It's days like this that make me the Prince fan that I am. Just when I think I have heard all that is good and great, a surprise recording surfaces that leaves me shaking my head at both the brilliance of Prince and the quality of the recording. The Park Cafe aftershow has been in high rotation at my place since it surfaced, and I am amazed that such a recording exists. After 28 years, for it to appear is like finding a lost treasure. The quality of the recording is high, and there is a couple of special things for us to enjoy and appreciate. Firstly it’s a Prince aftershow tacked onto the end of a Madhouse performance. That sound and style permeate through the show, and Prince gives us some of his more experimental and jazzy sounds. Also, his father makes an appearance, playing piano on one of the tracks. Although I am not blown away by his performance, I do acknowledge that to have a recording of Prince and his father playing together live is pretty cool. The recording starts with a few songs from the Madhouse set. Normally I would skip over them when writing to concentrate on the Prince songs, but I will take the time to write about them today, as I think they are an important part of the recording.
21
May 1987, Park Cafe, Munich
The
first thing we hear on the recording is a crisp drum roll, before the piano and
sax start on a nice circular motif, and we get an excellent sounding “Two.” I
am immediately struck by the clarity of the recording, maybe I have been
listening to too many audience recordings of late. It does sound good indeed,
and I especially notice that I can hear the vibration and buzz of the cymbals
in particular. After the initial circular loop early in the song, Eric Leeds
becomes more expressive. As much as I enjoy his playing in Prince's shows, here
I find even more to enjoy in his playing. He feels a little lighter and doesn’t
seem to push as hard as he does on the Prince songs. There is a nice break
midsong, where it is just him alone, and the crowd is noticeably appreciative.
He does play well here, and after the band comes back in behind Dr. Fink plays
an equally impressive and electric-sounding keyboard solo. It’s a nice contrast
to the piano we hear throughout the song, and I liked the synthy solo better
than any other keyboard work I hear in the song. The song ends soon after to
soft applause from the audience.
“Three”
follows as you might have guessed. It has a much more traditional sound to it
and is again led by Eric Leeds playing some smoky-sounding sax. The rest of the
band doesn’t do too much behind him, they just lay a platform for his more
relaxed noodlings. It very much has a summer’s day feel to it, and I am
transported away. But in the larger scheme of things, it is just a touch too
traditional sounding for my tastes, and I do find myself drifting away by the
end.
“In A
Sentimental Mood” is very well named indeed, it is accurately described in the
title. It’s all Eric Leeds, and the sound of his horn does sound suitably
sentimental. I am impressed at his ability to convey sentimentality in his
playing, even if I am not feeling that way inclined myself. It’s only a couple
of minutes, but well worth the listen.
“Sixteen”
is probably my favorite Madhouse song played on the night. I love the saxophone
refrain, it conjures up all sorts of images of adventures past. There is
something fun in the sound of it, and as much as I love Eric’s playing on it, I
feel Dr. Fink just edges him with another cool synth solo. The organic sound of
the horn plays off great against the electric futuristic sound of Dr. Finks's
keyboard. The main refrain returns
before Eric plays some crazy buzzing lines that make me hot. Not to be outdone
Dr. Fink also plays some wild-sounding passages, and the effect is dizzying. I
am disappointed when like all good things it comes to an end.
“A
Conversation” is the title of the next song, and at this point, I am in heaven.
The song begins with a soft drum roll, and then the drummer plays a light
cymbal run. The sound is very familiar to me, it very much has the sound of the
drum opening on the Small Club gig a year later. The drum sound on this
recording has that classic familiar sound from these years. I become further
interested when I hear the sound of a guitar. I presume now that it is Prince
playing. His playing is very slight, just a few notes here and there. It’s Eric
Leeds who starts it properly, with a couple of minutes of him playing alone
over the sparse music. It has a very cool atmosphere to it, you can hear the
music slowly build, a chord now and then from the keyboard, slowly adding more
and more layers. The bass has a simple yet alluring loop going underneath, and
it gives Eric and the other players a good platform to play over. Most of
Eric’s playing is sharp and steady, but occasionally he lets forth a blast that
keeps me guessing. At the seven-minute mark, the much stronger guitar sound of
Prince enters. His playing has an electric quality to it, and the closest thing
I can compare it to would be the opening song of the Small Club gig. His
guitar has the same tone and sharpness to it, but is more relaxed and held in
check here. He doesn’t get too extravagant with his playing, and it heightens
the tight feel of the song. Prince finishes his playing and some more synth
sounds are played. As with the guitar, it’s not fast or furious, it’s quick and
tight. The song moves up a notch from here, the drum takes on a more urgent
pounding beat as the horn and piano start a groove before the guitar again
comes to the fore. This time the guitar is stronger and more insistent- the
playing is quicker, louder, and cold. After a time the guitar eases up as the sax
hits a nice refrain, which sounds more like a hook you would expect to hear in
a more traditional song. Prince’s voice is heard for the first time at this
stage, as he calls for a sax solo. The music is intense at this stage, but
after the sax solo the sound pulls back and Princes introduces Atlanta Bliss
for a trumpet solo. The jam has already taken several twists and turns but
there is more to come as I hear the sound of a heavy funk guitar. It doesn’t
last long, and I think it has been put on the back burner, but soon after I
hear it again, and it continues for much longer as the song winds downs. The
song ends with a steady beat on the drums and a minute of funky guitar with
more horns. The song finally stops and I want to walk outside, raise my arms
and say “Oh GOD YES!!” The 20 minutes of
this song had everything I love, lots of changes in direction, a little
experimental, a little jazzy. If this was all we got I would be a happy man,
but there is so much more to come.
It
takes me a second to register where I have heard the horn riff from, as the
next song starts. There is a dog bark sample that we know well, but it
distracts me for a minute. Prince plays some Stevie Wonder-sounding keyboards
and I click that it is “Strange Relationship.” I thought the last song was
great, but this one, although different in style, is equal. The keyboards have
an innate funky sound to them and bounce. The horns and guitar are very well
placed in the mix and add color without ever being out front. “Strange
Relationship” is brilliant on record, but live it’s a monster. Prince curses as
he says “I bet you wish this was a fuckin movie” and after so long of listening
to the modern clean Prince it sounds like strong profanity indeed, The song becomes
a jam as it reaches the “yeah, yeah” section, and there is a cool moment when
Prince manages to drop the word ‘Leviticus” into the song. Now that is genius!
A few moments after there is a very brief drum break, with a few quick rolls,
before we go into more “yeah, yeahs” as the funky keys continue with Prince
saying all kinds of crazy talk. He calls Levi for half a minute before he puts
a snare on it, and some subtle funky guitar lines are playing. It’s very much a
typical Prince jam, with a few turnarounds, a false ending or two, and a long
groove. The song continues with Prince and the band singing faster and faster
until we speed into the next song.
Another
long jam, this is also suitably called “Groove In F (an argument).” There is
some tight bass and guitar work in the introduction before a horn loop begins.
This beat is humming along quite quickly, it's up-tempo all the way. The horn
is replaced by the keyboard. It’s not overplaying, just some long notes. I have
already said that several things at this show were very typical Prince, and
this falls into that territory. It sounds like many of the rehearsal jams I
have heard Prince and his band play. A nice quick beat and a horn refrain, with
the keys filling out the other spaces. It’s different from the jams he plays
live, where every player plays a solo, like I said it’s much more like the
rehearsal jams we hear. There is a cool choppy sound I hear, but I can’t decide
if it’s the bass or a keyboard, I need to hear it a few more times to decide-
but that’s not going to be too taxing for me. There is a rhythm guitar running
underneath, but the main sound of the song is the horns and the keyboard. The
end catches me off guard, as it just suddenly stops and there are plenty of
cheers from the crowd.
There
is then a longish break, with lots of calls for more, before the hand-clapping
settles into a steady rhythm. There is the sound of a drum playing along
quietly, but I can’t decide if it’s onstage very quietly, or if someone in the
crowd is banging something. Eventually, the crowd becomes more vocal, and it’s
obvious we are about to get more. Prince is on the microphone, he apologizes to
the crowd “Sorry I had to leave, it was too funky in here” There is some gentle
patter, then the downbeat keyboard of “Dorothy Parker” takes us into the next
part of the show. Prince's singing is up-sounding here, and quite bright
against the darker music. It works well for me, I do like it a lot. The horns
also sound bright in the song, there is a very quick piano solo, which gets
drawn out into a second section. It’s all very sharp, but short. Even with the
sound of extra pieces thrown in, it still finishes at four minutes.
I
fail to recognize “Just My Imagination” when it starts. It’s heavy on synth and
piano and has a great sound to it. The synth plays strongly, while a piano
improvises over the top. It’s not what I expected when I first saw the song
listed, but it exceeds my expectations. I love it as the band play on and on in
this way. It’s almost disappointing when Prince begins to sing, as he sings
it’s still the piano I am listening for. His singing is fine and delicate, but
almost too delicate for the heavier keyboard and piano, and I tend to drift
away from listening to his melody too much. The recording is very good, I
notice here as his voice interacts with the backing vocals, I can pick them out
from each other well. There is a fantastic horn solo right after Prince
finishes the verses. As the music swells underneath it adds a nice sharp
counterpoint to it. Eric Leeds is a great foil to Prince, and he is on top of
his game at this show. The song fades out with another chorus refrain before a
heavy guitar comes to the front.
Prince
calls “Blues In G,” and that is exactly what he delivers. It’s a sharper guitar
than we normally get when he plays the blues. It’s playing a much higher and
stronger sound, yet I can still hear the piano banging away underneath. Things
take an interesting turn when Prince calls “ehhh! substitution” and a very
different piano sound is heard. It’s his father playing, and his style is
sharply different from anything else we have heard this evening. While the bass
walks along nicely, he keeps the piano banging and sings several verses. He
does call for Little Steven, and we get a guitar solo. There is some interplay
between the guitar and piano, but it doesn’t greatly excite me. The song goes
on for another minute, but it never really connects with me. I rate this song
very high for novelty value- featuring both John L Nelson and Little Steven,
but musically it didn’t do anything for me. I hate to say it, but this is the
weakest part of the recording.
“What
we gonna do now Prince?” Levi asks Prince.
“Whatever it is, it got to be funky” is the reply, as the familiar intro
of Housequake begins. The horns are somewhat subdued in the song, and it is
played straight. It does have a fun feel to it, but there isn’t anything new in
it for me to listen to. I do enjoy the band interaction, the sound of the
interplay between Prince and his singers is joyful to listen to. I don’t know
what more I could want for it, it is a classic song, no doubt, but I always
want a little more from it when I hear it live. After some of the jams we had
earlier in the show, it’s surprising that this is so short, and Prince doesn’t
play with it at all. It comes to an abrupt end with Prince closing the show
with a simple “Thank you, bye-bye”
I
can’t write about this show objectively. I have been playing it a lot, I love
the fact that it’s a new leak, that it’s got novelty value, that it’s got some
great jams and of course, I love the fact that it is a soundboard. It will be
some time before I can look back and see how it fits in the wider Prince canon,
until then it’s going to be constantly on my stereo. Is it one of the greats?
-take a listen and decide for yourself.
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