Jack White clarified comments he made about allegedly re-editing Prince’s unreleased album Camille, and stated that he has no plans to edit or remix the artist’s original music.
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“We are able to re-edit it as it was originally planned, so that is great news,” White initially said in a recent interview. “I don’t think [releasing] it goes against his will, because he ended up issuing many of the songs on different recordings over the years. It’s not like he didn’t want them to see the light of day.”
Earlier in 2022, White’s label Third Man Records acquired the rights to Prince’s unreleased 1986 album. The Camille project saw Prince with a new androgynous persona and singing with more high-speed feminine vocals created by using a pitch-shifting technique in the studio to better fit the female pseudonym. The Prince Estate has given Third Man the go-ahead to release Camille in full for the first time.
The album was never released as a full body of work, though the eight tracks have been released as B-sides and as part of other reissues throughout the years.
On July 1, White clarified his comments and said there was a misunderstanding about the Camille project and a “re-edit” under Third Man Records.
“This headline [‘Jack White confirms plans to ‘re edit’ and release lost Prince album ‘Camille’’] is misleading and I want to make sure the message is clear,” said White on Instagram. “Neither I nor Third Man Records, have any intention of ‘editing’ or ‘remixing’ Prince’s music. I was referring to simply putting the songs in the original order that the album ‘Camille’ was in, as those songs have been put out in multiple releases since ‘Camille’ was first taken off the presses.”
He added, “I would never mess with Prince’s music. Hopefully, that clears up any misunderstanding, and this album can see the light of day in its original form.”
White also acquired a test pressing of Prince’s ‘Camille’ for $50,000. “I already owned a copy of Prince’s ‘The Black Album’ on vinyl as well as on cassette, and so I was trying to get this copy of ‘Camille’ for the Third Man archives,” added White. “After losing out to other bidders a long time ago, we were lucky to win one this time around. I spoke about it publicly to help secure the reissue with the Prince Estate and Warner Bros.”
The original Camille album features the tracks “Rebirth of the Flesh,” “Shockadelic,” “Housequake,” “Feel U Up,” “If I Was Your Girlfriend,” “Rockhard in a Funky Place,” “Strange Relationship,” and “Good Love.”
White is set to release his fifth solo album Entering Heaven Alive on July 22, a follow-up to his fourth release Fear of the Dawn, which was released in spring 2022.
Photo: Paige Sara / Big Hassle PR
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