Bob George

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Bob George

from the album “The Black Album” Song details Performer: Prince First Released: 19 April 1989 - Lovesexy Live 2 home video (video) 22 November 1994 - “The Black Album” album (audio) Album(s): “The Black Album” Writer(s): Prince Producer(s): Prince Live Appearances First and last live appearance: 8 July 1988, Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy, Paris, France 13 February 1989: Osaka-jō Hall (大阪城ホール), Osaka, Japan Performed regularly on tour: Lovesexy Tour Performed occasionally in shows: This song is not known to have been played outside of the Lovesexy Tour context.

Bob George is the fifth song on Prince’s sixteenth album “The Black Album” (originally planned for release as his tenth album, albeit with no artist credit). In 1989, a live version was included on the Lovesexy Live 2 VHS, taken from the 9 September 1988 live TV broadcast. Basic tracking took place on 7 December 1986 at Sunset Sound in Hollywood, California (on the same day as the gospel-tinged Walkin’ In Glory, which engineer Susan Rogers said may have been "to compensate" for Bob George, two days before 2 Nigs United 4 West Compton). The track, along with 2 Nigs United 4 West Compton and Le Grind, were recorded for a birthday party Prince was hosting for Sheila E. on 11 December 1986. Although unreleased at the time, Prince played Bob George during every show on the Lovesexy Tour as the penultimate song of the first, darker, half of the show. At the end of the song, the character Prince played was shot, before Prince was ’redeemed', playing Anna Stesia to close the first half. Recording Information Recording Sessions Date Studio Additional info 7, 9, 10 December 1986 Sunset Sound, Hollywood, CA, USA Tracking, mix (7th); overdubs, mix, edit (9th); mix (10th) Recording Personnel Prince - all vocals and instruments Versions Released Versions Title Length Released Version Additional info Bob George 5:36 “The Black Album” Studio Video Versions Title Length Released Version Additional info Bob George 2:54 Lovesexy Live 2 VHS Live 9 September 1988, Westfalenhallen, Dortmund, West Germany Sampled, Referred to, Quoted in... Title Length Released Version Additional info Like A Prayer (Dub Beats) 4:36 Like A Prayer promo Remix Remix by Bill Bottrell. See Like A Prayer for details. Unreleased Versions Title Version Additional Info Bob George Studio Version with Camille voice Bob George Studio Longer version

Additional Information See also Trivia “The Black Album” album The "Bizarre!" sample used in this song is originally from Our Bizarre Relationship by Frank Zappa’s band The Mothers of Invention (from Uncle Meat 1969). It was one of the preset samples in the Fairlight CMI sample-synthesizer and Prince took it from there. It was utilized in quite a few songs recorded between 1985 and 1987: All My Dreams, Bob George, Christopher Tracy’s Parade, Lovesexy, and Madhouse songs Nine and 6 (The End Of The World Mix) all contain this sample. The sampled gunshot sounds in the song are also from the Fairlight CMI. They are the same as used in Thirteen and in the opening sequence of an unreleased version Play In The Sunshine. The repeated sample of a voice saying, "Yes, operator. What city please?" was previously used on Madhouse’s Five. After its cancellation in 1987, “The Black Album” was widely bootlegged. Oddly enough, Prince allowed Madonna and Kwamé (to whom he was not linked to) to sample Bob George several years before its official release on their songs. The line "skinny motherfucker with a high voice" was sampled on a remix for Madonna’s Like A Prayer (released on a promo edition of the single in 1989) and on Kwamé & A New Beginning’s "Skinee Muva" (released on their A Day In The Life (A Pokadelick Adventure) album in 1990). References The Vault: The Definitive Guide to the Musical World of Prince (2004)

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