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Thread started 04/23/19 10:28pm

drfunkentstein

Where did P's Screams and Howls come from

I really would like to know because there was really no one from the 70s doing anything close to the emotionals we heard in Computer Blue/Beautiful ones/Baby I'm a star etc. That we can point to as an influence for P. And keep in mind Axl rose was not to come around until 1987 nearly ten years into P's Career (I mention him because I honestly think only him and P pull off rock-ish screaming well tbh, people can argue me on that but yeah my thoughts) Also the fact that his technique doing it was SO GOOD. How did he come up with that? Let alone deliver it with perfect technique? is there a secret influence we are missing?

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Reply #1 posted 04/23/19 10:34pm

rdhull

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John Lennon’s primal scream therapy that he incorporated into his music early in the 70s was brought up several times when discussing Purple Rain. It’s also of note he took on the screaming as part of his take on the rock bands raw screams
And yells performed by Robert Plant and Steven Tyler
[Edited 4/23/19 22:35pm]
"Climb in my fur."
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Reply #2 posted 04/23/19 11:22pm

PliablyPurple

He's my favorite screamer in rock. Damn, dude had range razz. Axl doesn't come close, imo. I do like me some Axl, tho. Wore the fuck outta their, um, tapes back in the day. Enjoyed Cobain as a screamer, too, but Prince is the one.

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Reply #3 posted 04/24/19 6:57am

poppys

Screamin' Jay Hawkins, 1950s.

"if you can't clap on the one, then don't clap at all"
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Reply #4 posted 04/24/19 7:23am

Romar71

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The thing with Prince, is that he had phenomenal control of his screams. He could scream on key perfectly.

[Edited 4/24/19 7:25am]

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Reply #5 posted 04/24/19 7:30am

Krystalkisses

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Deep inner pain and trauma.
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Reply #6 posted 04/24/19 8:37am

Seahorsie

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Krystalkisses said:

Deep inner pain and trauma.

yeahthat
Good morning children...take a look out your window, the world is falling...
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Reply #7 posted 04/24/19 9:01am

Genesia

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Romar71 said:

The thing with Prince, is that he had phenomenal control of his screams. He could scream on key perfectly.


Yup - he always held a note under the scream.

We don’t mourn artists because we knew them. We mourn them because they helped us know ourselves.
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Reply #8 posted 04/24/19 2:20pm

PeteSilas

it's cool how he went from saying he had "no power" to screaming, some of the best in rock history, by the 1999 album. So expressive and haunting, i remember hearing the screams in something in the water and thinking how it sounded a little Indian, definitely wild.

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Reply #9 posted 04/24/19 3:23pm

thisisreece

1999 is the album where Prince's voice really comes into its own. It's not hyperbolic for me to say that it was the scream on 'Free' that originally made me a Prince fan. The screams on that album bore inside of you. They are nothing short of awe inspiring and they feature on the record in abundance. From the 1999 album it's like some final unknown faction of the Prince persona fits into place, like he knows he's stuck lightning, and it's echoed in these dramatic vocal displays, which are just so damn powerful. The haunting screams 'Something in the Water' cut like ice. Andit's not just the screams themselves, it's how the songs are tailored around them. One of my favourite moments in Prince's entire career comes as the album bows out with impassioned roar at the end of 'International Lover', followed by a pitter of handclaps and Prince's reverb-heavy vocals ('baby do you love, do you...') drifting away in a swoop of euphoria.

Hundalasiliah!
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Reply #10 posted 04/25/19 6:57pm

woogiebear

Listen 2 Betty davis' "Dedicated To The Press". About 3 Minutes in, U will get one of Ur Answers...

cool

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Reply #11 posted 04/25/19 7:07pm

KingSausage

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Little Richard, yo.
"Drop that stereo before I blow your Goddamn nuts off, asshole!"
-Eugene Tackleberry
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Reply #12 posted 04/25/19 8:27pm

poppys

KingSausage said:

Little Richard, yo.


yasss! and LR's inspiration -

See the source image

"if you can't clap on the one, then don't clap at all"
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Reply #13 posted 04/25/19 8:35pm

Shockadelica9

JAMES BROWN...end of thread lol
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Reply #14 posted 04/26/19 1:19am

PeteSilas

esquerita was Little Richard's mentor but I don't recall his singing as being all that good. I think the imagery and the piano playing were what little richard got from him.

poppys said:

KingSausage said:

Little Richard, yo.


yasss! and LR's inspiration -

See the source image

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Reply #15 posted 04/26/19 1:20am

PeteSilas

KingSausage said:

Little Richard, yo.

ya, for a lot of his screams but Little Richard always had Joy in his voice, Prince could unsettle you and make you wonder "is the man alright?"

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Reply #16 posted 04/26/19 2:45am

KingSausage

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PeteSilas said:



KingSausage said:


Little Richard, yo.

ya, for a lot of his screams but Little Richard always had Joy in his voice, Prince could unsettle you and make you wonder "is the man alright?"




True.

Maybe Prince picked up some tortured screaming from Ian Gillan.
"Drop that stereo before I blow your Goddamn nuts off, asshole!"
-Eugene Tackleberry
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Reply #17 posted 04/26/19 6:11am

poppys

Tortured and even scary? Now we're back to Screamin' Jay Hawkins.

"if you can't clap on the one, then don't clap at all"
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Reply #18 posted 04/26/19 6:30am

StrangeButTrue

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The bedroom

if it was just a dream, call me a dreamer 2
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Reply #19 posted 04/26/19 7:05am

poppys

StrangeButTrue said:

The bedroom

falloff

"if you can't clap on the one, then don't clap at all"
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Reply #20 posted 04/26/19 8:27am

RJOrion

Satan
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Reply #21 posted 04/28/19 4:22pm

hardwork

Sometime in the early to mid 90s, Prince as doing a show somewhere in LA, and the Baka Boyz on Power 106 (radio morning show) held a contest - people had to call in and do their best impersonation of a Prince scream live over the air and whoever's was judged the best got free tickets. As is well known, there a several directions a potential free ticket winner could go in in an attempt to come out on top in a contest like this. Suffice it say, the local talent in LA is second to none, and it was some seriously funny shit. I wish that bit was on YouTube somewhere. Classic 90s LA!

[Edited 4/28/19 16:23pm]

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Reply #22 posted 04/29/19 12:20am

Astasheiks

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hardwork said:

Sometime in the early to mid 90s, Prince as doing a show somewhere in LA, and the Baka Boyz on Power 106 (radio morning show) held a contest - people had to call in and do their best impersonation of a Prince scream live over the air and whoever's was judged the best got free tickets. As is well known, there a several directions a potential free ticket winner could go in in an attempt to come out on top in a contest like this. Suffice it say, the local talent in LA is second to none, and it was some seriously funny shit. I wish that bit was on YouTube somewhere. Classic 90s LA!

[Edited 4/28/19 16:23pm]

razz lol cool I bet that was funny. If anybody finds this on yt let us know.... biggrin

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Reply #23 posted 04/30/19 12:40am

CalhounSq

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woogiebear said:

Listen 2 Betty davis' "Dedicated To The Press". About 3 Minutes in, U will get one of Ur Answers...


cool


clapping I heard this recently & was like, WHOA!! biggrin
heart prince I never met you, but I LOVE you & I will forever!! Thank you for being YOU - my little Princey, the best to EVER do it prince heart
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Reply #24 posted 04/30/19 7:42am

laytonian

Voice training.
He was able to use his natural voice and controlled screams after voice study.

Welcome to "the org", laytonian… come bathe with me.
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Reply #25 posted 05/01/19 12:19pm

MarshallStacks

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His own take on James Brown's screams and grunts, perhaps combined with knowing about the theory of the primal scream.

I always say, with Prince as a performer, almost everything boils back down to his own personal synthesis of James Brown, Sly Stone and Jimi Hendrix lol cool.

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Reply #26 posted 05/03/19 8:09am

masaba

I feel like a lot of you guys underrate Prince's obsession with James Brown. And Sly to a lesser extent.
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Reply #27 posted 05/03/19 8:53am

poppys

Part of it is age. People don't know where James Brown's screams came from either. Some of the rockers being named all were influenced by 50's artists. Probably a natural thing.

Louis Armstrong was influenced by Buddy Bolden. Legendary artist with no known recordings. Most people don't even have a clue of that so they use Armstrong as a baseline. There is a movie coming out about Bolden so more people will make that connection. But if there was no movie he would be just as obscure and still just as much of an influence for jazz buffs because Armstrong talked about him.

"if you can't clap on the one, then don't clap at all"
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Reply #28 posted 05/08/19 4:20pm

leadline

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God

"You always get the dream that you deserve, from what you value the most" -Prince 2013
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Reply #29 posted 05/09/19 6:18am

Grog

Shockadelica9 said:

JAMES BROWN...end of thread lol



This was my immediate reaction as well, but Little Richard and Sly make sense as well. How about church services also?

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