Prince’s estate has just dropped the original version of “I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man,” from 1979.
The minimal-sounding demo is part of the the ridiculously stacked reissue of Prince’s 1987 double LP, Sign O’ the Times, which is set to drop on Sept. 25.
Recorded at Hollywood Sound Recorders, Studio A on May 23, 1979, this cut of “I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man” was done while Prince was recording his self-titled EP that dropped that same year. The tune was then shelved for some time until it was taken out of the vault and rerecorded in June 1986 and became part of Sign O’ the Times.
Since it was recorded in the late ’70s, “I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man” is the reissue’s oldest recording. The estate also shared the original handwritten lyrics for the song, which you can see below.
Hear Prince’s 1979 version of “I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man” below.
