quote:
Look, I'm not saying the guy wasn't a badass. He was a CERTIFIABLE bad arse. But, 99% of his music sucks dicks. Name an album of his you can listen to from track 1 till the end. Don't worry, I'll wait.

What Time Is It? What I listen to when I want to hear stripped down, low production grooves that showcase what an amazing musician he really was....at any instrument.

Controversy....what I listen to when I want to be reminded of the guys ability to write incredibly melodic music that combined superb lyrical content that questioned the political structure of our country.

Also, I can relate several stories to you of musicians that people consider to be virtuosos at their instruments talk about how they were blown away when Prince would sit down at the piano, drum set, guitar or bass guitar.

The number of folks like Eric Clapton, Tom Petty and Billy Gibbons who considered him to be a world class guitar player alone proves you're wrong in your assumption as to this musical abilities.

I apologize for the language in my first reply.

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Posted by ThePTExperience1969

Baton Rouge, LA

Member since Apr 2016

13360 posts

Posted on 8/28/16 at 12:54 pm to geauxbrown

To your point about those considered virtuosos being blown away by Prince's multi-instrumental ability, that's likely because they harbored preconceived notions about Prince's ability due to the relative simplicity of the albums he puts out and their song structure as well as limited exposure to his terrific live performances. They likely thought he was merely competent until they got the real experience. Let's not get carried away here.

This post was edited on 8/28/16 at 12:58 pm

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Posted by geauxbrown

Louisiana

Member since Oct 2006

28016 posts

Posted on 8/28/16 at 10:07 pm to ThePTExperience1969

quote:
Let's not get carried away here.

There are very well respected rock guitarist who are still trying to figure out how he played the intro to When Doves Cry.

Again, I don't believe you can downplay his ability to play every instrument on an album, arrange and write the songs and sing every harmony part.

While I enjoy the vast majority of his early work, I never was sold on the stuff beyond Purple Rain.

I guess for me, when it comes down to it, he's one of the very few guys that could walk onto a stage with anyone....Steely Dan to Tower of Power, Hank Snow to Hank Williams Jr. and be able to play the parts needed.

Another brief story that not many folks know. When he was 16 years old, he was sneaking into Minneapolis clubs and sitting in with Weather Report. Let that sink in for just a minute.

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