Introduction
Toward the end of September 1991, the debut album by “spirit child” Ingrid Chavez was released under the rather strange title May 19 1992. It was already the 20th satellite act album released through Prince’s Paisley Park Records label. A look back at the brief period when Prince and Chavez worked together and made some beautiful music.
Ingrid Chavez
Ingrid Julia Chavez was born on January 21, 1965, in Albuquerque and grew up in the U.S. state of Georgia. Around the age of 20, she began a relationship with Steve Snow, a local musician, and they had a son. In 1986, they moved to Minneapolis, where Snow had family, hoping to get their music career off the ground. It didn’t really work out. Their musical tastes weren’t identical, and they gradually grew apart. Before long, Chavez found herself alone in a city she barely knew.
Ingrid Chavez – Paisley Park promo
December 1, 1987
On December 1, 1987, Chavez went to a nightclub (Rupert’s or Williams’s Pub) on her own. Prince arrived a little later and took a seat at the bar.
So one night I went there and I happened to be by myself because a friend of mine had cancelled on me, and I almost didn’t go because it was like I don’t want to go alone. But I did, and I saw Prince come in and went sat by the bar. There was something kind of sad about the way he looked that night. So I sent him a note, and I just said, in the note, “Hi. Remember me? Probably not. That’s okay. Smile. I love it when you smile.” I handed it to him and he had someone come over, and he asked me to sit with him. He asked me what my name was, and I said Gertrude. I asked him what his name was and he said Dexter. So that’s who we were to each other all the way through the time that we worked with each other. I never called him Prince. That was in the day when he was wearing the little mirror hearts on his wrist, and so he took it off and put it on my wrist and asked me what I do. I said I’m a musician. Then he asked me if I wanted to take a ride, if I wanted to go to Paisley Park. I said yes.
Ingrid Chavez, The Current, 09/23/2019
Within Prince circles, this encounter is stuff of legends. Encouraged by his meeting with Chavez, Prince is said to have decided that The Black Album should not be released. It was too dark and too negative. That same night, he decided to make a new album, one that would be spiritual in nature and, above all, positive. This would eventually result in the masterpiece Lovesexy.
Prince – The Black Album
First poems
Within a week of their first meeting, Chavez was in Studio B at the newly opened Paisley Park Studios. She recorded two poems, adding regular and backwards-played sounds, guitar, vocals, and tambourine. Toward the end of the sessions, Prince asked if he could hear the results. He was very impressed with Reason Enough and Cross The Line. He encouraged Chavez to write more and wanted to put together an album combining music with Chavez’s poetry.
So at some point – because I would write him all these letters and poems and stuff, and one day he was like okay look, you write 21 poems and we’ll go and make a record. I was like okay. I was going to sit down and do my poems. And so when I had them – most of them were just written during that period anyway, so we went into the studio. It was already ’88 because it was about a month later. So he put me in the vocal booth and put me at a microphone, and he was in the sound room with a synthesizer, and he would say, “What’s the title of the poem?” And I would say, Heaven Must Be Near, or Elephant Box. And he’d say okay and start playing around with some sounds and pick a sound that sounded like Elephant Box or Heaven Must Be Near or whatever, and he’d say, “Okay, start reading.” So we read through all the poems that way, and then he was working on Lovesexy and I was working on the poetry album. So if you put those two records side by side they really do mirror each other and they speak to each other. For me to say what did you guys talk about back then, it’s like just listen to those two records. That’s what we spoke about.
Ingrid Chavez, The Current, 09/23/2019
Prince – Lovesexy
Lovesexy
Meanwhile, Prince was working on the Lovesexy album at Paisley Park Studios. Prince called Chavez the “Spirit Child”, his muse for his new album.
Lovesexy and May 19 1992 are two records that almost mirror each other. We were having some very deep, spiritual conversations during that period. I was writing poems at the same time that he was writing Lovesexy, and we spent a lot of time talking. Because of that, the two records have the same themes. Lovesexy has I Wish U Heaven, and my record has Heaven Must Be Near, and they are very similar because we were talking about the same things, challenging each other, sharing our thoughts and emotions. We talked a lot about God, love, and sex… how we felt about those things. I don’t remember the specifics of the conversations, but the whole process was more like an experience or a journey – a discovery – rather than two people sitting down and writing lyrics.
…
The amount of time that we spent with each other was relatively short. It was maybe three months in total, but in those three months we spent a lot of time together, and we wrote two records – he wrote his, and I wrote mine. Mine didn’t come out until a few years later, but they were written at the same time.
Ingrid Chavez, Fifteen Minutes With, 07/20/2016
On May 10, 1988, Lovesexy was released. The first voice heard on the album is Chavez’s:
Rain is wet and sugar is sweet
Clap your hands and stomp your feet
Everybody, everybody knows
When love calls you gotta go© 1988, Prince, Eye No
Chavez can also be heard on the complete version of Alphabet St., reciting A… B… C… D… E… F… H… Eye Love You at the end. Why is the letter G skipped? The song is written in the key of G, so the letter is already there. Years later, Prince gave the following explanation during an online Q&A session: “She was being kissed at the time, and got flustered, eye suppose.” In a September 23, 2019, interview with The Current, Chavez said: “…there’s no ‘G’ there, but that was not intentional. He was just playing around with me, and I got distracted.”
Ingrid Chavez & Prince – Graffiti Bridge promotional photo
The End?
And then, suddenly, it was all over. Prince shifted his attention to the upcoming Lovesexy tour, and the poem Cross The Line was partially used under the name Intermission as the opening of the second half of the Lovesexy concerts. The “Poem Album” faded into the background. Chavez returned to her apartment and started a band called Skyfish. Recordings eventually made their way to Prince, and in 1989 they reconnected. He had worked on Heaven Must Be Near and suggested finishing Chavez’s solo album.
A little later, Prince started work on his next project, Graffiti Bridge. Prince asked Chavez if she wanted to play Aura, the character who would show Prince the way toward spiritual awakening and enlightenment. She immediately said “yes.” The film was savaged by the press, and fans also struggled with its saccharine story, clumsy scenes, cheap sets, and amateurish acting. Chavez was later honest and open about her own abilities, but was nevertheless proud that she had done it.
Am I a good actress? No. Would I do it again? No. But I did it, and I enjoyed it. It was part of my journey and it helped me to grow in ways I couldn’t have imagined just a few years before. There were times when I was pushed and I wanted to cry on the set, because I thought, “I can’t do this.” For me, it was my own personal insecurities that got in the way sometimes. But most of the time, Prince would be so gentle. He was always so encouraging. He would say, “You’re doing great.” He was just so genuine with his encouragement.
Ingrid Chavez, Fifteen Minutes With, 07/20/2016
Madonna – Justify My Love
Justify My Love
Not long after the film’s release, in which Madonna was originally supposed to have a role (at least that was what Prince was hoping for; Madonna read the script and turned it down), Madonna released the song Justify My Love. Yet another number-one hit for Madonna, it was written by Lenny Kravitz. But Prince wasn’t convinced. He called Chavez and said, “Ingrid, what’s up with that Justify My Love song? I just heard it on the radio and I know that’s you.”
He was right. Chavez had met Kravitz and written a letter containing the song’s lyrics. Kravitz had set them to music, and the song eventually made its way to Madonna, who immediately wanted to record and release it. Kravitz suggested that he take the writing credit, which Chavez agreed to. It soon became clear that this had been a mistake, and Chavez demanded recognition for her contribution. The dispute was settled out of court, and Chavez was officially credited as a co-writer of the song.
Prince wasn’t happy with how things had unfolded. He argued that if the album were actually released, it would make it look as though Chavez had copied Madonna, rather than the other way around.
N.B.:
Also read the stories behind The Black Album, Lovesexy and Graffiti Bridge.
Ingrid Chavez – May 19 1992
Ingrid Chavez (May 19 1992)
On September 24, 1991, Ingrid Chavez’s debut album was finally released on Paisley Park Records, a unique album in the label’s catalog. Poetry set to music was something the label had never released before, and it was not a combination Prince was known for. Unfortunately, the album was not a success and quickly disappeared from the radar. The singles failed to make much of an impact either, even though the album received positive reviews in the press.
The album title is commonly known as May 19 1992, but the CD spine only shows the name Ingrid Chavez. According to Chavez, it was simply a date intended to give the songs a kind of diary-like feel, and the album itself has no title. Nevertheless, it is generally referred to as May 19 1992, including by Chavez herself. It’s not exactly a catchy title, and the date seems particularly odd given the album’s actual release date.
Ingrid Chavez – May 19 1992 – Singles
Singles
The album spawned three singles, none of which were successful.
- Elephant Box
(released on August 22, 1991) - Hippy Blood
(released on March 5, 1992) - Heaven Must Be Near
(released in spring 1992)
Ingrid Chavez – May 19 1992 – 1991 – Cover photoshoot
Review
Prince collaborated with Chavez on five songs (Heaven Must Be Near, Elephant Box, Slappy Daddy, Jadestone, Whispering Dandelions) for which he wrote the music and played the instruments on the recordings. He also played keyboards and guitar on Candle Dance. Prince had no involvement with the other five tracks on the album, all of which have a poppier sound and also feature Chavez singing. On the Prince tracks, she recites her poetry.
The result of their collaboration is fascinating and sounds completely organic. Even though the backing music is electronic in nature, the album feels warm and inviting. Prince and Chavez clearly had a deeper connection, and you can hear it in these songs.
Unfortunately, the May 19 1992 album is unavailable, including on streaming services (Prince Estate, hello?). If you ever come across it: essential listening, especially for Prince fans!
Ingrid Chavez – May 19 1992 – 1991 – Back cover
Songs
Songs written by Ingrid Chavez and Prince (under the pseudonym Paisley Park), unless stated otherwise.
- Heaven Must Be Near (Ingrid Chavez, Prince (als Paisley Park), Levi Seacer, Jr.)
- Hippy Blood (Ingrid Chavez, Michael Koppelman)
- Candle Dance (Ingrid Chavez, Michael Koppelman)
- Elephant Box
- Slappy Dappy
- Little Mama (Ingrid Chavez, Michael Koppelman)
- Jadestone
- Wintersong (Ingrid Chavez, Michael Koppelman)
- Spiritual Storm (Michael Koppelman)
- Sad Puppet Dance (Ingrid Chavez, Levi Seacer, Jr.)
- Whispering Dandelions
Musicians
No musicians are credited on the album itself, but thanks to PrinceVault, the musicians on the Prince-related tracks are known.
- Ingrid Chavez – vocals
- Prince – all instruments on Heaven Must Be Near, Elephant Box, Slappy Dappy, Jadestone, Whispering Dandelions; keyboards and guitar on Candle Dance
- Levi Seacer, Jr. – ? on Heaven Must Be Near
- Michael Koppelman – all instruments on Candle Dance
Ingrid Chavez & David Sylvian
After Prince
Despite the fact that the May 19 1992 album had quickly faded into obscurity, Chavez’s manager convinced Warner Bros. that a promotional tour of Europe would be a good idea. It would turn out to be a stroke of luck for Chavez’s personal life and her musical future.
The first place that I stopped was in Paris. A journalist was conducting an interview and wanted to know who had influenced me, and who I would most like to work with. Well, on my trip to Europe, I had listened to Rain Tree Crow, which was the new name for the music group Japan, and David Sylvian was the singer-songwriter for both. I listened to him all the way to Europe, so when the journalist asked me, that’s the name that came. He said, “Well, I can actually get you in touch with him… if you’re going to London, I can let them know that you would like to stop by and meet David.” The offer was a total surprise, but I let him know that it sounded good.
Ingrid Chavez, Fifteen Minutes With, 07/20/2016
Once she returned to the US, David Sylvian got in touch. They soon fell head over heels in love, and a relationship developed almost immediately. They married in 1992, had two daughters, and eventually divorced in 2003. During her marriage, she occasionally worked on her own music and sang on Sylvian’s albums, but her main focus was her family, particularly her daughters.
Ingrid Chavez – Later years
After her marriage ended, Chavez immersed herself in photography, and it was photography that eventually led her back to music. In 2010, Chavez released her second album, A Flutter And Some Words. Under the name Black Eskimo, Chavez released two EPs with Marco Valentin in 2013: Deep and Heady.
In 2018, Chavez was in Europe for a promotional tour, where she sold an EP limited to just 100 copies, titled Touch Of Love. Officially, the EP consists of ‘just’ two tracks: a mix and an audio commentary. The mix contains three previously unreleased pieces, all recorded during Chavez and Prince’s first studio sessions in late 1987: Touch Of Love, Standing In The Rain, and the intro to Elephant Box. In September 2019, Chavez released her third solo album, Memories Of Flying, which also features the single You Gave Me Wings, a tribute to Prince.
Prince’s Death
Following Prince’s death, Chavez was interviewed about her career, May 19 1992, and (her collaboration with) Prince.
Prince is gone, but I have so many great memories of him, and these have helped me to get through this terrible tragedy. My favorite all-time record is Dirty Mind. The movie Purple Rain was playing when I decided to get into music. Vanity 6 and The Time were Prince acts and a huge part of that Minneapolis sound that I loved so much. So many memories…
Ingrid Chavez, Fifteen Minutes With, 07/20/2016
In conclusion
Ingrid Chavez was a unique artist in the Prince world, and she played an important role in his life and work in late 1987 and early 1988. What do you think of Ingrid Chavez and May 19 1992? Let me know!
Video
This story contains an accompanying video. Click on the following link to see it: Video: Ingrid Chavez debuts with May 19 1992.
