Although I do recall when the whole family saw him performing ‘Kiss’ on television, we were all flabbergasted, that sounded completely different from anyone else at the time!
Years later in Thailand I heard his ’Sign O’ The Times’ which hit all the right spots, amazing song, both musically and lyrically.
Even so, I never really got into Prince despite some admittedly fantastic songs…
Bob Belden had quite a track record at Blue Note Records, as saxophonist, bandleader, composer, producer and arranger and I started paying more attention to him when he came up with a remarkable interpretation of Sting/The Police’s songs entitled: Straight To My Heart: The Bob Belden Ensemble Performs The Music Of Sting (1991).
According to Belden: “With Sting’s music I wanted to learn about lyrical form.”
This was followed by When Doves Cry: The Music Of Prince in 1994 of which Belden said the following: “With Prince I could explore the complete vocabulary of pop music.”
Much later I found out that actually he had released another Prince album that same year, but only in Japan as Bob Belden's Manhattan Rhythm Club - Princejazz (a collector’s item!)…
That last album has only instrumental interpretations and is more jazzy compared to When Doves Cry which features several vocal tracks.
Prince himself was at times also interested in doing Jazz style work, he even created a new band for that specific purpose: Madhouse.
Miles Davis was intrigued, he even covered a Madhouse track (Penetration) in concert.
A collaboration with Prince didn’t really work out that well but the resulting Can I Play With U finally got released many years later on the expanded edition of Sign O' The Times.
Eric Leeds released a solo album in 1991, Times Squared, on which Prince played along as well…
Over the years Prince’s songs have been covered by loads of artists in various styles, from funk to jazz to reggae and beyond.
For your listening pleasure here are 2 CD length albums of Prince’s songs showcasing a more Jazz side of his work, artists include a.m.o. Bob Belden's Manhattan Rhythm Club, Nina Simone, Steven Bernstein's Millennial Territory Orchestra, Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock, and of course The Artist Formerly Known As himself!
QUESTION: What is your favorite Prince cover?
ReplyDeleteHere's the link of the 2CD collection: https://mega.nz/file/6VcQVR5Z#EFUkEbEHH-eK3VD0k0-Tr8F9jAbxtgfM-63q89RhTUY
And we changed the banner again, slogan courtesy of Stinky, art by yours truly...
Cool thanks Art58Koen probably the Gear Daddies “Little Red Corvette” but much more on Do Me Baby comp for when I get back after holiday I’ll rippost and mebbe a few boots from my old neighbor back when he was gigging for $7 in wee hours after bar on weekends at his studio but I had to go to his Uptown store Gabriela’s to ask if he would play that weekend (before internet would have listed it online somewhere). My older sister saw him a lot in the early First Ave seen and I’d see him time to time at shows in “his” upper balcony spot. Love the banner design guys!
ReplyDelete"Bertus Staigerpaip - Rits" is the first to come to mind (but that is because you mentioned Kiss) I was never a big fan of Prince. Do Me baby and stuff that get the girls going are always OK. In the 80s you started innocently enough with Prince, before Marvin and if that wasn't enough slowed it down to Barry. And Koen, it was not Barry Hay.
ReplyDeleteWhite.., no thanks!
DeleteBertus Staigerpaip... Never heard of this Dutch parody before, but it was a hit in Dec. 1987 therefore no surprise as I had said goodbye to Holland in October!
So - is there a tracklisting? Also, unpacked, I get 2 big files (Prince jazzed-up 1 and 2) and neither load into my music player. Is there a formatting issue. Anyone else had a problem?
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DeleteRegarding tracklistings, I usually leave those out of my posts as the descriptions already should give one some ideas about what to expect. Plus that leaves room for hopefully a surprise or two as well ;-)
DeleteNothing Compares To You, by Sinead O'Connor. Love Thy Will Be Done is a Prince authored/produced song, but I believe he never recorded it, so it does not qualify as a "cover".
ReplyDeleteThat Sinead O'Connor cover is classic of course.
DeletePrince's Love Thy Will Be Done was released eventually: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=efubwIE9Aaw
Apologies: sussed it.
ReplyDeleteA tie between Michael Hedges "A Love Bizarre" and Warren Zevon's "Raspberry Beret"
ReplyDeleteI was familiar with Warren but not Michael, listening to it now, nice one.
DeletePrince is one of those no doubt talented artists that never clicked with me but I'm a sucker for jazz interpretations of pop music so thanks for this comp -- I'm sure I will enjoy most of it more than the original versions. As far as Prince covers the only one that comes to mind is Tom Jones' "Kiss" which is so cheesy it's good. BTW, love the new banner!!
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear that! Let us know which track(s) stood out.
DeleteI'm impressed that Bob Belden's ensemble took on two of my favorite "deep cuts" from Prince, "The Question Of U" and "The Ballad Of Dorothy Parker". I'm not a Prince fanatic, but I really like those songs and the Diamonds & Pearls album.
DeleteThat Bob Belden's ensemble is quite something! Their other tributes are pretty good as well.
DeleteChaka Khan's version of "I Feel For You" (with Stevie Wonder's harmonica solo) was one of the few songs on the radio that I liked back in 1984.
ReplyDeleteGraham Parker did an excellent version of "Cream" with The Figgs. And then of course there's "When U Were Mine", which was covered by Bette Bright (from Deaf School) a year before Cyndi Lauper had a hit with it. Mitch Ryder also did a version!
You might consider a more non-jazzy cover collection? Although there are already several albums on the market...
DeleteBette Bright? I have that album. She was very early in doing a Prince song. Can anybody find an earlier one?
DeleteAccording to Discogs, Bette was the first (in 1981). The Pointer Sisters covered "I Feel For You" in 1982. "When You Were Mine" was covered again on this 1982 release, a year before Cyndi Lauper's debut:
Deletehttps://www.discogs.com/master/513968-Hi-Fi-2-Featuring-Ian-Matthews-And-David-Surkamp-Moods-For-Mallards
Mitch Ryder's "When You Were Mine" was released in 1983 but was not nearly as successful as Lauper's. Rebbie Jackson (another of Michael's siblings) covered "I Feel For You" in 1984, but her version was eclipsed by Chaka Khan's 1984 hit.