I’m running out of thoughts on Prince slow jams. Yesterday we got funky. Today we’re back in Prince’s bedroom. “Slow Love” is another pantheon Prince slow jam. That makes four this week. I’m left to question how random my Prince Song Randomizer actually is. Might be time to tweak the Excel spreadsheet. Or, maybe Prince just had that many epic slow jams.
“Slow Love” would be the best ballad in most artists’ careers, but for Prince it was the second best on that album. “Slow Love” appears on 1987’s epic Sign O’ the Times and is overshadowed by the superior “Adore” on that album. While “Adore” is a singular ballad unlike others, “Slow Love” has a very old school soul feel to it. It would fit in on a 60’s Motown record. I feel like I say this every other day at this point, but Eric Leeds (sax) and Atlanta Bliss (trumpet) contribute mightily to the vibe on this track. I always enjoy their work.
Fun fact about “Slow Love.” When Prince was working on a debut album by his wife, Mayte Garcia, they re-recorded this song with Mayte on vocals. It was eventually removed from consideration for the album and never released. I’ll be honest, as big a fan as I am of Prince I can’t say I’ve ever listened to any of Mayte’s music, nor do I intend to. Am I missing something? Is this a violation as egregious as when I admitted that I hadn’t heard Jill Jones’s album? While I’m still hunting down Jones’s album on Discogs to see if I’m missing out, I’ll politely say I’m skeptical of Mayte’s ability and have no desire to find out. My apologies if I’m wrong. That said, if I come across a Mayte Garcia album in a crate somewhere, I’m snatching it up. Actually, I just checked Discogs. Mayte’s lone album, Child of the Sun, was never pressed on vinyl. Damn.
“Slow Love” is yet another song I’ll give 3 out of 5 stars. An enjoyable listen and a damn good slow jam, but I don’t quite put it at the level of Prince’s classics.
mookiefantana 