Prince is the second full-length studio album by Prince. It was released worldwide in October 1979, eighteen months after his first album, For You.
Sessions and compiling
Album sessions took place from late April to 13 June 1979 at Alpha Studios, Burbank, CA, USA. some overdubs and mixing initially took place at Hollywood Sound Recorders, Los Angeles, CA, USA, in late May and early June. However, allegedly when the costs of it started to be an issue, his manager Perry Jones got a 16-track AMEK X2001 console and had it shipped it to Prince’s home on North Arm Drive in Orono, Minnesota, where the album was mixed further.
I Wanna Be Your Lover and I Feel For You were initially written for Patrice Rushen who was recording her fifth album Pizzazz at the same time (and released only four days after Prince’s album).
As with his first album, Prince played all instruments on all tracks. Bobby Z. and André Cymone were listed in the credits as "heaven-sent helpers" leading to some questioning of their involvement, and Prince has confirmed that André Cymone adds some vocal harmony to Why You Wanna Treat Me So Bad?
Promotion
The album produced five singles, I Wanna Be Your Lover (which preceded the album), Why You Wanna Treat Me So Bad?, Still Waiting, Sexy Dancer (released in the UK & Japan only) and Bambi (released in Belgium and The Netherlands only).
Prince engaged in his first tour in the USA to support the album on the Prince Tour in November and December 1979, and February 1980, usually playing every song from the album.
The album reached number 22 on the US Billboard Top LP’s & Tapes, and number 3 on the Billboard Soul LPs Chart.
It was certified platinum by the RIAA, indicating 1,000,000 copies shipped in the USA.
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Personnel
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Musicians
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Production
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- Prince - producer, arranger, remixer, album cover concept
- Gary Brandt - engineer
- Mark Ettel - assistant engineer
- Bob Mockler - remixer
- Bernie Grundman - mastering (A&M)
- Lynn Barron - album design (RIA Images)
- George Chacon - album design (RIA Images)
- Jurgen Reisch - photography (front cover)
- Chris Callis - photography (back cover)
- Terry Taylor - calligraphy
- Bob Cavallo - exclusive representation
- Joe Ruffalo - exclusive representation
- Steve Fargnoli - exclusive representation
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Thanks
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- Very special thanks to: "God, Perry Jones, Tony Winfrey, André Cymone, Bobby Z., Dez Dickerson, Gayle Chapman, Matt Fink, Bob Cavallo, Joe Ruffalo, Alvin Winfrey, Chris Brice, Jim Brooks, Thurman Brooms, Chris Brotman, Warner Bros., Pepé Willie, Eric Eisner, Charleville Music, Bambi, Brighton Artists, Cynthia Horner, Ted Astin, Kim, Barry Gross, Murray Nagel, Knut Koupe, Lee Phillips, and all the beautiful people who got into my first album.
I love you all."
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