I think Prince should play drums again on future albums, I think he's an excellent drummer. When you listen to tracks like "Irristable Bitch", "Tamborine", "New Position", "Crystal Ball" "Yes", "Susannah's Pajama's", the Madhouse albums off course and host of other stuff, you know he is a badass, cool drummer. He also really has a knack for putting the right little accent in the right little place. Very cool. Among drummers like Omar Hakim, Steve Gadd, Jeff Porcaro and Stevie Wonder Prince is one of my favourites. Unfortunately he doesn't play much drums these days, at least not on his records from the 90s, so I hope he'll be handling drum duties himself again real soon. What do you think?

I agree
Prince is in the range of Stevie Wonder
however
he is not an excellent/amazing/brilliant drummer
He will never play in the league of
Elvin Jones (John Coltrane Quartet)
Clyde Stubblefield (James Brown bands)
Jabo Starks (James Brown Bands)
Neftali Santiago (Mandrill)
or even
John Blackwell.

Think Alexa De Paris.

Now that is kewl drumming.

tendersurrender said:

Wouldn't that be Morris?

Hedwig said:

No, it's Prince alright. In fact the drums on albums from The Time are played by Prince too.

He is certainly a very good drummer, but not "one of the greats"! Considering his all-round musicianship though, it is stunning that he is as good as he is on any instrument! To be as amazing as he is on guitar, keys and bass and then still kick yo ass on everything else he picks up is... unnatural!!!

Prince is not a virtuosic drummer, but his drumming has personality the way Ringo Starr's does. Listen to Madhouse -- it's unmistakably Prince behind the skins. He's got that sloppy thing going on, like he could drop the sticks any time but somehow doesn't.

Aerogram said:

um,isnt Sheila E playin skins on Madhouse 8,16,24?
[This message was edited Tue Jan 21 4:05:08 PST 2003 by Joshy84au]

Who's drumming on the Sign O The Times and Lovesexy albums?

Didn't he drum on Sleep Around?

That song's the boogie!

Joshy84au said:

Prince played drums on all of the tracks of Madhouse 8 and on some of the tracks of 16. Sheila E. played on the other tracks of Madhouse 16. All of this can be found in the extensive biography "Dance Music Sex Romance: Prince, The First Decade" by Per Nilson.

Joshy84au said:

He plays drums on Madhouse 8.

Prince is THE beatmaster. Drums or not.

Can somebody name some more tracks Prince plays drums on.



He played on Sexual Suicide right?


Not so long ago I acquired a Prince drum solo track that was live from the early nineties I think. Labelled something like BlackMF, maybe it's doing the rounds and someone can tell me when it's from.

Anyway, it's very funky, with lots of kick drum action going on, but there are errors and overall it feels a little show-offish, like he's trying too hard in places. He doesn't sound like the sort of guy u would want drumming for your band for the whole set. Not like a ?uestlove of someone really tight, a groove drummer.

Prince would be great to have on the skins if u were having an spontaneous allstar sweaty funk jam in a club after a show. He has a lot of fun I think.

Didn't he play drums on the entire For You album?

loosekiss said:

uh, yeah...

he's a cool live drummer, but he's killer with a linn.

Prince is an accomplished drummer, no doubt about it.

He just looks tiny behind the drum kit.

.

giotto said:

yeah, like the damn thing's swallowin him up...

it wasn't until I saw the "Sign O The Times" film that I Respected His Drumming.I think His Programming Quality on the Linn Drum Machine far surpasses Him as a Srummer.but He is better than he was.I'd say He is a Good Drummr&a Better Programmer of Beats.Stevie Wonder is a Great Drummer.I've heard Him do some stuff that almosts makes you forget He is a Keyboard player first.

Hedwig said:

Isn't that Shelia??

Prince should play more, but he ain't never gonna have the feel of Stevie's I WISH to name but one.

mistermaxxx said:[quote]it wasn't until I saw the "Sign

Wasn't it in detroit that he was at some tribute party where he Stevie, Tony Rich and someone else started playing... Prince was on drums ?

that was oct 97? at Intermezzo's after Mayte Dance troupe.
The NPG Dance Company...

looks around for Tim from The Detroit Crawl for all the details.

tendersurrender said:

I think you're right!

-SWANG inagreement

allanb said:

That's what :I:'ve been led 2 believe! ah well, Prince is a functional Drummer i.e. he can play 4 a session and he can cut it Live too but he ain't a specialist Drummer.

Then again, what does a multi-instrumentalist specialise in? :I: am still trying 2 find an answer 2 that same question!

'dre

Let's not forget that Prince played drums for the first four tracks from Parade - in one take, without stopping... just sat down and played his thing. At least this is the report of Susan Rogers, taken from Per Nilsen's DMSR biography.
[This message was edited Thu Jan 23 1:35:32 PST 2003 by agarze]

Mauve said:

Acoording to The PPML, issue #453, there is a post entitled I HAVE DIED AND GONE TO HEAVEN! (LONG) from a lady named Michelle in Metro Detroit. Goes into detail of the night of October 19, 1997 in downtown Detroit about her chance viewing of Stevie Wonder, Prince, Kat Dyson, and Larry Graham on the mini-stage at Intermezzo, a club right across the street from the Detroit Music Hall, where the NPG Dance Company (with former wife Mayte) performed earlier in the evening.

Here is the post, lifted from PPML #453. This is where the Motor Babies got the idea of having our first event, a dinner party at Intermezzos, to kick off the organization. ...

Well, folks--I couldn't make it to the premier of the NPG Dance Company here
in Detroit, but I did manage to talk to a few folks who were leaving the
Music Hall. Most people said the show was good, albeit expensive.

Sooo---I go home, put on my pajamas and go to bed. At 12:15 a.m., my phone
rings. I ignore it because I'm drifting off to sleep. But then I hear my
pager going off. I look at it and my colleague has put in his cell phone
number with "911" after it. All of a sudden I think, "Could this have
something to do with ?" So I call him back. "Yes?", I asked. He says,
"I'm sorry to call you so late, but I think you'd want to know that Prince is
here at Intermezzo having dinner." "OH MY GOD, I'LL BE RIGHT THERE!!", I
scream. So I get dressed, grab my sister (who was just coming in from a date
with her boyfriend) and speed downtown to the restaurant. Luckily, I only
live ten minutes from downtown.

Sure enough, there he is having dinner with Mayte and the NPG Dance Company
with Aaron and another bodyguard close by. Angela (my sister) and I decide
to go into the club (Intermezzo has a restaurant on one side and a club on
the other). We're walking around the club when all of a sudden Angela says,
"OMIGOSH, IT'S STEVIE WONDER". Stevie is standing at the back of the club.
I'm thinking--something major's gonna happen here. Angela and I decide to
go back to the restaurant.

My colleague beckons us into the restaurant--he happens to have a table
within full view of Mayte, and the NPG Dance Company. We sit down and
try to contain ourselves. My colleague told us that a few folks had to be
removed from the restaurant for trying to take pictures and get autographs.
After about 20 minutes or so, Aaron and the other bodyguard get up. I
whisper, "I think we better go back to the club--I think he's going to play".
So we walk back into the club (no cover charge--although apparently some
people got charged $5).

The house band was playing--so we walk to the front where the stage is. I
see one of the bodyguards go up and whisper something to the guitarist. By
then, I was sure there was going to be a show. The band finishes its number
and the dance floor clears. Angela and I (and two other of our friends who
had just joined us) rush to the front of the stage so that we have a perfect,
unobstructed view. Sure enough, within about five minutes LARRY GRAHAM got
onstage and picked up the bass, KAT DYSON picked up the guitar, the house
band's keyboardist stayed onstage and came up and got on the drums. The
club crowd was obviously shocked--but they went wild!! Larry led off with
the Sly and the Family Stones' hits "Thank You for Letting Me Be Myself"
(although that ain't the way they spell it!) and "I Want To Take You Higher".
Then they brought up STEVIE WONDER, Detroit's Hometown Musical Hero, and he
played SUPERSTITION (keyboards, vocals and harmonica) and two other jams that
I can't think of now. One of them I think was just a jam and not a released
song. Of course, the Detroit crowd REALLY went wild once Stevie got up
there. Mayte was also up in front of the stage. She and the Artist were
making "eyes" at each other the whole time. The whole "concert" lasted about
45 minutes.

And then I went back home and couldn't sleep all night!!

Michelle in Detroit

Of course he is. He's great at everything he do!

Did he paly the drums on "Dinner w/ Delores?" It always sounded to me like he did. Anyone else thinks so?

a2grafix said:

WOW to have seen that performance would have been AMAZING and beyond!!
Stevie Wonder and Prince?! OMG

Hedwig said:

I think that was Shiela, who I think also played drums on Crystal Ball/Expert Lover.