The SPIN Tribute Album

PURPLISH RAIN

Meet the nine bands that have got Prince covered. To download, go to SPIN.COM/PRINCE.

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1“Let’s Go Crazy”
RiveRboat
GambleRs
2“Take Me With U”
shaRon jones &
the dap-kinGs
3“The Beautiful Ones”
_{fol chen} 4“Computer Blue”
of montReal
5“Darling Nikki”
chaiRlift

“This is a no-lose situation,” says Mike Wiebe, singer for the Austin, Texas punk bandits. “It’s not like it’ll reflect badly on us if our version of a Prince song isn’t as awesome as his.” That being the case, did the Gamblers have any goals for this gig? “We just didn’t want to be embarrassed,” says Wiebe, adding, “It’s hard to screw up material like this. The line about seeing a shrink in Beverly Hills—it’s so good. You don’t mess around.” The song did have its challenges, however. “No one in our band can play guitar like that skinny motherfucker with the high voice.”

Soul dynamo Sharon
Jones has some family
history with Prince—sort
of. “Back when I was
singing with bands in
Bushwick [Brooklyn]
in the ’70s,” she recalls,
“this other musician, I
can’t remember his name,
used to go on about his
cousin Prince, who was
going to be a star. I didn’t
think he was telling the
truth!” A devotee of simple
pleasures, Jones wanted
to go with one of Purple
Rain’s more hummable
tunes. “ ‘ Take Me With U’
is a song everyone knows.
Even if you don’t think you
know it, you know it.”

Samuel Bing of enigmatic L.A. dance-rockers Fol Chen wasn’t an easy Prince convert. “When I was growing up, I thought he was for girls,” recalls the guitarist. “Then I realized he was out of my league. It was a while before I knew what a song like ‘Head’ was actually about.” Tackling “The Beautiful Ones” proved similarly problematic. “It’s intimidating to cover a Prince song. The temptation is to record a country version and hope that no one will seriously compare the two. But it’s more daring to do what we did and try to compete with the original.”

Purple Rain’s least
celebrated track has
always intrigued Of
Montreal majordomo
Kevin Barnes. “When
Wendy and Lisa do that
spoken-word part at the
beginning about whether
the water is warm enough,
I’m always like, ‘What
are they going to do in the
water? Why does it need
to be warm?’ ” But Prince
also provided some
clarity for Barnes,
currently at work on
his band’s next glammy
art-rock opus. “Seeing
him ignore other people’s
classifications of race or
gender was so important
for me as an artist, and
as a person, too.”

“The sex aspect isn’t
what drew us to ‘Darling
Nikki,’ ” says Chairlift
bassist/sonic mastermind
Patrick Wimberly about
this infamous ode to
onanism. “I’m more
into the groove than the
dirtiness. As a producer,
I learned so much from
Prince about what to
include in a track. His
stuff can sound so
complex, but when
you listen closely, you
realize that everything
he puts into each
song is essential. He’s
got a totally unique
approach to funk.” You
can hear the Brooklyn-
based trio put their
lessons into practice on
their ethereal debut, Does
You Inspire You, recently
re-released by Columbia.

CLOCK WISE FORM TOP LEF T: LISA JOHNSON; ALIA PENNER; MARC LAGAMBA; COUR TES Y BIG HASSLE; GAR Y COPELAND; JULIANA PACIULLI; SAM HOLDEN; DULCE PINZON; PATRICK HEAGNE Y

62 JULY 2009 / SPIN.COM: THE MUSIC WEBSITE