the complete track with the album and single versions being radio friendly edits. It's pretty obvious Prince is all over this one, you can hear him counting off the band at the beginning heaven's sake! More reasons that his proteges should be given greatest hits collections at the very least. Great songs like these shouldn't be stored away to gather dust. Simply put, this track is THE SHIT!!!

07 Taja Sevelle - Wouldn't You Love To Love Me?
Trying to explain Taja is really difficult, so you should simply visit her wikipedia reference and official site where you can learn much more about this incredible woman. As for the song, Prince had been kicking this one around since before signing with Warners. He had recorded a very sweet version around the Dirty Mind era, but it simply wasn't right for that album. He re-recorded it in 1987 with his then-current personnel, and then gave the track to Taja for her debut album which was released on his own Paisley Park Records. The backing track is identical to Prince's 1987 version, although it fades out a little earlier.

08 The Time - Grace
This is the B-Side to 777-9311 and features Vanity, as Bridgette Harrington, trying to interview Morris as he keeps calling her Grace. The backing track is actually an edit of 777-9311, so it's really not a new track, more like a goofy skit, but memorable nonetheless.

09 Vanity 6 - Drive Me Wild (Extended Mix)
Susan Moonsey handles vocals on this minimal Vanity 6 classic. Oh god, how hot Susan, Brenda and Vanity were! No, I am not dissing Apollonia, lord knows she is hot as hell too! This version has a kickin' guitar solo towards the end.

10 Sheila E. - The Glamorous Life (Club Edit)
This was actually intended for the second Vanity 6 album, but with Vanity leaving the production of Purple Rain, Prince found a new use for it with Sheila. This version is from the 12" single, and is, as the title infers, a re-edit for clubs. This has appeared on some versions of the album released on CD, and may actually still be available for purchase, but how many people actually have it? I don't think I'm doing any harm by posting it here for all to enjoy, so let's enjoy it then!