7 Things I Learned From Listening To Prince's Albums Back To Back

Since Prince's sudden death on April 21, fans like myself around the world have been remembering him by listening to his music. Over the past few months, I decided to revisit all that he's meant to me by listening to 30 of his albums in the order in which they were released, starting with his very first album, 1978's "For You."

A stack of Prince CDs and an album by his sister,
Tyka Nelson, sit next to my boombox 
on my kitchen table. 

In this blog post, I'll share insights on what I learned from this purple musical odyssey. These insights are not new, per se, but listening to these albums with the knowledge that Prince isn't around anymore reinforced the lasting impact he made on the world.

Here are 7 things I learned (did you catch the reference to his '93 hit, "7"?):

1 - Prince Made The Avant Garde Commercial

There's nothing conventional about Prince's music. He had a one-of-a-kind ability to create avant garde, abstract music and make it commercial, appealing to a large, diverse fan base around the world. Even on his first couple of albums when he was in his late teens and early 20s, he "colored outside the lines," mixing R&B with rock and folk.

Prince went even further into experimentation on his third and fourth albums, 1980's "Dirty Mind" and 1981's "Controversy." It's hard to imagine these experimental albums being released on a major label today.

Prince went in a more commercial direction with 1982's "1999," spawning huge radio hits such as the title track and "Little Red Corvette." And I noticed an even more pronounced difference from his earlier, more experimental work when I put on "Purple Rain." It was obvious that Prince was really going for the big time and shooting for a mainstream crossover audience.

2 - His Music Defies Categories

Prince is truly his own genre. He has a song in nearly every style of music: 

Blues - "Another Lonely Christmas," an excellent B-side from the '84 "Purple Rain" era.

Disco - "I Wanna Be Your Lover" from his '79 self-titled second album.

Reggae - "Blue Light" from '92's "The Love Symbol Album."

Classical - "Venus de Milo" from the '86 "Parade" album.

Techno - "Loose!" from the '94 "Come" album.

Jazz - 2002's Grammy-nominated instrumental "N.E.W.S." album. 

Country (yes, country!) -  "Right the Wrong" from '96's "Chaos and Disorder."

Another track from "Chaos and Disorder," "I Like It There," would sound at home on alt-rock radio. The mellow "June" from his 2015 "Hit n Run Phase One" album could easily have been recorded by a neo-soul artist like Jill Scott or Musiq Soulchild.

3 - He's A Master Balladeer

For as much as Prince is known as a rock god and one of the best guitar players of all time, he is equally adept at the soulful "midnight storm" ballad. His ballads range from the famous falsetto of "Do Me Baby" to his deep, almost baritone vocals on "Call My Name" from 2004's "Musicology."

There are several power ballads that are similar to "Purple Rain," such as "The Ladder" from '85's "Around the World in a Day" and "The Morning Papers" from "The Love Symbol Album." "Diamonds and Pearls," the title track from his '91 album, was perhaps the only Prince ballad to reach comparable success as "Purple Rain."

4 - Hidden 'Diamonds and Pearls'

There are some real gems hidden in Prince's indie releases: "Crucial" is a mid-tempo love song from 1997's "Crystal Ball" that rivals anything on his studio albums and sounds like an outtake from "Sign o the Times."

The sweet, sincere ballad "She Loves Me 4 Me" from 2001's "The Rainbow Children" should have been a big radio hit. And the funky jam "1+1+1 Is 3" from that same album is as danceable as "1999."

5 - He Boldly Tackled Social Issues

For most of Prince's adult life, he took a strong stance against recreational drug use and became a Jehovah's Witness in mid-life, around the time he turned 40 in 1998. For these reasons, Prince is sometimes misunderstood as a closet conservative.

But Prince took a left-leaning stance on most of the social issues he addressed in his music. For example, he recorded the song "Baltimore" about the Freddie Gray case and demonstrated his support for the Black Lives Matter movement. 

In a more obscure song, "Animal Kingdom" from the '97 acoustic indie release "The Truth," Prince sings about being a vegan and his perhaps little-known advocacy for animal rights: "No member of the animal kingdom ever did a thing to me/That's why I don't eat red meat or white fish/Don't give me no bleu cheese/We're all members of the animal kingdom/Leave your brothers and sisters in the sea."

6 - His Creativity Was Fueled By Faith

In the book "I Would Die 4 U: Why Prince Became an Icon," cultural commentator Toure  explains that Prince was raised in the Seventh Day Adventist denomination and embedded Christian messages in his music throughout his career. From reciting the Lord's Prayer in "Controversy" to the straight-out gospel of "God," the B-side of the "Purple Rain" single, Prince's faith was central to his creativity.

There are numerous examples in which, despite his reputation for being lewd, Prince often referred to his devout faith. In "I Wish U Heaven" from the '88 "Lovesexy" album, he espouses the Christian principle of turning the other cheek: "If I see 11/u can say it's 7/still I wish u Heaven."

7 - Did He Foreshadow His Own Death?

There are several songs that seem weirdly prophetic in which Prince seems to predict his own death: from the eerily prescient elevator reference in "Let's Go Crazy," to the somber lyrics of "Sometimes It Snows In April," about mourning the death of a close friend.

A particularly unsettling song is "My Little Pill" from "The Vault: Old Friends 4 Sale," a 1999 anthology of previously unreleased material.  "All my cares and troubles dive right off my window sill when I pop my little pill," Prince half-sings, half-raps in this odd little tune.

Was this Prince confessing his addiction to prescription painkillers, which eventually claimed his life? Who knows.

There are many songs in which Prince sings about how precious life is and the importance of making your mark on the world. Consider these lyrics from the song "Last December" from "Rainbow Children": "In your life, did you just give a little or did you give all that you had?/Were you just somewhere in the middle, not too good, not too bad?"

Conclusion: Prince's Legacy Lives On Through His Music

Unfortunately, the phenomenal quality of Prince's work often gets lost in the sheer volume of it. There are so many great songs that get overlooked - even by super-fans like myself.

Before Prince died, I must admit that I ignored several of his lesser-known albums, listening to them only a few times before leaving them on my CD tower to collect dust. Part of the reason is that Prince released so much music that it was hard to keep up.

Plus, Prince seldom performed his more obscure songs in concert. In live performances, he'd often ignore an entire album he just released in favor of giving the fans the big hits they wanted to hear - like the world-class entertainer he was.

It's a shame that it took Prince's death for me and other fans to rediscover these musical "diamonds and pearls." But his legacy will live on for generations to come in his music, his movies and his messages.

Sheila E. Brings Her Prince Tribute To My Home State

Sheila E. chose Ohio, my home state, to perform her first official, public tribute to Prince since  her amazing performance on the BET Awards telecast in June. "Purple Rain: A Tribute," featuring Sheila E. and Morris Day and The Time, came to Cleveland's I-X Center on Oct. 15.

 

Morris Day also performed at the Official Prince Tribute concert held in Prince's hometown of Minneapolis/St. Paul on Oct. 13. I didn't make it out to that show, and neither did Sheila. So in this blog post, I'll focus on Sheila's moving tribute to Prince in Cleveland.

 

Clad in an all white with Prince's iconic symbol emblazoned on her blouse, Sheila opened with "When Doves Cry," then took to the drums for "Housequake" and segued into "Erotic City."

 

"Thank you for coming out and celebrating someone we all loved," she told the multiracial, multigenerational audience - many of whom wore purple (myself included).

Similar to her performance at the BET Awards, Sheila performed a sample from the chorus of "Let's Work," followed by "A Love Bizarre." In concert, she gave "A Love Bizarre" the full treatment, which makes sense, since Prince provided distinctive vocals on the '85 hit. She then took to the timbales for a low-key, jazzy instrumental.

 

Sheila E. brought her Prince tribute to Cleveland on Oct. 15.

- "Music is a gift from God, and it feeds my soul every day." - Sheila E.

As Sheila and her band grooved and scatted their way through the instrumental number, she asked, "Do you mind if we take our time?" The audience responded with hoots of approval. The segment also included a jazzy rendition of "One Nation Under a Groove," sung by Sheila's manager and collaborator Lynn Mabry, a former background singer for George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic.

 

At one point during the jazz segment, Sheila stepped away from the timbales and delivered a slowed-down version of her famous "transmississippi" rap from Prince's "Its Gonna Be a Beautiful Night" (the"Sign o' the Times" album).

The great thing about Sheila's Prince tribute is that in addition to providing an opportunity for his fans to witness one of his closest confidantes performing his hits, it also gave Sheila's fans an opportunity to see her perform songs from her most recent studio album, 2014's stellar "Icon."

 

"This is the last song Prince and I wrote together," Sheila announced before launching into the salsa-flavored "Leader of the Band" from "Icon."

 

Sheila also tackled Prince's popular B-side "17 Days," sang "Alphabet Street" and led the crowd in a sing-along of the chorus of "Raspberry Beret."

Showing her versatility, Sheila returned to the timbales for the Latin dance track "Mona Lisa" from "Icon" and brought audience members onstage to dance to her upbeat new single, "Bailar."

At one point, Sheila momentarily set aside her "queen of percussion" persona and became a rock goddess, picking up a guitar and coming out in the crowd to sing "Rockstar" from "Icon." The song about the lonely life of a touring musician is the type of arena-rock anthem that begs to be performed Tina Turner-style on a cherry picker suspended above the crowd.

At the end of "Rockstar," Sheila returned to the stage and strummed the melody from "Purple Rain," with the crowd joining in with Prince's familiar vocal riffs. If I'm not mistaken, the guitar she played was one of Prince's, the same one she played during the BET Awards.

Throughout the show, Sheila alternated between her trademark high-energy performance style and intimate moments in which she addressed the crowd and told them how much she misses Prince. One of the most touching moments was when Sheila asked for the stage lights to be dimmed and she sang her power ballad "Girl Meets Boy," which expresses her grief over losing Prince.

 

Several times during the song, Sheila's voice broke with emotion.

"I've been through a lot of stuff in my life, but this has been so hard," she told the audience about mourning Prince.

But she was quick to add that, like the legions of Prince's fans around the world, she takes comfort in music.

"Music is love," she said. "Music is a gift from God, and it feeds my soul every day."

She resumed the uptempo vibe again with Prince's "America" and "Baby, I'm a Star." She closed her set with "The Glamorous Life." As a longtime fan, I've seen Sheila perform her Prince-penned signature song many times, and I can say in all honesty that this was the best, most spirited rendition I've ever seen. She really seemed to be channeling Prince's essence as she banged on the timbales. She transported the audience back to 1985, when she opened for Prince and The Revolution on the "Purple Rain" tour.

The Prince tributes by Sheila E. and Morris Day and The Time in Cleveland, as well as the performances by Stevie Wonder, Chaka Khan and all of the artists who took part in the Minneapolis/St. Paul concert will go a long way in helping all of us who loved Prince to heal.

I've been reflecting on Prince's legacy in my own way in the months since he passed away. On Wednesday (Oct. 19), I'll post a new blog entry about what I learned from the experience of listening to 30 of Prince's albums in the order in which they were released. 

Author Conveys Lessons on Race

I so enjoyed author, professor and Toledo native Shawn Schwaner's visit to the Bexley library in my hometown of Columbus, Ohio, on Sept. 29. In an appearance sponsored by the Bexley Minority Parent Alliance, Schwaner discussed his new memoir, "Dear Mama: Lessons on Race, Grace and the Wisdom to Overcome."

Shawn Schwaner (right) talks to a supporter 
during his appearance at the library.

As someone who grew up in an interracial family, I can very much relate to Shawn's story: he was raised by an African-American woman, Bertha Lee Green, who took custody when his single white birth mother, Susan Schwaner, fell on hard times. In the book, Schwaner shares advice that his adopted mother, who he called "Mama Green," passed on that have sustained him throughout life - mainly, to respect and value people regardless of race.

It was Mama Green's steadfast love and support that helped Schwaner rise above a rough childhood in which he was constantly bullied by older boys in the neighborhood. He also endured a rocky, sometimes violent relationship with his birth mother, whom he saw on weekends. Mama Green not only nurtured Shawn, but taught Susan Schwaner how to become a more stable parent.

During his Bexley library appearance, Shawn related that Mama Green often told him, "If I have a dime, you have a nickel. That meant I was never alone."

A criminology professor at Miami Dade College in Florida, Schwaner has a mesmerizing speaking style. Rather than standing at a lecturn like a stuffy professor, he worked the auditorium with swagger and even led the crowd of about 40 people - many of them childhood friends and former classmates - in a call-and-response musical number. 

Interestingly, Shawn apologized for not having much energy because he was sleep-deprived. If that's his low-energy presentation, I can only imagine the high-octane version that his students get every day in the classroom! 

Speaking to Shawn after his presentation when he was signing books, it was good to learn that he's a fellow Prince fan - he even wore a purple shirt to honor the fallen icon we're all still mourning. I look forward to reading Shawn's memoir and highly recommend picking it up (it's available on Amazon).