Piano & A Microphone 1983

Lore & Background

The album was discovered as a single cassette tape in Prince's vault at Paisley Park. The music was recorded in one take in 1983 at Prince's Kiowa Trail home studio in Chanhassen, Minnesota. The session is nearly 35 minutes of Prince's vocals while he played piano and segued between songs. The session includes alternative versions of previously released and yet-to-be released songs, cover versions, and sketches of songs. Four of the album's nine tracks were previously unreleased – 'Mary Don't You Weep', 'Wednesday' (originally recorded by Jill Jones for a deleted scene in Purple Rain), 'Cold Coffee & Cocaine', and 'Why the Butterflies'.

In Their Own Story

The air inside the club was thick with anticipation, a hush falling over the crowd as the lights dimmed to a single beam. There was no band setup, no synthesizers humming in the wings—just a grand piano waiting in the center of the stage. He walked out alone, adjusting the microphone stand before sitting down. The first chord struck like a heartbeat, resonating through the dark room, reminding everyone that beneath the glitter and fame lived a musician who needed nothing but his instrument to tell the truth.

Reader's Guide

The New York Times called the album 'a glimpse of a notoriously private artist doing his mysterious work' while Adam Mattera in Echoes cited 'Mary Don't You Weep' as 'a telling choice that points both to his political awareness and gospel heritage – not something people would have expected from a 25 year-old more famous at the time for his flasher mac, high heels and songs about incestuous siblings and used condoms'. Track listing adapted from Entertainment Weekly. Tracks 1 through 7 (which constitute Side A of the vinyl edition) are presented as a continuous medley, as they were originally recorded. 'International Lover' contains an uncredited medley performance of 'Do Me, Baby'.

Did You Know?

• The album was recorded in one take in 1983 at Prince's Kiowa Trail home studio in Chanhassen, Minnesota.
• Four of the album's nine tracks were previously unreleased: 'Mary Don't You Weep', 'Wednesday', 'Cold Coffee & Cocaine', and 'Why the Butterflies'.
• The session is nearly 35 minutes of Prince's vocals while he played piano and segued between songs.