If I Had A Harem was released in a live version (as Blues In C (If I Had A Harem) as the twelfth track on the Lovesexy Live 2 home video (from the 9 September, 1988, Westfallenhalle, Dortmund, West Germany live broadcast). No audio version of the track has been released.
Initial tracking of the studio version of the track with its original title, If I Had A Harem, took place in Spring or early Summer, 1988 (likely around May/June). While the released live version contains blues and jazz elements (including horn interpolations of Johnny Hodges & His Orchestra's Things Ain't What They Used To Be and Charlie Parker's Re Bopper's Billie's Bounce), the studio version is quite different, as a solo rockabilly-style recording containing some keyboard riffs which were not included in the live version, as well as a few minor lyrical differences. The studio version was included on the 27 October, 1988 configuration of Rave Unto The Joy Fantastic. It was also included as the second track on a late 1988 or early 1989 configuration of Rave Unto The Joy Fantastic, but the album was ultimately abandoned.
|