Jealous Girl is a song originally recorded in Summer 1981, (Likely around the same time as Drive Me Wild, I Need A Man, Pizza, Make-Up and Wet Dream) at Prince’s Kiowa Trail Home Studio in Chanhassen, Minnesota. The track was intended for an album by The Hookers, but was abandoned when The Hookers developed into Vanity 6.
In 1985 the track was offered to The Bangles alongside Manic Monday. The Bangles recorded the latter, but did not think Jealous girl was the right fit for them.
The box of the master tape containing this recording (together with Don’t Let Him Fool Ya and Can’t Stop This Feeling I Got) has the date 6 May 1985 written under the track. A mix of it was likely done a few days before, readying it for The Bangles. The date 28 June 1985 is written on the box, too. (under Don’t Let Him Fool Ya). This was likely because the band rehearsed Jealous Girl from the tape in the warehouse on this day.
The track was reworked by Prince on 26 January 1987 (with saxophone overdubs by Eric Leeds recorded a few days later on 5 February 1987) at his Galpin Blvd Home Studio in Chanhassen, Minnesota during a short-lived collaboration with American blues singer-songwriter Bonnie Raitt. Prince approached her about recording some songs together and signing to his Paisley Park Records label in December 1986 after seeing her perform at The Beverly Theater, Los Angeles, CA, USA. He offered four songs to work on (I Need A Man, Jealous Girl, Promise To Be True and There’s Something I Like About Being Your Fool). Raitt recorded her vocals on only two of them (I Need A Man and There’s Something I Like About Being Your Fool).
No further work was done as Prince was busy preparing for his next tour (Sign O’ The Times Tour). Bonnie Raitt commented on the tracks by saying "I appreciated the enthusiasm, but they were not in my key. The topics were not things I was comfortable singing.". Bonnie Raitt also wanted to cut tie with Warner Bros. after the failure of her 1986 album Nine Lives. None of the songs offered by Prince ended up on her 1989 acclaimed album Nick Of Time, released on Capitol Records. Prince would later cover I Can’t Make U Love Me (from Raitt’s 1991 album Luck Of The Draw).
Prince’s version of the song was released in 2020 as the eighth track of Vault Tracks part 3, one of the discs with previously unreleased tracks included with the Sign O’ The Times Super Deluxe Edition. The track is listed as Jealous Girl (Version 2) but the Version 1 remains unreleased.
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