In honor of the 40th anniversary of Prince’s second album, Prince—which was released on October 19, 1979—The Prince Estate and Warner Records announced a surprise release of a previously unheard, solo acoustic demo recording of the Grammy-winning Prince track “I Feel for You,” on October 19, 2019.
In addition to releasing "I Feel for You (Acoustic Demo)" onto streaming services, the song was also released as a two-track vinyl 7" single, with the acoustic demo on the A-side and the original studio recording of "I Feel for You" on the B-side.
The special, stripped-down demo recording captures a 20-year-old Prince in a raw, intimate moment, and begins with the sound of the artist pressing the record button on a cassette tape recorder and picking up an acoustic guitar. The recording was created in the winter of 1978-1979, around the time Prince was preparing to make his solo debut at the Capri Theater in North Minneapolis, and it was recently rediscovered on one of the countless cassette tapes stored in his legendary vault.
I was blown away. Here is 20-year-old Prince thinking aloud, feeling his way through the song. You hear his incredible talent shining through on acoustic guitar.”
Michael Howe, Prince Vault Archivist
The fully produced, studio recording of “I Feel For You” was included on Prince’s second album, Prince. It would become a hit a few years later, when it was covered by Chaka Khan and released as the title track of her solo album, I Feel for You, in 1984. Her version, which featured a cameo by the rapper Melle Mel, became a Top 10 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 and earned two Grammys—including a Grammy Award for Best R&B Song that honored Prince’s contributions as songwriter.
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