Hear a previously unreleased song by Prince, 'I Need A Man' | NME
Prince‘s estate have released ‘I Need A Man’, a previously unheard song written by the star in the early ’80s.
The track previews a super deluxe reissue of Prince’s 1987 album ‘Sign O’ the Times’, which features 63 unreleased songs as well as a previously unseen concert film.
As Consequence Of Sound reports, the track was originally written and recorded in 1981 for The Hookers, a new girl band Prince wanted to assemble that eventually became Vanity 6. ‘I Need A Man’ was one of the early Hookers songs that didn’t make the cut for Vanity 6’s one and only 1982 self-titled album.
Five years later, Prince was so impressed by Grammy nominee Bonnie Raitt’s performance at the 1987 ceremony that he contacted her to form a creative partnership. A completely reworked version of ‘I Need A Man’ was proposed but the collaboration never materialised.
‘I Need A Man’ is preceded by three other teasers of the upcoming compendium: ‘Cosmic Day’, ‘Witness 4 The Prosecution (Version 1)’ and a never-before-released 1979 version of ‘I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man’. The ‘Sign O’ the Times’ deluxe reissue is set for release on September 25 via Prince’s website.
In other news, Sheila E has spoken about working with Prince, saying the pair worked on many songs together that are still unreleased.
The drummer and singer began working with the late star in 1984 on his album ‘Purple Rain’. He also went on to produce her debut solo record ‘The Glamorous Life’ in the same year, which led to them becoming frequent collaborators.
