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| Photos: Randee St. Nicholas |
In early March 1992, having wrapped the first configuration of the O(+> album and while rehearsing for the Diamonds And Pearls tour, Prince met with film director James Brooks in his Los Angeles office to discuss his involvement in I’ll Do Anything. It was a musical comedy that would star Nick Nolte as a character actor who can’t find work in Hollywood and suddenly must take care of his six-year-old daughter whom he hasn’t seen in three years. He eventually finds work with a self-absorbed producer. The filmmaker’s original idea was that each character in the film would have a song penned by a different composer. They had talked to 40 songwriters, including Jackson Browne and Melissa Etheridge before approaching Prince. During the meeting, Brooks described the film for 45 minutes. Prince expressed his liking of the script and said that he wanted to write all the songs for the film, but Sinead O’ Connor and Carole King were also going to contribute songs. The shooting began 24 August 1992 and the production wrapped in early February 1993.
Between 5-10 March 1992, Prince recorded seven original songs for the movie and on 18 March he also re-recorded the unreleased 1985 Prince And The Revolution song Empty Room for the movie. A cassette tape was made with the eight songs Prince had recorded for the film and it got bootlegged in its entirety:
Prince: I’ll Do Anything cassette (March 1992)
1. The Rest Of My Life (1:38) – later replaced by Wow
2. Make Believe (1:32)
3. I’ll Do Anything (3:14)
4. Don’t Talk To Strangers (3:08)
5. My Little Pill (1:09)
6. Empty Room (2:03) - later replaced by I Can’t Love U Anymore
7. There’s Lonely (2:29)
8. Be My Mirror (2:41)
While on the Diamonds And Pearls tour in Australia in April 1992, Prince did some additional work for the I’ll Do Anything project at Platinum Studios in Melbourne. He made new versions of The Rest Of My Life, Make Believe and I’ll Do Anything, as well as recorded Poor Little Bastard with the NPG and the NPG Hornz who also played on the new version of Make Believe. Finally, the new song Wow was recorded with most of the NPG. It would replace The Rest Of My Life, even though a 10-minute video-loop was shown before the Diamonds And Pearls shows that featured a female voice reading out a selection of quotes, including the line “today is the first day of the rest of your life” from The Rest Of My Life.
Still in April 1992, Prince wrapped writing songs for the movie by recording I Can’t Love U Anymore in his hotel room while on tour. The piano ballad replaced Empty Room.
No musical after all
While in Los Angeles in late August 1992, Prince visited the I’ll Do Anything set in Hollywood to watch the shooting of a scene that had actress Julie Kavner sing his song I Can’t Love You Anymore. All of his songs for the movie got re-recorded to be sung by the actors in the movie except, it would appear Poor Little Bastard. It wasn’t on the work tape dated 18 January 1993 featuring the following recordings for the movie:
1. Wow – Prince Demo
2. Wow – Opening Version (Playback/Mono)
3. Wow – Sexy Version (Playback/Mono)
4. Wow – Emmy Version (Playback/Mono)
5. Wow – Pregnant Version (Playback/Mono)
6. Wow – Corridor Version (Playback/Mono)
7. Make Believe (Funk) – Prince Demo
8. Make Believe – Prince Demo
9. Make Believe – Playback (Mono)
10. I’ll Do Anything – Piano, Voice, Drums – Prince Demo
11. I’ll Do Anything – Version 2 (Playback/Mono)
12. Don’t Talk 2 Strangers – Prince Demo
13. Don’t Talk 2 Strangers – Playback Pts. 1 & 2 (Mono)
14. My Little Pill – Prince Demo
15. My Little Pill – 2 Trk. Combo (Playback/Mono)
16. This Lonely Life - Sinead O’ Connor Demo
17. This Lonely Life – Playback (Mono)
18. You Are The Best – Playback w/Whittni Wright
19. Make Believe – Kids Version A (Partial Playback/Mono)
20. Jeannie’s Song – Production Track
21. There Is Lonely – Prince Demo
1. There Is Lonely – Playback (Mono)
2. I Can’t Love U Anymore – Prince Demo
3. DNG Groove/I Can’t Love U Anymore – Demo 8/14/92
4. DNG Groove/I Can’t Love U Anymore – Comp 9/17/92 used for Playback (Mono)
5. Be My Mirror – Prince Demo
6. Be My Mirror – Playback (Mono)
7. Finale – Rough Mix 11/14/92 (Stereo)
With a run time of 2 hours and 25 minutes, Brooks’ $40-million-plus film ran into trouble. Test screenings with the characters singing received scathing reviews from audiences, prompting the director to radically rework the project. He scrapped the notion of a musical and turned I’ll Do Anything into a standard romantic comedy. The film opened to mediocre reviews in 1994. The abandoned soundtrack release was supposed to have featured the following songs:
I’ll Do Anything Soundtrack (summer 1993)
Cast: Wow
Cast: Make Believe
Cast: Make Believe Pt.II
Julie Kavner: My Little Pill
Albert Brooks: There’s Lonely
Nick Nolte: Be My Mirror
Julie Kavner: I Can’t Love U Anymore
Melissa Etheridge: I Can’t Love U Anymore
Tracey Ullman: Don’t Talk 2 Strangers
Albert Brooks: I’ll Do Anything
In 1996, Prince’s recording of Don’t Talk 2 Strangers for I’ll Do Anything got released on the soundtrack for Spike Lee’s Girl 6 movie instead. The song also got re-recorded for Chaka Khan’s 1998 Paisley Park album Come 2 My House and her version got released as a single with an accompanying music video.
In 1999, more of Prince’s recordings for the I’ll Do Anything movie saw the light of day on the The Vault… Old Friends For Sale compilation originally put together in 1996: The Rest Of My Life, My Little Pill and There Is Lonely.
It was the second recording of The Rest Of My Life recorded in Australia that got released on The Vault. Make Believe, I’ll Do Anything, the I’ll Do Anything version of Empty Room, Be My Mirror, Poor Little Bastard, Wow and I Can’t Love You Anymore remain unreleased.
An I’ll Do Anything Medley – possibly the Finale track on the 18 January 1993 compilation tape - lasting 7 minutes and 37 seconds featuring the cast of the I’ll Do Anything movie has been bootlegged, though.
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