Fans of Prince expecting his usual pyrotechnic guitar work might be surprised that one of the first official albums released from his fabled vault since his death more than two years ago showcases his jazzy piano playing.
“Piano & A Microphone 1983” (Warner Bros. Records) is just Prince noodling at a piano and singing “Purple Rain” and eight other songs in a one-take recording made at his home studio 35 years ago.
Recorded on cassette, the 35-minute work tape brings the music of Prince full circle, says Troy Carter, adviser to the Prince estate.
Prince was on his solo “Piano & A Microphone” tour when, at 57, he collapsed and died of an accidental fentanyl overdose in his Paisley Park home and recording complex outside Minneapolis on April 21, 2016, a week after a concert in Atlanta.
“It was just mind-blowing listening to this raw, simplistic performance,” says Carter, who calls it “a jam session.”
Except for a few gaps, the tape sounds clean and is presented from start to finish just as Prince recorded it in his now-demolished home in Chanhassen, Minnesota, the year before his 1984 hit movie and soundtrack “Purple Rain.”
Prince runs through “17 Days,” the B-side to his hit single “When Doves Cry,” a quick “Purple Rain” — later to become his signature guitar anthem — Joni Mitchell’s “A Case of You,” ”International Lover” from his 1982 album “1999” and “Strange Relationship,” not officially released until his 1987 album “Sign ‘O’ the Times.”
He pounds out chords and breaks into improvisational riffs, running up and down the keyboard while singing in a strong, clear voice.
A highlight: his passionate singing of “Mary Don’t You Weep,” an African-American spiritual featured over the closing credits of Spike Lee’s new movie “BlacKkKlansman,” about a black Colorado policeman who infiltrates the Ku Klux Klan in the 1970s.
Prince sounds playful on “Cold Coffee & Cocaine,” lowering his voice into a Miles Davis growl. A real treat is the album’s closer, “Why the Butterflies,” with his delicate piano and yearning, breathy vocals.
The tape had been heavily bootlegged for years, albeit with substandard sound. Michael Howe, Prince’s final artists-and-repertoire person at Warner Bros. Records while the musician was alive, found the master copy in Prince’s vault, home to thousands of unreleased recordings and live performances.
“It was in remarkably good condition,” Howe says of the consumer-grade cassette.
The tape is presented as it was recorded, with Prince stomping his feet, coughing and asking someone to flip the cassette over.
“Piano & A Microphone 1983” presents Prince fresh off the success of his double-album “1999” but before his Grammy- and Oscar-winning “Purple Rain.”
Keyboardist and singer Lisa Coleman, who backed Prince as part of The Revolution, says he would spend time exploring songs “until he felt he could really do them justice.”
Last year, NPG Records and Warner Bros. Records released an expanded edition of “Purple Rain.” Prince’s recording of his song “Nothing Compares 2 U” — a hit for Sinead O’Connor in 1990 — was released this year, and Legacy Recordings released 23 Prince catalog titles and the 37-track “Prince Anthology: 1995-2010” to streaming services and digital service providers last month.
“He has a ton of unreleased materials,” Carter says. “We’re being thoughtful on how much we release to the world when we release it.”
