Of the last 20 years, John Mayer's catelog of music is the only other body of work that I have admired as a whole other than Prince's. I really can't nail down what the common thread may be but I have a feeling that other Prince fans may feel the same. I wanna know what you think they may have in common and if you think a collabortion could happen in the future. I never have heard of P giving props to Mayer but I would bet he admires his work and Mayer's guitar skills. Give me some feedback please.

What about Lenny Kravitz? He has a good body of work over the last 20 years...same # of albums as Mayor and a gretest hits album.
I like Mayor's "Daughters" song....but havent heard much of his other material.
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Mayer is an ugly overinflated musician - his guitar skills aint even all that

There is absolutley zero common thread between these guys

Plus Mayer is a complete ass to his fans on stage (trust me I've seen him on three different occasions and he has proved his snobbish nature time and time again)

Is this a joke thread? How in the world can anyone compare John Mayer to Prince?
He puts me to sleep http://www.youtube.com/wa...38Ne96R3iE
[Edited 9/12/08 11:30am]

I can actually hear some of Princes influence in bits of Mayers soloing. Check out the solo at the end of 'gravity' when he performed it live at the grammys with j.legend and some other bird. Some of them guitar lines near the end were beautiful and very prince like (lots of emotion and a building tension). The crowd were very receptive to it aswell (including Prince who it shows after the solo concludes).


see what i mean at 2.28

http://uk.youtube.com/wat...SLneloxdZ0
[Edited 9/12/08 12:12pm]

I thought he was a reporter until you said s'thin can't say I have ever heard JM

John tells a story about Prince reserving seats at his shows, but not actually showing up.

He says that just the thought of Prince sitting in the audience makes him raise his game.

thepope2the9s said:

Lenny has not been as consistant as John. This is especially true in the begining of Lenny's career. He was too busy trying to song like everybody else to really be the consistant musican he could have been.

I think that Continuum is a respectable piece of work. I feel he is like a combination of james taylor and eric clapton(in terms of his soloing)

The Mayor of BORING.....lol.

Maybe his guitar sounds like Prince. The notes reminds me of Prince. Thats all I can see from that video. And Prince was giving a standing ovation for real music by real musician.

bigben07 said:

Mayer is lame, wanted to be a kid star when he was young but sucked.

.....Sans finesse

....Compared 2 Prince on guitar, that shit's just 'clunkin'

John Mayer is a real good guitar player.

2020 said:

lol. You hate him but yet you have seen him LIVE THREE TIMES!!! Too funny. Sounds like a fan thats been burnt to me.

fanatic4ever said:

I stopped after seeing him live just once. I think Mayer is talented, but I've never seen a talented guitar player deliver a more boring performance.

As a straight out guitarist I prefer Mayer. Not all the time though. But then I play and love the blues. Mayer is often criticised for aping Hendrix (chord work) and SRV (soloing). Hell, I wish I could play so well that people accused me of that!

He's still young, and as arrogant as he seems he has a natural talent for pop song-writing, has a very pleasant voice and is a very accomplished blues player. He's just lacking his own voice on the guitar I think.

It's horses for courses once more I guess. As musicians they are obviously in different leagues. One innovates, the other imitates.

Mayer also has that kind of smug look that makes you wanna smack him in the face if you ever met him. Prince you'd just want to bend down on one knee for. Although for many of you girls I guess that'd just be go down on both knees.

And Mayer's current live album is one of the best albums I've bought over the last few years. Whether I'll be playing it by next year I don't know though. Still spent more time in my stereo than Planet Earth. A lot more time.

I like the 2CD live set from John Mayer as well ....

Dayclear said:

Dayclear said:

I LOVE this song.

He is NO Prince, that's for sure.

2020 said:

I'd agree with his live performance antics...rude tacky....completely opposite of his thoughtful and romantic lyrics/playing. Prince's ability and style would be the equivalent of Mayer staring at the moon in the night sky --- Nice and admirable to look at, but knows he'll never get there.

iloveannie said:

I respect YOUR opinion but I disagree.

I just bought the latest Mayer Live in L.A. cd's and I thought to myself, 'Prince plays guitar with more precision, more speed, and better pitch control than Mayer.'

Prince flows on guitar in a way that is STILL not appreciated enough when talk of great guitarists arises. I am in no way saying Mayer sucks. I enjoy his tone and he surrounds himself with great musicians. I'm just saying any comaprsion to Prince is unfair.

When I intently LISTEN to Jimmy Page, Jimi Hendrix, and Mayer - I hear three cats that don't have the absolute pitch that Prince has.

...My two cents

I don't really know John Mayer's music, but I remembered this, I'd be willing to hear more of John Mayer...

I don't know about a common thread. Mayer has been on point since TRY! and Continuum is a fine album, but apart from the latter he has no real other studio album that holds up very well. He has something to build on and lets hope he does just that.

On the topic of guitar, I take Prince over Mayer because I think the axe is just about showmanship as about ability (Prince obviously has the latter). For me, Mayer lacks that whilst Prince could just play power chords and make you drool!
[Edited 9/14/08 4:59am]

I just remembered, Mayer has done "Starfish and Coffee" live. It's easy to find on certain file sharing sites. Being that you have to dig deeper than the greatest hits to pull that one out I believe Mayer has much more of a Prince influence than many realize. On "Clarity" which opens the Heavier Things album the horn arrangment is straight up Prince inspired. As far as guitar, Mayer has taken his guitar work far beyond what Prince has. Listen to songs like "Neon" and that riff alone is something P just doesn't get in to. If you want to compare soloing technique go ahead, non guitar players are free to have an opinion. But I have observed that Prince often over uses FX like delay, flange, and distortion, some would argue as a crutch. Mayer has a cleaner sound which allows you to hear his skills shine through a little bit mo betta! P is still a very good guitarist but Mayer is more dedicated to his instrument and not so much the showmanship that P is into. Also, at Mayers concerts he actual encourages fans to record the performance. He once said that music is just soundwaves and who is he to say he owns them or something like that. He is a complete opposite of the web sherriff that we all know and love!

Flowers2 said:

Corinne

Difficult to compare Mayer or Lenny to chameleons. Guys like Prince and Bowie changed look/sound ofter over time periods. But yeah an age gap also..

bigben07 said:

That's true Mayer tries to get that clean/slighty dirty sound in it's puriest..even mentioning his weak pickups (which I've never heard any musician saying) for clarity.
Prince's approach to alot of instruments (and all other facets of creation) is IMO unorthodox and really doing his own thing most of the time.