From the recording A View Askewed Too
(Note - Updated version 160723)
Right out on front street, I loved Prince. You'll find a blog entry somewhere on this site that tells you the whole story. The good, the bad, the occasionally indifferent. Anyways. I've never covered a Prince song, and, since his passing, I've kinda tried to ignore the fact that he's actually...gone.
So, to tackle this emotional situation, for me, I decided on the morning of the 17th June that I would attempt a cover version of one of his truly great pop songs (indeed, one of the greatest songs of all time - but he wrote many worthy of that same description). No pressure. It's not a Prince song that I listen to a lot (or even that era i.e. Purple Rain). 'Take Me With You' is probably my favourite song on Purple Rain.
'Sign O The Times', 'Parade', "Symbol' and 'Gold' are probably my 'go-to'' Prince albums of choice.
Knowing that he didn't have any bass on the original my first attempt at the song was no guitars or keyboards JUST bass. An hour or so in, and 6 bass tracks, I decided, naw, sounded sh*te. I simply don't have the voice or virtuosity on bass, to have a track THAT bare of sound. Too much exposure!
I had a think...what if...
So, I decided to record the song like a 'rock band' (in my own inimitable 'style' - for want of a better description). Here's the finished version (for now - I know I'll find something to hate about it at some later stage) and it took ALL of Saturday the 17th of June to record, from 9am right through to 7pm, no breaks (no lunch!!). There's 62 separate tracks on this. George Martin will be turning in his grave.
For any guitar muso's interested, I play a Danelectro U3 on most of the guitar tracks (and the solos) and I used a Gretsch Electromatic for some of the background guitar sound (it has a Bigsby tremolo, which I use right through the track). My finger tips were quite sore this morning, I hadn't bent that many strings for many many months. The bass used was my Aria Pro II. I purposefully didn't use any keyboards, synths etc to keep the sound as different as possible from the original.
This is another track I'll add to my ongoing labour of love ''A View Askewed Too' covers album side project. No-one's ever, or will ever, hear my first 'A View Askewed' covers attempt because it wasn't great tbh, and I knew feck all about what I was doing musically at the time. I intend to keep adding a few cover versions of beloved songs (or interesting takes on songs) from time to time as the spirit is willing, or if the flesh is weakened.
Here's 'When Doves Cry'......