Penetration

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Penetration (a.k.a 17 (Penetration))

Merci Miles Album.jpg
from the album Merci Miles!, Live At Vienne
Song details
Performer: Miles Davis; Madhouse
First Released: 28 June 1991 - Live performance broadcast
25 June 2021 - Merci Miles!, Live At Vienne album (live audio version)
Album(s): Merci Miles!, Live At Vienne
Writer(s): Prince
Producer(s): Miles Davis ; Prince (assumed)
Live Appearances
First and last live appearance:
  • This track is not believed to have been performed live by Prince.
Performed regularly on tour:
  • none
Performed occasionally in shows:
  • none

Penetration is an instrumental track originally recorded as 17 (Penetration) on 5 December 1988 at Paisley Park Studios in Chanhassen, Minnesota (during the same session as 18 (R U Legal Yet?), three days before 19 (Jailbait)), during sessions for Madhouse’s third album 24. The track was included as the opening track on the album 24 (the number in the track title sequentially follows Sixteen, the final track on Madhouse’s second album 16), before the album was abandoned.

On 21 January 1991, Prince submitted the track (now re-titled Penetration) to Miles Davis, along with Are U legal Yet?, Jailbait and A Girl And Her Puppy, for his consideration. Prince wanted Davis to record additional trumpet parts before sending them back. Davis instead taught the four tracks to his band, and they recorded new versions of the tracks on 27-28 March 1991 at Bauer Studios (Studio 1), Ludwigsburg, Germany. The band also played them regularly on Davis’ 1991 tour.

After Davis died in 1991, Warner Bros. asked Prince to add some post-production to this track (as well as Can I Play With U?, Jailbait and A Girl And Her Puppy) to include on his first posthumous album, Doo-Bop, but Prince was not interested in contributing to tracks that he felt didn’t show Davis at his best.

A live version of the track, recorded on 10 July 1991 at La Grande Halle de la Villette in Paris, France (the video of which was broadcast on some channels around the work in the nineties), was planned for release as the 71st track on a 2001 box-set of Miles DavisWarner Bros. work, entitled The Last Word, but the track was not included on the eventual 2-disc 2010 release, titled Perfect Way.

In 2021, a live version recorded on July 1st 1991 at Théâtre Antique in Vienne, France was included as the fourth track on the posthumous Miles Davis live album Merci Miles!, Live At Vienne.


Recording Information
Recording Sessions
Date Studio Additional info
5 December 1988 Paisley Park Studios,
Chanhassen, MN, USA
Tracking (as 17 (Penetration))
27-28 March 1991 (a.m.) Bauer Studios (Studio 1),
Ludwigsburg, Germany
Tracking (Miles Davis version)
1 July 1991 Théâtre Antique
Vienne, France
Live recording
Recording Personnel

Miles Davis versions


Unreleased Madhouse version

  • Prince - all instruments, except where noted (assumed)
  • Eric Leeds - saxophone and flute

Versions
Released Versions
Title Length Released Version Additional info
Penetration 9:00 Merci Miles!, Live At Vienne Live version recorded on July 1st 1991 at Théâtre Antique, Vienne, France
Broadcasts/streaming (only)
Title Length Released Version Additional info
Penetration 7:50 Live concert radio broadcast Live Miles Davis and his band at Messehalle 4, Hamburg, (West) Germany on 28 June 1991 (broadcast by NDR)
Penetration 7:50 Live concert TV broadcast Live Miles Davis and his band at La Grande Halle de la Villette, Paris, France on 10 July 1991(broadcast by Bravo TV)
Unreleased Versions
Title Version Additional Info
17 (Penetration) Studio Madhouse version ; recorded 5 December 1988)
Penetration Studio Miles Davis version; recorded 27 March 1991 (a.m.) (First take)
Penetration Studio Miles Davis version; recorded 27-28 March 1991 (a.m.) (Second take)
Penetration Studio Miles Davis version; recorded 27-28 March 1991 (a.m.) (Third Take)
Penetration Live Miles Davis live version planned for The Last Word release; recorded 10 July 1991 at La Grande Halle de la Villette, Paris, France
 
Additional Information

See also Trivia

  • Although sharing a title (and original purpose as the opening track of a Madhouse album), the track is musically unrelated to the released Madhouse track titled 17.

References
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