TIME || Prince & Andy Allo

36: look at me...

January 9, 2012

"Let's go over that again. Liv, I still need to hear you stronger on the last verse and it's okay to ad-lib." Prince turns towards the ladies of the NPG which consisted of Shelby, Liv, and Elisa. He points to Ledisi, a good friend of his, whom he asked to sing on this particular track.
"Your voice is supposed to complement hers. And we're recording on analog, so we can't just go back to a particular section and redo it. We have to do it all the way through, over again. Just know, if we're here all night, it's on you."

Studio A's live room was packed today. Prince had called and flew everyone in to record a couple of songs; one of which he'd written while on tour a month ago, and the other he'd written over the New Year's weekend, both of which he wanted horns on. They'd gone through and over the song a couple of times now and it wasn't to his liking.

Out of all of them, John's drumming, Ida's bass, Ledisi's vocals, and the Hornheads' parts were to his liking. To him, it was a shame that their perfection was going to waste and with every redo, something might change or sound a little different or off than it did before. He needed Cassandra and her keys to do what he wanted them to and for the ladies to sing like it would be their last time.

Liv knew Prince was serious, he always was when it came to music but she wasn't sure whether or not he was upset with her. She thought she was giving her all, and she knew that. She also knew of his perfectionist ways and close attention to detail.

Prince needed to be moved by the music and captured by the groove. His backing singers were funky, but he knew they could be better and once they obtained that; they'd really complement the song.

She nodded, knowing he meant well; he did.

"Cassandra, I need you to focus. Do it right and keep it tight. Do you need me to show you how to do it?"

"Nope, I hear you!" She assures her boss, sharing the same thoughts and sentiments Liv did.

He went into the isolation booth to let the Hornheads know of the next run through. Then, he came out and went to talk to John on the other side of the room. He was seemingly instructing John, using his hands to mimic exactly what he expected to hear this time around as he murmured.

"Make your parts a little bit jazzier this time. Alright?" He finally spoke after a brief moment, pointing towards Cassandra. She nods and adjusts some knobs and switches on her keyboard.

He then turned on his heel, sauntering off to stand alongside Ledisi and picking up his guitar.

"Alright. Let's go, John."

John began to play an intro. Prince chimed in on his guitar after a few seconds or so, using his wah-wah pedal underneath his foot as he followed the beat of the drum, along with Ida's roaring bass. The horns reverberated strongly from the isolation booth.

This time, Cassandra's parts were a farcry from what they'd sounded like before, meaning she had taken his advice. And this was a good thing. He'd decided that if she played the song how he wanted her to this time; she could keep her job. If it hadn't of been for her comments, it wouldn't have been in jeopardy.

The song carried on melodically, each element coming together as he'd imagined.

"Alright, you polaroids! Let's go! We're in the big city!" He shouted into his microphone, Ledisi sung with him, belting notes that brought the uptempo song to perfection as he wouldn't settle for less than that.