We know "Witness" is a Hendrix jam. "Kiss" and "Black Sweat" often get put in the James Brown category.





When you think of Sly Stone's influence on P, what songs come to mind? Here are mine:

Ballad of Dorothy Parker
Strange Relationship (especially on the ONAL disc, circa 3:46)
Make Yo Mama Happy
Mountains
1999
Dear Mr. Man
Family Name (which actually has pieces of Sly's "Space Cowboy" in it...)


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[Edited 5/29/08 20:54pm]

Damn, thats a good question....

I have to think on that one for a bit,,,, I'll be back.

Before I read the thread, I was thinking 1999.

The way Prince had Lisa & Dez sing the beginning of the song before he came in was definitely inspired by Sing a Simple Song.

Paris9748430 said:

Thread, you're trying to piss folks off in this forum! I know man, u lil' devil u....I can hear them now threadbare... "First, all of these Hendrix pics and Prince pics that look like Hendrix...urgh...I can't stand it any more. ..How can we make them stop?!..Now, their showing Sly pics that shows some more shit that Prince bit off of!...Oh,..WE hate them motherfuckers!" Damn them! Damn Theeeeemmmm!!!". Don't hurt em' bare. Yes, I always thought that the track 1999 was similar in voice placing as Sly' cut. If u slowed down "Love or Money" , P sounds like Sly vocally. Parts of "Shockadelica" echoes Sly to me. As does "Erotic City". As does "She's Always In My Hair". Not the music to any of these songs but definately P's vocals on these songs. His phrasing and the way he drags his vocals...Sly did that all the time. "The Ladder" as well. That's basically Sly going to church.

The opening guitar riff in "Shy".
"What's My Name?" has Sly and Larry written all over it.
"Beautiful, Loved, and Blessed"..The live SNL jam at the end..very Sly like.
"Walk Don't Walk"
"Calhoun Square"

"Mr. Happy."

"If I Was Your Girlfriend", "Alphabet St.", "Starfish and Coffee". Yes, "Shy" sounds like a cross between Sly and Joni via Prince! There's a few more I can't think of at the moment.

I"m diggin' these responses.

Black, the "vocal drag" is a great way to describe it. I always say Sly had lazy or sleepy vocals. You can definitely hear him in Prince's phrasing, for sure.

In a lot of his funk tunes, had he recorded them sloppier (and, in many cases, slowed down the groove a bit), they'd be identical to Sly's stuff.

Sarah, Make Yo Mama Happy, Family Name and Calhoun Square stand out to me as the most obviously Sly-influenced tracks

'It's Gonna Be a Beautiful Night' obviously references 'Soul Clappin' by Sly.

The track "Brand New Orleans" has Sly written all over its face.

blackguitaristz said:

But Prince wouldn't be pissed off would he? I mean he's always going on about how much Sly and the Family Stone influenced him! Btw I didn't know much about Hendrix until now but I got a dvd recently and I was GOBSMACKED at how much Prince was like him, all his moves and everything. I was like Ahhh... I get it now!

From the top of my head:

The Ballad of Dorothy Parker (the 'out of tune'-organ and Princes vocals are obviously influenced by Sly's album 'There's a riot going on')

Mountains (especially the 10-minute version on the 12-inch: Princes 'take' on Sly's I wanna take you higher).

Make your mamma happy (Pure early 'positive' Sly)

Alphabet Street (especially the second part of the album version, listen to the instrumental coda of You can make it if you try from Sly for comparison)

1999 (mostly in the vocal department, Dez, Wendy and Princes handling of the lead vocals)

Love or Money (the vocal delivery, alltough Prince did sped it up)

Geez, I was expecting this thread to be two miles long by now, like the Jimi one. I wanna read it, I don't know Sly.
I was hoping on getting some insight.

Edit: I guess it should been called "who'se more innovative Sly or Prince?"
[Edited 5/30/08 16:30pm]