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Reply #90 posted 08/12/10 8:56am

sexyfunkystran
ge

ThreadBare said:

sexyfunkystrange said:

Actually, I may be inclined to agree with you on his tone being lost as well.

Youre right, there is more of that harsh over driven quality. I think i may have been referring more to his touch....more than his tone.

People here will say to listen to the SNL performance of Fury, or the Hall of FAme performance of My Guitar Gently Weeps, for proof of the contrary.

But those performances are perfect examples of what Im talking about.

One things that stands out particularly, are his scale runs.

They have become very sloppy. He just seems to double pick across the strings without really hitting the notes themselves.

Again one has to be a seasoned or professional guitarist to understand what Im saying. To an undiscerning fan, it simply may sound and LOOK great. Which is fine!

But to people who are seasoned guitarists, its our business to notice these things.

Thanks, SFS.

Yeah, Prince's stuff has gotten sloppy, in recent years. His tone sounds generic live, and over-processed and cartoony on studio projects.

I wonder if it's related at all to the switch to Strats (the neck radius difference, the unimpressive tremolo work). It hasn't been a good move, IMO. A lot of times, they look too big for him. Maybe the smaller-scaled clouds with their more-familiar neck radius enabled him to be neater, faster and more comfortable.

I'd also love to know whether he's using stock, ceramic pickups in his strats. The overdriven sound isn't articulate at all. I'd like to hear him try out Kinmans or Fralins -- a more boutique approach to uncover the nuances of his playing might force him to be neater, too.

You know thats funny. I noticed that disproportionate guitar to guitar player thing going on with Prince and the Strats too! LOL

But thats not the problem. The playing is just uninspired and generic.

The effects and his emphasis on long bends of high notes keep the regular listner excited, but professional guitarists will be able to observe whats going on.

This is not to put Prince down at all, ...but to bring attention to the fact that his playing has shifted from playing very inspired and unique stuff in the 80's and early 90's to sounding standard and generic nowadays.

His use of the whammy bar, I dont get either. He could be using it to control the notes in so many interesting ways, like Eddie Van Halen used to. But instead he just basically uses it for that kind of tacky "hair band" exaggerated vibrato style.

Now, all those criticisms aside, I dont really agree with your opinion of John Mayer.

His playing I personally would not consider "beast"-like in any way at all.

I definately pick up on that youthful energy and enthusiasm in his playing, and he is a solid player.

But his licks are strictly by the book Blues. Nothing more.

He really does have a really good sounding singing voice though.

I also think your comparison of these two IMO, is very mismatched.

Mayer's overall playing style is minimally processed, reserved and tasteful.

Prince's on the other hand is heavily processed, over the top and showy.

They are both coming from two very different approaches, both in presentation and in sound. Its a mismatched comparison.

Even more, I would put Prince's guitar work in the mid to late 80's among the best of all time. Mayer was never in that leauge. At least not yet.

All this being said, in the end, Im not that impressed with either of their playing nowadays. Or actually ANY guitar player nowadays either. Nobody in pop music seems to be playing anything unique or interesting anymore.

[Edited 8/12/10 9:05am]

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Reply #91 posted 08/12/10 9:07am

funkman777

The funny thing about Prince and Mayer is that what they put out on albums typically doesn't even begin to showcase their true talent as musicians. What we see in aftershows and other live performances from Prince is unbelievable compared to his commercial albums (which is why his vault and bootleg stuff is in such demand). Mayer did put out his trio album which gave us more of a taste of his true guitar talent. Either way, Prince is a far more versatile guitarist between the two particularly when it comes to different genres of music.

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Reply #92 posted 08/12/10 9:10am

Detroit

I think it's difficult to compare the two unless you're familiar with their entire bodies of work.

Prince has distinct sounds and styles. I say "sounds" plural because he doesn't have just one distinct sound. He has many. For instance, I love his jazzy/bluesy guitar solos in songs like "She Spoke 2 Me" and "Xogenous". His recent guitar work to me sounds somewhat different than his early work because he favors Strats over the Tele and his custom axes now. However, it still sounds like Prince.

As for John Mayer, I have to admit that I haven't heard much of his work. What I have heard tells me he's a talented guy. I've heard his more popular cuts but that's about it. I thought his rendition of "Human Nature" at MJ's funeral was really good. However, if I closed my eyes and listened to him play, I wouldn't know it was him. I know Prince when I hear him, though.

Check out my tribute to Prince
http://www.soundclick.com...47524&q=hi
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Reply #93 posted 08/12/10 9:28am

ohYeeeeeah

sexyfunkystrange said:



But thats not the problem. The playing is just uninspired and generic.

The effects and his emphasis on long bends of high notes keep the regular listner excited, but professional guitarists will be able to observe whats going on.

This is not to put Prince down at all, ...but to bring attention to the fact that his playing has shifted from playing very inspired and unique stuff in the 80's and early 90's to sounding standard and generic nowadays.

...

Now, all those criticisms aside, I dont really agree with your opinion of John Mayer.

His playing I personally would not consider "beast"-like in any way at all.

I definately pick up on that youthful energy and enthusiasm in his playing, and he is a solid player.

...

All this being said, in the end, Im not that impressed with either of their playing nowadays. Or actually ANY guitar player nowadays either. Nobody in pop music seems to be playing anything unique or interesting anymore.


lol

Man I really hope you are tying to be funny. If not, you really are an arrogant show off who is talking BS.

This is plain silly. Every expert out there and every music lover have noticed how drastically his guitar playing has improved the last 4 years. But there have to be one show off like you to spit on the way he plays.

I'd pay a fortune to see you side by side with P on stage. We'd have a great time to see you being ridiculized by the man.

What is extroardinary is your last sentence: " All this being said, in the end, Im not that impressed with either of their playing nowadays. Or actually ANY guitar player nowadays either. Nobody in pop music seems to be playing anything unique or interesting anymore."

lol

There is no one good enough for you out there? Bloody hell. We still have Clapton, Winwood, Beck, Satriani, Santana just to name of few. How can a real music lover not be fond of these guys?!

I've rarely read such arrogant shit on forums dedicated to music before yours.

Congrats.

[Edited 8/12/10 9:29am]

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Reply #94 posted 08/12/10 9:38am

sro100

avatar

I just watched a video of Mayer performing "Little Red Corvette."

I'm not aware The Artist has performed any Mayer compositions.

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Reply #95 posted 08/12/10 10:20am

Militant

avatar

moderator

I definitely agree that Prince's guitar playing has gotten WAY better over the last decade. Montreaux last year is a perfect example of that.

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Reply #96 posted 08/12/10 10:31am

sexyfunkystran
ge

ohYeeeeeah said:

sexyfunkystrange said:


But thats not the problem. The playing is just uninspired and generic.

The effects and his emphasis on long bends of high notes keep the regular listner excited, but professional guitarists will be able to observe whats going on.

This is not to put Prince down at all, ...but to bring attention to the fact that his playing has shifted from playing very inspired and unique stuff in the 80's and early 90's to sounding standard and generic nowadays.

...

Now, all those criticisms aside, I dont really agree with your opinion of John Mayer.

His playing I personally would not consider "beast"-like in any way at all.

I definately pick up on that youthful energy and enthusiasm in his playing, and he is a solid player.

...

All this being said, in the end, Im not that impressed with either of their playing nowadays. Or actually ANY guitar player nowadays either. Nobody in pop music seems to be playing anything unique or interesting anymore.


lol

Man I really hope you are tying to be funny. If not, you really are an arrogant show off who is talking BS.

This is plain silly. Every expert out there and every music lover have noticed how drastically his guitar playing has improved the last 4 years. But there have to be one show off like you to spit on the way he plays.

I'd pay a fortune to see you side by side with P on stage. We'd have a great time to see you being ridiculized by the man.

What is extroardinary is your last sentence: " All this being said, in the end, Im not that impressed with either of their playing nowadays. Or actually ANY guitar player nowadays either. Nobody in pop music seems to be playing anything unique or interesting anymore."

lol

There is no one good enough for you out there? Bloody hell. We still have Clapton, Winwood, Beck, Satriani, Santana just to name of few. How can a real music lover not be fond of these guys?!

I've rarely read such arrogant shit on forums dedicated to music before yours.

Congrats.

[Edited 8/12/10 9:29am]

Why make a personal attack????????

These are merely my own opinions and critiques. You sound as if you are calling me arrogant just because i have the technical knowledge (which anyone can learn) to explain in detail exactly why i feel the way i do.

By the way I said players in "pop music".

Satriani, Beck, Clapton, etc, do not operate in the current "pop" music / Top 40 world.

Their marks and innovations were made decades ago when they were hungry and full of fire, not today.

Hell, Beck and Santana in the 70's were damn near untouchable.

TODAY, .....no one in pop music is playing with that kind of passion and freshness.

Not Prince. Not John Mayer. Not anybody that Ive heard lately.

Just my personal observation.

[Edited 8/12/10 10:42am]

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Reply #97 posted 08/12/10 11:00am

jilljones

ThreadBare said:


<--- seasoned guitarist agreeing with you on the "fallen off" point. I'd even contend that the tone has degraded. His overdriven tone is often harsh to me. He hasn't had a distinct, trademark sound to me since he lost the "molten glass" tone I associate with his 1980s/cloud tone (part of the reason I have the SOTT pic in my original post). P's playing is pretty rote, these days.

OMG prince's tone from 87-89/90 was a legendary, one-of-a-kind, completely distinctive tone, I completely agree! he seems to get sick of his own guitar sound every few years and changes it radically; mostly I haven't dug his tone since he ironed out the IHMO nasty, non-distinct gold era symbol guitar tone for the emancipation era symbol tone. His strats IMHO are bastardized to the point of not really being strats. for me they're really alder (or ash as the case may be) clouds (which I think I remember hearing were solid maple, basically scaled down les pauls). I really dig, though, how in the past couple of years his albums showcase touches of his hall-of-fame worthy rhythm playing from the 80-84 years...however to my ears there's a a hair less originality/elasticity/slinkiness to his rhythm approach now which, perhaps ironically, serves to illustrate just how bad a mutha prince was on (still is but less so) rhythm guitar when he was in his ascent.

as to the topic at hand, JM and prince I think come from different places stylistically and do different things well, so I'm not sure its a useful comparison.

JM, IMHO, really knows his way around a guitar and excels in many styles. for my ears, he gets good tones and makes tasteful, rhythmically interesting, pleasing music. on the other hand, prince was and is one of the best rhythm guitar players to ever live and added significantly to the r&b rhythm playing lexicon. he took mid-late 70's funk era rhythm guitar and ran with it, made himself an avatar of that style. he eventually developed a lead tone and melodic approach which, while clearly referencing santana and hendrix (and what rock guitarist at this point doesn't at least in some fashion reference these giants?), was IMHO completely unique and original. that his approach to tone and playing may these days be said to be a bit derivative (of himself mostly! lmao) and less 'on edge' than in his heyday in my mind is a reminder about a particularly indelible reality of the universe as most of us experience it: use it or lose it. that is, I don't think we've seen the prince who breathes, sleeps and eats to make innovative, completely original music (on the guitar or otherwise) for 20 years or more. tHAt prince was only comparable to the legends of the instrument and to my knowledge there currently exists no document of JM's that I think any unbiased opinion would place in the same class.

[Edited 8/12/10 11:06am]

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Reply #98 posted 08/12/10 11:07am

NDRU

avatar

The criticism that Mayer is a SRV soundalike are totally valid to some degree (he has a tattoo of Stevie after all), though I think he goes beyond--not better beyond, but different beyond--that style in some of his rhythm playing.

The thing is, millions of guitar players try to nail the SRV tone and none of them do it. It is incredibly difficult to get it right, and Mayer does it. The things about the SRV tone are the incredible vibrato, and the light overdrive sound that most players can't work with--especially with a Strat (which always sounds thin in my hands for some reason). Most of us need to turn up the gain on our lead playing.

Mayer can jump onstage with Buddy Guy and deliver a convincing solo as easily as he can do a one man show on acoustic. Does that make him a genuine blues guy? no, he's the guy who wrote Daughters lol the douch who boasted about fucking movie stars. But it does make him a very good guitar player.

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Reply #99 posted 08/12/10 11:08am

ohYeeeeeah

sexyfunkystrange said:

Why make a personal attack????????

These are merely my own opinions and critiques. You sound as if you are calling me arrogant just because i have the technical knowledge (which anyone can learn) to explain in detail exactly why i feel the way i do.

By the way I said players in "pop music".

Satriani, Beck, Clapton, etc, do not operate in the current "pop" music / Top 40 world.

Their marks and innovations were made decades ago when they were hungry and full of fire, not today.

Hell, Beck and Santana in the 70's were damn near untouchable.

TODAY, .....no one in pop music is playing with that kind of passion and freshness.

Not Prince. Not John Mayer. Not anybody that Ive heard lately.

Just my personal observation.

[Edited 8/12/10 10:42am]

Yes you are arrogant. I'm a guitar player myself. And the way you despise the way Prince plays the guitar in 2010 is absolutely ridiculous. Your technical observations are totally wrong. When you mention his scale runs... Bloody hell, it's killing me. And then you are all over the way he played in the 80s... Basically when his guiitar skills were great but still a lot more limited than todays.

Were you at any of the Montreux shows ? NO

Were you at the Monte Carlo show ? NO

Were you at any of the recent gigs ? NO

Were you at La Cigale in october ? NO

And then you dare talking about the way he is playing live at the moment. This is insane. You base your judgement on what? Crap Youtube videos? Bad sounding bootlegs?

Everybody, I mean every music lover and musicians I have met the last few months have been amazed by his guitar skills lately! Everyone! And then there is you nobody knows shit about.

Prince has practiced the guitar like never in his life the last 6 years or so. He has mentioned he has fallen in love with the guitar all over again around 2003-2004. He has mentioned he has never played as well as he does today. Many Fans, music lovers and musicians who have witnessed his recent live performances have all said Prince has become an undeniable great guitar hero.

If you had been there in Montreux witnessing his absolute stunning guitar playing on Empty Room and Spanish Castle Magic, you would not write such BS. Believe me.

Can you invite us to listen to your music? Do you have a myspace webpage?

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Reply #100 posted 08/12/10 12:25pm

SmiggyG

avatar

No way!

JM is a fine guitar player no doubt. That said there are a lot of great guitar players out there that do not showcase their full talent. There are great rock guitarist, jazz guitarist, great blues, great rhythm, and great soloist etc.

Prince does it all at a level that others could wish for. He just gets better each year.

"Hey, I got the butta 4 ya muffin, honey.. I'm just 2 old 2 hold the knife!"
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Reply #101 posted 08/12/10 12:33pm

sexyfunkystran
ge

ohYeeeeeah said:

sexyfunkystrange said:

Why make a personal attack????????

These are merely my own opinions and critiques. You sound as if you are calling me arrogant just because i have the technical knowledge (which anyone can learn) to explain in detail exactly why i feel the way i do.

By the way I said players in "pop music".

Satriani, Beck, Clapton, etc, do not operate in the current "pop" music / Top 40 world.

Their marks and innovations were made decades ago when they were hungry and full of fire, not today.

Hell, Beck and Santana in the 70's were damn near untouchable.

TODAY, .....no one in pop music is playing with that kind of passion and freshness.

Not Prince. Not John Mayer. Not anybody that Ive heard lately.

Just my personal observation.

[Edited 8/12/10 10:42am]

Yes you are arrogant. I'm a guitar player myself. And the way you despise the way Prince plays the guitar in 2010 is absolutely ridiculous. Your technical observations are totally wrong. When you mention his scale runs... Bloody hell, it's killing me. And then you are all over the way he played in the 80s... Basically when his guiitar skills were great but still a lot more limited than todays.

Were you at any of the Montreux shows ? NO

Were you at the Monte Carlo show ? NO

Were you at any of the recent gigs ? NO

Were you at La Cigale in october ? NO

And then you dare talking about the way he is playing live at the moment. This is insane. You base your judgement on what? Crap Youtube videos? Bad sounding bootlegs?

Everybody, I mean every music lover and musicians I have met the last few months have been amazed by his guitar skills lately! Everyone! And then there is you nobody knows shit about.

Prince has practiced the guitar like never in his life the last 6 years or so. He has mentioned he has fallen in love with the guitar all over again around 2003-2004. He has mentioned he has never played as well as he does today. Many Fans, music lovers and musicians who have witnessed his recent live performances have all said Prince has become an undeniable great guitar hero.

If you had been there in Montreux witnessing his absolute stunning guitar playing on Empty Room and Spanish Castle Magic, you would not write such BS. Believe me.

Can you invite us to listen to your music? Do you have a myspace webpage?

The Montreux performance. Great theatrics, knocking down the mic stand and tossing the guitar and all.

But as far as playing, he was really doing nothing else except (as i mentioned a couple posts back)bending and sustaining one high note after another.

After another, after another, after another...etc.

Each one higher than the next! Over and over and over again.

I mean, thats all he did!

Against the epic sounding chord pattern of Empty Room, for example, all those bent high notes may have created a feeling of overall tension, but in terms guitar work on its own, there was nothing that was technically unique or spectatcular about it.

Again, just my opinion. If it made you and the rest of the audience happy and thrilled then THAT is what is important! As long as music, anybody's music, is making people happy and feeling good than the world is a better place.

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Reply #102 posted 08/12/10 12:34pm

Detroit

jilljones said:

OMG prince's tone from 87-89/90 was a legendary, one-of-a-kind, completely distinctive tone, I completely agree! he seems to get sick of his own guitar sound every few years and changes it radically; mostly I haven't dug his tone since he ironed out the IHMO nasty, non-distinct gold era symbol guitar tone for the emancipation era symbol tone. His strats IMHO are bastardized to the point of not really being strats. for me they're really alder (or ash as the case may be) clouds (which I think I remember hearing were solid maple, basically scaled down les pauls). I really dig, though, how in the past couple of years his albums showcase touches of his hall-of-fame worthy rhythm playing from the 80-84 years...however to my ears there's a a hair less originality/elasticity/slinkiness to his rhythm approach now which, perhaps ironically, serves to illustrate just how bad a mutha prince was on (still is but less so) rhythm guitar when he was in his ascent.

as to the topic at hand, JM and prince I think come from different places stylistically and do different things well, so I'm not sure its a useful comparison.

JM, IMHO, really knows his way around a guitar and excels in many styles. for my ears, he gets good tones and makes tasteful, rhythmically interesting, pleasing music. on the other hand, prince was and is one of the best rhythm guitar players to ever live and added significantly to the r&b rhythm playing lexicon. he took mid-late 70's funk era rhythm guitar and ran with it, made himself an avatar of that style. he eventually developed a lead tone and melodic approach which, while clearly referencing santana and hendrix (and what rock guitarist at this point doesn't at least in some fashion reference these giants?), was IMHO completely unique and original. that his approach to tone and playing may these days be said to be a bit derivative (of himself mostly! lmao) and less 'on edge' than in his heyday in my mind is a reminder about a particularly indelible reality of the universe as most of us experience it: use it or lose it. that is, I don't think we've seen the prince who breathes, sleeps and eats to make innovative, completely original music (on the guitar or otherwise) for 20 years or more. tHAt prince was only comparable to the legends of the instrument and to my knowledge there currently exists no document of JM's that I think any unbiased opinion would place in the same class.

[Edited 8/12/10 11:06am]

Great points... cool

Check out my tribute to Prince
http://www.soundclick.com...47524&q=hi
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Reply #103 posted 08/12/10 2:49pm

Alamine

Typical prince.org post, a white copycat frat dime a dozen blues guitar player, can of course school the "showy" black guitar player who has no technical skill, doesn't know what he is doing, unispired. GTFOH If you guys arent trying so hard to make Prince gay, you trying harder to devalue his muscianship with outlandish post as this.

Again the answer is no

Any bloke with half an ear knows that Prince has vastly improved on his instrument since the 80's. Then again too many of you are consumed with penis shots, hairdos and lawsuits.

[Edited 8/12/10 14:54pm]

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Reply #104 posted 08/12/10 3:20pm

Intense

avatar

JesusFreak said:

http://www.youtube.com/wa...ItWBwqLGMs

Dude Mayer has way more tricks up his sleave then Prince. Prince has the "wow" factor and showy tricks, where Mayer is more in depth in blues- he's schooled.

Heck Mayer spun circles around SLASH. He's a black horse alright

[Edited 8/11/10 11:43am]

wow, that was boring! (and completely compared to P's version in Montreux).

I have absolutely no knowledge of guitar, it's only my feeling, how the music touches me and the guitar playing in this vid hasn't touched me at all, Princes mostly does. And to not come across as boring myself, I just checked too many vids of John (esp. from the show live at Nokia theatre). It remains boring, Prince's guitar/music is so much different, not saying John doesn't play good but it's boring.

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Reply #105 posted 08/12/10 3:50pm

JonnyApplesauc
e

Alamine said:

Typical prince.org post, a white copycat frat dime a dozen blues guitar player, can of course school the "showy" black guitar player who has no technical skill, doesn't know what he is doing, unispired. GTFOH If you guys arent trying so hard to make Prince gay, you trying harder to devalue his muscianship with outlandish post as this.

Again the answer is no

Any bloke with half an ear knows that Prince has vastly improved on his instrument since the 80's. Then again too many of you are consumed with penis shots, hairdos and lawsuits.

[Edited 8/12/10 14:54pm]

A young angry white guy (Sly Stallone) resenting the loud flashy Black guy who could back it up (Muhammed Ali) is actaully how Rocky got written and Rock n Roll got stole but maybe some good will come out this like when Stallone finally matured, but I digress. I dont see why folx keep qualifying their answer by whipping out their resume. Its like a farmer getting baited into a duel w/ a gunfighter. I know music, I've been in bands, recorded and the whole nine and while I dont play guitar I can see and hear. Guitar has become like an extra appendix here lately for Prince. The more technical yall get the closer we get to the amount of acid rain that watered the grass that the tree his guitar was made out of affected the way the sound came off the strings. You have be an acid rain scientist to hear it though. Somebody said it, even he said hes embarrassed by some of his old playing.

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Reply #106 posted 08/12/10 3:50pm

BlackAdder7

no.

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Reply #107 posted 08/12/10 3:58pm

lotusboy

avatar

Hell to the No!

"Its flier to B hungry than fat"
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Reply #108 posted 08/12/10 4:23pm

EmancipationLo
ver

avatar

What John Mayer really can school Prince on is how to sing a version of Little Red Corvette which sounds fucking lazy, uninspired and boring - and how to sing some lower notes in the chorus because you can't hit the high ones. Mayers singing technique is awful, he presses out the notes and puts in a few Joe Cocker-type effects here and there so the average listener might think this is rock music.

I've heard Prince performing LRC live in Berlin in quite an unusual arrangement, and he would wipe the floor with that Mayer dude when it comes to singing this song.

Having said that: Have you listened to Stevie Salas? Now that is a great guitarist to me, and he can play Funk, Rock and Blues! That might be a competition for Prince, let Mayer-baby go back to play some lame college parties again, or provide the soundtrack for senior citizens' meetings on Sunday afternoon...

[Edited 8/12/10 16:35pm]

prince
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Reply #109 posted 08/12/10 7:02pm

ThreadBare

[I'm seeing a lot of references to race that I think are fairly troubling here. Is there some unwritten standard that says white guys aren't supposed to play the blues? A lot of my favorite blues musicians are white. They might not be John Lee Hooker or either of the Kings, but they've made significant contributions to music.

I've said it before, but it's obviously worth repeating on this thread: I've played with some mind-blowingly funky white musicians. Still do. I've played with some staggeringly horrid black blues musicians. I don't any more. lol

Reverse the colors in some of these statements, and some folks would be ready to complain to Ben.]

I'm appreciating the suggestion of other musicians on or beyond Prince's level. Keep 'em coming. I believe we all grow this way. Prince'll be all right.

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Reply #110 posted 08/12/10 7:43pm

FrankCapraMome
nt

avatar

I think Mayer is more skilled and tight as a guitarist (especially when it comes to leads) but Prince's playing has more character to it. It's like saying John Petrucci is a better guitarist than Steve Cropper. It may be true from a technical standpoint but there's more to being a great guitarist than knowing your way around the fretboard.

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Reply #111 posted 08/13/10 1:57am

EmancipationLo
ver

avatar

ThreadBare said:

[I'm seeing a lot of references to race that I think are fairly troubling here. Is there some unwritten standard that says white guys aren't supposed to play the blues? A lot of my favorite blues musicians are white. They might not be John Lee Hooker or either of the Kings, but they've made significant contributions to music.

I've said it before, but it's obviously worth repeating on this thread: I've played with some mind-blowingly funky white musicians. Still do. I've played with some staggeringly horrid black blues musicians. I don't any more. lol

Reverse the colors in some of these statements, and some folks would be ready to complain to Ben.]

I'm appreciating the suggestion of other musicians on or beyond Prince's level. Keep 'em coming. I believe we all grow this way. Prince'll be all right.

I'm as white as one can physically probably be. Let me go out in summer on a sunny day without skin protection, and I look like a damn lobster within 15 min.

Having said that, I know that many white folks can play great blues (Salas who I referenced to is not exactly black either, he's half native american though IIRC). Just listen to some of the blues acts of the late 60s. The Pretty Things still tear down the house live with their bluesrock, and Dick Taylor could be John Mayer's dad if not his grandpa. Or listen to Beggar's Banquet by the Stones or the very early Fleetwood Mac with Peter Green on guitar before they started making boring pop shit - that's all great music, very blues influenced, and all these folks are white. But there is a difference: they play their stuff as I like it - a bit raw, dirty and greasy. When I listen to the John Mayer songs I found on youtube, I hear a polished version of Blues with all the edge being taken out. It's a version of blues made suitable for a white folks' suburbian cocktail party, where all the reference where this kind of music once came from is erased. If you like that kind of music, that's good for you, and I won't say a negative word about you. It's just that it's not my cup of tea at all.

If I compare what John Mayer plays with his John Mayer Trio and what Prince did with his New Power Trio (The Undertaker, anyone?), I honestly have to say that Mayer bores the hell out of me while Prince kicks ass. Maybe Mayer can teach Prince a few things on technical aspects of guitar playing, but Prince would wipe the floor with him musically in this classic drum-base-guitar setting.

To be fair though, I have only heard a few songs performed by Mayer (I found them all incredibly boring though!), and you have probably heard more of his stuff, so you're the better judge. But if someone manages to bore the hell out of me with guitar-driven blues stuff, that's telling me a lot, because it won't happen easily.

[Edited 8/13/10 2:00am]

prince
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Reply #112 posted 08/13/10 3:06am

ohYeeeeeah

Alamine said:

Typical prince.org post, a white copycat frat dime a dozen blues guitar player, can of course school the "showy" black guitar player who has no technical skill, doesn't know what he is doing, unispired. GTFOH If you guys arent trying so hard to make Prince gay, you trying harder to devalue his muscianship with outlandish post as this.

Again the answer is no

Any bloke with half an ear knows that Prince has vastly improved on his instrument since the 80's. Then again too many of you are consumed with penis shots, hairdos and lawsuits.

[Edited 8/12/10 14:54pm]

Thank you!

worship

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Reply #113 posted 08/13/10 3:01pm

NDRU

avatar

FrankCapraMoment said:

I think Mayer is more skilled and tight as a guitarist (especially when it comes to leads) but Prince's playing has more character to it. It's like saying John Petrucci is a better guitarist than Steve Cropper. It may be true from a technical standpoint but there's more to being a great guitarist than knowing your way around the fretboard.

I totally agree. Though I would even say Mayer has great feel, somehow his sound is less of a signature. I would probably recognize Prince's playing before his.

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Reply #114 posted 08/13/10 9:53pm

Alamine

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Reply #115 posted 08/13/10 10:34pm

BobGeorgetheor
iginal

I haven't bothered to read everything because the premise of the question is flawed.

Prince can play over 20 separate musical instruments.

Prince writes his lyrics.

Prince produces his music.

Prince is free.

I could go on.

Prince could "school" over more things than you could imagine. This other bloke you're on about, yeah he's a great guitarist but can he go from:

Lead to Rhythm to Bass to Drums to Keyboard to StaxofWax (or however u spell it) to Piano to acoustic guitar during one set.

You get me?

When I see Prince I imagine that's how good Jimi Hendrix would be now if he was still alive.

One song: Joy in Repitition NY 2002 on ONA. End of chat. I was there. It was awesome.

Life is perfect when you are content with being
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Reply #116 posted 08/14/10 6:11am

ThreadBare

BobGeorgetheoriginal said:

I haven't bothered to read everything because the premise of the question is flawed.

Prince can play over 20 separate musical instruments.

Prince writes his lyrics.

Prince produces his music.

Prince is free.

I could go on.

Prince could "school" over more things than you could imagine. This other bloke you're on about, yeah he's a great guitarist but can he go from:

Lead to Rhythm to Bass to Drums to Keyboard to StaxofWax (or however u spell it) to Piano to acoustic guitar during one set.

You get me?

When I see Prince I imagine that's how good Jimi Hendrix would be now if he was still alive.

One song: Joy in Repitition NY 2002 on ONA. End of chat. I was there. It was awesome.

falloff

The premise of my thread is flawed? You're arguing that someone can't teach Prince some finer points of (arguably blues) guitar technique because Prince can play the piano and bass really well.

That's like saying your favorite bartender can't be taught how to barbecue.

Thanks.

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Reply #117 posted 08/14/10 6:18am

ThreadBare

Alamine said:

You just like his bikini draws

John Mayer Drops The "N" Word In Vulgar InterviewJohn Mayer Drops The "N" Word In Vulgar Interview

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[Edited 8/13/10 21:54pm]

No, I'd never suggest another man is more comfortable in women's swimwear than Prince. He can have that title.

At least Prince had the sense to get Aunt Porsha's hairdo before he put on that ridiculous outfit and made eyes around the other dudes in his band.

What this has to do with guitar technique, I dunno. But, you took us here, Alamine. You took us here. hmm

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Reply #118 posted 08/14/10 6:44am

sexyfunkystran
ge

LOL!!!!!!!!!!

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Reply #119 posted 08/14/10 10:12am

kimrachell

sexyfunkystrange said:

LOL!!!!!!!!!!

lol lol lol what was prince thinking? LOL! every time i see that video i laugh!lol

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Forums > Music: Non-Prince > Do you think John Mayer could school P on guitar?