No question it's Dez. Dez influenced what P ended up doing very early on. From being more confident in showcasing his rock influences in his music to fashion, Dez was PARAMOUNT to Prince. His impact was crucial. No doubt about it. At that stage in P's career, Dez definately had Prince's ear. Dez already had his style and image BEFORE he even hooked up with P. Image wise and musically, Prince didn't know what the fuck he wanted to do and that's evident from his first album. Dez, being a brother, and being a die hard rocker, musically and visually, boosted Prince's confidence in being more daring. Having a cat like Dez in the band, at that time, when P is running around in his Dolphin shorts and suspenders(?!), you can best believe he helped P get his shit together. Look, the first time I saw P in concert on the Controversy tour, Dez was the one I watched and studied. His stage pressence was off the hook and he DEFINATELY looked the most polished and the most pro in the band. And he ran circles around P in the confindence department. By the time I saw them again on the 1999 tour, P had a TOTAL transformation. He was sooooo much better, as a performer. He now had the more polished and more
confident swagger that DEZ had ALWAYS had from the get go. The whole band did, for that matter. U think Prince didn't pick shit up from Dez? Better think again. And don't forget about Dez as a songwriter to P's thing. He not only wrote the lyrics to The Time's first big hit (Cool), but wrote all of "After Hi School", and Vanity 6's "He's So Dull", which is awfully similar to the musical section in the chorus to "Little Red Corvette". Word was that Dez actually wrote the music to LRC and that's why P let him record a guitar solo to the song. That very solo broke all kinds of ground for P and opened all kinds of door for P that predated Purple Rain.

Preach Brutha B! Everything you've said is on point.

blackguitaristz said:

That is the FIRST time I ever heard that rumor that Dez wrote the music for LRC.Dez did a solo for the song, Prince cut up the solo and made different parts of Dez's solo ONE solo. So Prince actually arranged Dez's solo, Dez didn't just hear the song and this awesome solo came out. I still think the BIGGEST influence to Prince was Sonny T, not Dez. Ask anyone who grew up with them.

EverlastingNow said:

Man, I KNOW that P edited Dez's solo. He took the front end of one take and put it with the back end of another take. That's all. That shit is common knowledge. Printed in Rolling Stone magazine, back in the early 90's, it's so well known. U never saw that I posted that Dez wrote LRC. I said that it was rumored. And if Spyz agree with my post, then so be it. And uh, I have asked cats that grew up with P, being Andre and Morris, who I have recorded with. Sure, I'm hip to Sonny. But, were talking about Dez and Wendy.

blackguitaristz said:

Yeah but that doesn't really go with the book you wrote about Dez a couple of posts ago. And I stand by that's the first time I heard THAT rumor about Dez writing LRC. No one is denying that Dez had an influence, but we both know, when people think about Prince guitar players, more times than not, they think of Wendy.

EverlastingNow said:

That's because she was a big deal in PURPLE RAIN....she got more exposure.....prince wasn't a household name when dez was there.....dez would wipe the floor with wendy and make her go cryin to lisa who would get killed by renato neto!

blackguitaristz said:

Yeah but that doesn't really go with the book you wrote about Dez a couple of posts ago. And I stand by that's the first time I heard THAT rumor about Dez writing LRC. No one is denying that Dez had an influence, but we both know, when people think about Prince guitar players, more times than not, they think of Wendy.

EverlastingNow said:

What it goes with was my response to your comment about Dez's solo to LRC and also about Sonny's influence, which was never questioned. And I know a lot of o.g. Prince fans, like myself, when asked about a Prince guitarist, Dez would always be the first to come to mind. Anybody who has seen P live BEFORE Purple Rain would always refer to Dez first. Granted, I have nothing against Wendy. Obviously, she can hold her own. That's all fine and well, BUT, the points I made about what Dez brought to the table still stand. Now, if folks don't like Dez for whatever reason, then that's something all together different. It's all subjective anyway. Just a matter of taste. I could favor Wendy and STILL the points I made about the impact Dez had on P's developement in my o.g. post would still be valid. It's not about me personally digging Dez over anybody else.