| Dial M-A-C-E-O is the eleventh solo studio album by American funk and soul saxophonist Maceo Parker , and was released in April 2000 (with a Japanese release three weeks earlier).
The album contained mostly-instrumental versions of The Greatest Romance Ever Sold and Baby Knows (as a hidden, uncredited track), both of which had previously been included (as vocal tracks) on Prince’s (as  ) Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic album (on which Maceo Parker had appeared on another track, Prettyman). Since they utilize the same basic tracks as Prince’s versions, these are considered alternate versions of the tracks rather than simple cover versions.
Sessions and compiling
Maceo Parker was in Ani DiFranco’s band at the time of their meeting. Prince met DiFranco and Parker following DiFranco’s concert at the Midway Stadium in Minneapolis, MN, USA, on 3 July 1999, and invited them back to Paisley Park Studios, where DiFranco added guitar to  Love U, But Don’t Trust U Anymore and Maceo Parker added saxophone to Prettyman, before later joining Prince’s band.
Prince sent Parker the basic tracks for The Greatest Romance Ever Sold and Baby Knows, and his saxophone overdubs were likely recorded in September 1999, at Dan’s House Of Love, New York, NY, USA, along with the rest of the album.
The album also contained contributions from Ani DiFranco and folk singer James Taylor, albeit on different tracks, as well as Greg Boyer, who would later become a part of Prince’s band.
Promotion
The Greatest Romance Ever Sold was available as a promotional single around the same time as the album’s release, but no singles were commercially released from the album, and the album did not enter the charts.
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1999: To The Teeth ◄
