Prince’s first posthumous album Piano & a Microphone 1983 has been released, Raw Story reports.
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The album includes nine tracks with unreleased works from the late singer’s vast musical catalogue. What makes this music even more special is that these songs were compiled from Prince’s 1983 home studio cassette.
The songs are stripped down versions of the jams we love, accompanying just his vocals singing jazz renditions as Prince plays a piano, the record company Warner Bros. said on Thursday.
“We are being allowed into a moment that we don’t necessarily get and we never would have had access to, honestly, while Prince was alive,” said NPR Music critic Ann Powers.
The musical treasure was found inside Prince’s personal vault on a cassette tape. It was recorded in Prince’s Kiowa Trail home studio in Chanhassen, Minn.
Included on the album is a snippet of his signature Purple Rain, a cover of Joni Mitchell‘s “A Case of You” and his classic B-side “17 Days.”
Prince Leaves a musical legacy
Thanks to an exclusive distribution deal, Sony and Prince’s estate will continue his musical legacy that will re-release 35 classic albums from the late singer’s extensive musical repertoire, reports Variety.
Beginning immediately, 19 previous album titles will be released and distributed under Legacy Recordings, a division of SME, with worldwide rights. Those include: “The Gold Experience” (1995), “Emancipation” (1996), “Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic” (1999), “The Rainbow Children” (2001) and “3121” (2006), as well as titles originally distributed by Sony including “Musicology” (2004) and “Planet Earth” (2007), according to Variety.
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In 2021, 12 more album titles will drop and be distributed under Sony/Legacy’s. With the older music from the albums some of us grew up on like: “Prince” (1979), “Dirty Mind” (1980), “Controversy” (1981), “1999” (1982), “Around the World in a Day” (1985), “Sign ‘O’ The Times” (1987), “Lovesexy” (1988), “Diamonds and Pearls” (1991) and “[Love Symbol]” (1992), and “much more,” the announcement reads.
Unfortunately, those of you lucky enough to still own your 1984 “Purple Rain” album will have to keep it safe and sounds because it won’t be included in the deal. Neither will “Batman” (1989), as well as “Parade” (1986) and “Graffiti Bridge” (1990.) It’s because they are soundtrack albums, which are not exclusive to the deal.
Music mogul Jay-Z is also working on a curating full-length album of previously released music from Prince’s vault and will release it on his streaming service, Tidal.