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As a guitar player, is Wendy Melvoin underrated or overrated? Wendy is cool and all, but guitar skills-wise, is she underrated or overrated? To me she's more of an artist/entertainer/performer but I never really thought of her as a great guitar player during her Revolution days. I'd love to be proven wrong though. Any specific live/studio performances of Wendy I should revisit? I remember on Me'Shell Ndegeocello's Peace Beyond Passion she's listed under "guitars and all guitar arrangement (or something along those lines)," but again nothing particularly struck me as amazing. How does she stack up against Dyson, Grantis, or better yet, Miko, Levi, Dez? Is everybody wet? | |
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to me, it's all about personality. you could be the greatest guitar player, but if you don't have a personality that synergizes with the playing, it doesn't matter. to me, wendy stands out. not because she's the greatest player out there, but because her playing and singing creates a distinctive mood that i feel alnd react to. [Edited 9/9/13 0:54am] |
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I think her track record says what it needs to. She's worked on great projects but never felt the need for showing off. There are a lot of great technical guitarists I can't listen to after one song because it is so over the top. I love people like George Benson who can play circles around people but tend to play to the song as needed. Glen Campbell was a great guitarist and sought after session guy but most people don't know it. To me a great player has respect for the music and hone their craft to serve it. From what I have heard Wendy does that. Over or under rated though? Who knows. Who is rating? If its myopic Prince fans then you know their answer, if its people who like music all around it's probably another. |
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vikfunk said:Wendy is cool and all, but guitar skills-wise, is she underrated or overrated? To me she's more of an artist/entertainer/performer but I never really thought of her as a great guitar player during her Revolution days. I'd love to be proven wrong though. Any specific live/studio performances of Wendy I should revisit? I remember on Me'Shell Ndegeocello's Peace Beyond Passion she's listed under "guitars and all guitar arrangement (or something along those lines)," but again nothing particularly struck me as amazing. How does she stack up against Dyson, Grantis, or better yet, Miko, Levi, Dez? Prince himself heard her play in a hotel room and asked her 2 join the band when she was comin straight outta high school....lol that right there should say it all  | |
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Well she's been playing a long time since the Revolution daysAnd for someone who never performed in a live band in 1983 - 1985 she did a wonderful job, stage presence, and everything, she did a very good job shadowing Prince and did pretty good job on the When Doves Cry guitar soloWaterfall guitar solo was hotplaying with Prince on Reflections in 2004/5many others performances | |
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Technicalities aside, if anyone asked me who's my favorite Prince's guitarist, i'd choose Wendy in a heartbeat for her personality and total package. However I was talking strictly from a technical point of view. Guitarists like Prince, George Benson, or many famous session players have the techniques and skills at their disposal, but they're willing to take the back seat out of respect for the music. OTOH, there are other guitar players not as technically proficient but able to make the most out of whatever they have (e.g. Harrison, Frusciante, Cobain, etc). My question: Is Wendy the former type or the latter? Is everybody wet? | |
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Wendy's colors (the way she paints on the guitar) is far more suprior than Prince, Dez, Miko,etc, all put together. IMO. She is very underrated in the public eye, but a very in demand studio musician. She's a musicians, musician, playing on countless albums, credited and uncredited. She is also a very gifted song writer and arranger. Mad Respect for her. | |
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She gets the job done. I don't know if this is a valid question. If I had 2 answer the question base on Prince fandom...........I'd say she was vastly overrated. | |
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