There has always been a debate who the people of MPls, MN claim as their fave son. It's no debate to me. Prince all the way. The old fogeys try to keep Dylan in the mix because he was the first. But look who is more celebrated today. What is your opinion?

Without a doubt,Prince!

Prince without a doubt, after all, he's forever associated with Purple Rain and the movie was set in mpls.

Prince!


I didn't even know Dylan was from MPLS.


MY BAD! lol

Bobby D is from Minnesota but not from Minneapolis.

Why don't you go and ask at dylan.org?

Prince represents MPLS to the fullest, i.e. in his lyrics, videos, movies, attitude, interviews, place where he lives, studio etc., and a lot of people associate him with MN or MPLS.

Too bad the love is not always mutual.

PANDURITO said:

mmm-kay. i can sorta see this thread working in the non-prince: music forum but here? in the valley of the fam-land?

Well, I lived in Duluth and Minneapolis. Duluth makes a claim on Bob Dylan as well, cause he was born there, but actually he grew up in Hibbing. Bob spent like a year in Minneapolis previous to going to NYC and finding his voice.

I was a rabid Prince fan in Minneapolis, but when I was there I felt like I was one of the few. People are ambivalent about Prince in Minneapolis, cause everybody knows someone in MPLS that has worked for Prince and that Prince has been an asshole to. Also Prince will do things like open up a club w/ a VIP room and a dress code, which is a very un-midwestern thing to do and seems snotty to most everyone.

Minneapolis loves Prince, but it's a troubled realtionship.

JudasLChrist said:

interesting...

The second oldest brother from The Jets.

Well, Prince grew up in Minneapolis and has invested a large part of his career there, and enlivened the music scene, built a studio and never turned his back on the place. He writes songs about it. He seems to honestly love it.

I don't know about Dylan, but he does not seem to identify with Minnesota the way Prince does. Is it in any of his songs? Does he even live there? I wish I knew then I could contribute more to the discussion but besides him being from there, he never seemed to identify or promote his origins the way Prince does.

As far as the residents go, I don't think they really care either way. Personally, I'd give it to Garrison Keillor.

Definately Prince. Even if people don't like Prince, most of them have heard at least one of his songs before. I haven't heard any of Bob Dylan's songs and I know many people who have never heard any either. All I know is I can't stand the sound of his voice (I heard it on "We Are The World").

vainandy said:

Okay, that's weird.

Not even Like a Rolling Stone? Blowing in the Wind? Tambourine Man?

I grew up in Minneapolis and Bob Dylan is one of the most played artists on the radio there. I think most Minnesotans have heard a Bob Dylan song.

It's pretty cool that two of the most influential artists of the 20th century came from Minnesota. Dylan is a wanderer and troubadour and has never made any claim to Minnesota, it's like he was born there by accident. Prince has been very loyal to the state and often sung it's praise.

The closest I can think of Dylan singing about Minnesota is

With God On Our Side

"Oh my name it ain't nothing, my age it means less,
the country I come from is called the midwest
I was born and brought up there the laws to abide
and that the land that I lived in had God on it's side"

mynameisnotsusan said:

I've always felt that way. And some of the best writers too. I mean Prince, Dylan, and Garrison Keillor are really my favorites of all time and it's a bit uncanny.



That's a great way of putting it. Their relationship and identity with the place is like night and day.

That being said, I do feel strongly that growing up in Hibbing...the long winters, the midwest, the austerity of the place, etc...is rich, ripe soil for writers and Bob Dylan is the perfect exemplar of that. He may not give Minnesota much credit, but I think the environment contributed hugely to his output and he wouldn't be the artist he is today without it.
[Edited 3/9/07 11:55am]

i think on a prince forum the answer is gonnay always be "prince"

I grew up listening to mainly R&B radio so you know Bob Dylan wasn't going to show up on there.

I guess my point is, most everyone has heard at least one song by Prince even if they don't like him. "Purple Rain" was huge and sooooo many people were exposed to him by either seeing his music videos while they were channel surfing, hearing his music through their kids, etc.

Hell, even country music fans have heard of Prince. I'll never forget one time I was going out to a club and stopped in a store to get a pack of cigarettes. My friend sat in the car with the windows down. I had on a long fur coat, a hat, and a big earring. When I got back in the car, my friend was laughing and said....."You should have heard those rednecks talking about you as you went in the store. They said....What the hell was that! That motherfucker looked like Prince". These were some rednecks in one of those big ass pick-up trucks with four wheels in the back and a Confederate Flag painted on the back window. You could hear the country music coming from their truck as they pumped their gas. I told my friend...."Honey you should know me by now that I don't give a damn what nobody thinks about me....let alone some redneck piece of trash. They thought they were insulting me but they were giving me a huge compliment".

vainandy said:

That's a total compliment! But I really thought almost everyone had heard at least a song by Dylan too. I think a huge part of the country is very classic rock oriented and Dylan is a staple on those mainstream channels. But I see it's a generational thing. I'm getting old I suppose. Because at one time, Dylan was at the musical forefront of a mass political movement in this country...

Charles Schulz, creator of "Peanuts" comic strip. More cultural impact than Prince or Dylan.

heartbeatocean said:

I'll just add to this conversation as a former Minnesotan. I didn't 'get' Dylan for many years. The music just sounded plain to me, but one day it just hit me and it hit me hard. Dylan is about the lyrics and the actual melodies of the voice, in other words he's a straight songwriter. I was completely DESTROYED by listening to the "Freewheel'n Bob Dylan", songs like Masters of War, Hard Rain's a-gonna Fall, Girl from North Country. Bob Dylan is a true artist. Prince is musically innovative in ways that Dylan isn't and never will be, but he could do well to study Bob Dylan.

vainandy said:

dude, most people have heard of dylan...and dylan's songs have been covered by pop, rock, r&b and country artist...

i think its just you.

PANDURITO said:

2nd thoughts don't bother goin' any where!

Dylan

when people talk about the minneapolis sound...they aint referring to Dylan....

all things being equal, they always choose the white boy over the black man. In Seattle here, they always talk about Kurt Cobain and rank his work higher than Jimi Hendrix, it's a damn shame. But, in P's case, Minneapolis has a stronger association with him, Dylan left before he even changed his name.

mozfonky said:

Dylan left Minnesota and never looked back. Prince has more competition with Garrison Keillor.
[Edited 3/9/07 13:59pm]

Well my fellow apes, why don't we the omniscient "sexy dancer"
She's at least as old as Dylans moustache

padawan said:

But he left and settled in California. The Charles M. Schulz Museum is in Santa Rosa and they take enormous pride in the fact that he settled there.