The Slowed Down Vocal in Arrested Development’s “Tennessee” Was An Uncleared Prince Sample
In 1992 Arrested Development stormed onto the scene with 3 Years, 5 Months & 2 Days in the Life Of…With three hit singles, uplifting lyrics, and a style all their own, the group’s debut sold several million copies and made its way onto many critic’s year-end lists.
Of the many highlights from the album, “Tennessee” was the record that established Arrested Development and put them in the national spotlight. Working as the lead single, the song’s lyrics have intense personal meaning for the group’s frontman and MC Speech. “I wrote it because my older brother…and I met up in Tennessee for…my favorite grandmother of all time — for her funeral,” Speech told the website Songfacts.
While Speech was still grieving the loss of his beloved grandmother, tragedy struck his family again. “My brother left and went back to college, and I went back to college. And my brother died that same week,” he said.
“I didn’t know how sampling laws worked at that time…I don’t even think the industry knew how it all worked because it was such a new phenomenon.”- Speech
In the midst of unimaginable devastation, Speech turned to music to help him with his grief. “That song was probably the first step of me recovering from the loss of two people that are just extremely close and dear to me,” he said. “The chorus is ‘take me another place, take me to another land, make me forget all that hurts me and help me understand your plan.’ It’s like a prayer to God.”
Before Speech wrote any lyrics down, he focused on creating an instrumental to build off of. “First I started to create music in general for it, and I knew I wanted it to be called ‘Tennessee,’” he told Songfacts. “I sampled from Prince, from ‘Alphabet Street’. Then I started to make beats, just the beat for the song in general, on my sampler.”
At this point in time, Speech was using an Ensoniq EPS 16+ keyboard sampler for his production. Using the EPS 16+ in tandem with an Alesis HR-16 drum machine, Speech created many early Arrested Development songs. “It was a pretty simple setup,” he he told behindthenotes.com. “I knew how to use it, so I was very fluent.”
“That song was probably the first step of me recovering from the loss of two people that are just extremely close and dear to me…It’s like a prayer to God.”- Speech
Speech has fond remembrances of the excitement and innocence of this time period. Though sampling wasn’t new in 1992, it was still a novel concept for a lot of people. “The record was becoming an instrument,” he said.
Behind the inspiration Speech was feeling when he sampled Prince’s “Alphabet City” was the reality of the music business. Using an obvious sample from a famous artist costs money — and lots of it. It was an aspect of the industry that Speech admits he didn’t understand. “I didn’t know how sampling laws worked at that time…I don’t even think the industry knew how it all worked because it was such a new phenomenon,” he told Atlanta magazine. “We didn’t get the sample cleared. I didn’t know to clear it.”
Prince, who had a reputation for being very business savvy, waited until after the record had peaked before reaching out to the group for payment. “As soon as it [dropped down], we got a call from his representatives. They wanted $100,000 for the sample,” Speech said.
“I’m a big believer that with every sample I used, you’re capturing more than the word or the melody or the beat, you’re capturing the spirit that’s on the tape.”- Speech
Looking back on the situation, Speech sees this as a showing of generosity form Prince. He could have sought publishing and writing credits, asked for the sample to be removed, or had Arrested Development’s debut pulled from stores. Any of these solutions would have cost the group even more money. Instead, he settled for a one-time payment.
Even though the tiny vocal snippet cost the group 1/10th of a million dollars, Speech doesn’t second guess himself when looking back on his decision. “Could I have said the word Tennessee? I could have,” he told Atlanta. “But I’m a big believer that with every sample I used, you’re capturing more than the word or the melody or the beat, you’re capturing the spirit that’s on the tape…There are things within that sample that are hard to describe.”
With Prince no longer with us today, Speech’s words ring truer than ever.
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