Maps of Music

For You (1978)

Where the lyrics of For You take you, and where it was really made.

Prince was nineteen when he made this debut album. He played nearly every instrument himself, and the project cost three times its original budget.

Key places

Where the sessions began (1978)

Recording site Sound 80 — Prince started recording the album in September 1977 at Sound 80 in Minneapolis, where he had earlier made a demo. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Basic tracks at the Record Plant (1978)

Recording site Record Plant — The basic tracks were recorded over three months at the Record Plant in Sausalito, starting in October 1977. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Overdubs and final mixing in Hollywood (1978)

Recording site Sound Labs — In January 1978 the project moved to Sound Labs in Hollywood to begin overdubs and final mixing. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• For You: debut studio album by Prince
• Released 7 April 1978 by Warner Bros. Records
• All tracks produced, arranged, composed, and performed by Prince
• Prince sang all vocals and played nearly every instrument

Background

• Prince had earlier made a demo at Sound 80 in Minneapolis, Minnesota
• Friend and producer David Rivkin, later known as David Z, gave advice and engineering help
• Rivkin was considered for executive producer, but Warner Bros. chose Tommy Vicari, known for his work with Gino Vannelli
• Vicari suggested a Los Angeles studio; manager Owen Husney chose the Record Plant in Sausalito, California
• Prince, Vicari, Husney, and Husney's wife settled into an apartment in Mill Valley, California

Recording

• Recording started in September 1977 at Sound 80
• Basic tracks recorded over three months at the Record Plant, starting in October
• Basic tracks finished in late December 1977
• In January 1978 the project moved to Sound Labs in Hollywood for overdubs and final mixing
• Final mixes completed on 28 February
• Total cost $170,500, three times the original budget
• 46 vocal lines layered into the first track

Cover

• Warner Bros. selected an art director, but Prince booked his own photo session with Joe Gianetti
• The head shot was taken in a dark room, with Prince's face lit by candlelight

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• Prince Rogers Nelson, born June 7, 1958 in Minneapolis, Minnesota; died April 21, 2016 at Paisley Park in Chanhassen, Minnesota.
• Signed with Warner Bros. Records in 1977 at age 18; first album For You released April 7, 1978.
• Career spanned funk, rock, R&B and pop, with estimated sales over 100 million records.

Career

• Breakthrough with Dirty Mind (1980), Controversy (1981) and 1999 (1982).
• Purple Rain (1984) made him the first singer to hold the number-one film, album and single in the US at the same time.
• Sign o' the Times (1987) is widely considered his greatest work.
• Changed his name to an unpronounceable symbol in 1993, becoming known as the Artist Formerly Known as Prince; reverted to Prince in 2000.
• Won seven Grammy Awards and an Academy Award for Best Original Song Score.
• Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2004.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Robert Christgau reviewed it in Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies (1981)
• He described it as the work of a one-man studio band with a weakness for the programmatic
• He picked 'Baby' and 'Soft and Wet' as the tracks he liked
• He wrote that Prince's falsetto beat Stevie Wonder's, and mentioned Emitt Rhodes in the same comparison

Reappraisal

• After Prince's death in 2016 the album re-entered the Billboard 200

Records

• Billboard 200: No. 163 on release
• Billboard Soul chart: No. 21
• Approximately two million copies sold worldwide
• Billboard 200 re-entry in 2016: No. 138
• French Albums Chart: No. 200; UK Albums Chart: No. 156, although it did not originally chart in those countries
• Lead single 'Soft and Wet': Hot 100 No. 92, Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Top 20 peaking at No. 12
• Second single 'Just as Long as We're Together': No. 91 on the R&B charts

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• Rivkin was considered for executive producer, but Warner Bros. chose Tommy Vicari instead
• Husney later said Prince had drained Vicari during recording, leaving him heartbroken
• Prince shrugged off any production advice from Vicari that went against his wishes
• The album cover's candlelit head shot was one that Prince arranged himself, outside the art director's plan
• Prince later said he was a physical wreck when he finished the album

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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