I won't say where or how, but I heard "The Long and Winding Road" cover from the O2 show. It was great, but it was Elton John singing it. Which, of course, is great. But is there also a version with Prince singing? Or was it just a one-time cover?

they both need to stay away from that song!!


it's heresy what he did to I can't Make You Love Me.. but Beatles are off limits

I heard the Prince version with Eltons vocals too, much too polished and 'Vegasy' IMO.

The same can be said of Princes live-version of Radioheads 'Creep' by the way.

Prince should realise that he might be a very versatile musician, and that, on a TECHNICAL level he can probably cover any dead or living musician around him, but that doesnt actually mean he always gets his covers 'right' in terms of feeling, expression and deliver the music the way the lyrics demand.

He is at his best with covers when he keeps it in the field over artists he borrowed a lot from himself, like Sly Stone, James Brown, Rufus and Chaka Kahn and Jimmi Hendrix, but when it comes to covering songs which are not directly in his 'niche', he often fails severely IMO.

I mean: One of us was originally performed in a very down-to-earth, almost 'sluggish' country-rock way, fitting to mid-western Joan Osbourne 'meeting God' on the streets.
But in Princes version it does get a polished mess, with a detached production, and the horrible lyrical change from 'slob' to 'slave'. He simply doesnt get the crux of the song.

Radioheads version of Creep might be a bit less technically impressive then Princes own material, more 'slackerish', but it simply fits that song, in Princes hands it almost becomes like 'Barry Manilow doing a bossanova version of Smells like teen spirit'.

And, when it comes to the Long and winding road: Despite the lavish orchestra- and choirparts of producer Phil Spector, Paul Mc Cartney intended it to be a direct, down to earth song, with universal lyrics that people could relate to on a personal level. In the hands of Prince and Elton John it became a schmaltzy take on a pretty, but sober classic.

berniejobs said:

he played and sang it during the 3121 shows in las vegas, such as 31st march 2007, and sang it on 25th august at the o2 arena show
[Edited 3/11/09 13:40pm]

"The Long and Winding Road" not the greatest song by Macca anyhow

was at both the o2 shows where P did vocals and the one when elton did vocals - i remembr thinking at the time, the thing that struck me about P's version was how his voice seems 2get better with age, more range and depth.
the thing that struck at the time me with elton was, "who the f@ck is that elderly gentleman clambering up on2 the stage ?", and then, "oh, it's elton, SECURITY, get him off! "

dammme said:

no, but it's still a gem!

"The Long and Winding Road," is a very deep song...and about as long as memory lane. I wish I could have heard Elton sing this song.

Riverpoet31 said:

So...Copycat i more appropriate according 2 u ! A rock singer cannot cover a funk song right? Well...