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Taken from UNILAD (Jul 06, 2020)
Prince Sang All The Parts And Played All 27 Instruments By Himself On His First Album
Whether his music was your cup of tea or not, there's no getting away from the fact that Prince was nothing short of iconic.
by Emma Rosemurgey
PA/Prince/YouTube |
His name will forever by ingrained in the music hall of fame as someone who changed the landscape of pop music for good.
Warner Bros. Records |
However, while most of us can appreciate his songs as, well, simply great music, it's easy to be oblivious to his unbelievable talent as an all-round musician.
If that's ever in any doubt, we must remember that Prince sung every vocal and played all 27 instruments on his first album For You, which he released at the tender age of 20.
On the album's credit notes, he's listed as 'all vocals', not forgetting 'deep breaths', as well as 'electric guitar, acoustic guitar, bass, bass synth, singing bass, Fuzz bass, electric piano, acoustic piano, mini-Moog, poly-Moog, Arp string ensemble, Arp Pro Soloist, Oberheim four-voice, clavinet, drums, syndrums, water drums, slapsticks, bongos, congas, finger cymbals, wind chimes, orchestral bells, woodblocks, brush trap, tree bell, hand claps and finger snaps'.
I mean... wow.
PA Images |
Over the years Prince, whose real name was Prince Rogers Nelson, became known not only for his music, but his specially tailored eccentric wardrobe and fantastically weird, yet mysterious lifestyle.
Earlier in his career, he challenged himself to write a new song every single day -and he did. Not only did he write song after song for his 39 studio albums, four live albums and many compilations, but he also wrote some huge songs for other big name artists, such as Sinead O'Connor's legendary Nothing Compares 2 U, Kiss by Tom Jones, The Bangles' Manic Monday and Alicia Keys' How Come You Don't Call Me Anymore? to name a few.
He also regularly wrote for Madonna, Chaka Khan and Cyndi Lauper, as well as dueting with Kate Bush.
PA Images |
Prince even wanted to release an entire album as a woman after creating an eight-track album called Camille in 1985, which featured tracks sped up, making the pitch of his voice higher to make his vocals sound more feminine. He planned to release it with no picture and no reference to himself, however the album was cancelled and joined a long list of unreleased music by the icon.
After claiming record contracts were akin to 'slavery', Prince would write 'slave' on his face during his performances to vocalise his disdain for the industry.
He may be gone, but his musical genius will live on forever.
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