I must say that I think Rhonda Smith is doing a great job on the bass and I like her knew look. I am glad that she got rid of the hat look. She is so pretty and so funky, why not let it hang out.

I am a neophyte as far as bass playing goes: what does everyone else think?

she's dead sexy!

I was listening to a Revolution concert the other day, and during Baby I'm A Star I was thinking 'they need Rhonda on the bass here!'. She contributes a lot to the band, and I'm really noticing it lately...

Every time I hear Rhonda in a live spot, I'm impressed more. She's very nimble, extremely accurate and she has a knack for bringing something new to Prince's old catalogue without being flashy or over-playing. (Reference her treatment of the SOTT bass line at the Hall induction).

Then, there's her mastery of that Vektor that recreates an acoustic bass sound. During the Aladdin DVD & ONAL, she's grooving like you wouldn't believe (and making it look easy). Rhonda very well might be Prince's most accomplished bassist.

Her vocabulary as a bassist likely is the most expansive. She's probably the most versatile, and she excels in soloing. The only other bandmate I remember being like that was Levi.

very good. She's been with Prince a Long Time...

Zelaira said:

I was wondering about this: do you reckon Rhonda is Prince's longest ever full-time band member?
[This message was edited Sun Apr 11 10:57:20 2004 by sabaisabai]

sabaisabai said:

I would guess Fink would still hold the record for that...but Rhonda has been with Prince a while now. About 8 or so years i'd say.

Rhonda is more impressive as more time goes by.

As for length in the band, Rhonda doesn't really get credit for 8 yrs since she was replaced by Larry Graham for at least a year and a half.

For comparison purposes, Dr. Fink was a member for 13 years (1978 to 1990) and Mr. Hayes for 9 (1993 to 2001).