Revolution said:

Did Prince get inspiration from Jimi?
To say that Prince is better than Jimi, someone who passed away before Prince really got started to me is a bit disrespectful

If it wasn't for Jimi Prince probably wouldn't be the guitarist that he is, same with Lenny, and if not for Prince Lenny probably wouldn't be the guitarist he is and so on

when i first saw the title of this thread i was like "oh sh*t lmao wow i love jimi hendrix and prince but prince betta than jimi hum.....i would have 2 hear the guitar solo ur talking about where can i find it on imeem or something lol

langebleu said:

man where do u get this stuff from lol

This always impressed me:




Watch till the end

.
[Edited 6/27/09 20:38pm]

...i gotz to hear prince's-version..
...mzsexybaby

goodlookingmofo said:

GREAT POINT! I've seen him play arenas and aftershows as well as at the Celebrations at Paisley. If you weren't there, you compare his ability to others because what Prince puts on a cd, others can't. So, the Vai's and Satriani's of the world, will have more guitar. I've seen Eric Johnson a couple of times and own a few of his cd's. He's great, but he can't do all that Prince can. Just like Prince is not touring right now, he chooses not to shred his guitar on most of his tracks. Because we know, if he wanted to tour right now, he could.

merce29 said:

Merce29 - you make as little sense as goodlookingmofo! glm - where did you get that info? There is tonnes of guitar on Prince's albums throughout his career and guitar mags and forums show him 'nuff respect!! Did you ever see the feature in Guitar Player - the one with him on the cover with his gold symbol guitar? Fantastic article in which they state, amongst other things, that Prince is probably without peers in the rhythm guitar department. Please, speak with knowledge and forethought, rather than emotional diatribe!

Mindflux said:

I have got to strongly disagree with you. Let's make the distinction between "guitar" and "lead guitar" clear. Quite often on album Prince will use keyboards as a lead instrument rather than guitar. He also often layers the keyboards over the guitar thereby somewhat diluting the impact of the guitar. Sure, there are lots of guitars on Prince's albums but they are usually used for rhythm and are rarely up loud in the mix. Yes, you might be able to make a mix cd of 20 Prince songs on album that feature lots of guitar but you would have a hard time finding 40 and I don't think that you could find 60. For a guy who has released as many albums and songs as Prince has he has not released too many guitar heavy songs.
[Edited 6/28/09 13:23pm]

Mindflux said:

nonsense

There's HARDLY any guitar on his cds in comparison to vai, hendrix, page, slash etc

HE NEVER gets talked about on guitar forums

rialb said:

INDEED

That is my point exactly.

A WASTE OF TALENT IMO

I hate keyboards being loudest in the mix instead of guitar on rock tracks.

goodlookingmofo said:

Its not nonsense - perhaps you read the wrong forums/publications?

And you are comparing a multi-instrumentalist with guitarists - that lame comparison is gonna come up short...of course there is less guitar on his albums than on those who only play guitar!

And to rialb who pointed out that guitars are often down in the mix - that may be true, but it doesn't mean there is no guitar! Your post is contradictory - gml said "he hardly ever plays guitar on wax", I countered this and you're trying to rebuke my statement whilst saying "sure there are lots of guitars on Prince's albums" - so, which is it? It can't be hardly any guitar, but there's actually lots, its just down in the mix! Furthermore, why are you introducing a distinction between guitar and lead guitar? What relevance does that have? And the original poster of the statement that he "hardly plays and guitar" did not make that distinction - why does it matter?
[Edited 6/29/09 3:33am]

goodlookingmofo said:

He does now ...After the HOF solo at the end, he gets brought up quite a bit.

Mindflux said:

I don't think you are getting my point. Yes, Prince does play guitar on his albums but he often buries it in the mix so that it is hard to hear it. It's hard to appreciate something that you can't hear. And of course there is a difference between lead and rhythm guitar! I can play decent rhythm guitar but I couldn't play lead guitar to save my life. Based on Prince's albums I don't think he can even be discussed with the other great guitarists because compared to them he plays so little guitar.

What would you say are Prince's 20 greatest "guitar" songs and how do you think they would rate against some of the other top guitarists?

Camden Palace, London - Aftershow is the best imo.

The woo ooo.. woo ooo in between in just..... and

3232 said:

considering the fact that one prince admitted himself that he can not match jimi style of playing and it would be a pity to try to.number two that solo that you are creaming in your pants over is an old carlos santanna riff off of one of his albums.prince is known for stealing riffs.

comegetwild said:

I highly suggest you give a listen to Richie Kotzen. Guitarwise he´s at least up there with Prince. Very emotional playing not just the usual "fretboard wanking". Plus he´s a great songwriter, has a huge stage presence and plays a lot of instruments on his albums. Check out his musical-output in the last 15 years...and IF you live near NYC, he´s playing at the HoB in NY at the end of July...

Check out his cover of "All along the watchtower"

http://www.youtube.com/wa...2YJ_VHm_Zg
[Edited 6/30/09 2:13am]

Ziese said:

I just checked him out on a few youtube vids and I thought he was really good and I will deffo be listening 2 him again but better than Prince? I honestly didn't see anything 2 suggest that. Like I say I thought he was very good but just not that good.That just my opinion.

comegetwild said:

I highly respect your opinion and if Prince is your musical "holy grail" than be it so. Of course as a live musician Prince is in another world compared to the likes of Richie Kotzen, since he´s simple more known and reaches a wider audience. The question for me is, what defines better/worse other than personal taste? Technically RK is surely one of the better guitar players around no doubt. And I think his backcatalogue is pretty impressive for someone at the age of 38. I´ve seen him in concert 3 times here in Germany and Austria and his ability to "get through" to the audience with his incredible voice and amazing guitar playing is astonishing. Well, does it make him better or worse than Prince? All the above mentioned points (Skilled on instruments, a lot of musical output, amazing live performer) turned me into Prince about 15 years ago and for a long time I compared everybody else to Prince. The most incredible concerts I went to were Prince concerts. Still I highly enjoyed the Metallica show I´ve bee to in May. Are they better or worse than Prince? No they aren´t. They just do something different. Same with Richie Kotzen. I guess if the two would jam together it would turn out great. Sorry for going a little off topic on this, but I just tried to explain why to me it doesn´t make sense to say that Prince is better than "whoever" (be it Jimmy Hendrix). His song material is just so outstanding, his concerts are so great that he acompanied me for the last 15 years (musical wise) and will hopefully continue to do so.

Ziese said:

That statement wraps this thread up.

I gotta say though I am very impressed with Richie Kotzen, he has a great voice and a nice guitar style. U can see his influences but they don't dominate his music. I like him thanks 4 the tip.


.
[Edited 6/30/09 3:44am]

You´re welcome.

rialb said:

No, I'm "getting it", I just don't agree with you. Perhaps you need a better stereo - nothing Prince lays down is "hard to hear", its usually just right for the mix and a decent stereo will deliver all those nuances.

I've been a professional music producer for years, so I don't need basic education on the difference roles guitars play - my question was what is the need for the distinction here, not what is the difference!!

"I don't think he can even be discussed with the other great guitarists because compared to them he plays so little guitar.".....eh? So, its quantity, not quality? Ridiculous. I think we should leave it here, cos I don't think we're gonna engage properly on this one.....

As for 20 guitar songs that match up to the greats, it doesn't take much effort - the whole of the Truth and Lotusflow3er contains guitar work that's comparable to greats and encompasses quite a few references to many of the considered guitar greats, from George Benson to Hendrix. But, if there's not enough of it for you, so be it.

Prince is better than Hendrix, technically.

Stevie Ray was greater than both of them.

Buckley kicks most of their asses in terms of complexity and emotion.

Malmsteen, Satriani and Buckethead are better than them all technically.

There is no GREATEST guitarist - only "The best at doing this sort of thing..." and then FAVORITE.

I can buy the argument that Prince is better via his versatility, however, being versatile means you're also not the master of any one of those disciplines. Someone who puts all of their energy into one school of guitar playing will probably wipe the floor with Prince, Hendrix or Stevie Ray.

But who do you want to go hear play guitar? For me, it'd be Prince, Stevie Ray, Buckley, or Hendrix, because there's an emotional core that comes shining through which far outweighs the technical proficiency. And for me, that's what music's about: the emotion.

No, you're wrong. Prince is really bad about putting his guitar work up front. It's always been a problem of his. He's not the greatest producer in the world - but he thinks he has to do that along with everything else.

He should focus on the music creation and let someone else run the boards and mix for awhile. At least on a few albums. Most of his ouevre will be him behind the dashboard, so there's nothing wrong with giving up those engineering feats to someone else for a bit.

The results would probably amaze us all.

Mindflux said:

bleutuna said:

fair way of putting it...but i would go on to say..none can outplay Prince on any style..he does it all.The others are ussually a slave to one or two styles f Playing. Put Prince in a room with one player from each style, shredder, bluesman,rythme, latin, bass etc...and pit them at him one at a time
this is where his innovative skill will surface, when the others would be doing theire particular style,for example the blues player, Prince's version of blues wont be JUST blues...he has a way of fusing his playing with other genres/styles..so HIS blues version would sound otherworldly...reminds m of Bruce lee...Bruce, mixed and fused the best of all martial arts and created something stripped down and futuristic...he master it all and could adapt to any oponent...cause the oponentswhere confined to just one style.So they were no more growth with them.He used to say "when u r bounded by styles u limit u self" Be like water, take the form/shape of ur environment..be formless, shapeless..be water my friend"

jackson35 said:

everybody "steals " from everybody in the biz,EVERYONE...that being said, that solo is badass ( whats ur point again?).

Mindflux said:

Trust me, my stereo is fine.

I'm not saying that it is right but typically when people discuss who the greatest guitar players are they are talking about lead guitar. That is the point I was trying to make. Prince does play the odd solo but, as I pointed out before, he typically uses the keyboards as his lead instrument. Sometimes he will have the keyboards and guitars play the same thing. Unfortunately, I find that when he does that the guitar is noticeably muted. Just as an example, I think the version of "Come On" that he played on the Tonight Show is ten times better than the album version. Most of the leads on the live version are played on the guitar vs. the keyboards that are featured on the album version.

I do not think it is ridiculous at all. Most artists are judged on their prime. Most folks would agree that Prince's prime is 1980-1987. Listening to those albums vs. someone like Jimi Hendrix there is not much guitar on them, comparatively speaking. Purple Rain is possibly the album from that era that features the most guitar but I don't think it is a particularly guitar heavy album. I think that is the reason that people don't talk about Prince as a great guitarist. For whatever reason he made the decision not to feature his guitar playing heavily on his albums.

Sure we can engage on this properly. I may have been guilty of being too vague but hopefully I've made my position a bit clearer.


Hmm, I totally agree that those are two of Prince's more guitar heavy albums but are they particularly innovative? What about the guitar playing on those albums is unique? You mention Prince referencing other great guitarists but is he saying anything new? Ask yourself this: what kind of influence has Prince's guitar playing had on others? How many people cite Prince as a primary influence on their guitar playing? I'm not saying that he's not a great guitar player but I don't see how a person can make an argument that he is the very greatest guitarist ever. Now, if you wanna talk about being the total package as a multi instrumentalist I think you could make a good case for Prince being one of the very best but not as a guitar player.

jackson35 said:

Ironic how many of you regular joes descredit Prince's greatness on guitar playing but then people who have years of experience in the music biz = Paul Mc Cartney / Eric Clapton / Duff(Guns n Roses fame)...and many more..they comment on Prince's playing as the best player alive or the best to theire taste...or being scared of being pitted against him on BASS ( DUFF)...these people who KNOWS music more than us "regular Joe know it all!"

3232 said:

I don't think Prince is the best guitarist but he would destroy Duff McKagan on bass guitar. I'm not sure how Prince would sound trying to play in Duff's style but he is clearly a better bassist than Duff.

you know the more i think about this the more i see how wrong this is lol... jimi hendrix is dead how are you gonna compare a living artist to somebody who died over 30 years ago lol if Hendrix was still alive do u still think prince would be better than him??

P as a bluesman?..Yeah he's got that down. He can get into that mode real well when he wants to. The live 88 version of "If I Had A Harem" is rockin'.

P's rhythm style?..He's great. Whether if he's playing R&B, funk, or distorted power rock chords, he's cool at that.

P's 'Santana" imatations?..He's got the tone and note selections down real well. I hear a lot of Carlos in his playing when he stretches out live.

P's bass playing?..One of the funkiest. And Duff is a really a rhythm guitarist who happens to play bass. He picked it up because G-n-R couldn't find a bass player. He's a huge P fan too.

P as a shredder?..Nope. Yes I've seen his live verison of "J.I.R" from 2000 w/ Larry on bass..and he's killing it..playing real quick doing descending runs..but shredders to me are cats like Tony MacAlpine, Buckethead, Paul Gilbert and Richie Kotzen..(who is NOT 38 years old..he's older..TRUST ME..he's a nice guy though).

P can blaze..but I never put him in that shred bag. I always considered his peers to be cats like Blackbyrd, Kidd Funkadelic and even Warren Haynes. These guys know how to lay back, let loose, and have the "whisper to a scream" type dynamics down.....

..but maybe that's just me who thinks that.