It's Gonna Be A Beautiful Night is the sixth track on the second disc of Prince's ninth album Sign O' The Times. The track was initially placed as the seventh and final track on the third disc of the triple-album Crystal Ball, which was eventually pared down and became Sign O' The Times, at which point its position was swapped with that of Adore. A live version was also included in the concert movie Sign O' The Times.
The basis for the track was recorded live on 25 August, 1986 at Le Zénith, Paris, France, during a show on the Parade Tour (at the soundcheck earlier in the day, recordings were made of Coco Boys, Susannah's Blues, Strange Relationship, Last Heart, a cover version of The Temptations' I Can't Get Next To You and a first run-through of It's Gonna Be A Beautiful Night). Significant overdubs, including Sheila E.'s "transmississippirap" (a partial reading of Edward Lear's "The Table And The Chair" poem, labeled the "transmississippirap" because Prince recorded Sheila E. reading it over the phone from the other side of the Mississippi river), took place on 22 November, 1986 at Sunset Sound, Hollywood, CA, USA during Susannah Melvoin's final recording session with Prince (on the same day as Play In The Sunshine), just eight days before completion of the Crystal Ball album. Although recorded with the full Revolution band, the song is credited only to Prince. It was included as the sixth track on the third and final disc of the Crystal Ball album, and was kept for inclusion as the album developed into Sign O' The Times.
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