The Funky Meters October 8, 2000 Cincinnati, OH (VIDEO)

About ten years ago I packed some friends in my car and drove up to Cincinnati, Ohio to see The Funky Meters perform. The festival was free and they performed during the daytime, down by the river. The situation was ripe for my old Sony Digital Hi8mm video camera to capture it all. Ten years later it’s still one of my favorite videos. I used an external microphone (the same mic I still use today) so the sound quality is great, despite being a little “hot” due to the extreme volume (I can’t believe I didn’t wear earplugs back then!).

Poppa Funk Art Neville was still in good health and George Porter Jr was ten years younger. Russell Batiste played with focus and Brian Stoltz shredded with experience. I’ve decide to post the entire 80 minute video on youtube in 7 parts, and I am also seeding the full DVD here: http://www.dimeadozen.org/torrents-details.php?id=347253
and here: http://www.thetradersden.org/forums/showthread.php?t=89869.

If you made it this far, then you probably know that The Funky Meters have been doing some shows recently with Brian Stoltz returning (after Ian Neville took over guitar duties for about 4 years). Here are links to some recent recordings:
1/14/11 NOLA @ Tipitina’s (Louie’s SBD + onstage matrix!!)
2/16/11 NYC @ Brooklyn Bowl
2/17/11 NYC @ Brooklyn Bowl

Prince – Purple Music (1982 unreleased demo)

Prince – Purple Music (finished version) 1982 unreleased

This blog needs to go back a little farther. So we go back to 1982, to hear Prince working on a demo in his home studio. The first track is his finished version and the second track is a working tape containing only vocals and piano. You can literally hear Prince writing the song as he improvises a piano riff, scats a melody, and feels out the groove for nearly 19 minutes. It’s absolutely fascinating.

Don’t forget that you can download any of these mp3s files by clicking on the arrow, right below the “info” button on the right side of the audio box.

Prince – Purple Music (working tape) 1982 unreleased

Next we have the only live performance Prince has ever done of this tune. It’s from his July 23, 2010 performance at the small New Morning club in Paris, France. This particular show took place from 2:25am to 5:45am, after Erykah Badu’s show at L’Olympia earlier that evening.

Prince – Purple Music > All The Critics Love U In New Morning (7/23/10 Paris, France)

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