Throughout his career he's had some musicians that he was better than at drums, keys, and guitar (Bobby and Kirk; Boni and Rosie, Wendy). But has he had a bass player that he was clearly better than at the time they were in his band? No way is/ was he better than Mark and even he would agree. Andre? Levi? Sonny?

As a bassist where does Prince rank if he was in a lineup with his former bassists?

Somehow I doubt he'd put himself above Rhonda

paisley2002 said:

Yes, she is a highly trained and skilled bassist, and she respects the hell out of Prince as a bassist.

What bass players were in his band that he was better than?

Prince is incredible skilled, playing most of those instruments alone, but is he better or worse than his band mates.....? I can't tell Levi and Sonny were great as well. And Rhonda too.

I'm not so sure about Brown Mark, how skilled he was - but he looked good in the band, lol




-
[Edited 3/24/10 7:18am]

I don't know but I'm guessing Andre may be at the bottom of the list but that's just a guess. Is Prince a better bassist than Andre? I don't have any tracks or footage with Andre on bass to be able to make that call.

Prince was not better than Sonny, or Larry Graham. Rhonda will give him a run for his money too.

I'd say Mark was better than him at the time, because the bass was Mark's instrument, whereas Prince started out on piano, then guitar. Mark might have had a few years experience on him. He probably was better than Levi. Levi seemed better on guitar than bass, to me.

At the time, Andre was probably better on bass than Prince. It was Andre's instrument, even in the early days.

Can't really comment on Josh.

paisley2002 said:

Only because she has a pussy that he wants/wanted/did(?) eat.

ernestsewell said:

No my friend... Levi is a Monster on both Bass & guitar... just listen to the solo on "2 Nigs United 4 West Compton" or is solos part during Sign o the times & Lovesexy Tour... He's a beast !!!!! lol

We cant really say as Prince unleashes the skill usually in Jams at the park or something. Most these other folks got youtube videos solely on them doing their thing.

All we got on Prince is mostly album riffs, few solos live in which most wasn't filmed.

You just can never know with Prince....you can try but, you will only frustrate yourself.

Prince is killer on the bass and anyone who thinks he's not is fooling themselves. Even the short clip of Prince playing Partyman in the studio is outstanding to say the least. Prince on the bass is Funky! And he is just a good as anyone who has played for him cause that just how Prince is.
[Edited 3/24/10 11:43am]

I didn't know Wendy played bass guitar
I knew she played some exotic instruments-percussion



Sheila plays bass or guitar too?

OldFriends4Sale said:

Who do you think is playing all the extra instruments on the Wendy & Lisa albums? She also plays drums. Check the liner credits on the first album.

joyinrepetition said:

True.

Also, the word "better" is fundamentally flawed.

Another thing... Prince's bass playing influenced some MAJOR bassists out there.

His feel and rhythm R unique and impeccably FUNKY.

ernestsewell said:

I was throwin' around Josh, thinking the same thing E. I would think P would find the best instrumentalist he could find and I would hope they'd be better then he was on everything else except maybe piano or guitar, to say the most.

Giovanni777 said:

Really? How so?

saafiir said:

Agree. I wouldn't say that Prince is better on bass than Levi.

All I have to say is listen to the bassline on The Ballad Of Dorothy Parker. That alone should end this argument.

joyinrepetition said:

Doesn't mean he's better

Also, can he make those bass lines with a synth?

Prince was better on bass than Brownmark and Andre. Larry is the best. I dont think Rhonda can really beat him. In fact, I am not sure Sonny could either.

Brofie said:

So Prince can't find any bass players that are better than him to be in his band? Levi's the only one that is better than him?

I've never heard anything from Mark Brown that wowed me. If anyone can point me toward an example please do, 'cause I want to hear it (seriously, I'm not being sarcastic!).

Rhonda, on the other hand, blows my mind.

eyewishuheaven said:

Of course - she's in a hazy jazz band, unlike Brownmark who was in a popular r&b/pop/rock band.

OldFriends4Sale said:

Makes me wanna eat her pussy even more!

joyinrepetition said:

Credits: pic by Squirrelgrease (I think)...


-
[Edited 3/24/10 21:21pm]

Brofie said:

I have to agree. I saw him perform in Portland, OR on the Musicology Tour and he took a bass solo during the set. I'm a bass player. I had been admiring Rhonda's super badass finesse filled pocket playing all night, but frankly, Prince owned that bass inmate-style. Also, he may have yawned while he was doing it. The man's a beast.

Once you get to the level of playing that Prince and his all his current/former bandmembers are at, it becomes very subjective about who is 'better' or 'worse'. He's always hired the best of the best.

So personally speaking, I'd argue that Prince was better than just about all of The Revolution, with the exception of perhaps Dr. Fink. Since then, I'd argue that his band members have been slightly better than him on their respective instruments, with the exception of his guitarists (only because Prince himself is a 'total mother' on that instrument, where as I'd rate him as only 'very good' on the others).

Again, it's all very subjective. Prince may not have the chops of some of his players, but he definitely has his own unique spin on all the instruments he plays.

OldFriends4Sale said:

At the only aftershow I've ever been lucky enough to have attended (House of Blues, LA, 3rd June 2004), at one stage Prince and Sheila started jamming on each other's instruments - Prince on her timbales, and Sheila on his Hohner! Such a cool thing to witness!! I wouldn't say Sheila was a guitar goddess, but she could hold her own .

Adisa said:

Imagine Prince playing with Marcus Miller

toejam said:

Good points, especially since a lot of the Revolution were still new or much younger in experience, but what they lacked there they brought a certain drive

But there were also other things that the pre 1987 band brought that others didn't was they shared the hunger of 'making it' they are still the foundation.

But with the musicians over all and I think others have said it, there are people who are totally given to a particular instrument. like the bass, Prince is very good, but there are people who practice think play perform study the bass. Prince's shine is still piano/keys 1st guitar 2nd because those are the instruments he plays all the time.

Can he play stand up bass? I don't think he can, it's much different that the other bass, but Rhonda can play the stand up bass.

Lisa Coleman is studied in jazz and classical piano, can Prince play piano better? that's up in the air because if we are talking about style then I could easily say I don't think I can compare. Plus Lisa is very good in orchastra production and she can duplicate that though keyboards synth. You really do hear that layer prior to 1987 and you don't hear it after.

As much as I loved the SOTT shows, the music at times wasn't as layered as shows you hear during the 1981-1984 years

toejam said:

I'd love 2 see that