We all know Prince and Hendrix are/were 2 of the the most famous black quitarists.
They have produced wild stage shows,have this sort of spiritual sense,the both had songs that began with the word Purple. P is rebellous and free pirited just like Hendrix sometimes. He even wears clothing like Hendrix.

Those are some of the similarities now what are the differences. P I like to say is a mixture of James Brown and Jimmy Hendrix.

.....are you kidding.....?

Jimi Hendrix was born with diifferent genes on a different day, different date, different month and different year in a different town to different parents, who gave him a different name (Johnny Allen Hendrix) to Prince.

Jimi grew to 5'11".

Jimi Hendrix never recorded any music by Prince.

Only one of them is dead.
.

i dont know about prince being one of the 2 most famous black guitarists

i think he is one of the most underrated guitarists

prince is very underrated guitar player.

diffrence between them in the young age 24-27(jimi died in the year when he would turn 28) is huge.
young prince was nowhere near as good as jimi in the young days.
now day prince is amoung best in my opinion.
question is how great would be jimi if he lived.
jimi's guitar vocabulary was larger(little wing).

i feel prince was losing focus on guitar in some years.
he wasted those years,insted of improving himself,
he didnt look like he enjoyed playing.

he looked like he hardly waits ,
to get rid of guitar after songs that needed guitar playing.

prince's best guitar playing was during early period(1980-1981-1983-1988,1993-2001-counting years after 2001)-my opinion is on recordings(live)
from those years.

jimi hendrix best years were all 3 he was recording artist.
he lived a very short life.who knows what could he had been if he lived more.

maybe he would still making breath taking albums being music inovator as he was.
he was one of the first pioneers of using drum machine.

or maybe he would sell out.nobody knows,except that he was true inovator
in the level prince was never and never going to be.

langebleu said:

what he said.

They're different people and hence different performers.

fluid said:

They are complete diferent.....
Hendrix is the master of the guitar,Prince is the master of sex!

Differences

Prince isn't as good, or at least as important a guitar player as hendrix

Prince hasn't released three of the best albums in rock history (PR and SOTT aren't as good as any of the three hendrix albums IMO)

Prince is arguably a more technically skilled vocalist, but his voice isn't as appealing as hendrix's

Prince is often a one man band, whereas hendrix was a capable multi-instrumentalist who could've been a one man band but didn't want to lose the organic interplay between a real group.

Prince doesn't have the uncanny ability to completely reinvent someone else's song the way hendrix had.

Prince wasn't as convincing doing jazz as hendrix was IMO (this is also debatable)

Prince is a better dancer than hendrix (then again I've never seen hendrix dance)

Hendrix rocks harder than prince, though they're equally eclectic

Prince used a lot more synthesizers in his music.

Prince produced and wrote songs for other artists, Hendrix has been covered more than almost anybody else

Prince produced himself from day one, Hendrix wasn't fully in charge of production until his third album

Prince has hundreds of unreleased songs he's withheld, hendrix has hundreds of unreleased songs he never got the chance to release

Prince is usually categorized as funk-rock, Hendrix as psychedelic rock, though both are less simple than that

Prince was inspired by George Clinton, Hendrix inspired George Clinton

Prince is short, Hendrix was tall

Wow, I wish I knew enough about the technical aspect of music to contribute to this discussion,since most people are acting like the question is so dumb?

The similarities are obvious and I'd actually like to learn more about their musical contrasts.

I learned a lot from reading comments from TheBanishedOnes and JacktheImprovident. Thanks guys.

you are welcome

Prince is the imitator Jimi is the innovator.

Jimi is the master of what he did.

Purple Rain and SOTT kick the ass any of Jimi's albums. Jimi was innovative for sure, but Prince took things to the next level. Prince is doing things Jimi could never do and, if he were alive, Jimi would agree.

Skywalker, u sure do xhibit a lotta testosterone...4 a female.

love

skywalker said:

Um, have you listened to any of Jimi's albums? Because I've been a prince fan for longer than I've been a hendrix fan and even I have to admitt that they are way better than anything prince has ever made. SOTT and PR are both very high on the list of my favorite albums of all time, but Axis: Bold As Love and Electric Ladyland absolutely kick their ass out of the water. Hell the sequence from Rainy Day, Dream Away to Still Raining Still Raining on Ladylandis better than most prog-rock albums (or just about any sequence of four songs on ANY prince album). This is just my personal opinion, but it's also pretty well accepted among critics and rock fans that hendrix's work would rank far above prince's best.

What "next level" exactly did Prince go to that you don't think Jimi could never reach because personally I think that's total bunk. Prince combined new wave and funk, used more synthesizers and incorporated drum machines, that's nothing NEAR the level of innovation that Hendrix was responsible for. Hendrix not only mastered feedback and distortion and the wah wah pedal and everything else that a modern electric guitar player takes for granted, he pioneered the use of the recording studio as an instrument ala Electric Ladyland (see Merman, and the gods made love, the whole album really), he integrated all the best aspects of the concurrent trends in popular music: blues rock, psychedelia, funk, modern jazz/fusion, sound collagism/tape manipulations and it's more than likely he would've progressed from there; if eddie kramer's right he would've moved into orchestral music and would've anticipated and stayed ahead of the hip-hop curve (and please don't cite prince's pathetic attempts at orchestral music and hip-hop). Prince is great, but Hendrix was one of a kind.

I'm with you right there. It cracks me up when I hear these young'uns on here crying talking about how genius Prince is with the guitar and how Jimi can't do stuff that Prince is done and blah blah. Opinion, fine. But don't formulate one without studying the two people. If all you know of Jimi is Purple Haze and him burning and smashing his guitar then you can't really comment with a fair opinion.

I've been there from the beginning with Prince. Prince is a very creative songwriter and he is a genius at making himself a star. He didn't use talent alone to get him where he is. He had a strong business sense, he was manipulative and he was determined to get where he wanted to be. Brilliant at marketing and strategic alliances. Anyone that can keep his fans happy even during his crappy music stage, that's genius. As far as guitar playing, he can be replicated and I've been listening to Rock, Blues Rock for years and he isn't doing anything that can't be done or hasn't been done with the guitar. Songwriting is where Prince's creativity shines. He was clever at taking keyboards and using them in place of horns.

Jimi made Rock guitar music what it is today. So that being said, Prince is because of Jimi. Jimi didn't have a sex gimic, give the press the silent treatment, back up dancers, nor was he overly pretty, but he had a guitar and his own unique way of singing. He was a very gifted songwriter, and had a unique way of doing songs written by others and making them his own. When he played the National Anthem it was brilliant how with just his guitar he brought forth his own personal feelings, machine guns, planes dive-bombing and people screaming. He had a innovative use of the Vox, the Crybaby, the Octavia pedals and assisted with some of the designs. I've met many guitar players, a number of them professional and they all owe their thanks to Jimi for inspiring them. Jimi can't be replicated. There's stuff that goes on in his music that you can't appreciate unless you are a guitar player and you try to play it and find you're scratching your head wondering what he just did. That's genius.

But still I come back to you can't compare these two musicians. Why can't we just be happy for what we enjoy of Prince. I love both of these guys and I'm happy they are/were both here.

LQ

Prince has be accused of doing impersonations of Jimi Hendrix. Not only in the guitar gimmicks and stances, but in the image, the clothing and purple ("haze") obsession as well. Prince has said "Hendrix was very good. Fact. There will never be another one, and it would be a pity to try. I strive for originality."
Prince songs like "Kiss" are influenced by Curtis Mayfield and James Brown, not Hendrix. "When Doves Cry" is just pure Prince.

skywalker said:

fluid said:

I think the one and only difference between P and Hendrix is that Hendrix inspired P, but P didn't inspire Hendrix...
This is why there are so many similarities...

To Jacktheimprovident:

quite frankly, and this coming from an absolute fan of both artists (and believe me, I know ALL Hendrix albums, live, bootlegs.....), you must be joking!
I would easily rate 1999, Purple Rain and Sign O the Times as high as Are you experienced, Axis as bold as love and Electric Ladyland respectively....and this omitting Parade, Dirty Mind...


and saying that "Prince doesn't have the uncanny ability to completely reinvent someone else's song the way hendrix had" is just unbelievable! Actually I would have said exactly the opposite, not necessarily because Hendrix would not be able to reinvent himself but simply because he actually did not have a chance to.

For instance don't you think there is a much wider gap musically speaking between Durty Mind and Parade than between Are you experienced and Cry of Love ???

The question is kind of dumb by the way it was asked. I mean look at the way the first name is spelled. Come on man. Prince is not the Hendrix of our time. The closest person to the Hendrix of our time was Stevie Ray Vaughn. Prince is a child of Hendrix, P-Funk, James Brown, Sly and mostly himself. I really think that there is no comparison here but I'll throw a couple out...
Hendrix by far was the better guitar player because he was the innovator of that style. Prince just copied it although I feel like Prince is an excellant guitarist, his style would not exist if not for Hendrix. Prince is the better songwriter. The major difference between the two artists; DRUGS.
M

Most people that gives the opinion are being to biased to one or the other artist. Maybe a more realistic way to compare then is not comparing who is better, is describign their main caracteristics.

Hendrix was more crazy, more ludic and more of a innovator. But he would never be as funky as Prince. And Prince cant rock as crazy as Hendrix.

BUt they are very different. Prince is more polished and has a wider vocabulary in music in general. But he is not very far from cliche as a guitar player, and sometimes as a songwriter. Hendrix in the other hand, is very unique and original. He, as a guitar player, is much more interesting than Prince, they way he played rythms and fills is incredible. Melodically Prince is more interesting in my opinion, he can come up with that catchy melodies, and Hendrix is not as good as him in writing a good hook. But besides this, Hendrix in the experiments departament put Prince to shame. But Prince is very good at piano, and can bring different things in the table. So my final word is that both are genious, Prince cannot do Hendrix and Hendrix couldn't be Prince if he tried. Let dig both of them without comparing, it would not be fair to Hendrix cause he got a small life so couldn't develop fully; and is not fair to Prince to be compared maybe to the biggest genious of last century, that was found dead in his top. And you know what happens when a idol dies young/ huh?

Let's not forget Cobain and his semi GOd status with the young adults of today.
[Edited 2/21/05 6:53am]

Jimi is Jimi,
Prince is Prince

and they will never die...

There you go. Always the same crap.

Prince will never do what Hendrix did and Hendrix was not able to funk like Prince and do what Prince does on stage.

Now regarding guitar playing, I'm really fed up with people mentionning Hendrix as the best guitar player ever. For me and many musicians, a guy like Wes Montgomery was far better.

Montgomery had an incredible mix of technique and touch. His sound was warm and soft. It was pure class. I cannot stand these crappy distorsion effects that guitar player are using over and over again to hide their lack of technique.

Moreover, I really like Hendrix but I have plenty of old recordings that are absolutely crap...especially when Hendrix was under the influence of drugs. His guitar play was affected by that too many times in his short life.

Having said that, enjoy both artists. They are both geniuses.

BeautifulFrance said:

Hide their ack of technique is not the only reason that guitar players use distortion, there are tons of guitar players that just like the sound better this way. You are talkign like those bold nerd jazz men, that acts like they are the end all and be all of music, and only plays music for pseude intelectual boring people and when they try to play some rawer stuff they suck, suck as much as pet metheny when he tried.

7salles said:[quote]

BeautifulFrance said:

Woaw. I don't know why there is so much hate in your post.

Anyway Montgomery was not at all some kind of "intellectual" guitar player. Not at all man.

He was a very poor man who learnt how to play smoothly as the walls of his bedroom were very thin. That gave this amazing sound that brings tears in many people's eyes.

I was stating that you don't need to use the distortion (called the cache misère or hide misery by many musicians btw) and/or play very loud to be called a great guitar player.

Wes Montgomery is still the best and by far. I feel sorry for you you had to be so agressive.

You may be the only person that believes that Wes was a better play. No doubg he was great but when it comes to guitar greats, Jimi has to be Number 1. All guitarists at that time (Harrison, Clapton, Beck, Page) were afraid of him and there hasn't been a guitarist that has been as influential. Wes was a great player but he never created a new sound. Hendrix opened up the guitar for people like Clapton, Duane Allman, Cobain, Sonic Youth, and on and on and on. THe problem was the neck was too small for Hendrix because he truly mastered the instrument. No way in hell that Wes was far better. Jimi did in a few years what Wes tried to do his whole lifetime.

I love montgomery, and i haven't said nothing bad against him. SOrry if i was rude, but you talked as the distortion was used always to hide lack of skills, and it is not the truth. It is required some skills even to a jazz player to play well with distortion or he will end up like pet metheny (absolute jazz genious) when he tried. Not far from mediocre.

mkaye8 said:

????? Are you joking man ? He has created a brand new sound at the time. he was the first to pluck the strings. That's how he created he so distinguished sound.

I love Hendrix but some of you are ignoring other absolute guitar geniuses.

There has been guys like Johnoson before Hendrix as well who have been inovators.

And yes again, Montgomery was an inovator.