Prince (August 15/16 1994) Come - Album

Come is Prince’s fifteenth studio album and the final album of new material released under his name while under exclusive contract with Warner Bros. Often described by Prince as a contractual obligation, it was released in August 1994.

RELEASE DETAILS

Artist: Prince

Label: Warner Bros. Records

Catalogue: 9362-45700-1

Format: LP

Country: Worldwide

Released: August 15, 1994 (UK) / August 16, 1994 (USA)

Come features a mix of extended funk jams, sensual ballads, and experimental tracks. Most material was recorded in 1993, with some earlier tracks reworked. The album includes the epic title track and the hit single “Letitgo.”

CONTEXT & NOTES

Created amid Prince’s strained relationship with Warner Bros., he viewed Come as “old” material compared to The Gold Experience. Seven tracks were used in the Glam Slam Ulysses stage show. The album marked the end of an era with Warner Bros.

Side A

A1 Come — 11:13

A2 Space — 4:28

A3 Pheromone — 5:08

A4 Loose! — 3:27

Side B

B1 Papa — 2:48

B2 Race — 4:28

B3 Dark — 6:10

B4 Solo — 3:48

B5 Letitgo — 5:33

B6 Orgasm — 1:39

Total Length: 48:45

PERSONNEL

Musicians Prince — all vocals and instruments (except where noted)

ADDITIONAL MUSICIANS AND BACKGROUND

• Michael B. — drums (Space, Papa, Dark)

• Sonny T. — bass guitar (Space, Papa, Dark)

• Tommy Barbarella — keyboards (Space, Dark)

• Mr. Hayes (Morris Hayes) — keyboards (Space, Dark)

• New Power Generation Hornz:

  • Michael B. Nelson — trombone

  • Steve Strand — trumpet

  • Dave Jensen — trumpet

  • Kathy J. (Kathy Jensen) — baritone saxophone

  • Brian Gallagher — tenor saxophone

• Mayte — background vocals (Race)

• Jearlyn Steele Battle — looped sample (Race)

• Eric Leeds — flute (Letitgo)

• Kathleen Bradford — background vocals (Letitgo)

• Ricky Peterson — keyboards (Letitgo)

• Vanity — “partner” vocals (Orgasm)

• Unidentified woman — looped sample (Come)

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Production

• Prince — producer, arranger

• Chronic Freeze, Ray Hahnfeld, Tom Tucker — mixing & engineering

• Airiq Anest — programming

• J.C. Munson — funeral art direction

• Terry Gydesen — photography

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PACKAGING HIGHLIGHTS

• Standard single LP jacket

• Minimalist design reflecting the album’s somber tone

• Photography taken from the book Prince presents The Sacrifice Of Victor

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CHARTS 

America USA:

Billboard 200 | 3 Sep. 1994 | 15 | 10 weeks USA:

Billboard Top R&B Albums | 3 Sep. 1994 | 2 | 13 weeks

Europe 

Germany: Musikmarkt Top 100 Albums | 29 Aug. 1994 | 9 | 11 weeks The Netherlands: Album Top 100 | 27 Aug. 1994 | 4 | 9 weeks UK:

UK Albums Chart | 3 Sep. 1994 | 1 | 10 weeks

Certifications

• RIAA (USA): Gold – 18 Oct. 1994 (500,000 units)

• BPI (UK): Gold – 1 Aug. 1994 (100,000 units)

• SNEP (France): Gold – 19 Feb. 1995 (100,000 units)

After Prince's name-change in 1993, he intended to release new songs under that moniker in formats other than albums. He would fulfill his contract to Warner Bros. by delivering unreleased material from his music vault. Prince conceived an "interactive musical experience" called Glam Slam Ulysses—a musical loosely based on Homer's Odyssey. These songs and many others would travel back and forth between different projects, including a planned triple-album called The Dawn. Material from this era later ended up on Come, The Gold Experience and The Beautiful Experience, among other projects.

In late May 1993, Prince's then-band member Mayte Garcia sent a letter to a Prince fanzine listing the tracks "Come", "Endorphinmachine", "Space", "Pheromone", "Loose!", "Papa", "Dark", "Race", "Solo" and "Poem", which all ended up being included in some form on Come. She also included "Interactive", "Peach" and "Pope". Most of these songs were newly written, except "Peach" (written in 1992), and "Race" (written in 1991 during the Love Symbol Album sessions—it uses a scratching sound effect similar to Love Symbol Album's "The Continental").

On March 6, 1994, Prince submitted a tape of eight songs to Dutch radio stations which included the song "Pheromone". Five days later, he submitted the first version of the Come album to Warner Bros. The album consisted of: "Poem", "Interactive", "Endorphinemachine", "Space", "Pheromone", "Loose!", "Papa", "Race", "Dark", "Solo", and "Strays of the World". This version of the album is exactly 45 minutes in length and is known as the Come Test Pressing. The title track was absent. Warner Bros. rejected this version, and asked for the title track along with some other new material, such as the recent hit "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World". Prince went back into the studio and tooled with the title track, creating an 11-minute horn-boosted sexual romp.

With these additions, Warner Bros. agreed to release the album. But Prince decided to change it once again, removing the more rock-oriented tracks "Interactive", "Endorphinemachine", and "Strays of the World." He also broke up "Poem" into segues throughout the album, with the remainder retitled as "Orgasm", and included the newly written "Letitgo". This final version was submitted to Warner Bros. on the same day as a configuration of The Gold Experience. Prince wanted them to release both albums simultaneously, so the Prince material would compete with the one released under the symbolic moniker in the charts (with the latter having more commercial material). Warner Bros. accepted both albums, but refused to release them both at the same time, fearing the market would have too much Prince material in stock.

SOURCES

Prince Vault Discogs 45cat BBC Official Charts Wikipedia

COPYRIGHT NOTICE All album artwork, photographs, logos, and original text excerpts remain the property of their respective copyright holders. This entry is a transformative, non-commercial archival summary created for historical documentation and educational reference.