View source for Van Gogh

{{song
|song name                 = Van Gogh
|album image               = [[File:Vangogh_album.jpg|100px|link=Album: Van Gogh]] <br><small> from the album [[Album: Van Gogh|Van Gogh]]</small>
|single image              = [[File:NPGMusicClub logo.jpg|100px|link=NPG Music Club]]<br> <small>
[[NPG Music Club]] download - no official artwork created  </small>
|performer                 = [http://www.vangoghmusic.com/ Van Gogh] / [[File: Symbol_no2.svg|14px|link=Alias: Symbol]]
|first released            = [[Prince_Vault:Selected_anniversaries/November 6|6 November 1998]] - [[Album: Van Gogh|Van Gogh]] album ([http://www.vangoghmusic.com/ Van Gogh] version)<br>
[[Prince_Vault:Selected_anniversaries/July 7|7 July 2001]] - [[NPG_Music_Club_Year_One_Releases#NPGMC_Edition_.23_6|NPG Music Club Edition # 6]] download ([[File: Symbol_no2.svg|14px|link=Alias: Symbol]] version)
|album(s)                  = [[Album: Van Gogh|Van Gogh]]
|writer(s)                 = [[Prince]] (credited as [[The Artist]]), [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandra_St._Victor Sandra St. Victor] (uncredited) and Tom Hammer (uncredited)
|producer(s)                = Robby Heisner; [[Prince]] (as [[File: Symbol_no2.svg|14px|link=Alias: Symbol]]) (assumed)
|previous song             = [[Valentina]]
|next song                 = [[Vavoom]]
|introduction              = '''Van Gogh''' is the sixth track on [http://www.vangoghmusic.com/ Van Gogh]’s fourth album [[Album: Van Gogh|Van Gogh]], co-written by [[Prince]] (as [[File: Symbol_no2.svg|14px|link=Alias: Symbol]]) and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandra_St._Victor Sandra St. Victor] and Tom Hammer, but re-recorded by the band for their release. In 2001, [[File: Symbol_no2.svg|14px|link=Alias: Symbol]]’s own version was released as part of [[NPG_Music_Club_Year_One_Releases#NPGMC_Edition_.23_6|NPG Music Club Edition # 6]]. The released version was different from the original 1995 version. It had added horn overdubs , plus a longer bass coda, not in the 1995 version.

While specific recording dates are not known, the track was originally written by [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandra_St._Victor Sandra St. Victor] and Tom Hammer as '''Love Is''', and was sent to [[File: Symbol_no2.svg|14px|link=Alias: Symbol]] in Spring 1995, following a loose agreement for [[File: Symbol_no2.svg|14px|link=Alias: Symbol]] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandra_St._Victor Sandra St. Victor] to work together (along with [[Soul Sanctuary|Sanctuary]] (later renamed [[Soul Sanctuary]]), [[Eye’ll Never B Another Fool|I’ll Never Open My Legs Again]] (later renamed [[File: Eye92_Blu.svg|14px|link=Eye’ll Never B Another Fool]][[Eye’ll Never B Another Fool|’ll Never B Another Fool]]), [[Livin’ 2 Die|How We Livin’]] (later renamed [[Livin’ 2 Die]]) and [[Stone|Nothing Left To Give]] (later renamed [[Stone]]). Additional lyrics and music were added by [[File: Symbol_no2.svg|14px|link=Alias: Symbol]] before recording in 1995, at [[Paisley Park Studios]] in Chanhassen, Minnesota (during the same set of sessions as the other songs sent by [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandra_St._Victor St. Victor]). 

[[Van Gogh|Love Is]], [[Eye’ll Never B Another Fool|I’ll Never Open My Legs Again]], [[Soul Sanctuary|Sanctuary]] and [[Stone|Nothing Left To Give]] came from ''[https://sandrastvictor.bandcamp.com/album/sanctuary-2 Sanctuary]'', [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandra_St._Victor Sandra St. Victor]’s canceled first solo album on [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elektra_Records Elektra Records] (intended to be released in 1993). [[File: Symbol_no2.svg|14px|link=Alias: Symbol]] was able to listen to this record however and liked it enough to contact [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandra_St._Victor Sandra St. Victor] for a collaboration. Her original version of [[Van Gogh]] was released in 2018 (with its initial title [[Van Gogh|Love Is]]), when [https://sandrastvictor.bandcamp.com/album/sanctuary-2 Sanctuary] was made available on digital platforms. Since [[Van Gogh|Love Is]] was not initially intended for [[File: Symbol_no2.svg|14px|link=Alias: Symbol]] and contains no input by him, this version is not listed below.

'''Van Gogh''' was slated to appear on a [[Album: Playtime By Versace|Playtime By Versace]] project in mid-late 1995. It was then included as the fifth track of the second disc (sixteenth song) on a March/April 1996 configuration of [[Album: Emancipation|Emancipation]], but was removed as work on the album continued. In March 1998, [[File: Symbol_no2.svg|14px|link=Alias: Symbol]] sent a cassette of the song to [http://www.vangoghmusic.com/ Van Gogh], as he wanted to give a song to a professional artist with a disability and had found [http://www.vangoghmusic.com/ Van Gogh] after much searching online, through the Coalition of Disabled Musicians in New York (the bandmembers all use wheelchairs). [http://www.vangoghmusic.com/ Van Gogh]’s version was recorded in Spring or Summer 1998 at Van Gogh Studios, Atlanta, Georgia. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandra_St._Victor Sandra St. Victor]’s and Tom Hammer’s names were missing on the song’s credits; other tracks by [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandra_St._Victor St. Victor] were also released with inaccurate credits, causing her to make legal threats against [[File: Symbol_no2.svg|14px|link=Alias: Symbol]], but she eventually opted not to sue.
|recording info            =
{{RecordingLine
|date                      = Spring 1995
|studio                    = [[Paisley Park Studios]],<br>Chanhassen, MN, USA
|additional info           = Tracking
}}
{{RecordingLine
|date                      = Unknown date
|studio                    = Studio information needed
|additional info           = Horn overdubs
}}
{{RecordingLine
|date                      = Spring - Summer 1998
|studio                    = Van Gogh Studios,<br>Atlanta, GA, USA
|additional info           = [http://www.vangoghmusic.com/ Van Gogh] re-recording
}}
|recording personnel       = 
'''Van Gogh version'''
*Robby Heisner - lead vocals and keyboards
*Ricky Heisner - harmony
*Scott Robertson - drums and sampling
*Kevin Wyglad - bass guitar and guitar
*Valerie Hunter - background vocals
*Alsia Dorsey - background vocals
<br>
'''[[File: Symbol_no2.svg|14px|link=Alias: Symbol]] version'''
*[[Prince]] (as [[File: Symbol_no2.svg|14px|link=Alias: Symbol]]) - all vocals and instruments, except where noted (assumed)
*[[Eric Leeds]] - saxophone (assumed)
*<small>Other musical credits not given for [[File: Symbol_no2.svg|14px|link=Alias: Symbol]] version</small>
|released versions         =
{{Songchart
|line =
{{Songline
|1= '''Van Gogh'''
|2= 4:35
|3= [[Album: Van Gogh|Van Gogh]]
|4= Studio
|5= [http://www.vangoghmusic.com/ Van Gogh] version
}}
{{Songline
|1= '''Van Gogh'''
|2= 5:59
|3= [[NPG_Music_Club_Year_One_Releases#NPGMC_Edition_.23_6|NPG Music Club Edition # 6]] mp3 download
|4= Studio
|5= [[File: Symbol_no2.svg|14px|link=Alias: Symbol]] version
}}
}}
|video versions            = 
|broadcasts, streaming     =
|unreleased versions       = 
{{SongUnreleased
|unreleased versions       = 
{{Unreleased
|line=
{{Unreleasedline
|1= '''Van Gogh'''
|2= Studio
|3=  1995 Version without horns
}}
}}
}}
|sampled in                =
|first live appearance     = This track is not believed to have been performed live by [[Prince]]
|performed regularly on    = none
|performed occasionally in = none
|trivia                    = 
|see also                  = [[Album: Van Gogh|Van Gogh]] album
* [[NPG_Music_Club_Year_One_Releases#NPGMC_Edition_.23_6|NPG Music Club Edition # 6]]
|references                = ''[[Book:_The_Vault|The Vault: The Definitive Guide to the Musical World of Prince (2004)]] ''
|categories                = [[Category:1998]][[Category:Recorded 1995]][[Category:Songs (Prince)]][[Category:Released Songs (Associated Artists)]][[Category:Songs (Associated Artists)]][[Category:Released Songs (Associated Artists)]][[Category:Released Songs (Prince)]]
}}