Today would have been Prince‘s 60th birthday. In celebration of the Purple One’s life and endless contributions to music, the Prince estate announced a new album of previously unreleased home recordings, dubbed Piano & A Microphone 1983–due out September 21, 2018. The nine-track LP includes cassette recordings that Prince made at his piano at his Kiowa Trail in Chanhassen, Minnesota. The extremely intimate version of Prince is previewed in today’s first track release, a cover of the 19th century spiritual, “Mary Don’t You Weep”, which will also appear during the end credits of Spike Lee‘s upcoming movie, BlacKkKlansman.
Much of Piano and a Microphone 1983 will feature Prince in his most intimate form, working through future classics like “Purple Rain”, “17 Days”, “Strange Relationship” and “International Love”, as well as a cover of Joni Mitchell‘s “A Case of You.”
During the final year of his life, in 2016, Prince embarked on a “Piano & A Microphone” tour, in which the Purple One performed as a one-man show. The tour was of complete legendary status, supporting Prince in his most rare form. It was during this tour that his health complications started to become public, and that fans started to worry that the mystical musician was in danger. He died on April 21, 2016 from an accidental overdose of fentanyl at the age of 57.
“This raw, intimate recording, which took place at the start of Prince’s career right before he achieved international stardom, is similar in format to the Piano & A Microphone Tour that he ended his career with in 2016,” Prince Estate entertainment adviser Troy Carter said in a statement. “The Estate is excited to be able to give fans a glimpse of his evolution and show how his career ultimately came full circle with just him and his piano.”
According to Billboard, the album cover features a rare image of Prince backstage during the 1999 tour, taken by Allen Beaulieu, who worked closely with Prince from 1979-1984.
The Deluxe version of Piano and a Microphone 1983 is set to include a 12″ booklet with new liner notes from Prince’s engineer, Don Batts, as well as never-before-seen candid photos of the Purple One. Fans who pre-order the digital download will get an instant download of “Mary Don’t You Weep,” which you can listen to below:
Piano & A Microphone 1983 Tracklisting:
“17 Days”
“Purple Rain”
“A Case Of You”
“Mary Don’t You Weep”
“Strange Relationship”
“International Lover”
“Wednesday”
“Cold Coffee & Cocaine”
“Why The Butterflies”