BigDaddyHQ said:

This thread failed as soon as i read the OP say Prince was too spineless to fire some one.

And for the record... i enjoy when p has quality singers backing him up or offering new voices to much of the music he likes to play.

Yeah ... have to agree there. Prince hires and fires as he wishes.

And are we never happy when Prince supplements his band with other vocalists, prominent players?

The only one I disliked was Najee, and that was only because Prince gave him so much concert time.

Tamar was shit in comparison to Shelby J, Liv Warfield and Elisa. Not even close.

Huggiebear said:

They are alright, but Shelby is no Sheila E, and the chances of him getting female singers and musicians on the level of Cat, Jill Jones, WendynLisa and even Rosie are looking thin. The band seems to be turning into some middle of the road touring soul revue.

Cat????...she was never a musician..she just did that weird stomach thrusting dance at any opportunity!!

dayzofwyld said:

Huggiebear said:

They are alright, but Shelby is no Sheila E, and the chances of him getting female singers and musicians on the level of Cat, Jill Jones, WendynLisa and even Rosie are looking thin. The band seems to be turning into some middle of the road touring soul revue.

Cat????...she was never a musician..she just did that weird stomach thrusting dance at any opportunity!!

Yeah but it was great!!

eireboy34 said:

dayzofwyld said:

Cat????...she was never a musician..she just did that weird stomach thrusting dance at any opportunity!!

Yeah but it was great!!

And lets not forget, she was draggin a nice wagon lol

dayzofwyld said:

Huggiebear said:

They are alright, but Shelby is no Sheila E, and the chances of him getting female singers and musicians on the level of Cat, Jill Jones, WendynLisa and even Rosie are looking thin. The band seems to be turning into some middle of the road touring soul revue.

Cat????...she was never a musician..she just did that weird stomach thrusting dance at any opportunity!!

She was an amazing dancer, choreographer and did some singing/rapping on both tours. She more than earned her place in the Prince organisation.

^Cat was the best with him on stage and she didnt need to sing her charisma alone was enough!

KCOOLMUZIQ said:

2elijah said:

Not really, because soul/r&b ballads, were always inclusive in his music throughout his career, and definitely part of what made Prince. It seems to me that many fans, who can't relate or embrace the soul-r&b type tracks, prefer Prince play more "poppy-type" or "rock" tracks all the time, and think that's the only type of music that defined him as "Prince", when in fact he's always been known to include r&b/soul ballads in his music, as well as the rock/poppy/funk/jazz tracks he creates. A variety is much nicer, it helps to not pigeon-hole musicians/artists with their music.

Exactly! & Prince started off as a soul/R&B artist even though he can play all types of music. Warners marketed him as a soul black artist in the beginning. Fans that were there in the beginning like me will always remember him that way. People that got on board after Purple Rain remember him as a poppy rock artist. Like U said 2elijah. But Prince is a master at being a soul balladeer always has been & always will be...No matter how much U R&B hater fans hate it. It will never go away so deal with it........

(Highlighted part) Absolulety. When you think of tunes like "Adore"; "Shh"; "Question of U"; "Insatiable", and more, with the seducing falsetto in some of those tracks, that definitely screams "Prince" without a doubt. Even with the track "Shoe" you can hear some Smokey Robinson/Delfonics/Stylistics flavors in that track. Funny when you think about how other artists, like JT who tried to emulate that same sound in some of his tracks, a sound Prince has always had. I agree with you that many fans are stuck on the "Purple Rain" Prince era, and want to keep him frozen in time with W&L. It was the Purple Rain movie that will always be part of his signature, and definitely played its part in helping him to obtain a worldwide fan base. So I think that is why many of Prince's fans will always keep him attached to that era, because of that movie, as well as branding band members like W&L with him. But yes, r&b/soul has always been a part of the package throughout his music career.

[Edited 7/30/10 6:17am]

eireboy34 said:

murph said:

Translation: He's getting too black....

That's your opinion!

Most of us here don't see colour, just talent and that "something-else" that his current line-up doesn't have.

Levi? Cat? Bonnie? Miko??? Dez?

All "black" if I remember well.

If you really want crap Prince protégés check out the Twinz....too white??!!!

Cute...But it's not even that simple.....And for the record, that band wasn't all black (Fink, Leeds and Bliss were also on the team...)...And it helped that Prince was still injecting more rock elements into his sound...

But it seems like some folks have a problem with Prince embracing his hardcore R&B/soul roots...Now, if this was just a case of some of you guys saying that you think Prince's musical direction sucks I can dig it...But that's not what's going on here....

murph said:

eireboy34 said:

That's your opinion!

Most of us here don't see colour, just talent and that "something-else" that his current line-up doesn't have.

Levi? Cat? Bonnie? Miko??? Dez?

All "black" if I remember well.

If you really want crap Prince protégés check out the Twinz....too white??!!!

Cute...But it's not even that simple.....And for the record, that band wasn't all black (Fink, Leeds and Bliss were also on the team...)...And it helped that Prince was still injecting more rock elements into his sound...

But it seems like some folks have a problem with Prince embracing his hardcore R&B/soul roots...Now, if this was just a case of some of you guys saying that you think Prince's musical direction sucks I can dig it...But that's not what's going on here....

I think you're wrong.

We all love Purple Rain and Let's go but we also love the funk/disco of the earlier albums ...hell! we even love parts of The Rainbow children!

It ain't the colour..it's the mojo...and we all know P has lost that.

eireboy34 said:

murph said:

Cute...But it's not even that simple.....And for the record, that band wasn't all black (Fink, Leeds and Bliss were also on the team...)...And it helped that Prince was still injecting more rock elements into his sound...

But it seems like some folks have a problem with Prince embracing his hardcore R&B/soul roots...Now, if this was just a case of some of you guys saying that you think Prince's musical direction sucks I can dig it...But that's not what's going on here....

I think you're wrong.

We all love Purple Rain and Let's go but we also love the funk/disco of the earlier albums ...hell! we even love parts of The Rainbow children!

It ain't the colour..it's the mojo...and we all know P has lost that.

Something is getting lost in translation here.....

This thread is no different from a past thread in which an Orger claimed that Prince's current band lacked diversity...You can read between the lines....

murph said:

eireboy34 said:

I think you're wrong.

We all love Purple Rain and Let's go but we also love the funk/disco of the earlier albums ...hell! we even love parts of The Rainbow children!

It ain't the colour..it's the mojo...and we all know P has lost that.

Something is getting lost in translation here.....

This thread is no different from a past thread in which an Orger claimed that Prince's current band lacked diversity...You can read between the lines....

It certainly seems that way.

Shelby sang the hell out of Misty Blue, but I do agree that it is time for all of them to go Plus she is making sistas look bad with that baldness Get a wig girl!

eireboy34 said:

it's the mojo...

Concert-goers worldwide each year continually disagree with you. Which is why you can't define mojo without vague subjectivistic projections about how you think Prince should act and sound and play music. If you dislike where he's taken his music and his musicianship thats fine, you can take it or leave it. Thats his choice. He choses to blow people away without all the pomp and glam of the past. But to say "we" all know what you're projecting, doesn't hold up.

nursev said:

Shelby sang the hell out of Misty Blue, but I do agree that it is time for all of them to go Plus she is making sistas look bad with that baldness Get a wig girl!

actually, I'm a "sista" and I love that she shaved her head and liberated herself from society's image of a beautiful blk women needing to have hair of a certain type- NO WEAVE, NO EXTENSIONS, NO WIG, NO RELAXER, straight BALD and BEAUTIFUL- live it, love it, embrace it

Stop w/the personal attacks people, instead of forming a negative opinion about others, be in search of how to improve yourselves

Its one thing to have an opinion about the band since you paid to see a show but the personal attacks are just lame.

[Edited 7/30/10 10:08am]

WisdomNLove said:

nursev said:

Shelby sang the hell out of Misty Blue, but I do agree that it is time for all of them to go Plus she is making sistas look bad with that baldness Get a wig girl!

actually, I'm a "sista" and I love that she shaved her head and liberated herself from society's image of a beautiful blk women needing to have hair of a certain type- NO WEAVE, NO EXTENSIONS, NO WIG, NO RELAXER, straight BALD and BEAUTIFUL- live it, love it, embrace it

Stop w/the personal attacks people, instead of forming a negative opinion about other, be in search of how to improve yourselves

Its one thing to have an opinion about the band since you paid to see a show but the personal attacks are just lame.

[Edited 7/30/10 10:07am]

I don't like it and...Nobody mentioned weave. I wouldn't tell anybody to wear weave it's terrible! Unless there is some reason that she cut her hair the shit is ugly! Like that or not! Actually I love her voice it is beautiful, but I do feel it is time for a change.

WisdomNLove said:

nursev said:

Shelby sang the hell out of Misty Blue, but I do agree that it is time for all of them to go Plus she is making sistas look bad with that baldness Get a wig girl!

actually, I'm a "sista" and I love that she shaved her head and liberated herself from society's image of a beautiful blk women needing to have hair of a certain type- NO WEAVE, NO EXTENSIONS, NO WIG, NO RELAXER, straight BALD and BEAUTIFUL- live it, love it, embrace it

Stop w/the personal attacks people, instead of forming a negative opinion about others, be in search of how to improve yourselves

Its one thing to have an opinion about the band since you paid to see a show but the personal attacks are just lame.

[Edited 7/30/10 10:08am]

Absolutely agree. Thanks for saying that. If Shelby is comfortable with her looks and who she is an individual, then she needs no one's permission to "be." We are all entitled to our opinions of course, and we don't have to like the same things about a person, but we also don't have a right to tell someone how they should wear their clothes, comb their hair or look according to our own personal tastes.

[Edited 7/30/10 10:24am]

2elijah said:

WisdomNLove said:

actually, I'm a "sista" and I love that she shaved her head and liberated herself from society's image of a beautiful blk women needing to have hair of a certain type- NO WEAVE, NO EXTENSIONS, NO WIG, NO RELAXER, straight BALD and BEAUTIFUL- live it, love it, embrace it

Stop w/the personal attacks people, instead of forming a negative opinion about others, be in search of how to improve yourselves

Its one thing to have an opinion about the band since you paid to see a show but the personal attacks are just lame.

[Edited 7/30/10 10:08am]

Absolutely agree. Thanks for saying that. If Shelby is comfortable with her looks and who she is an individual, then she needs no one's permission to "be."

That's cool too-wasn't looking for any one's agreement with my statement. It is my opinion and that's all. I'm not fond of it and I am a Black woman Really couldn't care less about the rest of this shit-People can do what they want. But I do feel that if you are in the public eye you should at least give a shit about your appearance. It does matter.

WisdomNLove said:

nursev said:

Shelby sang the hell out of Misty Blue, but I do agree that it is time for all of them to go Plus she is making sistas look bad with that baldness Get a wig girl!

actually, I'm a "sista" and I love that she shaved her head and liberated herself from society's image of a beautiful blk women needing to have hair of a certain type- NO WEAVE, NO EXTENSIONS, NO WIG, NO RELAXER, straight BALD and BEAUTIFUL- live it, love it, embrace it

Stop w/the personal attacks people, instead of forming a negative opinion about others, be in search of how to improve yourselves

Its one thing to have an opinion about the band since you paid to see a show but the personal attacks are just lame.

[Edited 7/30/10 10:08am]

nursev said:

2elijah said:

Absolutely agree. Thanks for saying that. If Shelby is comfortable with her looks and who she is an individual, then she needs no one's permission to "be."

That's cool too-wasn't looking for any one's agreement with my statement. It is my opinion and that's all. I'm not fond of it and I am a Black woman Really couldn't care less about the rest of this shit-People can do what they want. But I do feel that if you are in the public eye you should at least give a shit about your appearance. It does matter.

Sure, you're entitled to your opinion, and my comment was not targetting you personally, as you have a right to not like it, but apparently it seems Shelby is comfortable with the choice she made of shaving her hair off. We don't know why she chose to do so, and I don't feel she has to answer to other women or anyone else, as to why she chose to shave her hair off. She is a talented singer, with a strong, soulful voice, and I don't think her hair or how she wears it has anything to do with her talent as an artist or her character as a human being.

[Edited 7/30/10 10:35am]

WisdomNLove said:

nursev said:

Shelby sang the hell out of Misty Blue, but I do agree that it is time for all of them to go Plus she is making sistas look bad with that baldness Get a wig girl!

actually, I'm a "sista" and I love that she shaved her head and liberated herself from society's image of a beautiful blk women needing to have hair of a certain type- NO WEAVE, NO EXTENSIONS, NO WIG, NO RELAXER, straight BALD and BEAUTIFUL- live it, love it, embrace it

Stop w/the personal attacks people, instead of forming a negative opinion about others, be in search of how to improve yourselves

Its one thing to have an opinion about the band since you paid to see a show but the personal attacks are just lame.

[Edited 7/30/10 10:08am]

Exactly!

I'm sure she feels very liberated and has a sense of freedom for it i think any women. More power to Shelby.

errant said:

laurarichardson said:

"They add more soul and multiple layers to performances/recordings. And I'm sure they're even better Live" That is the problem lots of people on this board cannot stand soul music or souful singing.

Well, I can. And I love that type of music. But the whole point of Prince is that that formula was pretty stale by the time he came along. He mixed it up, turned it on its head, and made it into something new. For Aretha Franklin or Larry Graham or whoever to do that kind of thing is fine, it's great, it's what they do, it's what they did, it's what made them who they are. To have Prince doign it almost exclusively, INSTEAD of doing what it is that HE can do, what he did, what made him who he is, feels like a major step backward for him. At the very least, he's coasting.

His main influnce is "soul" music to me not rock. He grew up in the black community and played piano in his local church. Soul is a big part of his music and if anything he is one of the last guys putting it out there instead of completly selling out like a lot of RnB artist that cross over to pop/rock and never go back to soul. We really need a whole thread about this topic.

Since I'm not in the UK and I had to get 20Ten via um... other methods... I don't have anything that tells me who's singing whut. Who are the chicks singing on Laydown and Compassion? Are these the girls u guys don't like. I'm so old school so if it ain't Wendy and Lisa and maybe Rosie Gaines I ain't interested. I'm TRYING to be open minded, but P's track record with background/backup chicks has wubbed me the wong way. I just... ugh. Yeah. I don't wanna keep him in a Purple Rain box forever, I personally love 20Ten and 3121 and Musicology... I just think P hasn't had a really tight ass band since the early 80s with Dez and then with W&L. Something's missing... y'all know what I mean.

[Edited 7/30/10 18:08pm]

laurarichardson said:

He grew up in the black community and played piano in his local church.

A black community in Minneapolis in the 60s and 70s, are you sure?

.

Isabell said:

laurarichardson said:

He grew up in the black community and played piano in his local church.

A black community in Minneapolis in the 60s and 70s, are you sure?

.

Having parents who grew up there in the 60s & 70s with a HEAP of other black families in Minneapolis, I'd say yes, Laura is correct.

Harlepolis said:

Isabell said:

A black community in Minneapolis in the 60s and 70s, are you sure?

.

Having parents who grew up there in the 60s & 70s with a HEAP of other black families in Minneapolis, I'd say yes, Laura is correct.

Ok!

Isabell said:

laurarichardson said:

He grew up in the black community and played piano in his local church.

A black community in Minneapolis in the 60s and 70s, are you sure?

.

It may not have been a large population of blacks living there in the 60s/70s, but black people were lving there at that time.

[Edited 7/30/10 18:25pm]

2elijah said:

Isabell said:

A black community in Minneapolis in the 60s and 70s, are you sure?

.

It may not have been a large population of blacks living there in the 60s/70s, but black people were lving there at that time.

[Edited 7/30/10 18:25pm]

That is actually true my ex girlfriend was born & grow up there and she is black.....

eireboy34 said:

ANewCreation777 said:

opinions are like assholes....everybody has one!

Do ya' thang Prince.

Hi Hater!!

"Opinions are like assholes"

Wow! We've NEVER had that one on the org before!!

Give us some more of your wisdom!!!!

The mind is like a parachute; it works much better when it's open.

laurarichardson said:

errant said:

Well, I can. And I love that type of music. But the whole point of Prince is that that formula was pretty stale by the time he came along. He mixed it up, turned it on its head, and made it into something new. For Aretha Franklin or Larry Graham or whoever to do that kind of thing is fine, it's great, it's what they do, it's what they did, it's what made them who they are. To have Prince doign it almost exclusively, INSTEAD of doing what it is that HE can do, what he did, what made him who he is, feels like a major step backward for him. At the very least, he's coasting.

His main influnce is "soul" music to me not rock. He grew up in the black community and played piano in his local church. Soul is a big part of his music and if anything he is one of the last guys putting it out there instead of completly selling out like a lot of RnB artist that cross over to pop/rock and never go back to soul. We really need a whole thread about this topic.

Got no problem with his soul or r&b or Prince's influences or him doing those types of songs.

My point is he's no longer doing a "Prince" show, but the kind of show that his influences were doing the decade before he transformed soul and r&b music and performances into something else.

As far as live performance, he's turned into the equivalent of Lenny Kravitz. Instead of synthesizing his influences into something on the next level, he's just regurgitating them.