On the record
PAISLEY PIANO
Unreleased piano tracks taken from cassette recordings of Prince in Paisley Park
More Prince news reached us after last issue’s 60th birthday tribute to the late Minneapolis legend had gone to press, as The Prince Estate, in partnership with Warner, announced a new Prince album entitled Piano & A Microphone 1983. Set for release on 21 September, the nine-track, 35-minute album will feature a previously unreleased cassette recording of Prince at the piano in his home studio in 1983. The private rehearsal provides a rare glimpse into Prince’s creative process as he worked through songs including 17 Days, Purple Rain, a cover of Joni Mitchell’s A Case Of You, Strange Relationship and International Lover. It also includes the 19th-century spiritual Mary Don’t You Weep. The LP version comes with new liner notes written by Prince’s then-engineer Don Batts, and never-before-seen photos of Prince.