I think Prince's playing is far more melodic than Hendrix's, but more "raw" than Santana's. I'd say, as a non-playing listener, that Prince's style is very much a workable median of these two.

I won't lead this conversation because I'm not an expert on this. But I'd love to see those of you who know more about styles of play debate this.

Prince said he felt his sound was closer to Santana's because it was "prettier" and that people based alot of the comparisons to Hendrix mainly due to the color of their skin. The influence of both legends is evident in much of his music. I guess it really all depends on the song.A song like Temptation sounds more like Hendrix to me but a song like Joy In Repitition sounds more like Santana to me.

there is already a post on this

when listening to him live, he definitely goes more for the Santana sound. In "When Eye Lay My Hands On U" he refers to Santana before going into a pretty sweet solo. The Santana sound is "prettier" and I guess you could say the Hendrix sound is "bluesier" and he has definitely done some awesome things using both sounds.


btw, Lammastide... interesting avatar, rich in cultic symbolism.

I'm no expert but it sounds more Santana than Hendrix to my ears.

His phrasing reminds me of Santana sometimes, but he is much more raw than santana, he uses more distortion, is way more agressive and got more bluesy licks. And Distortion + Blues is always Hendrix in the mix. SO everyone who plays rock guitar with blues feeling is very influenced by hendrix, but besides that Prince got that Santana thing going on, so Hendrix's influence is downplayed because is so obvious that sometime we cant even notice.

some of you guys don't know shit about Hendrix
so shut up now
not only are some of you sounding like idiots, but you are disrecpecting the great Jimi
half the shit Santanna does is Jimi

while there are some examples in prince music that resambles santana ,especialy in the latter period,he is definetly much more on hendrix trip.
althought im happy to say that i hear steve vai's influance and george benson influance as well.

To me he has the technique of Hendrix and the soul of Santana.

DaX said:

Where?

DaX said:

hey dude, we're really sorry we don't know as much as you
i suppose i know some things you don't know
but i'd never think to give you "shit" about it

peace

Snap said:

Thanks, snap.

To my musically untrained ear...his guitar style...well,to me it is his own. The Prince Style!

I find it to be a combination of Hendrix and Santana as well, but with a bit of 80s hair-metal like Vai in there too and a touch of George Benson in regard to his jazzier sound.

john p. are you copying my post hehe

thebanishedone said:

no way! seriously that's so weird...i didn't even read your post!

In his 1985 Rolling Stone interview,Prince was asked about the comparisons to Hendrix...


"It's only because he's black.That's really the only thing we have in common.He played different guitar than I do.If people really listened to my stuff,they'd hear more of a Santana influence than Jimi Hendrix.Hendrix played more blues;Santana played prettier"



...
[Edited 6/14/05 6:26am]

DorothyParkerWasCool said:

Agreed.

I think later music (Damned If I Do and later) shows more of the Santana influence. I think thats a conscious effort on his part to get away from the Hendrix comparisons.

It's not so much that he sounds like Jimi, but that Jimi made such an impact that practically everyone who plays a nasty lead sounds like they're copying him.

His phrasing definitely has a heavy Santana influence.

For example, the instrumental version of God and the Father's Song section of Computer Blue sound very Santana to me.

Listen to the instrumental 'Song of the Wind' on Santana's 1972 album 'Caravanserai' - you can easily imagine Prince playing it.
(In actual fact, just get Caravanserai anyway! It's an incredible album.)

I can hear Hendrix at times, but for those playing rock guitar, studying a few Hendrix songs and lifting a few licks is like learning your ABCs.

yonipuja said:

Excellent points. Especially about Caravanserai. Prince's playing is very similar to Santana's work on various songs on that brilliant album. His phrasing is also very similar to Santana's on a few cuts from Abraxas as well. Especially on Black Magic Woman/Gypsy Queen and Incident at Neshabur

I played some Prince guitar tunes to a friend who plays guitar real good and he said that if it wasnt for the distortion Prince was playing pretty basic stuff.


I hope his next shit feels like a broken bottle.

P's guitar style is similiar to Hendrix but he's totally unique-and how could you hear Santana in Prince?

liz5353 said:

I have to wonder if you even know who Carlos Santana is and if you do, how much of his music you've listened to - if you did, you'd definitely hear his influence on Prince. Just check out the above post by DorothyParkerWasCool. That should give you some insight into what everyone's talkin' about.

Hendrix

he is sometimes raw like hendrix...and sometimes "gentle" like santana....all mixed in one and only style-prince's slyle...