Album: The Time (2005)

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2000: Peace Unreleased Albums
(Prince)
Unreleased Albums
(Related Artists)
2006: Milk & Honey
Untitled fifth The Time album


Album details


Intended Release Date: 2005
Label(s): NPG Records (assumed)
Studio(s): Paisley Park Studios, Chanhassen, MN, USA

See also


Pandemonium
(Album)
 

Alternate Album Configuration


  • Old Dog, New Tricks tentative tracklist from 1998
  1. Cowgirl
  2. Style
  3. Who Says A Funk Band Can’t Play Rock?
  4. Shake It Baby
  5. Old Dogs, New Tricks
  6. Players Quiz
  7. North Side, South Side, Suburbs
  8. And Thats What Time It Is
After the release of Pandemonium in 1990 and the band’s breakup, there were at least three attempts to record and/or release a fifth Time album between 1998 and 2005.

In 1998, an album called Old Dogs, New Tricks was compiled. It featured Morris Day, Jellybean Johnson, Monte Moir, Jerome Benton as well as Ricky 'Freeze' Smith (bass), Torrell 'Tori' Ruffin (guitar) and Robert 'Gi' Grisset (keyboards). Terry Lewis and Jimmy Jam offered help in the songwriting but Prince's involvement is uncertain. The presence of a song named Style may suggest that it is a new version of the song from the Emancipation album but this was not confirmed (the tracklist for Old Dogs, New Tricks is detailed in the trivia section).

In March 2001, Prince announced on his website that he was recording new songs with Morris Day at Paisley Park Studios ("MORRIS DAY is cuttin’ NEW trax in the Park, with JAMIE STARR producing!"). Cowgirl, a song written by Terry Lewis for the album Old Dogs, New Tricks was reworked in June 2001 with Prince among others, but it is not know if it was as part of the work on this album. Except for Prince’s message on his site at that time, nothing is known about this project.

The third attempt dates from 2004 or 2005 and is recounted by Morris Day in his autobiography On Time: A Princely Life in Funk:
"Prince and I had been working in the studio for over a week. We were making beats, singing, working up these tracks into songs. He was inspiring me, and I don’t think it’s just my ego saying that I inspired him. We got off on each other’s energy and ideas. I was also especially hopeful because, even though he was clearly in charge, it was less about control and more about collaboration. Maybe because I had once left his camp over the issue of creative control, this time around he seemed less interested in asserting control. It almost seemed like he wanted to placate me. I took that to mean he respected the fact that I had gone off on my own and over the decades had made Morris Day and The Time a sustainable band. I’d honored the music that was a vital part of his legacy. We got to the point where we had six songs and were ready to record. Prince wanted these for a new Time album that he and I would coproduce. Once we cut these, the plan was to complete the project by writing four more songs. He talked about The Time opening on his next tour, not intermittently like on Musicology but every night. Guaranteed. We’d call in the lawyers and put it on paper. Before that, though, he said he wanted to have a talk." During this conversation, Prince made it clear to Morris Day that they would only work together on an album again if he became a Jehovah’s Witness. Day refused this condition and this album project was abandoned before the final recordings of the six demoed tracks (their titles have not been revealed).

No further recordings between Prince and Morris Day or the other members of The Time took place after this. In October 2011, the original members of The Time released a new album Condensate without any contributions from Prince. The record was released under the new moniker The Original 7ven, as Prince owned the rights to the band’s name The Time and had refused to participate in the album. The group broke up again shortly after.



Track listing
CD

The album was never completed

All tracks written by Prince with Morris Day (assumed)



Personnel
Musicians
  • Morris Day - lead vocals and drums (assumed)
  • Prince – all other instruments (assumed)
  • Other performance details unknown


Production
  • Prince - producer (assumed)
  • Morris Day - co-producer
  • Other production details unknown


 
Additional Information

Trivia


References
2000
Peace
Unreleased Albums
(Prince)
Unreleased Albums
(Related Artists)
2006
Milk & Honey