Prince
Piano & A Microphone 1983
Rare & Collectible Vinyl Records

Sealed 2020 Repress. A Collection Of Previously Unreleased Home Studio Recordings. "As The First Major Release From Prince's Vault (The 2017 Expanded Edition Of Purple Rain Was Announced Prior To His 2016 Death), Piano & A Microphone 1983 Is Disarmingly Casual. Its Prosaic Title Is A Precise Description Of The Album's Content -- It Is Nothing More Than Prince Sitting At A Piano, Playing Whatever Comes To His Mind For Just Over Half An Hour -- Yet Even If The Record Delivers Upon That Promise, It's Not Quite As Simple As It Seems. For One, There's A Level Of Intimacy On Piano & A Microphone Unlike Anything Else In Prince's Catalog. While There May Have Been Some Editing Sleight Of Hand To Make These 35 Minutes Appear To Be A Continuous Performance, There's No Production To Speak Of, Yet It Still Bears The Hallmarks Of A Studio Recording; The Music Is Too Clear To Be Anything But. Despite Early Appearances Of "17 Days," "Purple Rain," And "Strange Relationship," This Can't Be Called A Demo Session: Prince Plays His Recent "International Lover," Hauls Out The Spiritual Standard "Mary Don't You Weep" -- A Song He Could In No Way Have Been Considering For Inclusion On An Album -- And Plays A Bit Of Joni Mitchell's "A Case Of You." The Brevity Of "A Case Of You" And "Purple Rain" -- Both Hover Around 90 Seconds -- Highlights This Session's Informality, But That Point Is Hammered Home At The End Of The Record When Prince Goofs Through "Cold Coffee And Cocaine" In A Voice He'd Later Perfect On "Bob George" And Tries To Find A Concrete Song Within "Why The Butterflies." Far From Detracting From Piano & A Microphone, These Loose Ends Are The Reason To Listen To The Album. The Whole Affair Plays Like The Listener Is Eavesdropping On Prince Creating, And There Simply Can't Be A Reissue More Valuable Than That." AMG Review By Stephen Thomas Erlewine.