Readings the rumours about Prince going to release a CD with covers of Beatles songs, i thought about the Beatles-influenced songs he released so far (there are quite a lot of them, IMO)

Which songs you consider as Beatles-influenced? This is my pick (in chronological order).

1. When we are dancing close and slow (the main part of the song sounds very influenced by the 1970's movement of singer-songwriters, but the instrumental coda sounds like some psychedelic Beatles-like 'left turn')

2. Annie Christian (the John Lennon-like echo on the vocal, the bizarre psychedelic ending).

3. DMSR (again, the 'echo', but also the funk-sound reminds me of John Lennons collaberation with David Bowie on Young Americans)

4. Take me with you (the string arrangement, the typical songstructure of a 'classic popsong')

5. Around the world in a day (the use of eastern and other exotic instruments)

6. Paisley Park (a very obvious one: the melody, the way he 'slurs' his vocal lines like Lennon)

7. Pop Life (again, a very Lennon-like effect on the vocals, the strange interludes of a crowd shouting)

8. Manic monday (the structure of the compisition, the melodies, all very 'classic popsong'-like)

9. Christopher Tracey's Parade (obviously Princes 'magical mystery tour', Clare Fisher being his George Martin here)

10. I wonder U (his 'I am the walrus', there is a same kind of 'tension' in the orchestral arrangement)

11. Do U lie? (his 'when i am sixty four', the Beatles song harks back to english music of the interbellum, the period between world war I and II, while Princes song harks back to the French interbellum)

12. Starfish and Coffee (melodywise this sounds Beatles-influenced, the arrangement could be explained as Beatles-influenced, but also as something
from a Disney-movie)

13. Glam Slam (maybe not directly Beatles-influenced, but surely influenced by the psychedelic rock from that period, including the tabla-like sounds in the second bridge)

14. Dance On (the way he bends his vocals in the couplets reminds me a lot of songs like 'Lucy in the sky with diamonds)

15. Lovesexy (the 'rising' synth-strings in the last part of the song remind me of 'A day in the life')

16. Positivity (again, maybe not directly Beatles influenced, but the far-eastern sounding beat, and the use of guitar-feedback has its grounds in the psychedelic rock of the sixties)

17. Diamonds and Pearls (the bridge is very 'sixties-sounding', next to the Beatles, the Beach Boys might be an influence here. BTW, i also here a Beach Boys / Brian Wilson-influence on Venus de Milo, a song that makes me think of the Pet Sounds album, the same goes for the arrangement of Still Would Stand All time, he seems to mix 'Pet Sounds' with gospel on that track.

18. Dark (the bridge is very Beatles-like, with those trumpetriffs and stretched background vocals)

19. Dolphin (again, the influence is best heard in the bridge of the song)

20. Animal Kingdom (the most obvious Beatles-pastiche Prince has ever tried IMO, next to Paisley Park maybe. The arrangement and the effect on the vocals almost sound like a parody on a Lennon-sung psychedelic Beatles-cut)

I'd add Crystal Ball and All My Dreams to the list.

Raspberry Beret
She's Always In My Hair

Indeed,

These are the ones i forgot for sure:

- Raspberry Beret: melody / compositionwise, the stringarrangement
- She is always in my hear: another obvious one
- In all my dreams / Crystal Ball: without the Beatles, these kind of 'suites' mixing different musical styles wouldnt be there

sitruk7 said:

Maybe the Buzzcocks were influenced by the Beatles, cause Raspberry Beret is a complete cop from one of their tunes.

lots of ATWIAD and maybe some of parade and SOTT have tinges of beatles influence, but i don't think they've had a huge impact over his music over the long haul...especially not in the past decade or so.

Anx said:

Good Lord!! I hope not! I really don't see the Beatles as being a large or even minimal influence on Prince. When you take on so many different genres and sounds that Prince has it's easy to play into that. I think Dylan or Hendrix had more of an influence than the Beatles. I can see a little of ATWIAD and Parade but I don't think he drew that from them. I think Princes biggest influence is Prince. But with him who really knows? For all we know David Hasslehoff could have influenced him!

ChristopherTracy319 said:

i think they were an influence during a stage of his songwriting career. i don't think they've influenced him throughout his entire career. he said he hadn't even heard 'while my guitar gently weeps' before preparing for the RNRHOF, so how much of a fan could he be? but yeah, i think in the mid-80s he dabbled a bit with the beatle-esque, then he moved on. big whoop.

squirrelgrease said:

which one? If there's an obvious connection I've never made it. I'm running their catalogue through my melon right now and nothing's clicking...

damosuzuki said:

Are Everything cir.1979

http://www.cduniverse.com...+Best).htm

Anx said:

I agree- not with SOTT though.

squirrelgrease said:

Ah, I've never heard that track before. Good call...

that lady that ran Controversy mag said "7" was a song "paul McCartney will wish he wrote"

paisley16 said:

i think some of the dregs from the ATWIAD/parade/dream factory stuff ended up on SOTT, and to me, it seems like that was when he was most influenced by the beatles. i hear it a little in 'starfish and coffee' at the very least. i don't think the SOTT concept or project was so much influenced by them...just some of the carryover songs that ended up on the album.

'when u were mine' is pure early beatles.

I agree with others here that his most obviously Beatles-influenced period was that of Around the World in a day / Parade / Dream Factory.

I dont see the Beatles as his MAIN influence also, i mean, he probably respects their creativity and influence, just as he admires Sly Stone, George Clinton, James Brown, Miles Davis, Duke Ellington and Joni Mitchell for that.

Nonetheless, to say they are just a minor influence is wrong also, i think. I mean, Prince has incidentely used 'touches' of Tod Rundgren, Michael Franks, Queen, The Beach Boys, to name a few, but troughout his whole musical career he has used elements of Beatles-styled psychedelic rock to 'spice' up his music, most notably in the late eighties, but also later on: listen to the sitar flourishes on Thieves in the Temple and Seven for example, the bridges of songs i mentioned in my post, the middle-eastern elements on several songs...
These kind of elements make me consider the Beatles as much as an influence to Princes music as, lets say, George Clinto and Joni Mitchell.

A lot of Prince's Latin flavored songs remind me of the Beatles, because many of their earlier songs had a Latin feel to them.

Riverpoet31 said:

I assume that's for my comment. Ok, maybe they don't have a ton of Latin songs, but I've heard more than a handful of Beatles songs with Latin beats (covers like "Til There Was You", "Beso Me Mucho", and their own "And I Love Her" and "Do You Want to Know a Secret") Dionne, which I think has already been menitoned, reminds me of some of these songs.

Sure, Prince may not have been thinking of the Beatles when he wrote it, but a lot of the reasons I like the entire Truth album are the same reasons I like the Beatles.
[Edited 2/28/07 10:19am]

3121 is like Magical Mystery Tour or Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds with it's call to enter an odd world, with an effects drenched song.

and descriptive surreal lyrics...

ufoclub said:

3121 IMHO is obviously influenced by the Eagles- Hotel California. not the Beatles.
"...but you can never leave"...

squirrelgrease said:

I love how All My Dreams sounds Beatles influenced, yet the vocals sound so much like Sly Stone.

Anx said:

That is because much of the Dream Factory era material was a collaborative effort and Wendy and Lisa had a strong influence over the direction of that project, and seeing that Wendy and Lisa introduced him to much of the Beatles work in the first place its easy to see why the Around The World – Dream Factory material has a psychedelic Beatles kind of vibe.

paisley16 said:

Hotel California is only checked with that one lyric. I'm talking about the function of the song. It's def NOT like Hotel California which is a sad epic ballad.

It's a call to an ultimate party like "Magical Mystery Tour", it's filled with descriptions of weird stuff like "Japanese robes" and glasses with "chocolate handles" like "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds", it has creative effects and a surreal climax that sounds like a big band cacophony... like Sgt Pepper. It's not a sad tinged ballad like "Hotel California" or "Stairway to Heaven" or "Long and Winding Road" which all feature notes that descend on their main melody. It has a sick, monotone, mantra-like chorus that is like "Tommorrow Never Knows".

It's very much like Prince's own "Around the World in A Day'. A fanfare that invites you into a surreal journey.

Meloh9 said:

yup. i think he or the girls even mentioned that influence in an interview...that wendy and lisa were giving prince all kinds of different stuff to listen to...

Riverpoet31 said:

Dont 4get Guitar sounds like Back In The USSR!

Play In The Sunshine! It has that 60's pop/rock Beatles/Beach Boys sound.

Don't know enough about Beatles music 2 really say!

What is the source of this rumor? Anything concrete?