lovemachine said:

Anyone that says he is "below average" technically doesn't know what they're talking about either.

I think that Prince's ability as a guitarist have not been showcased enough for the general public.

It would have been a great opportunity for him in 1999 to accept the offers he was receiving to do a TV special on New Year's Eve. He would have had a 2 hour time period with millions of viewers tuning in to watch. I'm not talking about a pay per view thing filmed at Paisley. I'm talking about filming a live show in a great setting, maybe in one of the classic art deco theaters that he has been performing in on the the current tour.

He could do anything he wanted to do during that 2 hours on TV, including some blistering guitar solos that probably would have suprised the general public.

Hopefully, if Prince ever again is offered a TV special, he will agree to do it.

Supernova said:

well i wouldn't say he is below average either.if the average guy could play like prince i would have quit playing a long time ago

mistermcgee said:

I don't think White rock guitarists should be the standard. The standard should be guitarists in general. There are Black guitar players (still alive) who are as versatile and play as well though. Who is the best is a matter of opinion, but Prince is one of the best because a lot of the time his playing is so moving and transcendent. Chops alone doesn't cut it. Precise technique alone is overrated. There are many things that go into making a guitarist (or any musician) a great one, and some of those things Prince has in abundance.

Someone like Eddie Van Halen, while he's good at what he does, isn't that versatile. He's been playing the same solos at the same spot in every Van Halen song for the past 15 years. He's become extremely formulaic and predictable, stuck in a rut. As a rock guitarist alone he was great at one time, but he stopped growing. As far as rock players go, Jeff Beck (he's toward the head of the list for me) and Eric Clapton (who was great with Cream, but I think has lost his fire YEARS ago in the early 1970s) have sung Prince's praises as a guitarist and an overall musician. Those are two off the top of my head that I can think of to answer your question. But for anyone to get a true picture of Prince the guitarist they would have to see him at one of his live gigs. Because what he does live and what he does on record is vastly different.

BNATURAL said:

Don't worry BNATURAL... he IS!

U know how it it, Prince never gets the props he deserves.

Be patient, he will.

I didn't realize Prince WASN'T respected as a great guitarist. But if he's not, it's probably because he does so much more than just play guitar. The other artists that were mentioned as being "great guitarists" are pretty much limited to just playing the guitar.

PDogz said:

- Hey, it´s not bad. These guys arent ´limited´....they are specialists...there is a huge difference.

I think anyone that can play guitar is great. I'm just learning and while I can play a note or two...I am having trouble with some of the chords...my fingers don't stretch that far! I'm working on "The Cross" which I guess would be fairly simple to most. I got the intro down, but the tabs I got on-line are not only confusing...well, I just think I'm confusing myself...that or my guitar is out of tune.

I also didn't realize he wasn't respected as a great guitarist.

prince is a mastermind.

Prince is definfitely in the top 5 all time with Hendrix, Santana, Van Halen, Stanly Jordan, Benson. Just listen to Joy in Repetition, Batdance, Dance Electric, Blues in C live from '88 Lovesexy and SOTT/Play in the Sunshine live from '87 MTV. Hell, we all know how great he is and others do to. They're just to envious to admit the fact that he is so great, especially when he can play the bass, drums, piano and other instruments at such a level. The man is just a musical genius!!!!!

"Pimps and thangs like to hang outside just 4 kicks"

Prince is an instramentalist who incorporates all the instraments into his songs, but rarely shines one instraments over the others. ie. he would rather add guitar to a song to make it a better song not add music to a solo to make a song.

If you listen to songs like Love Me (soulphsycodeliside) or boot version of Crucial. These shine the true genius of princes guitar works as a lead. Then there are so many Rithym lics that just get overlooked.

I equate his guitar career to the likes of John Lee Hooker, He uses as a tool to make you feel the song. like Kiss I beleive that for the most part he makes the guitar rithym sound like when you brush your teeth. I know it sounds weird but the next time you brush, think Kiss.

He is a great guitar player, if he goes down that way or not!

I read this somewhere... "Compare the massive reaction to Madonna simply picking up a guitar onstage during her latest tour to Prince's total mastery of the instrument." To me, that more or less sums it up. I have always gotten the sense that within the music world, Prince's skills as a pure musician, (and particularly as a guitarist), were widely respected, and u will find that anyone who is in to his music also feels this way. I think the reason that Prince doesn't get the kind of props that Santana does is because that most of his hits have not included his best guitar work. When Doves Cry, Cream, Batdance, Little Red Corvette, 1999, Raspberry Beret... all of the songs that non-fans remember are not guitar driven, they are his carefully crafted pop records. I think that is why the general public ignores him as a guitarist.

he's a great guitar player.....i've seen him live and i'm convinced.....his face while he's playing is enough to convince me.....hehehe.....

he's great...end of story!

joyinrepetition said:

what was the context originally ? guitar polls? Usually based on a magazines subscriber base whihc is usually laymen (some players in bands); usually white kids under 30. You can gleam some info from interviews, but I don't know who you think is envious and of what? Just more silly fan talk .

Furthermore, I challenge anyone to show me Prince playing an instrument BESIDES guitar, bass, drums or piano? This plays all instruments known to man bullshit needs to be deconstructed!

Give me some recording of substance nothing trivial like mean "Oh he tinkled on a triangle so he's a master trianglist" or some Madonna-esque sax noodling he did on some obscure track. Come with the goods or just shut up already, damn!

I'd like to know what you think about the Blues in C solo from Dortmund 88.
I've seen people praise this one quite often, but IMO it shows the limits of Prince's playing: playing clean (not distorted), fast scales. I think Levi was better at this.

It's still great, though.

I have to say, though, that he's one of the most emotional guitarists I know. And I prefer that over fast but point-less noodling.

joyinrepetition said:

You mean your top five of all time; very much limited by what you're most familiar with. What's cool is you can change your list next week.

calldapplwondery83 said:

I think it's from Let's Go Crazy, if I remember correctly.

Thank you Supernova and wasitgood4u!

BTW, is that Prince killing the guitar on 7779311?

And one more queation: how would you rate Prince against Slash and Kirk Hammet?
[This message was edited Mon Mar 18 4:22:33 PST 2002 by calldapplwondery83]

Que Pasa Amigos,

Hope everyone is doing o,k. this morning. LIL MAN isn't regarded as a great guitarists for two major reasons...

1. Not enough recordings out there that document his greatness on the six-string fretboard. You have recordings such as Purple Rain and The Gold Experience that document his skills as a guitarist to a very large extent. The Symbol Album(1992) does this too. But there's not a whole lot on record that does this and that's because.....

2. P does so many different styles of music PLUS he's regarded for the most part as a pop/dance artist. Now we all know what kind of limitations those music idioms presents you with. On a standard pop song, you really don't have enough space to really to stretch out on the guitar. P does all types of music but these styles are all rolled within the context of a "pop" setting. If P ever releases a pure "ROCK" or a pure "JAZZ" record where he would certainly have the space to stretch on his fretboard. Then we can really see what time it is. As of now, you only can hear what brings to the table as a guitarist through his live shows, aftershows or bootlegs of his live and after shows....

3. He really hasn't influnced anyone or changed the way the guitar is played. Wes Montgomery is one of the greatest and influential guitarists to EVER walk the earth, because he literally changed the way the guitar was played through his innovating use of octaves. George Benson is influenced by him(George has augmented what Wes done very well and has created his own voice on the instrument),Pat Metheny. and just naming two artists. LIL MAN hasn't influenced anyone. People say the Eddie Van Halen is stuck in a rut as a guiarist..I agree. HOWEVER, the reason, you see Eddie Van halen in guitar magazines as one of the greatest guitarists is because in 1978 he bought something new to the instrument.On songs like Eruption(the hammering on/hammering off technique that got him respect in the guitar world). During my guitar labs courses in high school, every white kid wanted to be like him/play like him. His guitar riff on "Running With The Devil" is one of the greatest riffs in rock history. He sounded larger than life on that track. I would love to hear him in a jazz setting. I really think this idiom could push him to greater heights and perhaps get him out of his rut.


* Brother 9/15 aka CR3

he is but it kind of takes a back seat to his public persona.

Brother 915, I agree completely with you

cool thread 8). my 2 cents:
'a jack of all trades, is a master of none'
this is no disrespect 2 prince whatsoever cause he is obviously an accompished guitar player.
i just don't think prince should b compared with guitarists who have spent their artistic lives devoted 2 this instrument.

Brother915 said:

I wouldn't go so far as to say he hasn't influenced "anyone", but you're right about him not changing the way people play guitar. That's part of the reason Hendrix is legendary: he changed the way guitar is played in the rock idiom and was very influential in other genres.



I used to LOVE listening to EVH back in the 80s, but for a long time now he's doing the same old stuff. I like "Mean Streets" better than his playing on "Running With The Devil".

its mainly because warners were trying to market a pop singer so none of his guitar tracks made it to the charts & also the fact that the rest of the world still thinks of him as the guy who did 1999 as a result.

In pretty much everything he does, hes underated with no due cause other than that some people dont know any better.

We know he rocks & thats what counts

PFunkjazz said:

I have to disagree with your PFunkjazz. Prince IS a phenomenal guitarist. His other talents as a songwriter and being able to perform with other instruments merely causes this to be overlooked. As for inspiring others, I know Lenny Kravitz lists Prince as one of his major influences along with the Beatles and he can do incredible things with a guitar (i've got most of his albums). What isn't too well known about Kravitz is he can play drums and keyboards as well (see credits on his latest CD).

Prince doesn't get acknowledged as a superior guitar player by mainstream media becuz of going independent. Annanda of MTV fame publicly asked the question as to why he wasn't listed among the greatest guitar players of all time in Rolling Stone magazine a couple of years ago (and they listed then newcomer Jonny Lang). Despite all of this, when the subject of Prince the musician is brought up, Eric Clapton once said, "as long as Prince is writing music, music will be okay." That's a big compliment from someone who knows about guitar playing. I wouldn't be surprised if he performs with Prince when he's inducted into the Rock n Roll hall of fame.

While playing guitar is just one aspect of Prince's musical expression, it's very intense when he plays, especially when U watch him play live. I've been privileged to see him 3 times, and just thinking about the solos on ICNTTPOYM, Let's Go Crazy, Purple Rain, and Gett Off just gives me goosebumps as I type this. But that's just my opinion.

Housequake2K2 said:

I'll grant you that Lenny's a PRINCE clone 'cept he's also a BEATLES HAZEL, HENDRIX, HAMPTON, PAGE, CALPTON,etc, etc, etc clone, too! Lang impresses me a lot more than Kravitz.
Lenny seems like a total lightweight.

Don't you people know anything? It's all an international conspiracy just to upset fanatics who visit this web site.