Somebody's Somebody is the third track on the first disc of Prince's 19th album Emancipation, the third to be credited to . Two months after the album's release, Somebody's Somebody was released as the album's second promotional single, available only in the USA (in the UK, the same tracks were included on the retail release of The Holy River, released on the same date). A year before the album's release, however, a clip of the song containing vocals by Derick Hughes (a friend of Levi Seacer, Jr.'s) was included as the fourteenth track (eighth song) on The Sampler Experience, a cassette sampler given out to select audience members during The Ultimate Live Experience tour in UK and Europe. Writing credit for the track is shared with Brenda Lee Eager and Hilliard Wilson (who also wrote the original lyrics for Hide The Bone), but their specific input is unknown.
Initial tracking dates are unknown, but Derick Hughes' vocals were likely recorded in November 1994, at the same time as Proud Mary, at Paisley Park Studios, Chanhassen, MN, USA. It is not known if Prince's vocals pre-date this or were recorded later. It is also not known when Prince worked on the Ultrafantasy Edit and Livestudio Mix versions of the track, but these were likely recorded in the second half of 1996 at Paisley Park Studios, shortly after Rhonda Smith joined the band. The song's instrumentation was also used as the background of On Sale Now!, an advertisement skit featuring Prince as a customer calling 1-800-New-Funk and ordering products. It is likely that it was recorded in late 1996, and is included here as it is not a song in its own right.
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Recording Information
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Recording Sessions
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Date
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Studio
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Additional info
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November 1994
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Paisley Park Studios, Chanhassen, MN, USA
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Initial tracking (Derick Hughes vocals, and possibly vocals)
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Late 1996
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Paisley Park Studios, Chanhassen, MN, USA
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Remixing for Ultrafantasy Edit
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Late 1996
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Paisley Park Studios, Chanhassen, MN, USA
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Re-recording for Livestudio Mix
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Recording Personnel
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Derick Hughes version
version
- Prince (as
) - all vocals and instruments, except where noted
Livestudio Mix
Ultrafantasy Edit
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Versions
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Released Versions
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Video Versions
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Title
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Length
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Released
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Version
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Additional info
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Somebody's Somebody
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4:45
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Promotional release only
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Promo video
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See Somebody's Somebody video for more details
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Broadcasts/streaming (only)
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Unreleased Versions
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Title
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Version
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Additional Info
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Somebody's Somebody
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Studio
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Full Derick Hughes version
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