Piano and a Microphone 1983 is a posthumously released demo album by American musician Prince, released on CD, vinyl, and digital formats on September 21, 2018. It is the first album released by the Prince estate consisting solely of material from his archive, the Vault.
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".
Critical reception 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
Notes 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".
Charts
Weekly charts +Weekly chart performance for Piano and a Microphone 1983 Chart (2018) Peak position Japanese Hot Albums (Billboard Japan) 42
Year-end charts +Year-end chart performance for Piano and a Microphone 1983 Chart (2018) Position Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders) 163
References