In the four years since his death, a lot has already been done to keep Prince's legacy alive and kicking — and to keep fans happy and spending. But there's still so much more that could be done.
Tuesday's all-star CBS-TV tribute concert on the anniversary of his death, "Let's Go Crazy: The Grammy Salute to Prince," is another welcome and worthy way of getting other stars to honor the Minnesota music icon. But nothing compares to Prince himself. We want more of that.
So far, his estate has issued two "new" posthumous Prince collections: last year's "Originals" featuring his versions of songs he wrote for others like Sheila E and Kenny Rogers, and the "Piano and a Microphone 1983" solo set recorded in his Chanhassen living room. That's in addition to a modest assortment of reissues, most notably last year's deluxe edition of "1999," his 1983 breakthrough album.
With perhaps just a tinge of hometown bias, here is a wish list of a dozen things we'd like to see surface from Prince's legendarily stuffed vault.
Warner Bros. demos, 1977. After graduating from Minneapolis Central High in 1976 and playing with his band Grand Central, Prince Nelson struck a deal for after-hours access to Moon Sound recording studio in south Minneapolis. There he crafted a one-man-band demo tape that landed him a manager, Owen Husney, who helped Prince score a contract with Warner Bros. Three songs were presented to the label: "We'll Make It Through the Storm," (later recorded by Twin Cities singer Sue Ann Carwell in 1981), "Soft and Wet" (it became Prince's first single) and "Baby" (also on Prince's debut LP).
"The Second Coming," 1982. Prince enlisted Minneapolis-based video pioneer Chuck Statler to film part of the 1982 tour featuring Prince and the Time. In mid-tour, the budding star decided to expand the project to include some dramatic scenes, featuring Kim Upsher (his high school girlfriend) and Susan Moonsie (another girlfriend, soon to be in Vanity 6) as well as a certain Minneapolis music critic in a dressing-room interview scene. The gospelly title song was never released. Prince didn't acquire rights to the film footage until he paid Statler in this century. A final edit of the film was never completed.
Minnesota Dance Theatre benefit, First Avenue, Aug. 3, 1983. This is one of rock's most historic live recordings sitting on a shelf somewhere. It's the show where the song "Purple Rain" premiered. Recorded by a mobile studio, the audio for it and two tunes were used for the 1984 album and film of the same name. It was also 19-year-old guitarist Wendy Melvoin's first Revolution gig. Even without that history, it was a great concert with rare performances of "Electric Intercourse" and Joni Mitchell's "A Case of You."
Birthday party, First Avenue, June 7, 1984. Of the four or five other high-quality bootlegs of performances at his pre-Paisley Park hometown playground, this set seems the most treasurable both for its context and its content. It amounted to a full-steam blowoff of a show as Prince braced for the release of "Purple Rain." It also featured a lot of B-sides and deep cuts that he seldom played live after this, including "17 Days," "Our Destiny" and "Irresistible Bitch." Best of all, he turned "When Doves Cry" into an 11-minute grind.
