The Estate of late funk icon Prince is celebrating four decades of his classic album ‘Controversy’ with the release of a previously-unheard demo.
Originally released October 14, 1981, the record features the singles Controversy, Sexuality and Let’s Work.
Its fourth single was slow jam Do Me, Baby and, in honour of the album’s 40th anniversary, the Prince Estate and Warner Records have issued a previously unheard 1979 solo demo-recording of the track.
Featuring Prince – whose posthumous LP ‘Welcome 2 America’ was released earlier this year – and his best friend and creative collaborator André Cymone, the track was initially recorded in 1978, before he reimagined Do Me, Baby as a solo recording in April 1979.
From that 2″ multitrack master tape, a cassette rough mix – recently discovered in Prince’s legendary vault and labeled in the artist’s own handwriting – was rendered but ultimately shelved.
The new release has been mixed to match the original demo cassette specs by Prince’s engineer Chris James and mastered by his longtime collaborator Bernie Grundman.
In addition to its digital release, the track is also available to pre-order in two limited edition physical formats exclusively from the Official Prince Store.
Do Me, Baby (Demo) is available on a special replica cassette single – limited to 1,981 units – and an etched 7” purple vinyl single.
