1979 - 1980: The Album Known As Prince
1979-1980: The Album Known As Prince
This week covers Prince’s self-titled album, which while better than “For You,”still does not quite feel like Prince has quite found his stride just yet. One big difference is that this album definitely feels like it is not an outlier in the discography. In a lot of ways, this is really Prince’s first album.
The absence of any kind of executive producer or other oversight is evident even on the album art. It's definitely the first of many questionable album art choices from Prince. The front cover isn't great (if pretty typical of the time), but the back cover is definitely something else.
Is that what you think it is? Only if you think it's butt-ass naked Prince on a pegasus. Because that is butt-ass naked Prince on a pegasus. Lord have mercy.
Anyway. From the very first notes of “Prince.” I wouldn’t say the production work is overdone, or even “slick” as some of Prince’s solo efforts can feel, but it does have that dense yet roomy quality that Prince’s music tends to have. Some lessons were clearly learned from the previous album, and Prince had also gained a lot of confidence as a producer, performer and a song writer during the time since his last album was recorded, and it shows. Everything on this album is more committed, lively and specific, making for a much more satisfying listen than “For You.” Provided you can get past the back cover.
“I Wanna Be Your Lover” opens the album, and it’s one of the few songs from this time that Prince consistently played throughout his career. There are often times when you can tell that Prince was making a piece of music for a specific purpose, and this one was definitely intended for radio and clubs to play. And it worked: “I Wanna Be Your Lover” hit Number 1 on the Billboard Soul Charts, Number 2 on the Disco Charts (seriously why were there disco charts?) and almost broke into the Top 10 on the Hot 100.
The next two songs on the album are an interesting pair. “Why You Wanna Treat Me So Bad” and “Sexy Dancer” were both released as singles (although the latter was only released in the UK and Japan), but they have been treated very differently when it comes to compilations. I assume “Why You Wanna Treat Me So Bad” makes it on to compilations because it was a single in the U.S.? I’m not really sure. I also believe – but I have nothing to back this up – that “Why You Wanna Treat Me So Bad” was put out as a single to bolster Prince’s credibility as a guitarist. It does feature the first serious guitar solo of his recording career. As you would expect, not his best, but certainly not bad either.
Here's the thing, though: “Sexy Dancer” is a better song. As far as I’m concerned it’s the first prototype of what would become the “Minneapolis Sound,” which is really just shorthand for Prince’s brand of mixing funk with any other genre he liked. Being a prototype, it leans heavily on the funk side of that equation, but there are still echoes of the future in the tone of the bass, the hiss on the hi-hat, and that oddly Prince-specific warble on the synth.
For those who care about such things, there is a 12-inch single, I believe only released in the UK (?) that has an extended version of “Sexy Dancer” clocking in at almost nine minutes. It sounds to me like the album version was an edited version of this longer track, so if you just can’t get enough of that bass, there is a solution for you. In any case, while “Sexy Dancer” was often played live throughout his career, “Why You Wanna Treat Me So Bad” only popped up here and there.
“When We’re Dancing Close And Slow” sounds like another prototype, this time of the atmospheric, melodramatic ballads that would come to almost be a subgenre of Prince’s work. “Do Me, Baby,” “The Beautiful Ones,” and “Insatiable” all come to mind as descendants of this track. That said, all those other songs are definite improvements on the formula.
“With You” is probably the odd song out on this record. It feels out of place. For one thing, unlike every other song on the record, it feels generic – never a good thing on a Prince album. Also, this song opens the second side of the LP. Why? I’ve never heard of a ballad opening Side 2 of an album. I’m certain it’s happened, but I can’t imagine it ever being a good idea. Frankly, the next song would have been a better choice, and putting “With You” in the second spot would have made for a better album.
“Bambi” is what I consider to be Prince’s first problematic song. Lyrically speaking, it can be read as misogynist. I’m not sure it isn’t. I really go back and forth. The basic concept is this: Prince has been either dumped or cheated on (or both) by a woman for another woman. His essential argument to get this woman back is that sex is “better with a man.” Now that, read with no irony or humor, is not good at all. What you must understand, however is that he is doing this in his most screeching, raggedy falsetto. He has to know what this sounds like. Right? Right? It’s a joke, right?
The problem is that the song is also a banger. Seriously. It’s another prototype of the Minneapolis Sound, this one leaning as hard on the “rock” side of the spectrum as “Sexy Dancer” leans on the funk side. That’s what kind of eats at me though. Is the guitar so good on this track that I want to make excuses for what are essentially reprehensible sentiments? Or is there a twinkle in his eye as he howls these absurdities? If there is, I wish there were more of one.
“Still Waiting” is another early ballad, this one with a bit more swing to it than we’ve seen previously, but apart from that it’s undistinguished.
Cover art for the single featuring the acoustic demo of "I Feel For You". Note that any of these shots would have made a better back cover than butt-ass naked Prince on a pegasus.
“I Feel For You” is another odd duck. There are at least three recorded versions I know of. The first is the album version, the second is the much more well-known version by Chaka Khan (which will be covered in a later post) and finally there is the earliest known version, an acoustic demo from either 1978 or 1979 released by the Estate in 2019 to commemorate the 40th anniversary of this album. What’s interesting is how similar all three versions are. The album version and the demo are definitely cut from the same cloth, and everything that makes the song unique is all there, even with it just being Prince and a single guitar. It’s definitely worth a listen (you can find it on Tidal). What makes it odd is that it was never released as a single, though Prince often treated it as if it had been a single. Especially in the 2000’s, it was at least semi-regularly played live, with several different arrangements. I just wonder how it slipped under the radar in 1979.
The album closes out with “It’s Gonna Be Lonely.” To be honest it's very nearly album filler. It’s honestly not bad. In fact, it’s Prince’s first power ballad, but it’s also probably his weakest.
Touring (Mostly) With Rick James
Prince went on his first tour in support of this album, but there are signs that Warner Bros still didn’t necessarily think he was quite ready for prime time. The tour started out headlining mostly in smaller venues, which is fair enough for an artist starting out, but that tour only consisted of 17 shows in a few cities.
The first five months of 1980 were spent opening 40 shows for Rick James. For all that he became a horrible joke in his later years, Rick James produced some absolute masterpieces in the late 70s and early 80s. There is no doubt that by 1980, James was funk royalty. He was also everything you would expect from a Charlie Murphy account of a Rick James encounter. First of all, it’s worth noting Rick James was on tour promoting an album called “Fire It Up”:
The album cover kind of tells you everything you need to know about the work environment on the tour.
To put it delicately, Prince and Rick James absolutely hated each other almost instantly. Having read some of the stories I wonder how they managed nine weeks on the road together. Even if the stories are exaggerated, it’s still such an incredibly hostile environment it’s a miracle no violence occurred.
James accused Prince of stealing his stage shtick, and when confronted with this, Prince basically gave him the Luigi Death Stare, then the finger, then just walked off while making direct eye contact. Rick James, needless to say, was not used to this sort of behavior from anyone, much less an up-and-comer as Prince was at the time.
Then there was the time Prince failed to give Rick’s mother an autograph backstage. Here’s how Rick told the story in his autobiography:
I chased after that little turd. I caught up with him and was about to lay him out when his manager stepped in.
“What the hell is wrong with you, Rick?” asked the manager.
I told him Prince had dissed Mom and that I was gonna kick his scrawny ass. Prince explained that he didn’t know who Mom was.
“Well, now you know, motherfucker,” I said.
“Prince will be happy to apologize to your mother,” said the manager, “and he will be happy to apologize to you.”
Prince apologized to Mom and apologized to me. I was a little disappointed ’cause I really did wanna kick his ass.
They did not get along. At all. It wasn’t a great experience for either of them, and it definitely made Prince think about his future touring arrangements.
The other thing was make Prince want to stretch out a bit and start to push the envelope more. After all, if it worked for a half-crazy, drug-addled jackass like Rick James, why couldn’t it work for Prince?
Next Week: The Beginning of the Good Stuff: Dirty Mind
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