Love’s Theme is an unreleased cover of the Love Unlimited song, Love’s Theme that appeared as an instrumental on the group’s Under the Influence of... album in 1973 and again with vocals on their follow-up In Heat album in 1974. Love’s Theme was recorded in late 1974 by Grand Central, a band consisting of Prince, André Anderson, Charles 'Chazz' Smith, Linda Anderson and William Doughty, at Cookhouse Studios, Minneapolis, Minnesota, with Pepé Willie overseeing.
The band opted to cover the instrumental version so they didn’t have to argue who would sing it. The reel-to-reel recording-session was the result of winning a North Commons Park battle-of-the-band contest, where the prize was $75 and 8 hours recording time at the Cookhouse Studios. Other songs recorded in the session were Whenever, You Remind Me Of Me and a cover of Carole King’s It’s Too Late. These four songs marks the first to be recorded by Prince in a studio. He would later return to the Cookhouse Studios to record songs for Pepé Willie’s 94 East project the following year.
It is not known if Love’s Theme was later considered for inclusion on any project. Other sessions with Grand Central (now Grand Central Corporation with Morris Day on drums replacing Charles 'Chazz' Smith) and André Anderson took place in early 1976 at ASI Studio, Minneapolis, Minnesota.
|