Prince - Computer Blue Versions

So I was listening to of Montreal's Skeletal Lamping this morning and was really enjoying all it's Princely vibes, although I was surprised to find that some people were really disappointed by that album. Apparently it has to do with the synthetic nature of that album's sound, whereas folks are much more into their new record, False Priest, which actually comes out tomorrow. I started listening to that and found it really difficult to get into. It just seems like Barnes is trying way too hard to be weird and Princey, whereas Skeletal Lamping was funky, fun and weird in a way that was really inviting. The guy has talent, that's for sure, and I'm really looking forward to hearing the new Solange Knowles album whenever it drops as he's produced it, but I guess I don't know what to make of False Priest. Maybe it's my whole thing about hating Elf Power. That though is another story for another post.

Listening to Skeletal Lamping really got me thinking about how great Prince is and how I have such a love/hate relationship with him. I love pretty much everything he did from Dirty Mind through The Black Album, I have some serious favorites on Lovesexy through 1992's symbol album and I always found gems throughout his later output up until his last few albums, but I hate who he has become and how he treats his fans. Chuck Klosterman wrote an article about why Billy Joel feels he needs to be cool, but I've always thought it was Prince who thinks he has to be cool. The man is so talented but he's got such issues with just being himself. He also seems to think he's still a tastemaker and that his opinions are taken seriously. Recently he made comments about how the internet is dead, but he's still singing songs about e-mails and online activity. He had a pay website setup for the Lotusflower debacle where he promised all kinds of exclusive content but made very little available. People canceled their accounts only to find they were re-billed regardless. What kind of way is that to treat your fans? And that's not even discussing the quality of the music. All three CDs were retreads of old ideas that still sound fresh in their original forms but are boring as by-the-numbers workouts. The man is crazy! Yet, I still love his old music. There are artists who I can turn away from and ignore easily, but Prince's best works still shine through. I suppose it's as easy as saying that his bad attitude doesn't make his music bad, but it's easy to tie those things together when you feel emotionally battered by such heartless treatments.

Whenever I listen to Prince, I always find myself eventually putting on Computer Blue. I can't stand to watch Purple Rain ever again for any reason other than seeing Appolonia topless or listening to how funny Morris Day is, although the workprint in circulation is interesting for different reasons, but Computer Blue is an example of how good Prince can be. I know I'll be looked at as blasphemous but I can't stand Take Me With U, The Beautiful Ones (it's okay, it's just not great) or Purple Rain the song, for me it's all about the first three songs on side two, Darling Nikki, the long version of Let's Go Crazy, all the b-sides that should have been on the album (Erotic City baby!) and, of course, Computer Blue. Not the album version of Computer Blue though, that edit doesn't begin to show the brilliance at work.

Bootleg tapes of rough and alternate mixes have been in circulation for years and they all show how much time and energy Prince put into this wonderful song that got chopped to death when it was released. Wendy and Lisa continue to talk in their bizarre monotones that freak everyone out, Prince talks about wandering through a hallway named after emotions, a guitar driven interpolation of Father's Song from the movie shows up in the middle, there are solos all over the place, tons of extra lyrics, and Prince creates a feedback masterpiece all over the end of the song that goes on for well over a minute with screams and alien calls. HOLY SHIT IS IT AWESOME! Yet it never came out remotely near how cool it could have been. GODDAMNIT THAT SUCKS! If there was ever a song that should have been issued as an extended version on the a-side of some cooler than cool 12" single, THIS IS IT! But as I mentioned earlier, there are bootlegs around, and that's what I'm gonna give you to sample today, four bootleg versions of Computer Blue. I've attempted to pitch correct them as much as possible so they're all about the correct speed and now you can have your own little 1983 synth/guitar epic overdose too! ARGH! OVERDOSE!


Prince - Computer Blue Versions

01 Computer Blue (Scratch Vocal)
The backing track here is mostly complete but Prince, for whatever reason, felt possessed to record a ridiculously rough vocal where he yells, curses and loses track of everything. Not essential, but fascinating nonetheless.

02 Computer Blue (Rough Mix #1)
This is where things get interesting! Someone found this tape in their collection a few years ago and started circulating it to the joy of Prince fans all over the world. This mix doesn't feature all the elements of the final song and is missing a lot of vocals, but the quality of the recording is amazingly clear and should give all interested a glimpse at the layers in this track. This mix also contains the longest version of the feedback outro with lots of additional noise. Really impressive.

03 Computer Blue (Rough Mix #2)
This one is the holy grail! While the quality of the recording is lacking, this version features just about everything that was made for the song. This is most likely a rough mix, but it's far more complete than the above version and could have been issued as is. This version has the hallway vocals, all kinds of Wendy and Lisa weirdness, the Father's Song, extra lyrics and all kinds of wonderment. I'd have put this first but I wanted this collection to be as close to chronological as possible.

04 Computer Blue (Extended Version)
While this is extended, that's only compared to the album version. This version was apparently considered for release in an alternate master of the Purple Rain album. It contains some extra vocals but is still rather incomplete. This version ends abruptly where the feedback would crossfade into Darling Nikki, which it does, but I wasn't going to bother including a version of that song which bares no noticeable difference from it's album version.


PS - Stole the image from the Beach Life Blog. Thanks!

Prince Week, Day Four: Unreleased Albums

It's common knowledge that Prince has unreleased albums and recordings out the ying. Most of the complete albums don't circulate but, every once in a while, we get lucky. Then again, sometimes we get enough information that the finished product can be accurately approximated. Either way, while a lot of people may look at such things as mere re-orderings of existing tracks, these albums are of great importance to fans in the Prince community. Sometimes, regardless of the availability of the recordings, a different track ordering is enough to make a world of difference.

The first of the unreleased albums I'm featuring today is Dream Factory, the last album completed with The Revolution. By looking at the track list alone you would probably assume this is an early version of Sign 'O' The Times, which is kind of accurate, but with Prince it's never that simple. What Dream Factory really is is the second to last step in Prince dissolving The Revolution completely from his image. Earlier versions of the album, none of which are circulating in a complete form, featured recordings with more involvement from musicians other than Prince in their creation than any other project Prince was ever involved in, barring the unfinished Rebels project. An excellent example of the alchemy at hand is the wonderful Power Fantastic which was featured in The Hits/The B-Sides collection and was recorded live in the studio for Dream Factory. Prince, most likely worried that he was losing control of his personal microcosm, removed most anything as inspired as this from the final cut, using recordings he was primarily responsible for.

By the time the album was finished, Wendy & Lisa, the undeniable core of The Revolution, came to Prince to let him know they were quitting. He asked them to stick around a little longer, only to dissolve the band shortly thereafter and cancel the album's release. Without The Revolution, it makes sense to cancel a project with their name on it, but that didn't mean all the material would go unused.

After the dissolution of The Revolution, Prince went to LA and started a furious work regiment, working primarily on his own. Toying with some of the Dream Factory material, Prince compiled at least two albums that never saw the light of day. The big one was Crystal Ball, a triple album that he adored. Warner Brothers didn't feel the same way though, and asked him to trim Crystal Ball down to a double album. This is the event that planted the seed for the long-standing feud between Prince and Warners, with Prince reworking most of Crystal Ball into Sign 'O' The Times, but there was another album prior to Crystal Ball's completion that was finished but not released.

Camille, a project based on a feminine alter-ego of Prince, was created when he began experimenting with sped-up vocals. The album was completed rather quickly, with estimates specifying under two weeks, and Warners even assigned it a catalog number, but Prince's affection for the project was somewhat short-lived, with him canceling the album yet releasing most of it's tracks over the next few years. It's probably safe to assume that Prince was happy with the songs, but he may have had doubts about the album's commercial viability as either a Prince album or a release under a pseudonym.

Most of the knowledge surrounding both of these albums can be attributed to a kindly fellow who went by the name T. He hasn't been seen around for a while now, but in his time online he provided an incredible, fan-remastered collection of Prince 12"s, a number of unreleased Prince recordings and music videos and a copy of Dream Factory transferred from a studio reference cassette. He also provided details of the Camille album which I've used to piece together the version presented here. It is known that T either worked with Prince in some aspect or was very close to people who did work with him, but his identity is a pretty well kept secret outside of those close to him. Unfortunately, with his leave, those who know him have said he has most likely moved on to other interests, but I find it hard to believe that anyone so dedicated to an artist less than thrilled with his fanbase's dedication to his works would completely disappear. He's probably lurking in the background, possibly under an alias, but hopefully he'll re-appear eventually. His knowledge and assistance have been extraordinary.


Prince - Dream Factory
NOTE: I re-uploaded the second part of this recently as I'd received reports that mediafire was giving people problems with the file. That re-up didn't work so I've done it again as a single archive. Please let me know if anyone has any problems with this version.

01 Visions
This is a instrumental piano piece performed by Lisa Coleman. She re-recorded it and released it on a 3" CD issued with some copies of Wendy & Lisa's Eroica album.

02 nevaeH nI ecalP A
This is a brief interlude where Wendy & Lisa play the roles of a young girl and a bouncer arguing about getting into the club. Some of the background vocals from Witness 4 The Prosecution are included here as well as Prince talking in the Camille voice.

03 Dream Factory
This is the same song that is featured on the 1999 Crystal Ball compilation (not to be confused with the unreleased 1987 album of the same name that morphed into Sign 'O' The Times) but it's been edited a little shorter.

04 Train
Great song that was later given to Mavis Staples.

05 The Ballad Of Dorothy Parker
06 IT
These two tracks are the same versions that appear on Sign 'O' The Times.

07 Strange Relationship
This is an earlier version that features sitar and Prince's regular singing voice. Wendy & Lisa can also clearly be heard on background vocals.

08 Slow Love
09 Starfish & Coffee
Same versions as on Sign 'O' The Times, although Starfish doesn't have the alarm bell at the beginning.

10 Interlude
A brief guitar solo performed by Wendy Melvoin.

11 I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man
This is a slightly different edit, but otherwise the same song on Sign 'O' The Times.

12 Sign O' The Times
Again, same song as on Sign 'O' The Times but a shorter edit.

13 Crystal Ball
This is the same song as featured on the 99 Crystal Ball compilation, but this is a shorter edit of the earlier version. Initially, the song featured no orchestration and was a minimal funk workout. The version on the compilation is the Clare Fischer orchestrated version intended for the 87 Crystal Ball album.

14 A Place In Heaven
There are two known versions of this song. The first segues from Movie Star into a version of A Place In Heaven with Prince on lead vocals. This is the same song but features Lisa Coleman on lead vocals.

15 Last Heart
Same as the version on the 99 Crystal Ball compilation.

16 Witness 4 The Prosecution
Excellent rockin' number with horns and Wendy, Lisa and Susannah on background vocals. There are two other versions of this track, one with less processed vocals and no horns and another faster, dancier version with steel drums.

17 Movie Star
Same version as featured on the 99 Crystal Ball compilation.

18 The Cross
Same version as featured on Sign 'O' The Times.

19 All My Dreams
This was recorded for Parade and even appeared on a famously bootlegged early version of the album. This is probably the greatest example of Prince, Wendy and Lisa all working together. Some of Prince's slowed-down vocal towards the end of the song was used in another track, Acknowledge Me. Amazing stuff!


Prince - Camille

01 Rebirth Of The Flesh
This is the only track from the Camille album which has never seen official release, at least not in it's proper form. A live rehearsal from the Lovesexy tour was featured on Prince's site briefly. This song also opened the 87 Crystal Ball album.

02 Housequake
This is the same version as featured on Sign 'O' The Times, although T insinuated that the Camille version was slightly different. He never clearly specified what those differences were, but he said they were very minor.

03 Strange Relationship
This is the version that appears on Sign 'O' The Times. Interestingly enough, Wendy & Lisa appear on background vocals here, despite being almost otherwise excised from Sign 'O' The Times.

04 Feel U Up
This song dates back to 1981 when an early version was recorded with Irresistible Bitch. This was eventually released on the Partyman 12", although the complete version, as featured here, was only released on some rather difficult to find import picture singles and 3" CD singles.

05 Shockadelica
This was released as the B-Side to If I Was Your Girlfriend, with an edit on the 7" and the full version on the 12". In the liner to The Hits/The B-Sides compilation, it's noted that Prince may have written this for a "dear friend" who had an album of the same name but no song of the same name. That "dear friend" would be Jesse Johnson and his album was most certainly named Shockadelica.

06 Good Love
This saw release on the Bright Lights, Big City soundtrack, although it appeared again in slightly edited form on the 99 Crystal Ball compilation. Many fans wondered why Prince would bother featuring a short edit as a supposed unreleased track. In reality, the edit was the version for the Camille album. This is an edit of the Bright Lights version created by me to match the Camille album version.

07 If I Was Your Girlfriend
Same version as on Sign 'O' The Times, minus the wedding intro.

08 Rockhard In A Funky Place
Same version as The Black Album, outro and all.


By the way, if anyone wants a copy of the terribly generic peach cover I created for the Camille album, you can download it here. I wanted it to follow the visual theme of The Black Album. In other words, non-descript and generic as hell.