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Emancipation - album by Prince, EMI-Capitol Music (1996)

Emancipation Prince • EMI-Capitol Music • 1996
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1996

1996
Emancipation

1998

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Emancipation

EMI-Capitol Music

album

Released as a triple CD set to celebrate parting ways with Warner Bros Records, Prince had been stockpiling his newly created material in order to deny passing further master tapes to his soon to be former label. The recording sessions for Emancipation took place at Paisley Park Studios throughout 1995 and 1996, with the exception of three earlier tracks; Courtin’ Time hailing from 1993, and New World (originally envisioned as the B-side for The Most Beautiful Girl In The World) and Somebody’s Somebody, laid down in 1994. This trove of thirty-six songs was released on 19 November 1996 under EMI-Capitol when Prince was freed from the obligations of his contract with his former label.

Imagine yourself sitting in a room with the biggest of the big in the recording industry, and you have ‘Slave’ written on your face. That changes the entire conversation.

Despite his distrust of record companies, Prince, still under the name The Artist Formally Known As Prince ( Prince Love Symbol), Emancipation was released by EMI-Capitol barely a week after he had fulfilled his contractual output for Warner. Prince described the process creating Emancipation as “the first time I recorded a complete album in a state of freedom.” Emancipation amasses thirty-six tracks, indeed it contains so much material it is notably Prince’s first album to feature cover versions: Betcha By Golly Wow! (The Stylistics); La, La, La Means I Love You (The Delfonics); One Of Us (Joan Osbourne) and; I Can’t Make You Love Me (Bonnie Rait). Soul Sanctuary was originally composed by lyricists Sandra St. Victor, Johnny Kemp and Tom Hammer for Soul Sanctuary, as one of five songs given to Prince by this writing trio in 1993. Emancipation also boasts guest vocals by Kate Bush (recorded at her Wickham Farm home studio in 1996) for My Computer – returning the favour for Prince’s earlier collaboration in 1993 for her song Why Should I Love You? after forming a friendship that began in London where they met during Prince’s 1990 Nude Tour.

Lyricist Dietra Moses also makes several appearances throughout Emancipation. Moses met Prince in during the Act I Tour in the spring of 1993 and recorded five tracks at Paisley Park with Prince intended for Moses’ solo project. Although that release never materialised, Moses’ vocals, under his stage name Ninety-9, are sampled in Joint 2 Joint, Face Down and Right Back Here In My Arms. First appearing with Prince in I Rock, Therefore I Am, Minnesota rapper Scrap D is also featured on Emancipation, in the tracks Mr Happy and Da, Da, Da.

Much of Emancipation is inspired by Matye, particularly on Friend, Lover, Sister, Mother/Wife which the liner notes reveal was written in Tokyo “while she slept.” It was the song the couple would dance to at their wedding on Valentine’s Day 1996. Prince played Let’s Have A Baby to Mayte on their wedding night, when they conceived their child – Emancipation would be released that November around the child’s due date. Mayte’s sister Janice Garcia provides vocals on White Mansion, she is credited as Bold Girl.

Prince was highly content with his relationship with EMI, which was brokered by its then chairman Charles Koppleman. Announced on 17 October 1996, the deal granted Prince full autonomy over this release and ownership of his master recordings. Prince even intended to put out a second album through EMI but those plans were scuppered when the label fell into bankruptcy in July 1997 at the time of Emancipation album’s promotion. Despite this setback, Emancipation retailed 1.4 million worldwide sales and became the fourth biggest selling triple album in US music history. Crucially it was also Prince’s first album to sell better in the US than Europe since 1985. It was remarkably well received. The Times concluded its review with: “Never mind the quantity, enjoy the depth.” Emancipation was certified Platinum by RIAA on 31 January 1997 and was upgraded to multi Platinum on 7 February 1997. In the 1997 BRIT Awards, Prince celebrated his ninth nomination for International Artist. His success with Emancipation meant that from this moment in his career Prince was a commercially independent artist – free to do what he wanted.

Emancipation is without doubt the best album of my whole career

The year 1996 proved to be a seismic moment in Prince’s life. He and Mayte married that February. By June, Prince enlisted a whole new touring band in replacement of the original lineup of the NPG. There was also of course his continuing dispute with Warner, which in 1996 the stress of it manifested into health concerns and forced Prince to take a respite from touring, during which he completely focussed his energies creating the new album. Then on 23 October came the tragic death of his and Mayte’s only child Amiir Nelson, who was born prematurely and died of health complications one week after birth. Emancipation dropped just three weeks later on 19 November, seeing his third commercial release of 1996, following Girl 6 in March and July’s Chaos And Disorder. Promotion of Emancipation peaked in this awful moment in his life. The promotion began with a show, named the Freedom Concert, performed at Paisley Park on 12 November and broadcast on TV in the US on the 21st. On the 20th, Prince was at Harpo Studios, Chicago to shoot four performances for Oprah Winfrey Show, they were to accompany its centrepiece, a pre-recorded sit-down interview he and Mayte did with Oprah Winfrey at Paisley Park in promotion of Emancipation. It aired on the 21st. They were his first public appearances since the death of their son. In the interview, Prince and Mayte did their best to keep their grief private and he would only admit “Our family exists.” Days afterwards, he started on The Truth as his way to process the trauma. The supporting Jam Of The Year Tour followed in January 1997 and kept Prince on the road for an unprecedented two year run.

Emancipation contains so many tracks a lyric book was published and separately available as was impossible to package with the set. The exact 60 minute running length of each of the three discs is entirely intentional. In support, Emancipation produced two retail singles. Preceding the album by one week, Betcha By Golly Wow! reached the top-40 in both the US and UK. The track provoked a questionable choice for lead single, as not only was it a cover version but a note for note perfect copy of the original with no Princely reinterpretation nor embellishment. The second single, the Christian rock The Holy River was a UK only issue, available in two parts to bolster chart position it entered the top-20, aided by additional tracks comprising several mixes of Somebody’s Somebody. EMI’s collapse meant only two singles were issued and the planned releases of Eye Can’t Make U Love Me and Face Down were abandoned.

Showing signs of personal reconciliation, Prince twice recalls The Revolution’s Wendy and Susannah Melvoin: The Love We Make is inspired by the death of their brother Jonathan Melvoin following a heroin overdose in 1996; and In This Bed Eye Scream Prince reveals his regret losing touch with the sisters. A cathartic process in many ways, liberated from the constrains of his former label, Prince remarked at the time Emancipation was the most important release of his career.

Prince | Emancipation
Photography by Rick Diamond

Cover story

The cover of Emancipation features a shot by Jeff Katz and the design of Steve Parke. It depicts Prince ‘breaking the chain’. Prince re-enacted this literally during his performance of the title track at the NAACP Image Awards in 1997. Now freed from the bounds of his much-disputed contract with former record label Warner Brothers, Prince was keen to announce to the world he was no longer a Slave of the music industry – “This is my most important record. I’m free, and my music is free.”

2019 reissue

Emancipation was reissued by Sony Legacy on 13 September 2019, which for the first time saw the album pressed on vinyl as a six-LP set presented in a slipcase, with the inner sleeves reproducing the original booklet. Consequently, Emancipation re-entered the Billboard album chart and reached position 66.

Performers

Vocals / all instr
Prince Love Symbol
Drums
Kirk Johnson
Michael Bland Betcha By Golly Wow!, Saviour and One Of Us
Guitar
Kathy Dyson Emale, Dreamin' About U and The Love We Make
Mike Scott La, La, La Means Eye Love U
Keyboards
Morris Hayes Betcha By Golly Wow!, Saviour and One Of Us
Tommy Barbarella Betcha By Golly Wow!, Saviour and One Of Us
Piano
Ricky Peterson Saviour
Bass Guitar
Rhonda Smith
Sonny Thompson Betcha By Golly Wow!, Saviour and One Of Us
Trumpet
Steve Strand Courtin’ Time, Damned If Eye Do, Saviour and Sleep Around
Dave Jensen Courtin’ Time, Damned If Eye Do, Saviour and Sleep Around
Trombone
Michael B. Nelson Courtin’ Time, Damned If Eye Do, Saviour and Sleep Around
Baritone sax
Kathy Jensen Courtin’ Time, Damned If Eye Do, Saviour and Sleep Around
Tenor sax
Brian Gallagher Courtin’ Time, Damned If Eye Do, Saviour and Sleep Around
Saxophone
Eric Leeds
Scratches
Michael Mac Joint 2 Joint and Mr Happy
Programming
César Sogbe The Human Body and Sleep Around
Joe Galdo The Human Body and Sleep Around

Data

Producer
Prince Love Symbol
Label
NPG Records
Distribution
EMI-Capitol Music
Cover/Design
Jeff Katz and Steve Parke
Released
29 years ago on 19 November 1996
Reissued
13 September 2019
Running Time
180:00
US Chart Peak
11
US R&B Peak
6
UK Chart Peak
18
Prince Album
#19
Orig. Formats

Tracklist

Disc I

  1. Jam Of The Year [feat. Rosie Gaines] (6:09)
  2. Right Back Here In My Arms (4:42)
  3. Somebody's Somebody (4:43)
  4. Get Yo Groove On (6:31)
  5. Courtin' Time (2:46)
  6. Betcha By Golly Wow! (3:30) 1
  7. We Gets Up (4:17)
  8. White Mansion [feat. Janice Garcia] (4:47)
  9. Damned If Eye Do [feat. Mayte Garcia] (5:20)
  10. Eye Can't Make U Love Me (6:37) 2
  11. Mr. Happy [rap Scrap D] (4:46)
  12. In This Bed Eye Scream (5:40)
Running Time
60 minutes

Disc II

  1. Sex In The Summer (5:56)
  2. One Kiss At A Time (4:40)
  3. Soul Sanctuary (4:41) 5
  4. Emale (3:37)
  5. Curious Child (2:57)
  6. Dreamin' About U (3:52)
  7. Joint 2 Joint [taps Savion Glover, rap Ninety-9] (7:51)
  8. The Holy River (6:55)
  9. Let's Have A Baby (4:07)
  10. Saviour (5:48)
  11. The Plan (1:46)
  12. Friend, Lover, Sister, Mother/Wife [feat. Kathleen Bradford] (7:37)
Running Time
60 minutes

Disc III

  1. Slave (4:51)
  2. New World (3:42)
  3. The Human Body (5:41)
  4. Face Down (3:16)
  5. La, La, La Means Eye Love U [feat. Chanté Moore] (3:58) 3
  6. Style (6:40)
  7. Sleep Around (7:41)
  8. Da, Da, Da [rap Scrap D] (5:15)
  9. My Computer [feat. Kate Bush] (4:36)
  10. One Of Us [feat. Mayte] (5:19) 4
  11. The Love We Make (4:38)
  12. Emancipation (4:12)
Running Time
60 minutes

Released as a single

1 Written by Thom Bell and Linda Creed, 1972.
2 Written by Mike Reid and Allen Shamblin as I Can't Make You Love Me, 1990.
3 Written by The Delfonics as La, La (Means I Love You), 1968.
4 Written by Eric M Bazilian, 1995.
5 Original lyrics by Sandra St. Victor, Johnny Kemp and Tom Hammer as Sanctuary

Singles from Emancipation

Betcha By Golly Wow!, single from Emancipation, NPG Records (1996)

Betcha By Golly Wow!

NPG Records

Released
13 November 1996
Distribution
EMI-Capitol Music
US Chart Peak
31
UK Chart Peak
11
Cover/Art
Steve Parke
Formats
  1. Betcha By Golly Wow! (3:30)
  2. Right Back Here In My Arms (4:42)

Also available as a slipcase limited edition.

The Holy River [CD1], single from Emancipation, NPG Records (1997)

The Holy River [CD1]

NPG Records

Released
13 January 1997
Distribution
EMI-Capitol Music
US Chart Peak
58
UK Chart Peak
19
Cover/Art
Kim Lawler
Formats
  1. The Holy River [Radio Edit] (4:00)
  2. Somebody's Somebody [Edit] (4:30)
  3. Somebody's Somebody [Livestudio Mix] (3:47)
  4. Somebody's Somebody [Ultrafantasy Edit] (3:45)
The Holy River [CD2], single from Emancipation, NPG Records (1997)

The Holy River [CD2]

NPG Records

Released
13 January 1997
Distribution
EMI-Capitol Music
US Chart Peak
No release
UK Chart Peak
19
Cover/Art
Steve Parke
Formats
  1. The Holy River [Radio Edit] (4:00)
  2. The Most Beautiful Girl In The World [Mustang Mix] (6:19)
  3. Somebody's Somebody [Radio Edit] (4:30)
  4. On Sale Now! (0:48)

Supporting tour

Jam of the Year

Jam of the Year

1997/8

Emancipation album review

Break the chain. Break the chain. Prince (as Prince Love Symbol) celebrates his emancipation from Warner Brothers in typically grand style: a critically acclaimed triple album, which for trivia lovers is the longest playing pop album in history (its exact 60/60/60 minute running times are no freak of coincidence). The genesis for this quantity of music is due to Prince just passing the old material to Warner Bros to fulfil his contract while stockpiling new songs for Emancipation. It was released through rival label EMI-Capitol. He was so over Warner, denouncing on the closing song their $100m contract: “Your money’s turned from green to brown” but furthermore Prince felt truly emancipated when Emancipation struck double Platinum and vindicated for casting off from the safe harbour provided by world’s largest record label. Revenge was sweet but listeners will notice a fair amount of samples from songs gleaned from the vault.

Emancipation is filled with Prince’s love for new wife Mayte: Courtin’ Time, Sex In The Summer, Let’s Have a Baby, Saviour, Friend, Lover, Sister Mother/Wife. Was he ever happier? Freed from his contract, the promise of fatherhood. Emancipation also releases Prince’s first cover version; the fawning Betcha By Golly Wow!, I Can’t Make U Love Me and La La La Means I Love You and the best One of Us. The covers are outdone by the mighty Face Down, by far the best on the triple CD. Also noteworthy are Sleep Around and the sincere One Kiss At A Time. The tracks that standout above the many others (there’s a lot to chose from) is the pulsating My Computer and the epic but painfully sad The Love We Make. Joint 2 Joint is also worthy, and not just because it’s the first song in popular music to sample tap-dancing (taps courtesy of Savion Glover). You don’t need to interview the composer to learn of his life, simply listen to the music – beginning with the honest White Mansion recalling Paisley Park and Prince’s splendid isolation in freezing Mpls. This remarkable marriage of quantity, quality and sheer variety cannot be overstated that Emancipation is the very embodiment of what creative freedom sounds like.

Emancipation is rated 5 out of 5 by Goldies Parade.

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