OK, can we for once have a serious analysis of P´s guitar work in comparison to others.

My first example, is the Rock N roll of Fame, why did he re act like that, I will tell you why, it was a F U statement to people that first, think that P cant play guitar and secondly that a black artist cant master the instrument, especially in rock n roll terms.

I think deep down, P is still very angry that he is never taken seriously in the guitar world, and to be honest he has every right to be angry, I saw the shows recently at the O2 and aftershows, and P has become one of the most outstanding guitarists in the world, in the realm of guitarists on the big stage.

So go look up you tube for your Mark Knoplers, those are the ones that compete on this level, and lets have a proper thread on Prince for once
[Edited 12/22/07 23:07pm]

Jochem said:

I know the thread, but there is almost no discussion, as it is about a listing

Prince by far is one of the greatest guitarist that ever walked the earth ...i play guitar and i think i play well many times u can hear my playing on my profile ..i wish i could play 1/4 as well as Prince

Whitnail said:

Yes, you are right, but (in this case) he does get the credit he deserves.

Jochem said:

True, but i am looking for something a bit more in depth, which is probably difficult to do at a post site, but look at this and at some point reply what you think

http://www.youtube.com/wa...Q-JyAGUsys

Whitnail said:

Prince way better

RipPoPtheregoMYTOP said:

tell me why?

I am a prince fan over 23 yrs now, but give me a solid reason why you think he is a better guitarist than this example, naturally as an artist he is better, Knopfler could not sing to save his life, and if you watch closely he does not care anyway, but he plays guitar like a demon.

Whitnail said:

Just coz it is xmas, I will add this

http://www.youtube.com/wa...ycY60&NR=1

Peace n B wild

Whitnail said:

In my opinion it's an unfair comparison.

I am not an expert of the technical side of playing guitar.
For me it's all in the sound.

Every once in a while, hearing Prince play makes me feel very emotional.
I think that sometimes you can feel his pain/sorrow through the guitar (Just My Imagination - Small Club).

He is the only one that can make me cry by just playing guitar.
That's probably the essence of why I love Prince.

Do U play ? ur Answerer would be simple if u did.... first off they can't touch the pick/pinch harmonics Prince can they could never cre8 the Pick slides or the chicken scratch.. their tone is in no compassion to prince .. Prince has literally set a tone then he recreates every time that most guitarist would sell their soul for just one tone of such greatness not to mention that prince goes off the scale using notes not usually used the the scales and i am not talking about going to a different scale or mode the list goes on, there are far to many aspects here to list

in fact he walks the neck of the guitar like it's a sidewalk
[Edited 12/23/07 0:11am]

Jochem said:

i agree totally, that is the reason i started this thread, I wanted to hear emotion, what makes him different, asides technical stuff, thank you, I look forward to hearing more about the music, the real reason we are here.

Peace

RipPoPtheregoMYTOP said:

No I don't play.

"Pick slides or the chicken scratch" is that like what he did in the SNL Fury version?

I really like them strange sounds. Also the part in "I could never take the
place of you man" from the SOTT-movie. He brings the guitar to the microphone
to get some sort of distortion. I love that.

You should hear the "beautiful Strange" version from the Indigo on sept. 13, 2007 (I have been listening to it for days now).
That has some very weird guitar in it.

RipPoPtheregoMYTOP said:

I play and can read music, but i have never played guitar properly and have often wondered why P is so under underrated as a guitarist, as i have seen him live on guitar, and it is amazing, and the "just my imagination" guitar solos, is one of those moments you wanted to have seen, but hearing it, is almost as good, I like your input to this, it is exactly what i was looking for, as I personally think P is a genius on guitar, but i also want to be objective, if you know what I mean

Jochem said:

nmmmmm, I have almost all the aftershows from london, except that one and the 24th, I would love to hear it

Not enough live releases... And of the live releases, none of them are on youtube...

I can go on youtube and find live videos of practically any guitarist I want... except Prince.

Nobody will know what he can do live except those that go to his concerts.

I have had numerous conversations about music in my life, and Prince was always respected as a guitar player...

Some people have made comments about his wild ways, yet even in the late 80's, everyone that I met would say things like..."That boy can play guitar..."

I guess I was just talkin' 2 people that had a lick of sense.

RipPoPtheregoMYTOP said:

Its pretty poor that you play guitar and give and answer like that,any guitarist can play a pinch harmonic for gods sake, and do pick scrapes ect.

but yes prince is a fantastic guitarist, hes up there with clapton ect. for sure

but your explination for him being better than them was rather stupid!

And as for tone, Mark Knopfler and Clapton have beautiful tone. And are recoginized for it more so than prince, Santana is princes man id say.

But still, i think Prince is for sure up there in the top 5
[Edited 12/23/07 7:56am]

i'm not a musician bt know when a guitar sounds hot!
he's an exciting performer.
kinda leaves yer breathless when he swings in2 actionn.
i can't quote her in context,
but cjanssen used the expression 'coitus interruptus'...
i think this describes tht feeling when he's done playing his solo!
can never get enough. ultimate respect!
even tho his performance at the music hall fame was incredible,
i'm certain he held back...
he was loving himself
but i feel there may have been some frustration at the end.
he was just getting going

RipPoPtheregoMYTOP said:

I don't think Prince was doing anything unusaul or showing off, he was just showing them what he's got, he does it all the time When he closes his eyes and goes into that 'zone' it's over for anybody else trying to keep up with him. Prince is the greatest and he just wants to let everybody know it!
[Edited 12/23/07 10:13am]
[Edited 12/23/07 10:16am]

I think the reason he's been overlooked as a guitarist, is the 'image', I think that's what a lot of people think of when you mention Prince, the videos, the look, the adrodgony, etc.

I don't know much about the technical side but my hubby does, he's been playing guitar for the last 10 years and loves all the major guitarists, Stevie Ray Vaughn etc. and has seen all the big names in concert. I had to drag him along to the first Prince concert we saw at the O2, but he came away absolutely 'raving' about his guitar playing (he doesn't rave very often about anything!) and talking about 'tones' etc. etc. He was blown away by him.

Personally, I have never been much into big guitar solos, I tend to switch off and get bored, but with Prince his guitar just 'talks' to me, and reaches parts of me nothing else can reach. I don't know HOW he does it, or what he does to make it happen, but it's filled with emotion and I think that's his secret, if it makes a 'lay' guitar person sit up and go 'Wow! amazing' that's real talent.

An aside - the hubby also came away saying "he seems like a really nice bloke!" which made me laugh because I think he thought he was a bit 'feminine' beforehand. He couldn't believe what a great performer he was, and that he'd missed out on his music for the last 20 years!!

PS I saw Eric Clapton and Mark Knopler play together at the Albert Hall, oooh must have been 1988/89? It was great, but nothing nothing compares to Prince for me.

The only bad guitarists to me are those who have so much training or who are so devoid of soul that all they can do is waiting room/elevator music noodling or computer-like shredding. "Hard" doesn't equal good.

I just want the guitar player to ride what the band is doing and connect to something emotional and real.

P is no Jimi, but he does that. As far as the clowns who assume he's some hack, what the eff ever. There are so many people who dismiss him for some stupid reason or another. They aren't worth acknowledging and they're the reason pop is crap now.

RipPoPtheregoMYTOP said:

prince doesnt show imagination on guitar....he always sounds like someone else

I think that if Prince wants to be recognised as a great guitarist then he has to do it on an album, in the last ten years how many songs are there when you are blown away by his guitar playing.

As a guitarist, I think he's fantastic on the Purple Rain album and then there are plenty of songs between then and now where he really shines, but he doesn't really have a full album where the guitar really comes alive.

Live, he seems to be in his element - just look at the American football final when he ripped through the guitar - amazing!

Smillan said:

american football final? u mean super bowl?

mirrorbestfriend said:

Haha, I just couldn't remember 'super bowl' when I was typing it so I put in american football final, but you get my drift

Because it's whitnail's thread, I'll post. Usually, I no longer post on these types because I've said this on here many times. I'm a musician, songwriter, producer and performer. I play guitar, bass, keyboards and drums. My main instrument is guitar and I'm primarily a lead guitarist. I've been playing over 3/4 of my life. Almost as long as I've been alive. As some of u know, I've actually played with P's childhood friends and musical cohorts Andre Cymone and Morris Day. And some folks on this site actually own some of my music. I have several influences as a guitarist and prince is certainly one of them. I've been told by many people that I'm good. And that's nice to hear. Me myself, I'll just say that I can definately play. That said, my perspective of P as a guitarist is really simple. P is a very good guitarist. P hasn't ever gotten the credit that he deserves on the instrument because of his other talents. P is such a showman and performer. One of the best ever, really. And then there's P's image, which has always gotten in the way of him being seen as a great guitarist. Most folks can't seperate his image from P, the musician. Other musicians can. BUT musicians don't make up a large percentage of the general public. The media certainly hasn't helped P's cause either. Choosing to focus on other elements of P. That said, comapring P to Hendrix or Vai or Van Halen or Scooby Doo is fruitless. Because it's all subjective. Everyone has their opinion on who are their favorites. And to me, it's all valid. Who's better is never valid. It's the Magic Johnson/Michael Jordon thing. U simply cannot compare those two because the fact is, they were BOTH great. P is an exceptional musician and killer shownan and singer who happens to be a very good guitarist. Period.

blackguitaristz said:

always know your shit, black, you alwayr know.
Thats a good perspective/opinion.

Let me add something else to this. P has always garnered respect from other known guitarists. Clapton to Santana to Van Halen to Vai to many others have all praised P as a guitaist. Anytime any known guitarist is interviewd, they are going to be asked what do they think of Prince as a guitarist. It happens way more times than not. Sometimes the guitarist may mention Prince on their own, giving praise. The reason for this is because P, being such a great performer and songwriter, P truly knows how to showcase his guitar strengths. He understands what impresses the common person on guitar. He does it in the studio and on stage. He understands and executes "flash". He knows when to use it and how to use it. If it's when to use a flurry of notes or a sustained vibrato or when to stretch his mouth open or to make the Hendrix face. It's all apart of his knowledge as a performer. And other performers all realize how great P is when it comes to this. This is something that he has over many other known guitarists. Is his flash and his sense of the dramatic. At times, it makes him appear better than others. And perhaps he is, because he knows how to employ this where others don't. Understand, P knows it's always about showmanship. The thing about P is that he's so much deeper than that as a guitarist though. His knack to grasp an array of styles is crazy. Jazz and blues, to play effectively, is not easy. Yet he does it with flair and style. Which cannot be fronted. Is he better than Robert Jonson or George Benson? Fuck no. But that's besides the point. Taken with ALL of what P does on the axe, along with simply being one of the greatest ever rhythm guitarists, it puts P in a different category.