Welcome 2 Prince's America

 

In the 5+ years that went by since the untimely passing of legendary musician Prince, a couple of posthumous releases saw the light of day. Legend has it that the uniquely prolific artist had thousands on unreleased songs in the vault: some more of them are coming out today. Coming 2 America, Prince’s first posthumous release consisting solely of previously unreleased material, was recorded back in 2010 as a stand-alone project, then shelved like so many. Then again, when you possess the sheer creative energy this gentleman had, a project is just that…

Interestingly, another Prince-related LP was released a few weeks ago: Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis‘ first ever album, Jam & Lewis: Volume One. Let us rewind a little bit for this one: in 1981, Prince started a sort of side-project for his funk-oriented musical endeavours. That band, called The Time, was effectively headed by singer Morris Day and featured among other members the aforementioned Jam and Lewis, on keyboards and bass respectively. Although Prince was not actually on the roaster, virtually all of the band’s output was penned by him (with Day’s occasional help) — and he signed the checks. In other words, the band was contracted with the artist’s organisation, and one of the clauses in those contracts specified that no members could work on side projects with outside musicians.

Jam and Lewis, although excellent performers, were increasingly drawn to the producing side of things. Because Prince wanted so much control over The Time’s work, he wouldn’t allow anyone — save for Day — to get involved in any of the producing. That left Jam and Lewis forced to look elsewhere: through common acquaintances, they met with and started producing for Tabu records’ Clarence Avant. If there was anyone you should be unfaithful (in business) for, it would have to be the Black Godfather, but that’s a story for another day. The point is — Prince found out about the whole story as the pair tried — and failed — to catch a plane back to join their fellow Time performers as the singer’s opening act on tour. He told them he fired them for their infidelity, although they surprisingly kept receiving checks. No matter: Jam and Lewis got the message, decided to move to California and started building their own empire, which included producing Janet Jackson’s classic 1986 Control album among other star-studded affairs.

The point to this story is this: every individual mentioned above is a bona fide star in their own right. Prince, of course, but also Morris Day, Jimmy Jam, Terry Lewis, Clarence Avant, Janet Jackson… This goes to show not only that great minds tend to meet each other and collaborate, but also that Prince had remarkable taste…