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High NPGMC, N.E.W.S., the new CD from Prince, is now available 2 all the members of the NPG Music Club. Come an join us 4 a special online listening party from now until Sunday in the N.E.W.S. Room (up the back stairway on the right from the foyer). 4 days, 4 songs : Hear a different promo clip of an entire track each day from this xciting new release. Order ur copy of the CD starting NOW ! Shipping begins on June 25th. Spread the N.E.W.S ! Love4oneanother, The NPG Music Club 20-06-2003 : The Time @ Tulsa 22-06-2003 : Celebrity Justice (0:02) 
24-06-2003 : Maceo Parker @ NY Prince attends the Apollo, New York, to check out a show by Maceo Parker. At the beginning of the show Parker's manager announced : "Ladies and gentlemen, the great Maceo Parker." Prince then strolled up on stage holding Parker's saxophone, pretending to jam on it. As the audience erupted in cheers Prince handed the instrument to Parker and exited the stage to watch the show from the balcony with a bodyguard and a friend, possibly John Blackwell. I saw Maceo Parker last night at the Apollo Theatre in NYC. Also playing with him was Greg Boyer on trombone and Morris Hayes on keyboards. And in the one balcony suites was Prince. It was pretty cool….after about the first song, Prince and two of his bodyguards walked out onto the balcony. The audience went a crazy. Prince didn't look out do anyone he just smiled and kept talking and joking with his bodyguards. There was a guy sitting next to him who could have been John Blackwell but I'm not sure. After the second song, Maceo stopped and said, "Would you folks mind if I get nostalgic for a minute…but first, let's give it up for Prince." He said, "Yeah that's Prince up there." Then he said, "How about it- from James Brown to Prince…not so bad huh ?" It was very touching. He went on to explain that the whole first row were people from his high school. He might have grown up in Harlem, New York but I don't know. Anyway, Maceo was on fire all night. He played Baby Knows, Think, Pass The Peas, Just Gimme Some More. It was a great set. He went into a couple of hard driven funk jams that he really tore up. He also play the flute which was very cool. Of course, I was waiting for Prince the get up and play all night. Unfortunately, he never did. At the end of the Maceo yelled, please give it up for special guest Prince….but that was it. Either way it was still an awesome show. I highly recommend it if he tours near you. 30-06-2003 : N.E.W.S. Download Release (56:00) n North (0:14) North (14:00) / East (14:00) / West (14:00) / South (14:00) N.E.W.S. is the 27th full-length studio album by Prince. It was initially available only to NPG Music Club members, with first shipments arriving on 30 June, 2003 (almost six months after the previous album Xpectation), but it also received a low-key retail release the following month. In 2004, a digital download of the album was offered through the NPG Music Club. N.E.W.S. was the second instrumental album in succession, and contained only four tracks, each exactly 14:00 long. At the time of release, Prince's succession of releases from 2001-3 indicated that he was entering into a more permanent jazz/funk territory for his music, although his return to vocal pop music the following year with Musicology and later releases confirms that this was a more temporary era. Stating "new directions in music," N.E.W.S contains instrumental music that can loosely be termed jazz-infused funk and rock, although there are also Oriental and classical influences. Prince employed the same “new directions" phrase for Xpectation, which showcased jazz/funk-infused instrumental music in the vein of Madhouse’s two 1987 albums, 8 and 16. Considering the jazz tendencies of The Rainbow Children and the One Nite Alone... show, it thus seemed as if Prince had entered a new, more jazz-influenced musical phase of his career. N.E.W.S contains four instrumental pieces, titled "North," “East,” “West," and "South," the initial letters making up N.E.W.S. The length of each track is exactly 14:00 minutes. Distribution of the album was limited and it didn't reach beyond Prince’s core audience. In fact, the music media hardly noticed the release. Still, the album was later nominated for a Grammy award. 
Clare Fischer gets a credit on N.E.W.S., the only jazz record of Prince’s to get a full-scale official release, but his son Brent believes : ‘I would just guess that he again took snippets of string recordings that we’ve made for him over the years, stuff that my father had written, just lifted it and placed it on an entirely different track. So I would say this is a case of Prince sampling Clare Fischer’s orchestral track, and it may not even be the entire orchestra; it may just be part of the orchestra.’ This sampling of Fischer’s work indicated how much of an influence he remained on Prince’s jazz, and a source who wishes to remain anonymous told me that a couple of people who were close to Prince and worked with him in the 1980s and 1990s observed him listening to every single individual track of a Fischer arrangement, as if trying to crack the code of the composition and unlock the Clare Fischer secret. Recorded, the sleeve notes claim, on 6 February 2003, N.E.W.S. is by no means a bad album, but it has fewer of the dynamics of Xpectation and is less distinguished light jazz, representing something of a dead end instead of a fresh start. Now that Prince has returned to making conventional albums, it’s possible to see this era as a self-contained period of experimentation, but at the time it seemed perfectly possible that Prince had turned his back on a wider audience and might go on recording jazz albums for ever. If all the Prince albums from Lovesexy onwards force the listener to make a mental readjustment – this is what Prince sounds like now – N.E.W.S. was, for all its smoothness of sound, his most radical gesture yet. While Prince would remain more open to jazz influences in all of his subsequent bands, perhaps the most lasting evidence of his continued interest in making jazz part of his sound is his regular performance of jazz drummer Billy Cobham’s ‘Stratus’ (famously also sampled by Bristol’s Massive Attack) in his live shows. Cobham covered ‘Sign o’ the Times’ in the year of its release, and Prince has repaid the compliment by covering ‘Stratus’ live over thirty times. Indeed, in recent years, hearing what Prince decides to do with this song on any given night is usually a concert highlight. What follows is a hybrid of sorts; part review, part listing of my favorite musical moments, part general observations, part thinking out loud as to the possible story locked inside this musical work. And it seems somewhat logical to do it this way, as this album sounds like a hybrid of live improvisational jamming on loosely sketched-out blueprints and after-the-event studio wizardry that brought it all into a cohesive, deliberate, mostly premeditated whole. “North” Highlights and Musings : 1) I like its overall unforced, serious-but-laid-back, organic charm. 2) So smooth and chilled out that it makes for the perfect antithetical complement to the album’s feverish closer. 3) It feels spot on at nearly 14 minutes. Not like a 4-minute track stretched out beyond purpose, or even 3 or 4 pieces molded together like we’ll hear later. 4) The near flawless nature of the composition that seamlessly melds the worlds of jazz, ambient, funk and rock. This is a very original piece that beautifully preps the vibe for what’s to follow. There are certainly traces of “North” in past Prince music, but he’s never been this successful or natural in pulling it all off. 5) The little quirks that are added here and there, like being able to hear the clacking of Eric Leeds’ sax keys at one point. 6) The train-whistle synths at 1:00 that signal the oncoming sax. 7) The way the conflictive sounds of the mystical strings and the gravel-throated guitar intertwine at 3:10. 8) The anguished guitar that peeks and pokes about before becoming “North’s” stunning centerpiece at 6:19. 9) The calming piano at 8:58 that caresses us back to health after the onslaught of melancholy. 10) Leeds’ sweetly coaxed butterfly sax notes at 11:38 that appear to give rise to the north wind. 11) The barren north winds that blow us out of the experience. A cry from a whale or a wolf can be heard in the distance at 12:43 and again at 13:14. It feels cold and lonely here. Snow blowing, causing a whiteout. Waves crashing against the icy shore. We long for some warmth, energy, neighbors, kinship. “East” Highlights and Musings : 1) The musical changes and transitions, the challenge, the complexity and the experimental vibe of the entire piece. Nothing Prince had done previously -- outside of perhaps the avant-garde “Cutz” from “Kamasutra” -- could have prepared you properly for this. 2) The “steel-drum” sound that eventually persuades the snake-charming flute out of its comfort zone. Are the natives being seduced out of their homeland ? 3) The drum breakdown that foretells of building strife. 4) The angered metal guitar thrusts like that of a powerful army surging forward to stomp out rebellion, matched by oriental key figures that build in fervency and incite anxious, circling, hornet’s-nest guitar, and a sax that answers in kind. The pieces most troubling, most hostile, most intense moment. Colonialism pushing eastward ? Communism forcing its hand in China and southeast Asia ? Perhaps just the general and constant unrest in the region ? 5) The nice transition from the powerful entangled sounds of west-meets-east-without-an-invite through the use of funk guitar that leads us straight into a wall of modern jazz, and later fusion with intensified sax that’s matched by gurgling organ and more funky guitar. 6) The irresistible combination of chicken-scratch guitar at 10:03 and the deeply funky baritone sax that it conjures. 7) Perhaps the sounds of the last gasps of a once great army’s influence slowly being deflated at 11:07. Listen in particular to the sounds at 12:02, that’s the same aggressive rock surges heard earlier. But this time they come across as weakened and in retreat. Is this the resistance giving out or the occupying force ? 8 ) The standup electric double bass solo that stirs memories of the middle-marker breakdown in John Coltrane’s “A Love Supreme”. The aftermath of war ? Digging out from under foreign rule ? 9) Bringing the piece to a sober place of mourning with only the sad, lonely strings of the sitar. Perhaps grieving the current war-torn nations of Iraq, Afghanistan, and Israel/Palestine, to name but a few ? “West” Highlights and Musings : 1) The opening 3:30 that nearly packs the aching, bittersweet beauty of “Purple Rain” or “Just My Imagination”. I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised to hear this turn up on a future project as a fully structured gospel/blues/rock/soul anthem. 2) After the harsh complexity of “East”, starting the “West” off in a more soulful and accessible direction seems just what the doctor ordered. 3) At 3:58 is that Columbus and his boys that can be heard sailing west in search of riches or the slave ships bringing over the human riches that will build much of the west ? 4) The striding and soulful neo-Madhouse groove that is the “West’s” mid-section, delivering a strong sense of purposeful adventure. It feels as if we’re on a journey into the unknown, yet still confident and hopeful of what lies ahead. 5) Eric stepping proudly forward at 7:36 and delivering a statement funky enough to inspire a hip-hopper who has never even cracked a jazz album. 6) The way in which at 8:31 the groove immediately turns deadly serious with the introduction of Prince’s shrieking guitar that later gets squeezed out urgently in energetic licks of stinging pain until the whole piece slows down and settles in a dark place of utter depravity. Is this the slavery era in America and some of its aftermath ? This section just shreds the soul. It’s like you’re being chained and whipped. One of the most starkly poignant passages in Prince history. 7) You almost get lost in each piece but there is always something at the end to snap you back to reality. On “West” it’s the drum rolls and sitar strings that signify the passing of another time and space. It feels as though we’ve mined everything we can out of this experience and so we knowingly shift our attitudes towards one of parting. But you can’t help but feel a great weight and regret for that which has passed as we roll onward to the pieces final movement. “South” Highlights and Musings : 1) Is that the Mothership landing on the “South” (or perhaps Prince’s version of Parliament’s Mothership, a whale with it’s soothing, discerning, cognitively omnipotent sounding cries, howls, whistles and songs), sent to deliver the enslaved from pain through the healing and understanding power of music ? This could perhaps signify the staggering contribution to 20th century music of Black Americans that came directly out of the pain of hundreds of years of slavery. Music that has been and will be helping people of all races, cultures and creeds in good times and in bad for hundreds of years to come. Perhaps there’ll never be another artistic period so astonishing as the one which saw the creation of jazz, blues, R&B, soul, funk, disco/dance and rap, with huge contributions in gospel, rock & roll and eventually a majority holding on that which becomes pop. 2) It’s almost as if the Mothership is sending a perceptive beam of inspirational energy directly to Rhonda’s bass, moving her fingers to the fore with a bass line that sets the tone for perhaps the funkiest moment of our entire journey. 3) The section of long lament that is encouraged by the still fluttering Mothership. Could this signify the brutally prolonged struggle from 2/3rds human status to equality ? And this too shall pass. 4) About 8:44 when the piano enters and the slow, mournful dirge starts to deliberately build into modern jazz ecstasy, eventually made climactic with the inclusion of dueling other-worldly guitar and sax exhalations at 10:00 that reach Charlie Parker-like spirituality. This just might be the album’s watermark. Upon first listen I was disappointed that Prince did not go completely interstellar on guitar. But upon further reflection of the piece as a whole, the explosion is perhaps tempered properly at just beneath boil until complete freedom and equality is a reality for all (North, East, West, and South). 5) The moody and bittersweet strings encountered at 12:00 that softly move us toward closure on waves of breathtaking emotion. 6) The piano that offers a solemn serenade to the purring Mothership poised for liftoff (or decent back into the hidden depths of the ocean). We’ve come a long way. We have a long way to go. Can we all come together or will we continue to fight and hate ? Is this the end or merely the beginning of a whole new era ? General Highlights and Musings : 1) The most amazing overall impression I get from listening to this album is that Prince has finally found his natural instrumental voice. And the result is a wonderful fusion of all that he was and all that was before him. It’s no longer like, “Oh, listen to the amazing ability of the rock/pop/soul man trying his hand at new things. Isn’t that nice and different and good for a rock/pop/soul man ?” Now it’s like, “Oh, this makes complete sense.” 2) Perhaps this project was inspired in part by Prince jamming with his band on his last tour (see : “Tokyo”, “Copenhagen”, “Nagoya” and “Osaka”.) 3) There are many wonderfully toned keyboard synths scattered throughout this work. Think 70’s soul with a 21st century freshness. 4) The production is so right on that even the sound effects come across as purposeful. None of that plastic quality that has at times tainted Prince’s sound. 5) I like the silence at the end of each track that acts as a palette cleanser before each new taste. 6) A couple of the transitions – especially the first one out “West” -- are not as wonderfully inspired as the pieces they connect. But that flaw diminishes somewhat with familiarity. 7) A very visual/cinematic work. I can see a interpretive dance piece being produced for this music. And of course it would include Prince, his band and a string section laying low and playing live in the orchestra pit. 8 ) Defies categorization. To call “N*E*W*S” jazz is no more accurate than calling “SOTT” funk. There is truth in both labels. But there is also great disservice. 9) No doubt a terrifically talented quintet of world-class musicians. Everyone of the five players gets their time to stretch and shine. But Prince and Eric are most definitely the show. If Eric’s part was mostly his own voice -- and I suspect that it was -- this is a strong candidate for the greatest contribution/collaboration to a Prince project ever. 10) There are many small details scattered throughout that keep the experience richly rewarding. And the journey is a diverse one, allowing for plenty of time to think, plenty of time to relax, plenty of time to fret, plenty of time to groove, plenty of time to regret, plenty of time to expect, plenty of time to feel, plenty of time to hurt, and plenty of time to heal. And as is true almost always with Prince, no matter how angered, troubled, depressed or stressed the music gets, he always finds a way to end it with some level of hope and resolution.
Join Rhonda Smith and John Blackwell in the CONFERENCE ROOM on Thursday July 3 at 5pm CT 4 a special chat with all the members of the NPG Music Club. Jul 03 03-07-2003 : New Orleans Prince visits New Orleans. He checked out the local House of Blues. 04-07-2003 : Essence Festival (New Orleans) Prince makes a backstage visit at the Essence festival in New Orleans, where amongst others Stevie Wonder and Patti LaBelle performed. The Time @ Richmond I got to the show around 7:30 p.m., just in time to hear the opening band play a 25 minute long version of "Brick House." Every fucker in the band did a solo, even the backup dancers had to dance. It was, as they say, tedious. Then some really lame DJ's "entertained" the middle-aged crowd, who had been sitting in lawn chairs for four hours in 95 degree heat, by "kickin' it old school". If I hear "Flashlight" one more time I'll scream. I spotted Monte and Jerome standing over behind the stage/tent thing - Jerome wearing a real nice suit, with aqua colored tie and matching shoes. About twenty minutes later, after enduring the lame DJ saying "Let me hear you make some nooooiise !" and "Any old schools peeps in tha house ?" over and over and over, Morris showed up in a red suit. The show finally starts, they do what I guess is the standard set - a looong medley that included Wild and loose, Get it up, Jerk out, The stick, Cool, 777-9311, Skillet (just kiddin Rhastus !) and probably a few I'm forgetting. Then there was Gigolos get lonely too and they go into the vamp for another slow song that I can't remember (maybe If the kid can't make you come ?). This went on for at least 20 minutes - Jerome went out to get women on the stage - and one of the women I had spotted earlier. She was dressed in an undescribably hideous outfit of red white and blue halter top with red white and blue skin-tight low rider spandex-y pants. I mean-maybe a nice outfit to wear at the strip club, but whatever. So Morris immediately asked her how old she was (23) - he was making sure in case things got 'off the chain'. Jerome kept calling her red, white, and blue and at one point recited the entire "pledge of allegiance" - which was HILARIOUS. They did a "Torrell 'Tori' Ruffin's gonna play for you and move only if he's gettin through to you" kind of thing with her. She ended up practically dry humping Torrell 'Tori' Ruffin - and Morris said "Man, your boyfriend has done left outta here mad now. All hot and mad." and Jerome took a look at her and said "Don't worry, though, he'll forgive you !" I'd forgotten how funny those guys are - they are naturally entertaining and a downright hot. There was the prerequisite 'big-boned gal' who glommed onto Morris and had him trapped in the corner for awhile until he hollered "Jerome, come take care of this !". There was one point they said "That was for the fellas in Kuwait !" and Jerome answered with "And the one's that can't wait !" They played Ice cream castles with the women still onstage and had the butt shakin contest - Ice cream castles musta been 15 minutes long - then after the song Jerome said "Alright ladies, we've been doing this about 15 minutes ? Well your 15 minutes is UP ! Get the hell off the stage !". He had to repeat himself a few times. Morris said "Shit !" at one point and sort of apologised, 'cause there were kids there. Jerome said "It's not like they ain't heard it before from mama and daddy." and Morris goes "Well, I guess I'll talk some shit then !" Wrapped it up with The bird and Jungle love, well worth it - if they come to yer town – Go ! Jerome stayed onstage after the show while Torrell 'Tori' Ruffin was selling his "Freak Juice" CD Juicemaker and signed autographs. I think he's the nicest man in the world, and one of the funniest. 10-07-2003 : Paisley Park party A dance party is held at Paisley Park. There was a $7 admittance fee. A DJ played music, amongst them two new Prince tunes, one of which was "Musicology" from the forthcoming Musicology album. The Live At The Aladdin Las Vegas DVD was also showed. Hey Every1, Just got back from the Park last night. I am so dazed N confused that I am not sure where to begin on giving a post so, I will just give U the highlights of my "twisted" Paisley Park Xperience. U know how I do.... First and foremost I want to thank my sister Viv for taking me on the road to Moneyapolis !! I love U girl !!! Thursday night was basically an NPGMC dance party. $7.00 cover. Unfortunately I did not wear a watch so I am not sure how long it was before the doors actually opened but, as usual there was a wait b4 we could enter. Even though it is July it was pretty cold outside and windy ! I am sure I was in line at about 9:15PM or so and around this time Takumi came to the door and jokingly asked why we where there so early. Many of us Xpected there to be a much larger crowd. But, I did not take a headcount so I am not sure how many were actually there but, I thought it was a nice intimate group. The party was held in the NPGMC room and the stage was set up as if Prince was going to perform. Based on information from others in line Prince's band was doing a sound check as we waited outside. I did see the band (Rhonda, John, Renato, Eric) exit the building so I assumed they were going to leave and come back later to perform. I was OH so wrong. The buzz is there was some tension between Prince and what's her name..the Mrs ? LOL So for whatever reason he did not play. I was disappointed but, with Prince this is to be expected so it was not out of the ordinary. Or was it ? I am blaming all unusual events on the FULL MOON. I do not even consider myself to be superstitious but, I do know when the moon is full weird and unexplained things do take place. Thursday night I saw some familiar faces at the Dance Party and everyone seemed to be having a good time. I love to watch people dance and thrive on their energy ! So I enjoyed myself !! Prince made his appearance at the sound board sporting his afro (puff) but, I missed it yes what's her name was with him. I do think many were disappointed that he did not perform. (I was !!) The Time @ Anaheim 11-07-2003 : Paisley Park party Another party takes place at Paisley Park. Conversation Piece performed a set. The band featured Todd Burrell on keyboard, Walter Chancellor on saxophone, Stanley "Chance" Howard on bass and former Prince-band members Kirk Johnson on drums, and Mike Scott on guitar. At the time, Howard also played keyboard with Morris Day and The Time. Soon afterwards, Prince asked him to join The NPG as keyboard player. Friday night there was again a wait but, this time due to rainstorms earlier in the day we were greeted by...what else ? A massive group of mosquitos !! Most of us waited in our cars until they began to let people in which was around 11:30PM. At one point they actually were passing around a bottle of bug repellent while people were in line !! I thought oh no let me head back to the car. Was I actually suppose to rub all that stuff on me and smell like a "rose" for the rest of the night ? Not !! Once again, $7.00 cover and the NPGMC room was the only area open. They also had a few items for sale Xenophobia T-shirts, DOW CD, ONA tourbook, skull caps, ONA Live etc. nothing new. This was not set up in the normal store location. It was set up in the teeny-tiny entrance way next to the NPGMC room ?? "Strange but, True". As I was browsing in the "mock" store a gentlemen asked if the Xenophobia DVD was available or anything new and the woman selling the items said she works for Prince but, she did not know anything about the merchandise...OUCH !. I explained to him about N.E.W.S. and the upcoming Aladdin DVD etc....once again "Strange but, True" The cover band Conversation Peace took the stage at 11:50PM and I believe their set was over at around 2:15AM. I did not stay in the NPGMC room for entire set. I went into the foyer but, still enjoyed the band. At one point there was some type of footage running on the big screen. It look like some type of religious ritual or something.. ?? I have no clue but, it was playing and appeared to have nothing to do with the bands performance ??? Prince made his way in and out of the NPGMC room about 10,000 times back and forth to the sound board etc. I am not even going to begin to go into details here. Why ? Because if I did no one would believe me. You all know I am a fan who is an addict so I have my own twisted way of analyzing Prince and I will not get into here. But, all that happened will not be forgotten..."Strange but, true." Trust me U just had 2 be there! Later Prince brought out a box of the N.E.W.S. Cd's and Takumi was selling them by the door for $7.00. I thought Takumi asked who wanted to buy I "USED" CD so I rushed to see what he had to offer ! LOL But, it was N.E.W.S. I tried to negotiate with him on the price and he was not buying my sob story about not receiving my N.E.W.S. CD yet etc. so then I asked for 5 CD's of course to confuse him...LOL And at this point I think he undercharged me for my copy of N.E.W.S by mistake OOPS ! Sorry ! I am surprised my copy has not arrived by mail yet. So I guess I will just end up with two if it ever arrives ! Anyway, after the Conversation Peace set was over, the Aladdin DVD was being played-14 tracks in total from what I could see. About half way through I saw security walk a guy to the door, the DVD stopped, the lights came on and everyone was leaving ??? I still do not know what happened. "Strange but, true." Friday night was a more upscale crowd the atmosphere was totally the opposite of the night before. Once again "Strange but, true !" I would really like to read some more posts from other people. All in all I had a good time or as good as could be expected for an impromptu party at the Park. I think there were just a lot of unusual events that took place but, maybe it is just me. Maybe it ain't !!! For the ladies : Prince wore cream colored attire on Friday and that Afro (puff) LOL Saturday night he tamed down the Fro with some "sheen" and which gave it some curl LOL and wore a black ensemble. Needless to say He Looked GOOD !!!! Ok, that is about all that comes 2 mind 4 now...I am listening to my N.E.W.S. CD and I love it..Thanks for hooking me up Prince ! I know you brought these out just 4 me !! LOL FYI-Full Moon 2nite...B Ware !!! Peace & Be WILD !! 19-07-2003 : The Time @ Yuma (2 shows) 21-07-2003 : NPGMC High NPGMC, The NEW DVD titled "Prince Live at the Aladdin Las Vegas" brings home selected per4mances recorded live at the final concert of the One Nite Alone 2002 Tour. This DVD features classics, covers, and recent songs NOT found on the "One Nite Alone...Live !" Box Set. Plus special guests NIKKA COSTA, MACEO PARKER AND SHEILA E. GET THIS DVD ! Onsale in advance 2 all the members of the NPG Music Club xclusively on August 12th 4 a special members-only price of $14.99. All DVDs will be ready 2 ship on the same day u place ur order so don't hesitate 2 get this one. Love4oneanother,
The ever-elusive Prince will on Aug. 19 unveil the first official DVD from his NPG Music Club, "Prince Live at the Aladdin Las Vegas." The set will be available to members of the artist's NPG Music Club Web site as well as to traditional retail outlets via Hip-O Records. The 80-minute DVD, recorded Dec. 15, 2002, during Prince's most recent U.S. tour, was previewed on the Web site in June, coinciding with the release of Prince's latest studio effort, the experimental "N.E.W.S." The DVD features Prince and his New Power Generation band with guest appearances by Nikka Costa, Maceo Parker and Sheila E. During the show, Prince visited his classic '80s era with tunes like "Take Me With U," "Pop Life," "Gotta Broken (Heart) Again," "Housequake" and "Strange Relationship." He also includes a portion of a yet-to-be released song titled "U Want Me." Other cuts on the concert DVD include "Family Name" and "The Everlasting Now" from 2001's "The Rainbow Children," Costa's "Push and Pull" and covers of the JB's "Pass the Peas" and Led Zeppelin's "Whole Lotta Love." 24-07-2003 : George Clinton @ Toronto Prince together with Manuela and her mother attend a show by George Clinton, in town for the Toronto Blues Festival at Exhibition Place, Toronto. They only stayed for about 15 minutes. Rolling Stone By Karen Bliss Sheila E. is planning a benefit concert in Los Angeles featuring the alumni of Prince's many backing bands. Actress Carmen Electra, discovered and named by Prince in 1991, will host. "It's going to be all the Prince band members from all the bands, together, for one night only," says Sheila, who goes back twenty years with Prince. "It's never been done before." All proceeds from the concert -- to be held at either the Los Angeles Forum or the Universal Amphitheater on December 13th or 15th ("we have the time on hold right now," Sheila says) - will go towards the creation of the Compassion Care Center in Los Angeles, a safe haven for abused or abandoned children that provides education, counseling and mentoring. The members of the Revolution who've already signed on include guitarist Wendy Melvoin, keyboardist Lisa Coleman, keyboardist Matt Fink and drummer Bobby Z. "It's fabulous because they haven't played together as a band in twenty years," Sheila says. Onboard from the Family ("the band that Prince had that never really toured") are saxophonist Eric Leeds, singer Susannah Melvoin (Wendy's twin), percussionist Jerome Benton and singer/keyboardist Paul Peterson. The one member who has not yet been invited is Prince himself. "There's no pressure on him, but we'd like for him to come," Sheila says. "He's why we're doing this, because he started all of it." Prince first recruited Sheila to sing on "Erotic City," the flip side to his Number One 1984 single "Let's Go Crazy." He also helped her land a solo deal with Warner Bros. and penned the title track to her debut album, Glamorous Life, a Top Ten single. After two more solo albums, (Sheila E. in Romance 1600 and Sheila E.) she rejoined Prince's band for 1987's Sign O' the Times tour. The building of the Compassion Care Center is just one of many projects of Sheila and business partner Lynn Mabry's Lil' Angel Bunny Foundation (LABF). Sheila herself was sexually abused by a babysitter, as was Mabry by a family friend. "We're going to use music as a therapy for the children," Sheila explains. Sheila also has her own line of drum kits for children, the Sheila E. Player's Series, and she has donated instruments to foster homes. "A lot the kids have been abused so severely they have not been able to speak," she says, "and since they've had the drums, they're talking." Sheila E. is touring as a member of Ringo Starr's All Starr Band through September MTV.com Prince Wants His Music Back ... Now Prince wants his music back. Just a month before he releases the first DVD from his New Power Generation Music Club, the club has sent its paid members a list of album rarities Prince would like returned in his continuing struggle to guard against bootlegging and to control his own sonic real estate. In an e-mail sent Wednesday to the NPGMC, fans were asked to "Help the cause !" and look for "anything with a WB logo that was unofficially released during Prince's tenure at that label." Among the suggested discs to send in, according to a list provided by the NPGMC, were releases by such companies as Back 2 Back, 2-on-1 and BackTrax, which included such classic Prince singles as "Purple Rain," "Little Red Corvette," "Erotic City," "When Doves Cry" and "Let's Go Crazy." Much of the material on the list — from CD and cassette singles to box sets and home videos — was released as imports sold in Germany, Japan and the U.K.. The e-mail asks for the material to be mailed to The Ways of the Pharoah, PO Box 169, Vermilion, OH 44089-0169, but without mention of a reward, reimbursement or compensation. Fans are already in an uproar over the missive. One fan posting to a message board on Prince.org under the name Goldie's Parade wrote, "I bought all those in a shop, so I legally own them, and Prince wants me to send them back free of charge. Fool." An explanation was later posted on the NPGMC Web site. "Not long ago, an unauthorized version of the concert film 'Sign O' the Times' surfaced online," the message read. “Supposedly originating in Brazil and distributed by WEA International, this DVD is not something that was approved by Prince or any of his affiliates. ... We all know that Prince is one of the most bootlegged artists of his generation, and while much of the activity is tolerated, it crosses the line when Prince's [former] record company ... gets in the mix. The [reason for this request is] to show a federal court the actual truth of this age-old rift between artist and label." "Let Prince steward his own catalogue," the message pleaded. "Then the 'coupled,' poor-quality, unmastered versions of his classics would cease. Imagine in 2004, a brand new, pristine, remastered version of 'Purple Rain,' released on high-definition DVD with extras, outtakes and liner notes from the Artist himself. " Prince recorded albums between 1978 and 1996 on Warner Bros., whom he's accused of unfair business practices. He split from the label circa the release of Chaos and Disorder, citing issues of control. Though he failed to get Warner Bros. to return the ownership of his master recordings (the label still owns Prince's back catalogue), Prince is legally allowed to re-record any of his Warner Bros. songs. A spokesperson for the singer could not reach Prince for comment at press time. NPGMC Perhaps this notice will clear up any confusion brought on by the CAUSE emale u received recently. Not long ago, an UNauthorized version of the concert film SIGN O THE TIMES surfaced online. Supposedly originating in Brazil and distributed by WEA International - this DVD is not something that was approved by Prince or any of his affiliates. Enuff is enuff... We all know that Prince is one of the most bootlegged artists of his generation and while much of this activity is tolerated, it crosses the line when Prince's 4mer record company who is entrusted 2 steward his catalogue gets in the mix. The CAUSE emale is a simple request 2 show a Federal Court the actual truth of this age-old riff between ARTIST and LABEL. Even if u were kind enuff 2 send us just ONE cd that is shown on the list u were mailed, it will serve as ample notice that we r tired of this endless MISrepresentation of this man's life-long work. He deserves better. Let Prince steward his OWN catalogue, then the "coupled", poor-quality, unmastered versions of his classics would cease. Imagine in 2004, a brand-new, prisitine, RE-mastered version of PURPLE RAIN released on high definition DVD with xtras, outtakes and liner notes from the Artist himself arriving at ur door. That alone is worth the effort of helping us with the CAUSE. -love4oneanother, NPGMC 26-07-2003 : The Time @ Minneapolis 28-07-2003 : MSN.com Family Jam planned for December The Lil' Angel Bunny Foundation is planning a benefit concert in Los Angeles featuring many of the bands that defined the "Minneapolis Sound" in the 1980s. Among the acts confirmed are Sheila E., Apollonia, Carmen Electra (host of the evening) as well as members of the The Family and Prince's backing band, The Revolution. All proceeds from the concert - to be held at a venue in Los Angeles, Calif., in December - will go towards the creation of the Compassion Care Center in Los Angeles, a safe haven for abused or abandoned children that provides education, counseling and mentoring. The concert is still in the early planning stages. We will be announcing band lineups and more details on this site as soon as they are confirmed. 29-07-2003 : Village Voice Deep Purple Race Matters in New Books on Prince and Hendrix By Miles Marshall Lewis For those who were teenagers during the 1980s, Prince Rogers Nelson was the closest equivalent to the baby boomers' beloved Beatles this side of the whole hiphop cultural movement. Meeting Prince at Life in the late '90s, I thanked him for structuring my adolescent conception of what a true artist is : Watching him buck moneymaking inclinations for creative growth (e.g. brilliantly quirky stopgap records like Parade) taught me - not to mention students like D'Angelo, Me'Shell NdegéOcello, ?uestlove, et al. - a lot about the path of the artiste. Possessed : The Rise and Fall of Prince tracks one of the most captivating career arcs as yet unmined by the likes of Behind the Music - an up-to-the-minute biography superior to Dave Hill's 1989 Prince : A Pop Life for its eyewitness accounts and inclusion of the musician's highly publicized woes with his former record company, Warner Bros. Journalist Alex Hahn (also an attorney who successfully defended the Uptown Prince fanzine pro bono against the object of their affection in 1998) blends commentary from dozens of confidantes - including bandmates Bobby Z. and Dez Dickerson, tour manager Alan Leeds, and engineer Susan Rogers - into an often third-eye-opening view of Prince's musical genius and control-freak issues. Fanboys will find satisfaction in the minutiae here. A quick handful for the initiated : Revolution guitarist Wendy Melvoin and pianist Lisa Coleman were indeed once lovers; an alleged Ecstasy trip provoked Prince to shelve The Black Album in lieu of 1988's Lovesexy; "The Beautiful Ones" and "The Ballad of Dorothy Parker" were written for ex-girlfriend Susannah Melvoin, "Vicki Waiting" about ex Anna Garcia, "When Doves Cry" about Vanity 6 singer and ex Susan Moonsie; titles like "When We're Dancing Close and Slow" and protégé group the Time's Ice Cream Castle were taken directly from Joni Mitchell, whom Prince has admired since taking in a concert at around age 10. Possessed : The Rise and Fall of Prince By Alex Hahn Billboard, 280 pp., $24.95 Hahn's narrative reads like a soap opera. Prince was born in Minneapolis, the sheltered son of plastic molder John Nelson (nighttime pianist of his own Prince Rogers Trio) and local jazz singer Mattie Shaw. Following their divorce, young Prince consoled himself with his dad's left-behind piano, quickly forming a high school band (originally Grand Central, then Champagne) influenced by James Brown and Sly & the Family Stone. Offered the opportunity to go solo, he ditched his friends for fame, signing to Warner Bros. as a one-man band at 19. Patenting a sex-and-salvation paradigm through songs ranging from "Head" to "God," with a musical backdrop fusing New Wave with funk and rock, Prince led his own Revolution to the toppermost of the poppermost until 1984's Purple Rain commercial summit. "He was precocious and brilliant, but lacked focus in his apprehension of new influences," Hahn says, relating the onset of Prince's creative wane, which the author pegs as beginning with 1987's heavily bootlegged Black Album. "After Prince decided to stop learning, the lack of continued stimulus, coupled with the absence of strong personalities like Wendy and Lisa from his band, quickly became apparent in his work." Possessed pinpoints other factors in describing the freefall of Prince's reputation and creativity : an inability to expose himself to new ways of seeing the world, an obsession with owning his master recordings (contrary to record industry practice), and the pursuit of his original black audience through the ill-fitting incorporation of wack rappers like Tony M. into his post-Revolution band, the New Power Generation. "We were his first black band, and our thing was to help him get his black audience back, because he had lost that," admits ex-N.P.G. singer Rosie Gaines. Race is the place where Midnight Lightning : Jimi Hendrix and the Black Experience resides. Written by Voice cultural critic Greg Tate, this skinny hardcover admits to being "a Jimi Hendrix book with A Racial Agenda . . . plantation baggage, darkskin biases and Black Power axes to grind." Purposely no rival of Harry Shapiro and Caesar Glebbeek's excellent Electric Gypsy for biographical completeness, Tate says his book could very well have been titled A Jimi Hendrix Primer for Blackfolk for its intentions. Though Prince himself has cited Carlos Santana as a bigger influence on his guitar playing than the late James Marshall Hendrix, clearly there is no Prince without Hendrix, no "Purple Rain" without "Purple Haze." What has never occurred to white critics who have never chad to think twice about it is that Hendrix is an icon of what might be called bohemian black America : those so-called cultural mulattos who color-blindly glean as much from the overriding white culture as from the black, filtering it all through a prism that makes our walk/talk/artistic output resolutely the latter. Despite overtures to the black experience ("House Burning Down") and his use of drummer Buddy Miles and bassist Billy Cox - the all-black Band of Gypsys behind Live at the Fillmore East - Hendrix still fails to get a fair shake in the black community. Midnight Lightning's raison d'être is to remedy this, and Tate does so in his patented scatman-meets-academe prose. "No other Black artist was performing 'Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band' right in front of Paul McCartney and John Lennon two days after the Sgt Pepper album had hit the street," Tate mentions. "You got to do what you have to do and I have to do what I have to do," Hendrix himself said in his defense to a black nationalist after a rare Harlem performance - a statement that, however simplistic, in many ways says it all. Download 1.3 Mb. Share with your friends:
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