Paisley Park 30 August 1995 (am)

 The 1995 Ultimate Live Tour was relatively short, and the rest of the year saw Prince play several one-off shows, in fact far more than main concerts. The last half of the year he was firmly ensconced in Paisley Park where he played most of these shows, and a good number of them have been bootlegged. This week I am listening to a short but excellent show from August of that year. It differs from the main concert I listened to last week in that there is no material here from the Gold Experience as Prince gives a performance that draws heavily from Exodus and some well-chosen cover versions. The cover versions heard at this performance are not his usual choices of “The Jam” and “Hair” and it is refreshing to hear a show from this era without those two selections. The real highlights though come from the Exodus songs, in particular, a rare performance of “Count The Days” and an incendiary performance of “Return Of The Bump Squad” that is the key to understanding what Prince and the NPG were achieving at this time 

 30th August 1995 (am) Paisley Park 

The influence of Sly and The Family Stone on Prince at this time cannot be understated. Sly’s music is regularly covered through 1995, along with a healthy selection of tunes from Larry Graham. We know that in the future Larry Graham will feature heavily in Prince’s personal life, but 1995 is the first year where we see Prince drawing overtly from Sly and Larry’s musical heritage.  The opening cover of Sly’s “M’lady” comes then as no surprise at all, but what does surprise me is how good this audience recording is. The quality is high, and although there is audience noise on the recording it is negligible. The music itself has a brightness to it, and one can sense Prince’s energy and enthusiasm bubbling away on the tape as he plays. It is the NPG who take the center court with a vibrant and buoyant rhythm section, and the spiraling uplifting keyboard work that is distinctly theirs. 

“Glam Slam Boogie” is Prince’s musical equivalent of Graham Central Station's “The Jam.” It takes on the same form as the baton is handed from player to player, each having a moment to solo and propel the song further forward. I prefer it to the “The Jam,” it is sunnier and faster moving, my feet tapping and head nodding throughout the song suggests the band has hit just the right groove for me. Prince's guitar rises twice in the performance, first with a light skipping burst, and then later with a smolder that sits lower in the mix but is no less relevant. 

 

The first real highlight of the show is the rare appearance of “Count The Days.” Performed only during 1995, this becomes a sensitive moment as Prince’s guitar plays a dainty opening before the vocal performance takes over and carries the song in rising harmonies and impassioned choruses. Prince’s voice doesn’t stand alone in this number, he is ably supported by the NPG, and for me, this is where the real treasure lies as the closeness of the band becomes the alchemy for a divine vocal performance. 

“Get freaky, let your head bob” could well be Prince’s credo at the time, and it is hard not to obey this command as “Big Fun” booms out of my speakers. It is based on the big bottom end foundation that Prince was so fond of at the time, Michael B and Sonny T rock-solid in their furrow as they lay the groundwork for the rest of the band to build the song upon. The song is pure groove, and it matters little that the vocals are inconsequential, it truly is a song where one should get freaky and let their head bob. 

 

The highlight of “Good Life” is undoubtedly Prince’s first rap. I have heard it described as lazy, it is so laid back that Prince sounds almost comatose, but it serves the song well, and this rap alone makes the whole concert worth hearing. His later raps in the song are just as fun, and I must admit I listened to this whole song with a smile on my face throughout. His comment “I got a white man on the piano” brings another smile to my lips, but again it is his rapping at the time that makes this song what it is, he may be unfairly maligned for bringing rap into his music, but it does give another color to his palette and that is what makes 1995 so interesting and essential to understanding his music. 

A triplet of cover versions keeps the concert moving quickly forward as Prince ticks several musical boxes as he shifts gears through music genres. Good old fashioned Rock N Roll gets a nod with a perky rendition of Little Richard's “The Girl Can’t Help It,” before a more thoughtful and melancholy tone descends on the concert with Prince’s finger-picked opening to “Que Sera Sera.” There is no time to let this atmospheric dust settle upon the show though as we quickly swing into an instrumental take of Aretha Franklin’s “Think.” It is an uninhibited moment of vitality that changes the complexion of the concert completely after the previous “Que Sera Sera,” but Prince has one more stylistic change to come. 

 

“I Love U In Me” has Prince crunching down through the gears to low, the band all but disappearing for the opening stanzas of the song. They emerge slowly through the gloom, adding a bright note to Prince’s delicate and low-hung vocals. The precise guitar break that Prince layers the song with comes as a real treat, it conveys far more than his vocals could express and becomes a shining moment at the heart of the song. The audience can be heard, but it adds to the moment of poignancy, and I temporarily forget that this is an audience recording as the song becomes all-enveloping. 

The jewel in the crown is a sample-heavy, infectious performance of “Return Of The Bump Squad.” It is rambunctious and incisive, the heavy funk of the NPG neatly popped with humorous and political samples. The band bulldozer through the performance, and just like “Days Of Wild” on the best nights, it crushes all in its path with a groove that overloads the system and leaves one spinning and grinning with enjoyment. This performance would make any one of my numerous “Greatest” compilations, it is one of the greatest when it comes to funk songs of the 1990s. 

 

Although it doesn’t climb the same heady heights as “Return Of The Bump Squad,” “Get Wild,” does stay with the heavy funk of the evening. To my ears, the quality of the recording drops ever so slightly at this point, but it doesn’t in any detract from the enjoyment of the performance as the band ends the concert with the type of loose jam they excelled at. It isn’t the most challenging part of the show, but there is no denying the sheer enjoyment factor that can be heard in the recording, and as a record of the NPG at the time it is the perfect summation of all their skills and abilities, and the style of music that they produced at will. 

All in all, an outstanding gig. Don’t be fooled by its length, the performance of “Return Of The Bump Squad” is absolutely devastating, and coupled with the other treats in the setlist, along with the pristine and crystalline recording, this is a show that is worthy of lavish praise and attention. There is a couple of bootlegs in the ether that cover this particular show, my recommendation would be the 4DF release -they have gone to some lengths to clean up the sound. This show was so good that I feel completely enthused for all things 1995, and in the next few weeks I will be taking a listen to other shows of the era and will hopefully unearth other similar lost treasures. 

Join me again next week as Prince continues to shower us in Gold.