As there have been a lot of tv documentaries commemorating the 40th anniversary of Jimi Hendrix's death recently, I was wondering if Jimi and Prince had been contemporaries do you think they would have worked together or liked each other? From the testimony I've heard, unlike Prince Jimi seemed quite a down-to-earth humble guy (he admitted disliking his own singing) voice who genuinely seemed to respect his peers (e.g. Bob Dylan). However, like Prince he seemed to be stuck in a rut playing the hits (Purple haze, Foxy Lady etc...) for the crowd which frustrated him as he wanted to be more experimental. So, would they have got along or possibly worked together given Prince's ego?

That is the ? now what is the answer?

no

Jimi pushed music far.

Prince started too but his ego got in the way.

Every now and then a spark of his genius shines.

Wendy and Lisa helped keep in on track when he was doing something new and different.

Now all albums are forumlated....same themes.

Prince could not be friends with James Brown or Carlos Santana, so the answer would be NO! He stole too much already from them to be "friends."

The only person he could and would relate to was Miles Davis. Why, I have no clue.

[Edited 9/26/10 18:41pm]

If Jimi became a Jehovah's Witness, then yes.

IMO

Jimmy and Prince would have bounced ideas and new sounds to a level that no one had ever imagine or heard of before. Until Prince came along, no one could make me wanna dance like Jimmy did.

Prince could not be friends with James Brown or Carlos Santana, so the answer would be NO!

I totally agree with that.

Jimi was older, and maybe he would not have been so inviting to a young lion that prince would have been for him. I see Prince being turned off, and Jimi being too preachy. Had Jimi lived he would have been a God from one of the most heavily documented, self congratulatory generations ever. The 80's was saturated in boomer victory laps in tv (30 something) movies (The big chill) and music (The Beach Boys and the Dead had huge hits and the Stones became "Inc"). I see it as a Prince/DÁngelo dynamic where the younger artist leaves the interaction wanting to take a shower.

[Edited 9/27/10 2:53am]

The only older artists Prince worked with (George Clinton, Larry Graham, Mavis Staple...) were childhood heroes he has a lot of respect for.

I think Prince has respect for Jimi (not jimmy, please) Hendrix, but jimi was not a hero for him (he prefered santana).

Prince worked with all of those artist when he was a little older and they were in a career lull which does matter in how they recieve him. Jimi would have been held up through the 80's by the machine, a lot of his peers in the 60's went on to be very powerful people in the industry. That climate would have been a lot different, with Jimi easily seeing Prince as a threat and Prince seeing Jimi as an outdated hippie who is part of the establishment. Remember, when Prince started his sound clearly was influenced by past greats yet he refused to acknowledge he was even from this planet. Only later in life was he more open about what he listened to growing up and who influenced him. Had Jimi met Prince early it would have been a huge turn-off, as i'm sure it was for James Brown.

Prince worked with all of those artist when he was a little older and they were in a career lull which does matter in how they recieve him.

Good point. It's hard to say what would have been Jimi's career and how he would have passed the 80's who killed so many great artists.

Yeah, had Jimi hit a bad patch in the late 80's i could see Prince signing him to Paisley and letting him do his thing in the early 90's. Had Jimi become "Jimi inc" and reaped the rewards of being 60's royalty i could see him totally hatin on Prince. Are we even sure had Jimi lived if Prince would have been so brazen with the subtle jimi-like imagery with the ruffled Edwardian shirts and references to purple?. Would it have been received differently had Jimi lived and rocked that look into the mid 70's?. How would Prince's path been altered if Sly lived out his full potential and been strong in the 80's?.

[Edited 9/27/10 3:56am]

bigbrother said:

As there have been a lot of tv documentaries commemorating the 40th anniversary of Jimi Hendrix's death recently, I was wondering if Jimi and Prince had been contemporaries do you think they would have worked together or liked each other? From the testimony I've heard, unlike Prince Jimi seemed quite a down-to-earth humble guy (he admitted disliking his own singing) voice who genuinely seemed to respect his peers (e.g. Bob Dylan). However, like Prince he seemed to be stuck in a rut playing the hits (Purple haze, Foxy Lady etc...) for the crowd which frustrated him as he wanted to be more experimental. So, would they have got along or possibly worked together given Prince's ego?

Musically speaking I think they could have jamed together but, personally speaking, I do not think they'd get along Jimmi was too much into drugs and experimentaion, P would have been turned off by that. If J stayed 'straight' I think they would have been 'C.O.O.L' with one another ...

bigbrother said:

As there have been a lot of tv documentaries commemorating the 40th anniversary of Jimi Hendrix's death recently, I was wondering if Jimi and Prince had been contemporaries do you think they would have worked together or liked each other? From the testimony I've heard, unlike Prince Jimi seemed quite a down-to-earth humble guy (he admitted disliking his own singing) voice who genuinely seemed to respect his peers (e.g. Bob Dylan). However, like Prince he seemed to be stuck in a rut playing the hits (Purple haze, Foxy Lady etc...) for the crowd which frustrated him as he wanted to be more experimental. So, would they have got along or possibly worked together given Prince's ego?

NO!

bigbrother said:

As there have been a lot of tv documentaries commemorating the 40th anniversary of Jimi Hendrix's death recently, I was wondering if Jimi and Prince had been contemporaries do you think they would have worked together or liked each other? From the testimony I've heard, unlike Prince Jimi seemed quite a down-to-earth humble guy (he admitted disliking his own singing) voice who genuinely seemed to respect his peers (e.g. Bob Dylan). However, like Prince he seemed to be stuck in a rut playing the hits (Purple haze, Foxy Lady etc...) for the crowd which frustrated him as he wanted to be more experimental. So, would they have got along or possibly worked together given Prince's ego?

I don't think Prince's ego would have been the sticking point. I think it would have been Jimi's drug use.

The height differential lol, jimi was a solid 6'4.

nope