Minneapolis 5 December 1987

 

Following on from last week’s post about the excellent soundboard recording of the Munich Park Cafe show, I have decided to go with a similar show from later that year. The Fineline cafe show in Minneapolis shares many similarities with the Park Cafe show. Both are heavy with the sound of Eric Leeds, and both have long jazzy styled jams. Of the two, the Fineline show is a shade more conventional and a little less Madhouse sounding. Where they do differ greatly is the sound quality of the recording. Whereas the Park Cafe was a lovely warm-sounding soundboard, this one is very much an average audience recording, complete with people talking over the music. However, it’s still worth a listen. This takes place just a few weeks before the New Year’s gig with Miles Davis, and one gets the feeling that this is a live rehearsal for that show. The band is very loose and free with their playing, and there is a lot of improvisation going on.

5th December 1987, Fineline Cafe, Minneapolis

The first song isn’t a song at all. It’s a long instrumental that sounds part soundcheck, part warm-up. It begins rather shapeless, with just some keyboard sounds, and some drum rolls. The drum does settle to a steady beat, but it’s quiet, and it takes quite a while for any sort of music to take shape around it. The bass does join in and things improve at the five-minute mark when we hear the horn for the first time. The first part of this didn’t interest me, but I do enjoy the sound from here on in. The drumming becomes more intense as the song progresses, and there are some stabs from the keyboard that adds urgency to it. However, these fade back out again, and the next minute of the song is very faint and barely moving at all. The last portion has some guitar playing against the drums, but it is not enough to turn it into anything memorable. There is nothing offensive about this opening part of the show, but there’s nothing to get excited about either.

 

Madhouses “Eleven” follows next, and it’s very much in keeping with the theme of this show. Eric holds the main riff nicely, and the band chugs along behind just great. This song would benefit the most from a quality recording, and despite all the great playing, it is let down by the recording.  It’s no surprise that Eric Leeds is the main focus of this song, but there is some nice guitar underneath played by Prince, and when Atlanta Bliss gets his chance to play he adds some sharpness to the deeper sound of Eric Leeds. There is a cheer from the crowd to acknowledge this, and then there is some rather funky lead guitar played by Prince. I can’t stress enough how good this could have been on a better recording, I can hear the music is great, but it’s just let down by the recording. There are some keyboard runs that I enjoy as well but they are a little lost in the recording. I did play it louder to try and get more out of it, but all I got was more chatter from the crowd.

The band segues easily into a longer deeper groove as there is further improvisation from the keyboards and horns. The keyboard is enjoyable, and I could have done with some more of it, but the horn solo is the main dish here, and it doesn’t let me down. It’s not to everyone’s taste, as can be evidenced by the crowd talking throughout, but for me, it’s worth listening to. Prince is very subdued in this first half-hour of the show, and I have to keep reminding myself that this is a Prince show.

The band settles into another quiet bass groove and for the first time, Prince makes his presence felt with some howling electric guitar. Against the different backdrop of music, his playing seems to draw more attention and I love what he is playing here. It is a version of Jimi Hendrix’s “Villanova Junction.” And although it’s the shortest song we have heard tonight, it is the one that captures my ears the most and demands I listen to it.

 

The band then begin to play “Eleven” again, the horn riff now embedded deep in my head. However, it’s only for a minute and quickly fades to nothing.

The solo sound of Prince’s guitar playing leads us into the next song. He begins delicately, in contrast to the “Villanova Junction,” and soon the gentle croon of the horns and keyboard wrap around us for a version of “Just My Imagination.” There are several classic performances of this song, and again this is another one of my favorites. Nothing is too sharp and Prince’s guitar lures me in, and soon I am cocooned in the warm-sounding music. Prince does take his time and delivers us plenty of guitar in the first half of the song before it inexplicably fades out. Of course, it’s the recording that fades out, not the band, but it’s one of those frustrating moments we sometimes get when listening to bootlegs. The recording does pick up again, and even though Prince is playing well, the recording itself has lost momentum for me. That aside though, Prince’s playing is so good at this stage, that I still find the last few minutes of the song to be amongst my favorite recordings of all time, Prince is playing with a quiet passion and intensity that I have rarely heard on any other recording. It’s far from perfect but for me, it’s a moment of genius and something I will come back to again and again. And that is high praise indeed for a grubby-sounding audience recording. It’s pretty hard to follow a Prince solo like that, but the keyboard gives it a good go. It’s not great, but it’s just as enjoyable as anything else on this recording.

The next song is listed as “bass solo,” and although I would call the first half a bass solo in the conventional sense, the second part of the song is little more than the bass and drum playing beats off one another. The first half though is again very enjoyable without ever reaching great. The bass has a good pop to it, and I did find myself bobbing along to it. But it was only a couple of minutes, and by the time I was just getting into it, it was fading out again. Still, it shows off another side to the band and added some variety and color to the gig.

 

Next is a straightforward rendition of Miles Davis’s “Freddie Freeloader.” It’s a firm pointer to what is coming in the next few weeks when he will join the band for the New Year’s show. It’s fairly low-key and gives the audience plenty of time to carry on their conversations. The audience does briefly quieten when Prince begins his guitar runs, but soon they lose interest and return to their chatting, much to the detriment of the recording. Lucky there are a few moments when Prince leans hard on the guitar and gets some loud sound from it which drowns out the audience, although briefly. And surprisingly after Prince has finished his moment there is a piano solo and the crowd is reasonably quiet throughout. It’s a perfectly acceptable jazzy flavored solo with a couple of flourishes to color it. Eric then returns with Atlanta Bliss and it’s the two horns that take us through the second part of the song, firstly the trumpet, and then the deep honk of Eric Leeds as a full stop.

I do a double-take as I hear the melody of “Jack U Off.” But to his credit, it’s played with a twist here, there are plenty of horns on it, and it’s got a much bluesier sound. It’s still up-tempo and quick but has a more grown-up feel to it with the horns on it. The guitar is barely heard at all, and there is a horn solo instead of a guitar solo. The keyboards too play a very fast break and I am liking them a lot before Prince picks up a guitar and the more familiar electric sound returns to the song. His guitar break isn’t as furious as on record, but it does have a looser feel to it, and it is a lot more mature.

 

The drum solo that follows is almost obligatory sounding. It doesn’t in my opinion add anything to the show, and it almost seems that they are just giving the Shelia E something in payment for all the moments the rest of the band got to solo. Anyone who reads this regularly knows that I am not a great one for drum solos, and this one fails to change my standing on that. Sure, there are plenty of fine skills to admire, and I do find myself nodding along to it, but it’s not what I signed up for. So I listen appreciatively until the next song starts. Things surge again as the drum solo ends, and there is one more very fast and furious reprise of “Jack U Off,” lead by the horns. And when I say fast and furious I mean it, this one flies along at breakneck speed until the sudden end gives us all a chance to catch our breath.

“Chain Of Fools” is recognizable right from the start as the guitar plays the main melody. The horns interject with the “Cold Sweat” riff, but this song is all about that guitar. The lead guitar plays out the melody and then branches out into more interesting territory. It’s got a fantastic tone to it, and I can’t help but again wish that this was a soundboard. Oh well, it is what it is. Not to be outshone the horns then again come on board, and they too add another dimension to it. They aren’t too sharp and play along over the main groove. There is some funky guitar at this stage, but it’s just holding the groove while the horns play. It gets its moment again soon as the horns step back and some slow smokey guitar sounds are heard. What is great about this gig is how the musicians play off each other. Whenever Prince plays a solo on the guitar, the horns come up with something in the same vein that pushes it even further. There is a deep smokey guitar solo, followed by a similar sounding horn solo that by the end of it has doubled the intensity. It’s a wonder to listen to.

 

The music pulls back a little and we very gently move into “Housequake.” It’s not immediately apparent, as it’s a very gradual transition from “Chain Of Fools.” Eventually, Prince is on the mic whispering “almost there, shut up already” It’s a cool moment, but even then the song doesn’t kick into “Housequake” proper. The deep groove continues, and it’s only after another minute we hear the kicking beat of “Housequake.” There is a further horn solo while the crowd can be heard chanting “shut up already” Even with the “Housequake” beat it would be hard to describe this as a version of “Housequake.” It’s an extension of the previous song, with some more horn and the Housequake beat only features a few times, before making a much stronger appearance near the end of the song. There is a horn refrain thrown in too, and I am greatly disappointed when the recording abruptly ends.

So, what to make of this show? Last week I gushed about the Park Cafe show, for all its quality and musicality. After relistening to this one, and considering, I would have to say that this one would be its equal if it had have been recorded in the same manner. Unfortunately, it’s not, the recording is nowhere near as good. So I can only go by what I have. This is one of several shows I have that are simply amazing but recorded in poor condition. I highly rate this show, and thoroughly recommend it to anyone who enjoyed the Park Cafe show, and can stomach an audience recording. This show is one of the reasons why I don’t dismiss audience recordings, there are some fantastic shows out there if you can suffer through the dropouts and chatter. This one is not for the faint-hearted but is still highly recommended.

Next week I will finish this trilogy of shows, Park Cafe, Fineline cafe, with the New Year show with Miles Davis. These last two shows seem to point naturally enough in that direction, and an evening with Miles Davis seems a fitting way to end the year.