Prince - ...and on guitar (2015)

Prince Rogers Nelson was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on June 7, 1958, the son of jazz singer Mattie Della and pianist and songwriter John Lewis Nelson, and both he and his sister Tyka developed a keen interest in music, which was encouraged by their father, writing his first song 'Funk Machine' on his father's piano when he was seven. When he was 10 his parents divorced, with his mother remarrying to Hayward Baker, with whom she had a son named Omarr. Prince had a fraught relationship with Omarr, to the extent that it caused him to repeatedly switch homes, sometimes living with his father and sometimes with his mother and stepfather. After a brief period of living with his father, who bought him his first guitar, Prince moved into the basement of his neighbours, the Anderson family, after his father kicked him out, and it was there that he befriended the Anderson's son, Andre, who later collaborated with Prince and became known as André Cymone. In 1973 Prince met songwriter and producer Jimmy Jam, and impressed him with his musical talent, early mastery of a wide range of instruments, and work ethic. In 1975, Pepe Willie, the husband of Prince's cousin Shauntel, formed the band 94 East with Marcy Ingvoldstad and Kristie Lazenberry, hiring André Cymone and Prince to record tracks. Willie wrote the songs, and Prince contributed guitar tracks, with Prince and Willie co-writing one song, 'Just Another Sucker'. The band recorded some songs which have since been re-issued as an album many times under different titles, including 'Minneapolis Genius – The Historic 1977 Recordings'. 

In 1976, Prince created a demo tape with producer Chris Moon, but he was unable to secure a recording contract, so Moon brought the tape to Owen Husney, a Minneapolis businessman, who signed the 19 year-old Prince to a management contract, and helped him create a demo at Sound 80 Studios in Minneapolis, which generated interest from Warner Bros. Records, A&M Records, and Columbia Records. With the help of Husney, Prince signed a recording contract with Warner Bros, who gave him creative control for three albums, and let him retain his publishing rights. Husney and Prince then left Minneapolis and moved to Sausalito, California, where Prince's first album 'For You' was recorded and released in 1978, with Prince writing, producing, arranging, composing, and playing all 27 instruments on the recording, except for the song 'Soft and Wet', whose lyrics were co-written with Moon. In 1979, Prince created a band with André Cymone on bass, Dez Dickerson on guitar, Gayle Chapman and Doctor Fink on keyboards, and Bobby Z. on drums, and released the 'Prince' album that year, and despite the record company thinking he needed more time to develop, the album hit the top five spot on the Billboard R&B/Black Albums chart, and the single 'I Wanna Be Your Lover' sold over a million copies. 

The same year he made the first of what was to become many guest appearances, although the following decade was to be particularly busy for him, and it was to be 1989 before he really started regularly guesting on other artist's albums. In 1980 he released the album 'Dirty Mind', which contained sexually explicit material, following this the next year with 'Controversy'. In 1981, Prince formed a side project band called The Time, who released four albums between 1981 and 1990, with Prince writing and performing most of the instrumentation and backing vocals, and at the same time releasing his own four-million selling album '1999', along with a string of hit singles, being the start of his world-domination over the next two decades. When he was asked to contribute to records by other musicians, it wasn't always by famous artists, and even into the 90's he was adding his guitar to tracks by Eric Leeds and Diamond And Pearl, as well as Kid Creole & The Coconuts and Mavis Staples. Similarly, in the 2000's he was guesting with Common and Rhonda Smith, as well as Stevie Wonder. In 2004 he was inducted into the Rock 'n' Roll Hall Of Fame, playing in the all-star band's version of 'While My Guitar Gently Weeps', alongside Tom Petty, Stevie Winwood, Jeff Lynne and others, and performing a stunning, un-rehearsed guitar solo at the end of the song. Other guest appearance were fairly sparse after that, with his final one before his death in 2016 being on Judith Hill's 'Back In Time' album. Although it might seem that more music has been released since his death than there was while he was alive, these guest appearance are generally over-looked as they tended not to be with the superstars that he hung out with, but lesser-known artists who would appreciate his contribution to their music. 

Track listing

Disc One
01 Fast Freddie The Roller Disco King (single by The Imperials 1979)
02 Got To Be Something Here (from 'The Lewis Connection' by Lewis Connection 1979)
03 Love Song (from 'Like A Prayer' by Madonna 1989) 
04 The Sex Of It (from 'Private Waters In The Great Divide' by Kid Creole 1990)
05 The Dopamine Rush (from 'Times Squared' by Eric Leeds 1991) 
06 51 Hours (single by Diamond And Pearl 1992)
07 Melody Cool (from 'The Voice' by Mavis Staples 1993)
08 Why Should I Love You (from 'The Red Shoes' by Kate Bush 1993) 

Disc Two
01 Star *69 (PS With Love) (from 'Electric Circus' by Common 2002)
02 Purple House (from 'Power Of Soul: A Tribute To Jimi Hendrix' 2004)
03 So What The Fuss (from 'A Time 2 Love' by Stevie Wonder 2005) 
04 While My Guitar Gently Weeps (from Rock 'n' Roll Hall Of Fame induction concert 2004) 
05 Time (from 'RS2' by Rhonda Smith 2006)
06 Raise Up (from 'Raise Up' by Larry Graham & Graham Central Station 2012) 
07 Givin' Em What They Love (from 'The Electric Lady' by Janelle Monáe 2013)
08 All Day, All Night  (from 'Back In Time' by Judith Hill 2015)

Mark Knopfler - ...and on guitar (1985)

Mark Freuder Knopfler was born on 12 August 1949 in Glasgow, the middle child of three, with an older sister Ruth, and a younger brother David, who is also a musician. During the 60's he formed and joined several bands and listened to singers like Elvis Presley and guitarists Chet Atkins, Scotty Moore, B.B King, and Hank Marvin, and at sixteen years of age he made a local television appearance as part of a harmony duo, with his classmate Sue Hercombe. In 1968, after studying journalism for a year at Harlow College, Knopfler was hired as a junior reporter for the Yorkshire Evening Post, and during this time he made the acquaintance of local furniture restorer, country blues enthusiast and part-time performer Steve Phillips, from whose record collection and guitar style Knopfler acquired a good knowledge of early blues artists. The pair subsequently formed a duo called The Duolian String Pickers, and performed in local folk and acoustic blues venues, but two years later he decided to further his education, later graduating with a degree in English at the University of Leeds. In April 1970 he recorded a demo of an original song he'd written called 'Summer's Coming My Way'. enlisting Steve Phillips to help out on second guitar, along with Dave Johnson on bass, and Paul Granger on percussion. In 1973, Knopfler moved to London and joined a band based in High Wycombe called Brewers Droop, appearing on their 'The Booze Brothers' album, after which he took a job as a lecturer at Loughton College in Essex, and stayed there for three years while continuing to perform with local pub bands, including the Café Racers. 
By the mid-70's his brother David had moved to London, where he shared a flat with bass guitarist John Illsley, and in 1977, Mark moved in with David and John and all three began playing music together, forming a new band called Dire Straits. The group's first demos were recorded in three sessions in 1977, with David Knopfler as rhythm guitarist, John Illsley as bass guitarist, and Pick Withers as drummer. After signing to Vertigo Records, their debut album was released in 1977 to little fanfare in the UK, but when 'Sultans Of Swing' was released as a single, it became a chart hit in the Netherlands and album sales took off – first across Europe, and then in the United States and Canada, and finally in the UK. The group's second album 'Communiqué' was produced by Jerry Wexler and Barry Beckett and was issued in 1979, reaching number one in France, and 'Making Movies' quickly followed the next year. This album moved towards more complex arrangements and production, which continued for the remainder of the group's career, resulting in my favourite of their albums, 1982's 'Love Over Gold'. By the time 'Brothers In Arms' came out in 1985, the band were a world-wide phenomenon, with Knopfler also making a name for himself composing film music scores, and writing songs for other artists, including 'Private Dancer' for Tina Turner's comeback album of the same name. 
After his guitar style became noticed following the 'Sultans Of Swing' single, he was often asked to play on other artist's records, including such global superstars as Bob Dylan, Van Morrison, and Steely Dan. He played on Phil Lynott's first solo album 'Solo In Soho' in 1980, and was invited back to help out on the follow-up 'The Philip Lynott Album' two years later. After helping out on Kate & Anna McGarrigle's first album in 1983, he joined family and friends by appearing on albums by his bother David and former band-mate John Illsley. In 1985 he got to play with one of his earliest heroes Chet Atkins, contributing some superb guitar to 'Cosmic Square Dance'. Although this album ends in 1985, Knopfler continued to play on records from artists such as Sting, Randy Newman, Joan Armatrading, Jeff Healey and Hank Marvin up to 1997, adding his instantly recognisable guitar-playing to over 40 releases during that time. For this album, though, enjoy his earliest appearances on some classic albums of the 80's.    

Track listing

01 Gotta Serve Somebody (from 'Slow Train Coming' by Bob Dylan 1979)
02 Loving You (from 'Oh! What A Feeling' by Mavis Staples 1979)
03 Time Out Of Mind (from 'Gaucho' by Steely Dan 1980)
04 Ode To Liberty (The Protest Song) (from 'The Philip Lynott Album' by Phil Lynott 1982)
05 Cleaning Windows (from 'Beautiful Vision' by Van Morrison 1982)
06 Love Over And Over (from 'Love Over And Over' by Kate & Anna McGarrigle 1982)
07 Blanket Roll Blues (from 'Climate Of Hunter' by Scott Walker 1983)
08 Madonna's Daughter (from 'Release' by David Knopfler 1983)
09 Never Told A Soul (from 'Never Told A Soul' by John Illsley 1984)
10 Cosmic Square Dance (from 'Stay Tuned' by Chet Atkins 1985)