Post screwed up so I will type it again in this reply:

Obviously, Curtis Mayfield is an enormous influence in Prince's music, particularly in rythym sections, strings and horns but also in vocal style.

Just wanted to show Curtis some love as he was an incredible talent and made some of the best RnB music ever recorded.

What do y'all think of Curtis?
[Edited 9/22/07 10:07am]

Love Curtis but it seems every one claims 2 have influenced Prince.

Curtis Mayfield was great!

Since this thread really is about Curtis and not Prince, why didn't you post it over at Music: Non-Prince?

Anyways, Curtis is great. I was just listening to some of his Impressions stuff yesterday. Brilliant!

Love Curtis Mayfield and I'm a youngin. That's Right, Go Curtis R.I.P!

Curtis: "Don't worry, if there's a Hell below, we're all gonna go."
Prince; "Don't worry, I won't hurt u. I only want u 2 have some fun."

Lmao..... there is no Curtis Influence whatsoever in Prince's Music... prince couldnt hold Curtis's Guitar Strap...

Curtis was P.I.M.P

Naahh, why don't we just chat about the influence of Boney M in Prince's music?

The Curtis influence is definitely there in P's music, particularly his 90s Chicago neo-soul stuff like on Gold Experience onward. Listen to Mayfield's Eddie You Should Know Better with its orchestral hits and then a song like Prince's I Hate You. Definitely some influence.

Let me just make clear, I consider Prince to be one of the great RnB artists of the 20th century. He is a hugely important historical figure in modern music but I don't think this has been acknowledged by the public at large. This will probably occur after his death unfortunately. Nonetheless, Prince ranks up there with the greats like Curtis, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, James Brown, etc. And most important of all - his music is damn good.

My one hope for P is that he rebounds with some great material after the last few years which have been lackluster.

Prince acknowledged some of Curtis´ influence way back in the mid 90´s shortly before Curtis passed away and he also said that Curtis last album ( New World Order ) was a great album when it came out.
He also paid tribute during the Gold Experience shows in Europe by starting some of the aftershows with People Get Ready, which probably inspired Count The Days.

Both are great in their own right, and there are a couple of similarities but I wouldn´t really compare the two. They are both very, very unique individuals.