The Family / Heyday Set (5CDR+1DVDR+1BDR)

The Family's one and only album, produced by Prince and considered a masterpiece, is here. We've put together a set of related titles for a slightly discounted price.

The Family Story

The formation of The Family in 1984 could be seen as Prince's response to the breakup of The Time. Morris Day had lost interest in being a band member and moved to Los Angeles, severing ties with his bandmates, Prince, and The Time's management team. While Morris was in Los Angeles, The Time's operations were primarily handled by Jesse Johnson. Prince initially wanted to continue working with The Time with Paul Peterson as singer, but Johnson refused. Unable to convince Maurice to return, Prince decided The Time was over. Jesse Johnson also decided to pursue a solo career, and former The Time members Jerry Hubbard and Mark Cardenas joined Jesse's side.

Late June 1984
Prince invited Alan Leeds and the remaining members of The Time—Paul Peterson, Jellybean Johnson, and Jerome Benton—to his home for a meeting. Prince announced he was forming a new band with Paul Peterson on lead vocals, much to Peterson's surprise. Prince had actually noticed Peterson's singing ability while filming Purple Rain. The two shared adjacent dressing rooms, and Prince accidentally overheard Peterson's voice and fell in love with it. The new band was named The Family, and Susannah Melvoin joined as second vocalist.

While The Time's music was rooted in R&B, Prince wanted The Family to be a more musically diverse band. Jellybean Johnson said, "Prince wanted The Family to be a more sophisticated jazz band. He wanted to show a more diverse side of things. He wanted to feature jazz-inspired instrumentals as well as classic pop and funk songs."

Work on The Family's debut album began in late June 1984 at the Flying Cloud Warehouse in Eden Prairie. Prince quickly recorded several songs for the project.

Prince also met with the band and looked through many movies and women's magazines, wanting to portray Paul Peterson as a dashing character similar to Rudolph Valentino. Prince's sound engineer, Susan Rogers, said Prince told Peterson, "Paul, 20,000 women! That's how many women turned out for Valentino's funeral! 20,000 women!"

Prince first recorded "High Fashion" and "Mutiny" by himself, followed by "Desire" and "River Run Dry." Susan Rogers said, "Once 'High Fashion' and 'Mutiny' were completed, the rest of the album just fell into place." "River Run Dry" was written by Bobby Z. Prince asked Bobby Z. if he could use it on The Family album, and after receiving permission, he recorded a version with Prince playing on it (it's unclear whether a version with Prince on vocals exists).

During the early sessions for The Family, Prince recorded an instrumental called "Mazarati," originally written for Mazarati's debut album. Prince decided it suited The Family better and changed the title to "Susannah's Pajamas." The initial configuration called it "BMW."

Prince had been looking to incorporate saxophone into The Family project. He had heard a tape recorded by Alan Lees' brother Eric when he auditioned for Sheila E.'s band in the spring of 1984. However, Sheila had already hired Eddie Minifield as her saxophonist, and the tape had been shelved for some time. Shortly after, Prince came up with the concept for The Family and wanted to incorporate saxophone into his music, telling Alan, "If my brother wants to play a gig, tell him there's an opportunity."

July 2, 1984
Eric Leeds then came to Minneapolis to record saxophone overdubs on four tracks for The Family album: "High Fashion," "Mutiny," "Desire," and "Susannah's Pajamas." Prince was very pleased with Eric's playing and believed he would be a valuable addition to the project.

July 14, 1984: Prince recorded "Feline" for The Family Project at Flying Cloud Warehouse. The song did not appear on the album. "Feline" was Eric Leeds' favorite. "It was a manic song. I loved it. I was there when he did most of the work. He was like a maniac. It stood out on the album." The song features sexually explicit material and Paul raps, "Saint Paul is my name, make love is my game." This rap was later adapted and used by Sheila E. on "Holly Rock." Also in July, Prince recorded "Nothing Compares 2 U," completing the album's necessary tracks. In subsequent sessions, Paul Peterson and Susannah Melvoin began recording based on Prince's guide vocals, with David Rivkin producing the vocal sessions. Prince wanted his vocal tracks to be faithfully reproduced, making this a time-consuming and painstaking process.

August 19, 1984 - October 1984
Prince recorded "The Screams of Passion." Between August and October, two songs were recorded for the project: "Yes" and "Miss Understood." The 1980 song "Rough" was also considered for inclusion on the album, but, like "Miss Understood," it was not included. The instrumental track "Yes" was originally nearly eight minutes long, but was edited to fit the album.

Prince not only included saxophone in The Family's music, but also wanted to add strings for a richer sound. David Rivkin contacted Claire Fisher (through Prince's girlfriend, Susannah Melvoin), who sent her a tape of "River Run Dry" to review her work. Prince was pleased with the results, and additional songs were sent to Claire for further work. David Rivkin, Susanna, and Jerome Benton traveled to Los Angeles to observe the recording sessions with Claire. For some reason, Prince missed the first session, and afterward became superstitious and avoided meeting Claire. He even reportedly looked away when he received a record with Claire's face on the cover. Prince had never met Claire Fisher in his life.

Recording for the album was completed, but production was put on hold until after the Purple Rain tour.

Early May 1985: Prince began mixing "The Family" at Sunset Sound Studios in Los Angeles. Changes were made to several songs during the mixing process, and Prince even removed bass parts from several tracks. Eric Leeds said, "Prince was going for a minimalist vibe with no bass at all. There was actually bass on a lot of the songs, even though it wasn't in the final mix. I miss that bass sound. It's especially amazing on "High Fashion" and "Mutiny"!" "Just listening to the rough mix with the bass, you can hear the essence of funk. It doesn't get much better than this."

Mid-May '85.
The Family began rehearsing at a warehouse on Washington Avenue in Eden Prairie. After the Purple Rain tour ended, a winter tour with other Paisley Park artists, Sheila E. and Mazarati, was planned. The band for this tour included core members of The Family, Paul Peterson, Susannah Melvoin, Eric Leeds, Jellybean Johnson, and Jerome Benton, as well as former Sheila E. guitarist Miko Weaver. Lisa's brother, David Coleman, was asked to play bass, but the decision was ultimately made to go with Minneapolis-born bassist Alan Flowers. Minneapolis native Billy Carruthers and Wendy and Susannah's brother, Jonathan Melvoin, were added to the keyboards. Two backup singers and dancers, Wally Safford and Greg Brooks, joined the band, making it a larger band.

Early June 1985
The video for the single "The Screams of Passion" was filmed in Los Angeles. Jerome Benton provided the dance choreography. The song had no horns, and Eric Leeds appeared in the video on bass. "The Screams of Passion" was released a few weeks before the album's release. It reached number 63 on the Billboard charts.

August 13, 1985
The Family played their debut live show at First Avenue in Minneapolis.
The performance was short, just over 40 minutes, but was well received.

August 19, 1985
The Family's debut album, "The Family," was released. With the exception of Eric Leeds' horn parts, Claire Fisher's strings, and Wendy Melvoin's rhythm guitar on "Yes," Prince performed on all the remaining songs on the album. Though Prince is credited only on "Nothing Compares 2 U" on the album cover, he wrote and composed every song except for "River Run Dry." The album only reached number 62 on the Billboard charts.

The Family's rehearsals and touring plans were put on hold while Jerome Benton and Susannah Melvoin were in France with Prince, filming his second film, Under the Cherry Moon. During this time, Paul Peterson was taking acting lessons in Los Angeles in preparation for a possible film appearance. However, neither the appearance nor the promotion of The Family's album and singles were carried out.

Early November 1985.
While Prince was still in France, Paul Peterson, who was in Los Angeles, spoke with Prince by phone, in which Paul announced his departure from The Family.

His decision was driven by a variety of factors, but primarily by Paul's deep frustration with the lack of support and promotion for The Family project, the lack of financial support for band members, and his disappointment at having little creative input to contribute to the album's production. Paul's departure surprised the other band members, many of whom shared Paul's frustrations. This marked the end of The Family.