Back when NPGonlineltd was up and Prince released the first demo version of "The Work" for us to listen to, I seem to remember reading that Prince had played the guitar and keyboard solo bit in the studio in one take... with one hand on the guitar and the other on the keys at the same time.
Anyone else remember this? Or have I imagined it. The solo isn't in the TRC version of the song.

yes i remember reading that, too. Also, There is a clip of Prince Jamming during a rehearsal for,what i believe, is the Lovesexy tour and he can be seen playing the keyboard and guitar at the same time. I wish i could remember the program.. maybe its the Omnibus Documentary?

Additionally, I watched an interview with one of his former bandmember (perhaps Eric Leeds or Bobby Z) Who remarked on Princes gifts by saying that he had witnessed Prince play a piano line with one hand whilst, at the same time, playing a guitar line with the other AND singing a harmony part.

Perhaps somebody more knowlegable Could enlighten us to who made these comments and where they came from (program).

3121 said:

I've seen that clip but I can't remember which program it was from. It's great.

it was the omnibus special that displayed this

yup, true. shame he took the solo out of the TRC version, i liked it a lot.

don't know where it was posted, probably on his own site back then but the
story about him playing both instruments at the same time during recording
of the track is true.

All that I know and love is "The Rainbow Children's" version.

Now that's impressive - playing the guitar AND the piano at once. And I thought it was extraordinary that Hendrix played rhythm and lead guitar at the same time.

The guitar / piano solos by Prince were released on 'The Work Pt. 1' CD Single and in the NPGMC Audio files (if my memories are correct).

The version on 'The Rainbow Children' is a reworked version.

The Napster download version of The Work Pt. 1 with the piano/guitar solo in question is 3:35 versus the final album version at 4:28.

squirrelgrease said:

I was wondering about that. I didn't remember there being any difference. My Napster mp3 is long gone.

stanleylieber said:

Since the CD single version clocks in at the same time(save for a couple seconds of empty air) as the Napster download, I'll assume that they are the same track - minus the compression, of course. I'm not comparing the LP and Napster cuts side-by-side, but I think that the vocals and lyrics are slightly different too. You decide.

EENteresting.

squirrelgrease said:

isn't that because there's some Darth Jehovah tacked on the end of the album track?

errant said:

Yep. You are correct.

The LP version has music up until about 3:45, then the Darth Jehovah kicks in, vs. 3:35 for the Napster cut (and no Darth). The LP version has the full/long jazzy guitar solo, where the Napster single has the completely different guitar/keyboard solo. The Napster song also has a more demo feel to my ears.

I'm guessing that the CD-Single and Napster songs are the same as they were released at the same time.

This sorta reminds me of the two different Beautiful Strange songs. The album track has Mike Phillips on guitar solo, and the demo-ish VHS tune has Prince on lead.

That's quite impressive! I can barely pat my head and rub my stomach at the same time. Special people do special things. Early in Prince's career I also heard that he played 13 instruments. and that he played them well. And speaking of Jimmy Hendrix, I heard or read somewhere,that at some point in his career jimmy played his guitar upside down because there weren't any left handed guitars and that this contributed to the uniqueness of his sound. Anyone know if any of this stuff is true?

HAZE03 said:

Prince can play guitar, bass, drums and keyboards/synths/piano with a whole lotta virtuosity. Add some hand-held percussion, harmonica, analog programming, a mixing console, his voice, handclapsfingasnaps etc. and you end up with a buncha stuff. Writers throw out numbers like 25 instruments (and recently 31 ), but it's mostly hyperbole.

Hendrix almost exclusively played right-handed guitars that were strung upside-down, so that he could play them as a natural left-handed guitarist. This is why the whammy bar is above the bridge in pics and on film. After Jimi could afford to buy left-handed guitars, he already mastered the tremolo in this fashion, so stuck with the righties. Stevie Ray Vaughan was right handed, but did the same thing Jimi Hendrix did, but used left-handed guitars strung upside-down. He wanted to play the whammy in Hendrix's above-bridge style.

L4OATheOriginal said:

squirrelgrease said:

don't u mean mike scott?

mike philly is the sax player and didn't appear until the musicology tour

L4OATheOriginal said:

So many Mikes...