This has come up more than a few times over the years among other musicians who are friends of mine so I'll ask it here. Who do ya'll think is better? Both are brilliant pocket players and both are from the school of Jimmy Nolen (James Brown's famed guitarist). When I think of P's playing, I think of Controversy, Hello, Lady Cab Driver, etc. BUT, when I think of Roger, man...I think of More Bounce, So Ruff, etc. I GOTTA go with Roger on this one, ya'll. Who do u think?

Damn, now I know there are some folks out there that digs Roger and P's playing. I don't know where Pali is cuz I know HE would post on this. Same as funkpill, vain and my boy Spyz. Spyz will be in on this in the afternoon, I reckon.

Prince's more varied musical styles lends itself to different rhythm guitar playing styles.

The More Bounce vibe, though cool, gets old quick.


Vote goes to Prince for breadth.


tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...dID=182431

theAudience said:

Aaah, good points. And I totally agree witcha as far as P's more varied. BUT Aud, man, look...I can listen to just the breakdown of Roger cuttin it up on "So Ruff' forever. When it's just the guitar and drums? Man, come on. Old?! Nah, That shit is sooo funky. Cold blooded funky, u know. I get whiplash everytime I listen to that shit! But again, I DO know what you're saying.

ahhhhh MAN!!!! Now this is a TOUGH one. Can I say Jimmy Nolen?? (lol). Hmmmm.
Prince was always tight on the rhythm guitar but something about Roger's licks on "So Tuff" and "More Bounce" just do something for me. And since "D.M.S.R" to me kinda rips off "More Boune"..I'm gonna roll with Roger.

P always stretched out on guitar whether it was lead, rhythm, electric, acoustic, etc, but Roger was a little more focused w/ his rhythm playing on his cuts.

SPYZFAN1 said:

Yep, also I've ALWAYS thought that P bit off of Roger's rhythm guitar on More Bounce on the cut "Controversy".

Don't y'all make me force you into repeated listenings of Illusion, Coma, Pimp & Circumstance.

Super funky, economical and harmonized.


tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...dID=182431

Do It Roger kills me eveytime I hear that guitar. I haven't heard P play anything like that.

Roger is a much better guitar player then people think he is. When I saw him in concert, he broke out into some serious blues. He tore it up. Later on as a joke he played the theme to the Beverly Hillbillies. He played it note for note exactly the way it sounded. As for the comparisons between him and Prince, Roger is definitely the funkier of the two. His licks on "More Bounce", "So Ruff So Tuff" and "Dance Floor" are some of the best ever recorded. Most of Prince's Rhythm Guitar is buried back in the mix. But I do like his work on " Controversey" Sexuality" "1999" "New Power Generation" and "Sexy Dancer".

Now this is a dream topic

I'll have to call it a draw - they're both funky as hell. Plus, both of them can kick out some mean leads as well.

"Controversy"="More Bounce" imho. Classic guitar funk.

I wonder if they ever jammed together while they were on tour. Would've been something to hear and see...

I'm gonna go with Prince, just cause I've seen him stretch out with some nasty rhythm live in concert--then again, I never saw Roger live....


...
[Edited 1/30/06 21:09pm]

paligap said:

I'm going to go with Roger for pocket alone. He had some the funkiest/ nastiest guitar licks I've ever heard. And it was always way up front in the mix. He could play just about anything.


Many don't know this but that's Roger on guitar -- Funkadelic's Funk Gets Stronger with Sly Stone.

I don't know. I'm more into Roger's funky bass than anything else.

theAudience said:

I beg the differ my friend..

That's one groove I never get tired of....

Plus, that's Bootsy on the rhythm...

Even tho' Prince is underrated as a great guitarist...period,

I have to give the rhythm to brotha' Troutman..

Seen this brotha' in concert and it blew me away...

He played 'More Bounce' as if it was brand new..


And he rocked 'Do It, Roger'....


He came behind where we were sitting and performed George Benson's

'Breezin'..


I remember hollering out, "Get down Roger!!" to him...
[Edited 2/1/06 1:01am]

Stymie said:

The Unreleased version of Slave to the system is a direct lift from Do it roger..

1st of all let's acknowledge that both of these geniuses are SEVERELY underrated not just as guitarists but musicians, and could still play circles, triangles, and trapezoids around most of these no count musicians 2day...

prince-
sign o' the times
alphabet st
i'm yours
shy
letitgo
uptown
the most beautiful girl in the world
when u were mine
i wanna be ur lover
kiss
partyman
777-9311
the walk

roger-
heartbreaker
everybody get up
breakthrough
love inc.
take me back
who-la-boola
be alright
i wanna be your man
play your guitar,brother roger
doo wa ditty (blow that thing)
love you anyway (it's dayton but it's got roger's prints all over that rhythm)
[Edited 1/31/06 6:34am]

hm, TOUGH question!

they both have about the same amount of
BRILLIANT SKILL & ABILITY
on the guitar..
this much is plainly obvious.


to me, ROGER is a slightly better RHYTHM guitar player ("so ruff, so tuff", "more bounce" & others), & I think it helps his case because his funk jams (like the 2 mentioned in parynths) are SO FUNKY, his rhythm guitar playing adds to the FUNKINESS of songs & shows how GOOD his rhythm guitar playing is. then again, Prince too can play a mean rhythm guitar - "lady cab driver" & "controversy" just off the top of my head are easy examples.

then (to take this thread & my post a step further) I would say that Prince is probably a slightly better "rock guitar" player. I mean, from the solos of "why you wanna treat me so bad" & "computer blue" to "let's go crazy" & "interactive" & countless others. similar to what I said about Roger, most of the rock-oriented songs Prince has done- they are very good & Prince's rock guitar playing fits into those songs well & they showcase his skill as a rock guitarist. STILL, Roger has shown that he can "rock out" when he wants to - the guitar solo on the album version of "dance floor" - while not "spectacular" - is not chopped liver either. plus, with Roger's love of THE BLUES, he knows how to tear off a nice blues-rock riff.


both Roger & Prince - in concert & on record - have shown that they play various styles of guitar VERY WELL, obviously a tribute to their diverse talents.

so if I were going to hire a rhythm guitarist, I would be doing GREAT to get either Roger or Prince.. because BOTH play rhythm guitar VERY WELL..
but I give a VERY SLIGHT edge to Roger Troutman because his funk jams in general are SO FUNKY that they give his rhythm guitar playing a GREAT "platform", his rhythm guitar playing sounds that much better.

great thread, blackguitaristz (as usual)
& many good comments here too.

theAudience said:

Oh oh Spyz, Aud is comin' at us with those headphones!...

ThePunisher said:

Agreed. Roger was a VERY underrated lead guitarist as well. I've seen Roger three times live, the first being when he and Zapp opened for P on the Controversy tour along with The Time in Feb 82. Later, I seen Roger/Zapp and Roger would bring the house down with his rock leads. He showcased this on recordings such as "Itchin' For Your Twitch", "Heartbreaker", etc.

JesseDezz said:

Aaaah J.D. Come on player!

JesseDezz said:

I've ALWAYS wondered that. Would have loved to have heard them cut something together during the the early to mid 80's. That shit would have been wicked.

paligap said:

Man... u and Aud, ...I tell ya...(smile) Seriously, I wish u could have seen Roger live. I've mentioned this before. My mother and myself had the pleasure of meeting Roger at Tower Records on Sunset in Hollywood about 7 months before he died such a wrongful death. He was out here working on some stuff with Dr. Dre. He was so gracious and nice. We talked for about 15 minutes. I busted out my card on him and told him to call me so we can work on something together!

mltijchr said:

Thanx and great post.

If we're talking rhythm only, then I would say Roger. His rhythm playing is obviously legendary on the zapp hits (more bounce, do it roger, dance floor, i can make you dance, etc, etc) but ALSO there's some VERY slept on Roger solo tracks. I just managed to get "Bridging The Gap" on CD... I think someone already mentioned "Who-La-Boola" off this album, but also "Everybody Get Up" is a classic to me (check out the rhythm he plays on this one, its bad ass)....

Also "It Doesn't Really Matter" showcases some awesome and funky playing (it's too low in the mix though, shoulda been louder! )

Prince's rhythm playing shouldn't go understated though, don't forget about 777-9311 y'all!

Prince is a better all round guitarist though.
[Edited 1/31/06 12:01pm]
[Edited 1/31/06 12:23pm]

Pffff, this is really hard! I am sorry but I just can't choose. I agree with Thumparello that it was nice that Roger always had his guitar up front in the mix. And More Bounce To The Ounce is funkier than anything recorded by Prince. But Prince is just sooo damn good too. I love the stuff on tracks like Controversy, 777-9311, and let's not forget Nasty Girl! And what about 1+1+1=3 from the Alladin DVD? You can't mess with that! So I call it even.

blackguitaristz said:

ICP&C - One rhythm part in the left channel and a harmonized rhythm part in the right.


tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...dID=182431

funkpill said:

I hear you. You've got the advantage here as i've never seen Roger.


tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...dID=182431

blackguitaristz said:

Like Brother Gap, i've never seen Roger live. Maybe i'd have a different opinion.
I'd still probably give it to Prince for the wider variety of styles.

Cool that you got to meet Roger.

tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...dID=182431

I don't feel qualified to answer this question properly. I only know that I enjoy them both immensely. Prince is a great guitarist - we know this. Sadly, to the casual listener, guitar ability isn't something that's going to be front and center when they think of or discuss Roger: it's the talkbox.