According to PrinceVault.com:
I Need A Man is an unreleased song recorded in Summer 1981 at Prince’s Kiowa Trail Home Studio in Chanhassen, MN, USA (during the same set of sessions that produced Make-Up, Wet Dream and Drive Me Wild). The track contained lead vocals by Jamie Shoop, and was intended for The Hookers, but was abandoned when The Hookers developed into Vanity 6.
The track was worked on further (or perhaps re-recorded) in early 1987, at Prince’s Galpin Blvd Home Studio, Chanhassen, MN, USA, with lead vocals by American blues singer-songwriter Bonnie Raitt, during a short-lived collaboration between Prince and Raitt.
Eric Leeds recorded saxophone overdubs on 21 January 1987 (the same day Madhouse’s first album 8 was released, four days before saxophone overdubs on There’s Something I Like About Being Your Fool).
Prince worked on the track again, possibly re-recording it entirely, on 31 May 1988, at Paisley Park Studios, Chanhassen, MN, USA. The track remains unreleased, however.
The other unreleased tracks are:
Jealous Girl is an unreleased song recorded in Summer 1981 at Prince’s Kiowa Trail Home Studio in Chanhassen, MN, USA (during the same session as Pizza and Drive Me Wild). The track was intended for The Hookers, but was abandoned when The Hookers developed into Vanity 6.
The track was offered to The Bangles after Prince met Bangles lead singer Susannah Hoffs on a flight to London, England, in early February 1985 (while flying over for the BPI Awards, 11 February 1985); Hoffs asked Prince to provide songs for their next album, and he provided them with Manic Monday and Jealous Girl, which they rejected. It is unlikely The Bangles ever recorded a version of the song.
The track was worked on further (or perhaps re-recorded) in early 1987, at Prince’s Galpin Blvd Home Studio, Chanhassen, MN, USA, with lead vocals by American blues singer-songwriter Bonnie Raitt, during a short-lived collaboration between Prince and Raitt. Eric Leeds recorded saxophone overdubs on 5 February 1987. The track remains unreleased, however.
There’s Something I Like About Being Your Fool is an unreleased song recorded in early Summer 1981 at Prince’s Kiowa Trail Home Studio, Chanhassen, MN, USA. It was worked on further in mid-June 1981, at Hollywood Sound Recorders, Los Angeles, CA, USA, and was mixed at Sunset Sound, Hollywood, CA, USA, on the first two days of mixing for the Controversy, 14 and 15 August 1981, indicating that it was intended for the album until the last minute.
Prince pulled out the track in 1985 for possible use by Jill Jones, but it is not known if additional instrumentation or vocals were recorded at this point.
The track was worked on further (or perhaps re-recorded) in early 1987, at Prince’s Galpin Blvd Home Studio, Chanhassen, MN, USA, for use by American blues singer-songwriter Bonnie Raitt, during a short-lived collaboration between the two artists. Eric Leeds recorded saxophone overdubs on 25 January 1987 (four days after recording saxophone overdubs on I Need A Man). Raitt recorded vocals for the track in April 1987, at Prince’s Galpin Blvd Home Studio with Susan Rogers overseeing.
Engineer Don Batts has mentioned that Steve Fargnoli loved the song, and wishes it had been released by Prince. The track is a fast rockabilly-style track, with lyrics about an unfaithful woman who crashes the narrator’s car (an idea revisted in Adore), but the narrator is willing to make up with her, “because there’s something I like about being your fool”.
Promise To Be True is an unreleased song recorded in Summer 1983 at Prince’s Kiowa Trail Home Studio in Chanhassen, MN, USA. It was intended for Vanity 6’s planned second album. When Vanity left the group and decided not to participate in the Purple Rain movie, Prince instead began the group Apollonia 6. The song is not known to have been considered for the Apollonia 6 album.
The track was worked on further (or perhaps re-recorded) in early 1987, at Prince’s Galpin Blvd Home Studio, Chanhassen, MN, USA, for use by American blues singer-songwriter Bonnie Raitt, during a short-lived collaboration between Prince and Raitt. It is not clear if she recorded lead vocals for the track, however. The track remains unreleased.
Produced, Arranged, Composed, and Performed by Prince.
℗©1987 Controversy Music ASCAP.
Source: © Copyright Prince Vault
Danny Goldberg, the legendary manager of seemingly every band from the late 60s to now, has a new book out where he talks about the unheard, uncirculating Bonnie Raitt/Prince sessions…
Q: You mention in the book that at one point, before “Nick of Time,” Prince produced some sessions with Bonnie Raitt. What did that sound like?
A: It was a well-intentioned idea that didn’t work. It didn’t sound like Bonnie Raitt. It sounded too much like Prince and not enough like Bonnie Raitt. It was too generically Prince and not authentically enough something that would work with Bonnie’s voice. It wasn’t bad, but it was inconsistent with her natural persona. It was an incredible close call because he was so big and she was struggling to get a deal. It was exciting that he was acknowledging her, and it was a door-opener, in theory. But at the end of the day, just ’cause something looks good on paper, if it doesn’t work artistically, it just doesn’t work, and it didn’t.
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