Prince – The Undertaker (1995)

The Undertaker is an unreleased album by Prince (as symbol), and was recorded live in one take in a rehearsal session on 14 June 1993 at Paisley Park Studios, Chanhassen, MN, USA, with a planned release in 1994 as a covermount CD to be included with an issue of Guitar World magazine. The release was blocked by Warner Bros. after copies had already been manufactured, and all copies were coated with a plastic covering rendering them unplayable (Prince later re-used the idea of including a CD with a publication by releasing his 2007 album Planet Earth with the UK newspaper The Mail On Sunday and his 2010 album 20Ten with various newspapers and magazines). The album features a line-up of only Prince (as symbol) (on vocals and guitar), Michael B. (on drums) and Sonny T. (on bass guitar). The album's recording was filmed, and a vague storyline was incorporated, resulting in the home video The Undertaker, released on VHS and Laser Disc in 1995 (credited to Prince instead of symbol). Introduction The Ride Poorgoo Honky Tonk-Woman Bambi Zannalee [Prelude] The Undertaker Dolphin If the album had been released as planned, it would have marked the first release by symbol/Prince of a cover version (of The Rolling Stones' Honky Tonk Women), and the first time an album would have included a re-recorded version of a previously-released track (Bambi). Versions of two of the tracks, Poorgoo and The Undertaker, were released in 2001 as downloads from the NPG Music Club. The other three tracks, which were unreleased at the time of recording, The Ride, Zannalee and Dolphin, were all released in different recordings (on Crystal Ball, Chaos And Disorder and The Gold Experience respectively).