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Cream is the fourth track on Prince’s 13th album Diamonds And Pearls (the first album to be credited to Prince and the New Power Generation), and, three weeks before the album’s release, Cream was released as the album’s second single, released worldwide, with a maxi-single following at a later date.
In 1993, it was included as the 16th track on The Hits 2 (which was also included as the second disc of The Hits / The B-Sides). In 2001, it was included as the 15th track on The Very Best Of Prince. In 2006, the Cream (N.P.G. Mix) was included as the 11th and final track on the second disc of the compilation Ultimate in 2006.
A tape photographed in Prince’s vault at Paisley Park Studios lists two takes of the song ("Takes 1 & 2") and a third version (the final) as 3 December 1990. An early mix of the track was intended initially as the first track on a Gett Off EP also containing Gett Off, Horny Pony and Money Don’t Matter 2 Night, but this EP was aborted. The track was not included on the December 1990, configuration of Diamonds And Pearls, indicating that it had not yet been recorded, but was included as the fourth track on the 1 March 1991 and 8 May 1991 configurations, where it remained for release.
The second studio take of the song, effectively Prince a full-band run-trough, was released in October 2023 as the tenth track of Vault Tracks part 1, one of the discs with previously unreleased tracks included with the Diamonds And Pearls Super Deluxe Edition (as Cream (Take 2)). This version was streamed on Prince’s Youtube channel and other streaming platforms on 7 September 2023 (almost 32 years date-to-date after the first release of the song) as a preview of this posthumous release. This take was mixed by Chris James in 2022 for use on that collection.
Remixes were made of the track for a single release, which gradually moved further away from the original track and were considered independent enough to warrant their own track names. These could be considered remixes of Cream, but here are given their own entries: see Things Have Gotta Change (Tony M. Rap), 2 The Wire (Creamy Instrumental), Get Some Solo and Do Your Dance (KC’s Remix) (which itself was remixed multiple times) for details of each track.
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Recording Information
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Recording Sessions
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| Date
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Studio
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Additional info
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| 3 December 1990
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Paisley Park Studios,
Chanhassen, MN, USA
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Tracking
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| August 1991
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Unknown studio, USA
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Remixes by Junior Vasquez
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| September-October 1991
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Paisley Park Studios,
Chanhassen, MN, USA
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Remixes, overdubs, additional production
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| 2022
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Unknown studio
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Mix of Cream (Take 2) by Chris James
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Recording Personnel
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Album version
- Prince - all vocals and instruments, except where noted (listed in liner notes as ‘Insatiable’)
- Michael B. - drums
- Sonny T. - bass guitar (credited for "bass and backing vox")
- Tommy Barbarella - keyboards (liner notes state "Purpleaxxe™ sampler, other various keys and sex symbol")
- Levi Seacer, Jr. - rhythm guitar (credited for "rhythm guitar and backing vox")
- Rosie Gaines - vocals, keyboards (liner notes state "co-lead backing vox, Purpleaxxe™ sampler and organ")
- Kirk Johnson - percussion (credited for "backing vox and percussion")
- Bonnie Raitt - sampled slide guitar (uncredited - see trivia)
Cream (N.P.G. Mix)
additional musicians :
Cream (Take 2)
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Versions
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Released Versions
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Video Versions
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Broadcasts/streaming (only)
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Sampled, Referred to, Quoted in...
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Unreleased Versions
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