Difference between revisions of "Album: Jill Jones (1990)"

The project began in Autumn 1988 when Jill Jones went to London, England to work on a collection of songs with musician Chris Bruce. Eleven songs were recorded ("Deep Kiss", "Living Legend", "Long Time", "White", "Some Of Us", "Red", "Tango", "Ecstasy", "Revolutionary", "Sweet Liberty" and "Unattainable Love") and submitted by Jill to Prince before being shelved (except for "Revolutionary" which was heavily reworked). Four other songs about which nothing is known were recorded by Jones, possibly at the Falconer Studios, London, England : "1,000 Butterflies", "Electricity", "1990’s" and an untitled song. Several songs were pulled out from the vault when Prince started to work on this album at Paisley Park Studios in Summer 1989: Am I Without U?, My Baby Knows, Boom, Boom (Can’t U Feel The Beat Of My Heart) and 4 Lust.

My Baby Knows and Boom, Boom (Can’t U Feel The Beat Of My Heart) were worked by Jill Jones and Prince between 1985 and 1986 during sessions for Jill’s first album. Additional recording were made in Summer 1989 and Candy Dulfer added saxophone overdubs on My Baby Knows (during the same set of sessions where she added saxophone overdubs for The Time’s Corporate World album, which Prince was also working on at the time). A video clip was produced for Boom, Boom (Can’t U Feel The Beat Of My Heart), indicating that it may have been intended as the first single from the album.

Am I Without U? was first intended for the Rave Unto The Joy Fantastic album, which was abandoned when Prince began work on the Batman album. It is not clear if Jill Jones re-recorded vocals before her projected album was abandoned. 4 Lust, a companion piece to the song For Love on her first album and recorded in 1985, was also considered for the 1990 album. The initial version was recorded as a Jill Jones and Prince duet. Jill Jones later re-recorded a ‘solo' version produced by Human League and Heaven 17’s Martyn Ware in 1988 (they also may have recorded other songs together while she was in England, but this has not been verified).

A fifth song, Flesh And Blood was written and initially recorded by Jill and Chris Bruce as "Revolutionary" and sent to Prince who reworked it with additional saxophone by Candy Dulfer. A keyboard part from this song was later used on New Power Generation.

It is not known if older other tracks intended for Jill’s first album (Killin’ At The Soda Shop, Married Man, Rough, Living Doll, No Call U and My Sex were considered during the making of the second album.

Of the tracks intended for this project, only the video for Boom, Boom (Can’t U Feel The Beat Of My Heart), saw some kind of an official release as it was broadcast on the NPG Music Club in May 2006. In 2011, Jill Jones streamed the duet version of 4 Lust on her Youtube account for a few days. All the other songs remain unreleased.

After the cancelation of the album, Jill was still under contract with Paisley Park Records, which expired in 1993 after the demise of the label. She played in the movie Graffiti Bridge before leaving Prince’s camp to go to England and work with Tim Simenon of Bomb The Bass and John Reynolds. Jill Jones would later work again with Chris Bruce and release a ‘collaborative' album with him called "Two" in 2001. It wasn’t until 2016 that Jill Jones finally released her second solo album called "I Am". In April 2024, seven of the songs Jill Jones worked on with Chris Bruce in London in 1988 ("Unattainable Love", "Living Legend", "Long Time", "Wite Dogs", "Some Of Us", "Red" and "Tango") for the proposed second Paisley Park Records album were released on digital platforms as The London Sessions.

The album was never completed but was believed to have included

• Am I Without U?
• My Baby Knows
• Boom, Boom (Can’t U Feel The Beat Of My Heart)
• Flesh And Blood *
• 4 Lust

All tracks written by Prince except where noted.
* Written by Jill Jones, Chris Bruce and Prince

• Jill Jones - lead vocals
• Prince – all instruments except where noted and co-lead vocals on 4 Lust
• Candy Dulfer – saxophone on My Baby Knows and Flesh And Blood
• Clare Fischer - string orchestration on 4 Lust
• Other performance details unknown

• Prince - producer (assumed)
• Martyn Ware - co-producer on some tracks (assumed)
• Other production details unknown

• The Vault: The Definitive Guide to the Musical World of Prince (2004)
• Discussing Jill Jones 'The London Sessions' w/special guest Jill Jones (Phonogenics 101 Episode 124) for The Phonogenics 101 (Youtube: 1 April 2024)