Kiowa Trail Home Studio

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Kiowa Trail Home Studio


Overview & History

The Kiowa Trail Home Studio was the studio in the Kiowa Trail home on Lake Riley where Prince moved in December 1980 or early January 1981 and lived in until November 1985. This house is also known as the 'purple house' as Prince had it painted that color when he moved in there, it was originally cream colored.

The two-story ranch-style split level house was situated at 9401 Kiowa Trail, Chanhassen, Minnesota. Later Prince also purchased a lot next to it (9411 Kiowa Trail) to gain more privacy.

Studio

The studio was situated on the ground floor of the house, downstairs right from the front door in what formerly was a family room. On the other side on this floor was Prince’s master bedroom. The studio was spacier than Prince’s previous home studio North Arm Drive Home Studio, in a rented house in Orono, Minnesota. It featured the equipment brought in from there, including the 16-track recording unit. In May 1982 Prince had a Ampex MM1200 24-track recorder installed with a Soundcraft 3B console.

The control room was pretty much full-blown and had big speakers. The recording units were fairly small, more like small booths. An acoustic Yamaha piano upstairs in the living room, directly above the studio was wired to the studio, so Prince could record himself.

Some of The Time’s song from the eponymous titled first album were among the first recorded in the Kiowa Trail home studio.

Material Produced

Music

Albums

The following albums have been recorded at the Kiowa Trail Home Studio in whole or part. Check album pages for details.

Prince:


Associated Artists:


Songs

The following songs have been recorded at Kiowa Trail Home Studio:


Trivia

  • Prince’s father, John L. Nelson, moved into the Kiowa Trail 'purple house' when Prince moved to his new home on Galpin Blvd. After John L.’s death in 2001 the house was demolished in mid-March 2003, but Prince retained ownership of the lot until his own death in 2016.

References