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)

let's not forget though that Prince himself fully denied the Beatles influence theory in the 1985 RS interview...
Q-Does it bother you when people say you're going back in time with 'Around the World in a Day'?

A-"No. What they say is that the Beatles are the influence. The influence wasn't the Beatles. They were great for what they did, but I don't know how that would hang today. The cover art came about because I thought people were tired of looking at me. Who wants another picture of him? I would only want so many pictures of my woman, then I would want the real thing. What would be a little more happening than just another picture [laughs] would be if there was some way I could materialize in people's cribs when they play the record".

(Interesting side note....I noticed while re-reading this interview that he mentions All Along the Watchtower as being his favorite Dylan/Hendrix song. So, I guess that could quiet the few who suggested he only chose that song recently for the watchtower reference).

paisley16 said:

I always felt like P denied the influence cuz he was afraid he was too obvious on that record