Jack White’s Third Man Records is reportedly planning to release Prince’s previously unreleased 1986 album, Camille.
In a recent interview with Mojo (via the fansite, Ultimate Prince, and social media screen grabs,) the label’s co-founder Ben Blackwell broke the news, and though no release date or specific details were given, Blackwell confirmed the company obtained the rights to the 1986 LP, stating “We’re finally going to put it out. Prince’s people agreed — almost too easy.”
Camille came about when Prince began experimenting with pitch-shifting (his) vocals, and planned to release the mid-1980s full length under his female alter-ego, “Camille.” While a handful of test-pressings of the album were made, a full release was ultimately scrapped. Yet, during the following decades, those test pressings have become major record collector grails, occasionally popping up at auction with White telling Mojo that he paid $49,375 for one of the copies because, as he put it, “We had to show we had some skin in the game.”
Though Camille was never formally released as an LP, all eight tracks eventually surfaced in different forms. The record includes several Sign o’ the Times cuts, including “Housequake,” “Strange Relationship,” and “If I Was Your Girlfriend,” plus B-sides like “Feel U Up” and “Shockadelica.” Other cuts include “Good Love,” which later appeared on the soundtrack of Bright Lights, Big City, and “Rockhard in a Funky Place,” from 1994’s The Black Album.
A rep for Third Man could neither confirm nor deny the planned release. A rep for the Prince Estate did not immediately return Rolling Stone’s request for comment.
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Author: Al Dente
Photo: Kris Krüg