Recently Mace2theO commented that this bootleg from 1982 was the equivalent of his first girlfriend. We all have a similar first girlfriend experience – she may have had braces and carried some puppy fat, but she will always be special by the fact she was the first and painted in nostalgic hues forever more because of this. It was our first proper relationship and doomed to a crushing teenage ending, but always conjures up warm memories that do not fade as time passes.
I’m sorry Mace2theO, but in this case, your first girlfriend got around a bit. Not only was she your first girlfriend, but she was also my first girlfriend too. Mace2theO acquired this concert on cassette (and all the nostalgic currency that carries), while for me I found this bootleg on CD hidden away at the back of the record store. It was far from perfect in sound quality but I can assure you that when I took a listen it shook me to my core, and the fact that 35 years on I am blogging about Prince bootlegs demonstrates how much of an influence it had over the rest of my life. Like that first girlfriend, it was a formative experience. I didn’t quite know what I was doing and I have had better relationships since but retains a special place in my heart.
A couple of weeks ago the soundboard recording of this show became widely available. It’s not always comfortable when we meet ex-girlfriends later in life, with a messy divorce behind them, a couple of kids under their arms, and the first signs of a drinking problem hiding behind their forced smile, but in this case, my first girlfriend has grown up into somebody I want to spend a lot of time with. The roughness of the audience recording is gone, replaced with a shiny soundboard, all slender legs, short skirts, and long luxurious hair. Oh yes, my first girlfriend is now the hottest chick on the block. She has grown up in every way while retaining all the charms that I first fell in love with all those years ago. I may have talked about this first girlfriend before, but now she is in full bloom and stirring up those old feelings in me. It’s not very often that I spend time with ex-girlfriends, but in this case I am going to roll back the clock and wine and dine this girl one more time.
So with my first bootleg love rekindled, let us douse ourselves in cheap cologne, grease up the hair, and head straight to the heart of 1982.
8th March 1982, First Avenue, Minneapolis
There is a heat between the thighs from the opening minute, a few quick words by Prince, and then a rage of guitar pulled down by Dez. With a punk rock assault, Prince and the band hang it all out in these first minutes with both power and panache. In a frenzy of guitar scuzz “Bambi” storms into the room. It’s a wild-eyed performance that bounces off the walls in a maelstrom of fuzzed-up guitar and shrieked lyrics, capturing the listener's attention from the start. It is much cleaner than the previous audience recording, and the soundboard brings the musicianship to the fore while retaining the fierce sound of the more familiar recording. That first girlfriend has cleaned up her defiant punk-rock hairstyle but still has a fiery intent in her eyes that hints at underlying violence that could bubble over at any second.
“All The Critics Love U In New York” is the most Princely sui genius song of the evening, and maps out the territory that he will roam in the next few years. It wears its uniqueness proudly, face-melting guitar work grafted to the undeniable beat that appeals to both my gut and my feet. I am never quite sure if I should be dancing or punching the air, the music insisting that I move my body in any way possible as Prince gives us perhaps the greatest performance of this song ever recorded. The keyboard solo gains on this pristine recording, Fink’s solo standing out among the more forceful blazing guitar and holding his calm center at the eye of the storm. For a minute we are in another world before the hurricane of guitar solos returns and swallow up all the sound.
There is a glimpse of the first girlfriend I used to know in the opening of “When You Were Mine,” both the title and the sound taking me back to youthful summers that were equally long and lost. It is easy to project these feelings back on a song that has been with us so long, but even at this show, it has a nostalgic feel – although it was only recorded just two years previous. This is the most comfortable song of the concert and captures the exact feelings that I first had when I heard it all those years ago.
There is a world of difference between the audience recording and this soundboard recording when it comes to “Sexy Dancer.” A far more nuanced performance emerges on this recording, and whereas before it was strident and bold, here it becomes much more of a sassy walk rather than a march into battle. Both the bass and the keyboard via for attention, each adding to a show that I am already eminently familiar with. While the bass remains holding the song together, Dr. Fink spins off into an intergalactic sound with his keyboards, making me draw a sharp breath in the thrill of it all. It is Dez who gets to put an end to these flights of fancy, his solo serving as an exclamation mark on all that has come before.
Things slow, sex and lust are temporarily forgotten as Prince dips into a song of love and yearning with “Still Waiting.” Prince is on lead vocals, but it is Sue Ann Carwell who is the star attraction with her contribution. At almost ten minutes long there is plenty of time for the candles of love to flicker and flame, and musically one can hear the lights being turned down as the song slows to a velvety and warm breakdown. In this circumstance, it is grating to hear Prince saying “I got cause to celebrate because my girlfriend died” but as Brown Marks bass rises from this crushed velvet sea all is forgiven, and I am again transported away on the winds of Sue Ann Carwell’s voice.
The recording slaps me in the face and snaps me out of this reverie with a furious “Head.” On the previous recording, it was nasty and slutty, on this recording, it is far more sexy and erotic. While the audience recording sounded like a blowjob in the Walmart carpark, this one speaks in the language of fellatio and sex on the hood of a Porsche at a Beverly Hills party. The outcome is still the same, but it doesn’t threaten to be as dangerous, and despite some superlative bass work, I am comfortable that when it is all over I won’t be visiting the clinic in the morning.
If there is a moment that demonstrates how much better this new recording is, it is the final minute of the “Head” when we can hear Prince preparing the band for “Sexuality.” We have heard him yell into the microphone before, but this time we can hear him say it a couple of times earlier to the audience. It’s not a big thing, but it does show just how good the sound is. “Sexuality” is relatively short, most of the song is given over to the audience sing-a-long that dominates. It does lose some of its impact on this soundboard recording, the audience recording does a far better job of capturing this moment with the audience. This is crying out for someone to combine the two recordings in a matrix mix that would better give us that electrifying live sound that makes this recording so vital.
Prince’s brief speech introducing The Time has been often discussed, and for good reason. His easy banter with Morris is refreshing, and it's hilarious to hear him and Morris go back and forth, trading lines and barbs that belie the darker waters that swirl just under the surface. “Dance To The Beat” maintains this veneer of lightheartedness and provides a pop twist to a show that has been thus far guitar-heavy and drenched in intensity. There is a lift in the atmosphere and the recording shines bright for these minutes.
Prince continues to fire broadsides at the band between songs, this time with the comment “I didn’t like that, play something you know how to play.” The response from The Time is a taunt version of “The Stick” that would satisfy the most demanding of audiences. As much as I like The Time and this song, it does feel as if they have gate-crashed the date, and there is an awkward third-wheel experience to hearing them on the bootleg. The real drawcard though isn’t the music itself, but rather their dynamic tension with Prince, a tension that fuels his music and will provide some of his most dramatic work in the following years.
“Partyup” fuses these two elements in a climactic finish that delivers all it promises. The opening talk between Prince and Morris sets the scene, the back and forth continues between them continues as Morris takes his place at the drum kit for this final stomp. Prince and his guitar lead from the front, but most fans will be focused on Morris and his drumming. He lives up to expectations, and the foreplay of the opening talk is forgotten as the song becomes further arousing. Morris’s drum solo almost brings us to orgasm, but Prince pulls him back just in time with some great bass work from Brown Mark. The final climax comes with an inflamed guitar solo from Prince, but as with the audience recording, there is coitus interruptus as the tape fades out, the rest of the solo never realized and leaving us to only wonder what might have been.
I have loved this concert for as long as I can remember. I have grown older, but it has remained forever young, even with the imperfections of the long-circulating audience recording. With this soundboard recording, we have a chance to revisit our youth, and a chance to reconnect with that elusive first girlfriend. I have mixed feelings as I know that the first girlfriend is forever gone and never again will I listen to the audience recording. This new recording has created new memories and sparked a new love. It is time to move on and file the audience recording in my box of faded photos, yellowed love letters, and yesterday's glories. I am firmly looking forward as with this soundboard recording I feel reinvigorated, my love burning with a new intensity. I have made up my mind, this is the recording that I want to spend the rest of my life with.
-Hamish
Bonus material:
Mace2theO messaged me this quickfire review when I told him I was covering this bootleg. It’s not written with public consumption in mind, but he has agreed that I could share it with you. I am in full agreement with everything he has written here, and he is far more succinct than me!
Re 82 – reasons the show is important to me, rediscovered with the SBDs
The First Ave show came the night after the main show at the Met Centre so going back to a small club, it has the feel of an aftershow. It is the first Revolution in all its glory, with Dez as a proper Keith Richards lead as the Black Rolling Stones, all pre-Purple Rain. Starting with a raw punk version of Bambi, it then goes into a monster version of All the Critics. While “Let ’em out of his cage” is great, my favorite is before Doc’s solo when Prince and Dez start soloing and Prince yells “Wait a minute, Dez” before ripping off a monster solo.
Sometimes audiences make the boot and I had been living with the crowd singing at the end of Sexuality for so many years, it took me a minute to adjust to the soundboard. Same with All The Critics – without that kickdrum in your face, the SBD didn’t feel the power of the earlier version…although it sounds much better.
Most important – this is really the closest we will ever get the inspiration for the Purple Rain battle. Before all the controlling issues that came along in 83-84, you can feel the real affection between Morris and Prince (“We used to be friends”) – as trivia, it has the only time in bootleg history where someone gives Prince shit “You wanna borrow my comb?” Also history, as only time live Prince with Morris on drums.
I have fallen in love with my first girlfriend all over again – not looking forward to telling the wife
.png)
No comments:
Post a Comment