When Prince was with us, we could always count on him to change direction.
Mid May of 2002, Prince (with the New Power Generation) released a three disc box set, One Nite Alone. Those purchasing the box set from Prince’s online store got a special bonus disc labeled “Solo piano and voice by Prince.” Only 2000 copies were pressed of this CD and it became an instant unicorn online. For a while people were paying up to 500 dollars for this unique collection of Prince tunes.
Music streaming wasn’t as sophisticated as it is today, and numerous MP3 bootlegs floated around the internet, but this remained a disc Prince fans clamored to get their hands on. The record is as it says, Prince sitting at a piano with a bit of bass and drums mixed in for good measure. Other than John Blackwell providing drums on track 3 and 4, and “Prince’s doves” Divinity and Majesty contributing some ambient vocals, this is an all-Prince affair.
Those raised on and accustomed to a steady diet of Prince will not get the standard funk that Prince usually provides in heavy doses. This is a slow, etherial set of tunes, including an interesting cover of Joni Mitchell’s “Case of You,” or here, “A Case of U.” Prince fans we know are quite polarized on this one – they either worship or hate it. It’s certainly worth adding to your Prince collection if you weren’t one of the lucky ones to grab the box on the first go. If you aren’t feeling adventuresome, you can now stream this title on Qobuz and Tidal, so it might be worth a listen before you press the go button.
For as long as supplies last, this lost treasure is now available on purple vinyl, it’s only rendering on this media. You can get your copy here.
