The thing about getting a hold of music like this from such a notoriously private artist is that it can feel almost invasive and illegal. Recorded in between 1999 and Purple Rain, Piano & A Microphone pulls back the curtain on a late night session involving only Prince, a piano, a microphone and a sound guy who recorded the nearly 35-minute long album in a single take. Released after Prince’s death, the album was found on a single cassette tape inside a vault at Paisley Park. It’s highly possible Prince never meant for any of us to hear it. I have to admit, this may be one of the key reasons why it is now my favorite Prince record by far. Vulnerable. Raw. Revelatory.
Piano & A Microphone is a series of sketches that includes a Joni Mitchell cover and the early scrawlings of “Purple Rain” and a dark horse favorite, “17 Days”. The song that would eventually become the b-side to “When Doves Cry” and was included on several set lists over the years. Unlike the b-side version, this stripped down version is driven by Prince’s lyrical prowess, his gift for simple, iconic melodies and a rollicky piano riff that’s considerably more boisterous than the majority of the blues-soaked vibes of the album at large.
Like some of the best Prince songs, “17 Days” is a song written to be sung along to. It doesn’t need the funky drum beats, slap-and-pop bass licks, chimy synth notes or the silky vocal harmonies of the full b-side production to convince me otherwise. Of all its strengths, this version of the song proves that Prince’s knack for songwriting is arguably his greatest gift.
“LET THE RAIN COME DOWN, THE RAIN COME DOWN, LET THE RAIN COME DOWN NOW.”