Greetings ya'll; this is my 1st post over here.

I used 2 be Deadhead at a stage. I strongly feel that Prince was influenced by them in the following ways:

1) Bootlegs worked for the GD. They connected their fanbase w/ the band outside of the mainstream of thangs.

2) Their sets were free-flowing in that there were not always set-lists, etc.

I think Prince was very inspired by this. The relationship between him and fams are so similiar to that of D-heads and the band.

Prince might rebel against bootlegs now, but they helped him to have such loyal supporters. I mean, who leaked 'the Black Album' and all the other treats NE Way?

1 love Ya'll!

Gee Whiz, this is embarrassing. Seems like I keep posting in the wrong place. This was originally in the non-music section. Sorry ya'll!

Oliver said:

We all got to learn. Don't fret.

1) Boots are fine, but Prince certainly fronts like he does not like them. Lots of old work leaked, but no new work does. The Dead certainly allowed boots to work FOR them. Prince alienates alot of his hardcore fanbase by being so anal when it comes to boots. Esp becuz he is not afraid to leak stuff himself if it suits him; he should be proud of the respect his boots raise for him.

2) Prince certainly has that freeflow during his aftershows, but during his regular shows he used to run a tight ship; most shows were pretty much preconceived, with strict setlists.

Lately he has been incorporating the freeflow stuff into regular shows as well, esp during the acoustic sets he did on the Musicology performances.

And PS;

Welcome to this board, Oliver. I never seen you post before but I like the way your mind works; freeform!

Prince could learn alot from the way people like Grateful Dean, Phish and Björk handle their fans and boots.

hey....i am reading Angry Black White Man and it mentions a Greatful Dead boot where he plays with a black artist...and that white folks play it for black folks to show that greatful dead have soul...

but now i cant remember if it was Prince or Jimi Hendrix..

and i was wondering if this is true or not..any dead heads here?

Former Deadead here! How many times did you see them?

I haven't seen too many similarities between Prince and The Dead over the years...EXCEPT for their jams. Prince & The Dead both can jam INTERESTING jams...unlike posers like Dave Matthews and Phish. However some deadheads call Widespread Panic posers too...the Panic is filling the void left by Jerry for me.

Pagey said:

I saw the Dead about 5 times. Used to collect their boots as well. Similarities U ask?

As I mentioned, the bootleg thing. This added to the Dead's so-called (sorry to express it like this) 'cult' status.

Whether Prince admits it or not, bootlegs did the same 4 his fam base. They allowed his fams 2 c different sides of him one might not c on videos or your conventional concerts.

Like myself, I've never been 2 an aftershow but 1st heard a recorded version back in the mid-80's. It showed me, DAMN, Prince can JAM. Oh, YES, the jamming aspect of the DEAD, that's another similarity to me.

I appreciate any instrumental jamming on Prince's part, but sometimes the J.Brown stuff becomes a bit repetitive.

Oliver said:

for the love of all humanity....fans...fans!!

Oliver said:

I saw the dead 10 times in various cities around the country. Man do I miss those times...such a great time of my life.

Anyway, I see your point concerning boots...Prince definitely has benefited from them. They are the reason I am still a fan today.

sosgemini said:

For the love of sandwiches, peanut butta!