The Prince's Diamonds and Pearls: An Oral History

Source image, Randee St Nicholas

Diamonds and pearls revitalized Prince's career after a slump in the early 1990s

In 1991, Prince found himself at a crossroads. His commercial clout had waned. The sequel to "Purple Rain," "Graffiti Bridge," flopped at the box office. Hip-hop, a genre he despised as "inarticulate," replaced R&B as the sound of urban America.

"He was the greatest live performer, but as far as recording new material, he was in a weird creative space," his former co-manager Randy Phillips later told Rolling Stone magazine. "He seemed to have lost his magic for songwriting. "

But with the new band came a fresh flash of inspiration. Working with NPG, Prince turned to modern sounds,''fusing rap with dance funk and writing some of his best songs since "Sign O'\'The Times. "

"I got tons of grooves on the shelf," he boasted in a Daddy Pop song. And the public agreed: Diamonds and Pearls, released in October 1991, featured six singles, including Gett Off, Cream and Money Don't Matter 2 Night, and remains his best-selling album in the UK.

Prince's estate will reissue the record with three hours of never-before-released material from the recording sessions.

To find out how it all happened, here's a history of the Diamonds and Pearls album with new and archival interviews from people who were there.

Warning: this article contains some sexual language.

Source image, Randee St''Nicholas

Contact sheet for Diamonds and Pearls album cover shoot

Prince [USA Today, 1991]: "Making hits is the easiest thing I can do. But it's like getting a ribbon for a race that somebody else won. I can't do that. I can't repeat myself.".

Levi Cecere, junior [guitarist, NPG]: "He can write a hit song hastily. A lot of the songs on Diamonds And Pearls we recorded in 20 or 30 minutes at once. He's very prolific.".

Chris Poole [Prince's European publicist]: "By 1991 he had really lost touch with black audiences, black teenagers. The music had changed. Hip-hop had emerged.".

Michael Bland [drummer, NPG]: "He was in the valley. He was literally trying to find his way from the '80s to the '90s.".

Michael Koppelman [Prince's sound engineer, 1989-92]: "I think he'"sometimes struggled with feeling insignificant. He asked me once, '\' 'If someone is a genius, is he always a genius?'\'".

Dwayne Tudal [senior researcher, Prince Archives]: "Graffiti Bridge was not a success. I don't know if he felt he needed a hit, but Prince always wanted to show the world what he could do. "

Michael Koppelman: "When we started working on Diamonds and Pearls, the band changed Prince for the better. They cheered him up, and he laughed a lot. "

Tommy Barabella [keyboardist, NPG]: "It was like a new beginning. "

Source image, Randee St Nicholas

The New Power Generation band (left to right): Sonny Thompson, Kirk Johnson, Rosie Gaines, Michael B, Damon Dixon, Tony M, Levi Cecere Jr, Tommy Barabella

The phrase "A new generation of power" for the first time''is mentioned on the 1988 album Lovesexy. By 1990, it was Prince's official band name.

Tony M [rapper, NPG]: "Most of us were from Minneapolis. I was in the movie Purple Rain as a dancer. He grew up with Sonny T.".

Prince [Guitar World, 1994]: "I thought Sonny was God. A lot of what I do on guitar, I learned from him. I'd go visit him and we'd listen to records and he'd show me some things on the guitar.".

Randy St. Nicholas [photographer/director]: "Michael, the drummer, he was only 19 when Prince found him - but he was a genius. "

Michael Bland: "I was at school when Prince called my parents' house and said: '\' 'I want you to join my band'\'". I was like, 'Do you think I'll have time to continue school in the fall?'" And he said. 'just laughed it off'.

Tommy Barabella: "I was playing with a gospel band called The Steeles, and Prince came to hear Kim Basinger and me. They'd sit in the balcony and freak me out. Everyone was like, '\' 'Prince has taken notice of you'\'" and eventually I got a call asking if I wanted to be in Margaret Cox's [Prince's protégé] band.

Stacia Lang [Prince's designer]: "There was a lot of pressure on these musicians, but they knew how to have a good time. There was so much laughter in the hallways that when I think back on the''this, it makes me very happy."

Dwayne Tudal: "One of the band members said they helped him not sink into darkness. They kept him from being sad.".

Source image, Shutterstock

California singer and songwriter Rosie Gaines took an unrivaled role in Diamonds and Pearls, recording duets with Prince on several songs, including the title track.

Prince [Details magazine, 1991]: "Rosie is like a tornado. There aren't enough hours in the day for her voice. There's never enough tape for her voice. "

Stacia Lang: "She had a very strong character. And I think he appreciated that because she could disagree with him. "

Tony M: "Rosie could mess around on any song. When she opened her mouth, you could see the amazement on Prince's face. He was''not an easy thing to do'.

Rosie Gaines [Scottish Daily Record, 1997]: "It was delightful. Vocally, Prince could draw things out of me that no one else could. "

Prince [liner notes to The Hits album, 1993]: "Diamonds and Pearls [was] written as a duet with Rosie Gaines. Prince swore he would never perform it with anyone else.".

Source image, Getty Images

Prince asked Tony M to join NPG as a rapper after hearing him perform Digital Underground's "Humpty Dance" on sound check.

Chris Poole: "At first, Prince completely rejected rap and said it was wrong".

Chuck D [rapper for the group Public Enemy]: "It's easy for Prince to relate to hip-hop. He probably said: '\' 'These are the basics that go through the main channel\'. But then he started getting deeper into what was going on. 'Behind the scenes. Then Prince's understanding of rap and hip-hop became a little different.".

Prince [Sky Magazine, 1991]: "I never said I didn't like rap, I just said that the good rappers are the ones who are '\''in it'\'-the ones who know what they're talking about. I didn't like all that self-praising nonsense before. "I'm good, I'm this, I'm that, I'm out. Anyway, everyone has the right to change their mind."

Tony M: "I felt a responsibility to bring hip-hop into Prince's music. I had to battle Prince's fans who resented his acceptance of rap, as well as the hip-hop community who felt he had neglected them in the past. I was the mediator, crashing between the two sides. "

Dwayne Tudal: "By then, Prince wasn't getting stories from the street anymore. And Tony was bringing''authenticity'.

Michael Koppelman: "I don't really like all that rap and stuff. I like Willing And Able and Cream. But overall the album reflects who Prince was back then. He wasn't making a record for Michael Koppelman, you know?".

Source image, Prince Estate

Multitrack recording of Cream song by Prince

Prince [USA Today, 1991]: "I can't wait four years between albums. What am I gonna do for four years? I'm just gonna hit the vault with more songs.".

Michael B: "We recorded with Prince when he wanted to record. If I was lying in bed with my wife watching Dick Van Dyke at three in the morning and my pager rang, I had to get up and go to Paisley Park.".

Charles Spicer [partner of Prince's estate]: "I first met Prince when I was 13 years old, and