100 Greatest Cover Versions by Webb Robert;

Author:Webb, Robert; [Robert Webb]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 1316336
Publisher: McNidder and Grace Limited
Published: 2013-08-15T00:00:00+00:00

I FEEL FOR YOU

CHAKA KHAN (1984)

Original by Prince (1979)

Chaka Khan’s rap and slap-bass cover of this little-known Prince song was the first to bring a hip-hop awareness to her brand of patent-leather dance music. Prince’s original from 1979, on which he plays all the instruments, is an undernourished, bony-legged disco filler. Three years later the Pointer Sisters fleshed it out in a version for their album So Excited, produced by Richard Perry, which hinted at the song’s potential. It may have gone no further had Prince not loved what he had heard of Khan: “What a voice this woman has!” he commented. At the Purple One’s request, a tape of the song was sent to Arif Mardin, Khan’s producer and all-round mentor, with the suggestion that it might fit her profile.

Where others heard hand-claps and a cheesy keyboard riff, Mardin heard a bubbling bass, wailing harmonica and syncopated rapping, all jostling to a boisterous electro-funk arrangement, and he booked some studio time. Prince was down to play guitar, but had to pull out. Stevie Wonder was invited to play harmonica and agreed: his part was recorded in Los Angeles on the day of Marvin Gaye’s funeral. Khan taped her vocals in one night. It sounded great, but Mardin needed something more. Warner Bros had already invested two albums in the former Rufus front-woman but, despite a couple of hits, things were slowing down. Mardin felt it was time for Khan to start listening to the sound of young America.

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