Continuing our 6 Degrees series where we connect albums from The List, getting into the more Prince-heavy sets (an interesting feat, seeing as we only have three Prince albums on The List, and have already used up one of them in an early set). Special thanks again to avi_miller, who starts us off with the first two albums in this set!

Alrighty, carrying on from where we left off last time…

6 Degrees of Separation: Wishbone Ash to Madhouse

Wishbone Ash – Argus (list number 103)
>> Rainbow’s Rainbow Rising (which ended Part 5) was produced by Martin Birch, who was also the sound engineer on this album by Wishbone Ash, which features John Tout on organ. Tout later joined…

Renaissance – Live At Carnegie Hall (307)
…Renaissance and was on this live album, which was recorded at the famous Carnegie Hall, where…

Billie Holiday – The Essential Billie Holiday (Carnegie Hall Concert Recorded Live) (529)
…this album by Billie Holiday was also recorded. One of the songs Holiday covers on this album, “Ain’t Nobody’s Business” (a 1920s blues standard) has also been covered by…

Erykah Badu – New Amerykah Part Two: Return Of The Ankh (261)
…Erykah Badu (here), who collaborated with…

Janelle Monáe – Dirty Computer (151)
…Janelle Monáe on the Monáe’s 2013 album The Electric Lady, specifically on the song “Q.U.E.E.N.“, which Prince later remixed (but did not officially release). Prince also collaborated with Monáe on the same album, for the song “Givin Em What They Love”. Prince and Monáe were continuing to work together, on Monáe’s next album, Dirty Computer, before he died, and was somewhat of a mentor for Monáe. It’s not clear what specific contributions of Prince’s were kept, if any, for the final version of the album (released in 2018), but Monáe wrote a lovely message to the late Prince in the liner notes. And, even if he doesn’t officially appear in the credits, it’s not the first time that he played or wrote anonymously, as he did for…

Madhouse – 8 (469)
the Madhouse jazz-funk project where, for the first album, Prince played nearly everything, with a bit of help from Eric Leeds. <<

Prince 6

In addition to those listed above, here’s a few more fun connections between this group of artists and The Purple One. Let me know in the comments if you know of any others!

• Prince did not shy away from a good organ solo.
• Prince recorded a song called “Billie Holiday”, named after the singer/songwriter and intended for the Graffiti Bridge film/album. It however was not included and wasn’t released elsewhere.
• Prince and Erykah Badu were collaborators, as well as friends. Prince once played rhythm guitar for a Erykah Badu show in Dallas, and then sent Badu a picture of them playing on stage together.
• As far as I can find, Prince himself didn’t play Carnegie Hall, but he allowed others to play his music at a tribute/benefit concert at the venue in 2013 called “The Music of Prince”. Artists included Eric Leeds (who plays on the Madhouse albums), D’Angelo (who is on The List), Nina Persson (singer of The Cardigans, also on The List), among many others, but Prince did not attend the event.

Tune in tomorrow for Part 7, to see how we get from Madhouse to, well, Madhouse!

https://1001otheralbums.com/2024/04/19/6-degrees-of-separation-part-6/