17 Days (full title as copyrighted 17 Days (The Rain Will Come Down, Then U Will Have 2 Choose If U Believe. Look 2 The Dawn And U Shall Never Lose)) was released as the b-side of the single When Doves Cry, the first single to be released from Purple Rain, released worldwide. In 1993, it was included as the 15th track on The B-Sides compilation (included as the third and final disc on The Hits / The B-Sides).
While specific recording dates for 17 Days are not known, it was initially recorded at The Warehouse in St. Louis Park, Minnesota in August 1983, likely a couple of days after Let's Go Crazy and Computer Blue, with Brenda Bennett on vocals. By this time Vanity had just left the Prince camp and Apollonia was yet to be cast as her replacement. So it was never really intended for either Vanity 6 or Apollonia 6, but perhaps Prince had a solo project with Brenda Bennett in mind.
The song was later re-recorded on 8 January 1984 at Sunset Sound in Hollywood, California (three days after Oliver's House) with Wendy Melvoin and Lisa Coleman providing some background vocals and worked on further in March. While the When Doves Cry single was credited only to Prince, 17 Days was credited to Prince and the Revolution, marking it the earliest release of a track containing this credit.
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Recording Information
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Recording Sessions
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Date
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Studio
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Additional info
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August 1983
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The Warehouse, St. Louis Park, MN, USA
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Basic tracking, Brenda Bennett vocals
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8 January 1984
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Sunset Sound, Hollywood, CA, USA
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Re-recording
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18 March 1984
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Sunset Sound, Hollywood, CA, USA
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Overdubs
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21 March 1984
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Sunset Sound, Hollywood, CA, USA
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Edits
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Recording Personnel
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Vanity 6/Apollonia 6 version
Prince and the Revolution version
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Versions
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Released Versions
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Sampled, Referred to, Quoted in...
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Unreleased Versions
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Title
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Version
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Additional Info
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17 Days
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Studio
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Version with Brenda Bennett on lead vocals
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17 Days
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Studio
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Full length version
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