...who rules? Your thoughts.

Both are great, but when it comes to guitar playing innovations Jimi leads the way.

Prince has the better vocals out of the two.

why?

you could use the same question for

Sly or Prince

JB or Prince

P-Funk or Prince

MJ or Prince

Curtis or Prince

Stevie or Prince

Lionel or Prince

or dare i go into the untouchable white gods...

Bowie or Prince

Bruce or Prince

Beatles or Prince

Elvis or Prince

the fact that the question can be asked of all the above and a measured answer should be made for ALL of them. Proves Prince is up there with hte best of them.

Dandroppedadime said:

you could use the same question for

Sly or Prince

JB or Prince

P-Funk or Prince

MJ or Prince

Curtis or Prince

Stevie or Prince

Lionel or Prince

or dare i go into the untouchable white gods...

Bowie or Prince

Bruce or Prince

Beatles or Prince

Elvis or Prince

the fact that the question can be asked of all the above and a measured answer should be made for ALL of them. Proves Prince is up there with hte best of them.

great answer

If you're comparing 27 year old Prince to Jimi Hendrix ( Hendrix passed at 27) it is Jimi by leaps and bounds. Not even close. Prince played well at 27 but his lead work tended to rely on the same runs and he used a lot of smoke and mirror effects like flanging and overdrive/sustain. You can argue that today Prince is a better all around player. But is that really fair? Prince now has now had almost a 25 year learning curve on Hendrix.

3rdeyedude said:

Dandroppedadime said:

you could use the same question for

Sly or Prince

JB or Prince

P-Funk or Prince

MJ or Prince

Curtis or Prince

Stevie or Prince

Lionel or Prince

or dare i go into the untouchable white gods...

Bowie or Prince

Bruce or Prince

Beatles or Prince

Elvis or Prince

the fact that the question can be asked of all the above and a measured answer should be made for ALL of them. Proves Prince is up there with hte best of them.

great answer

Pity about the needless 'white gods' comment though. Some white people actually prefer the music of James Brown and Sly Stone to Bowie or Springsteen. Amazing but true.

As just a guitar player? Hendrix. He was the innovator of that style and did it better than anyone else since. Prince is obviously a follower of his, even if he initially pretty much denied it in interviews.

However, I was just listening to the Band Of Gypsys album the other day and was thinking that there was really nothing on the album that Prince couldn't have played. Mind you, Hendrix did have his fair share of bog-standard solos and he relied on his mannerisms on plenty of his songs (they're often the same scales and patterns - anyone that's tried to figure out how to play his solos should know what I'm referring to). By this point Prince has certainly had a more diverse approach with his guitar work, but who knows how Hendrix might have evolved himself.

Marrk said:

3rdeyedude said:

great answer

Pity about the needless 'white gods' comment though. Some white people actually prefer the music of James Brown and Sly Stone to Bowie or Springsteen. Amazing but true.

I assumed the "white" referred to the "gods," not to the ones who worshipped them.

A needless comment either way, though, I suppose.

Prince.

Who was better? Definitely Bo Diddley. next!

jaawwnn said:

Dandroppedadime said:

you could use the same question for

Sly or Prince

JB or Prince

P-Funk or Prince

MJ or Prince

Curtis or Prince

Stevie or Prince

Lionel or Prince

or dare i go into the untouchable white gods...

Bowie or Prince

Bruce or Prince

Beatles or Prince

Elvis or Prince

the fact that the question can be asked of all the above and a measured answer should be made for ALL of them. Proves Prince is up there with hte best of them.

I was thinking about Sly Stone when I posted this I see what you're saying, but my focus was on Hendrix.

yeah i can see how my comment about 'white gods' could be read wrongly. i meant it sarcastically to refer to the how the establishment see white rock music as the pinnacle of music (sales = quality), check out all the rock magazines they very rarely have a black artist on the front (ok Mojo had prince), but i suppose they are bowing to what the audience demands (zepplin, sabbath, bowie, beatles, bonzo dog dodah band etc). so i meant it sarcastically that the white acts are 'better', so i was going where many wouldn't dare go... to compare a black artist to a white artist. anyway i've probably made it worse trying to explain.

I can play guitar solo from All Along The Watchtower note by note.

does that mean im better than Jimi? of course not.

Its not only about what you play,its also about how you play.

Jimi played with so much confidence attitude,

he redefined the sound of electric guitar.

And Jimi influenced every guitar soloist .That guy set a standard

and changed the music forever.

Nobody can play Little Wing,Castles Made Of Sand ,

Who Knows and many others the way he did.

If there was no Jimi we wouldnt have Prince the way we know him.

Regarding Jimis career if he survived >I think that

Jimis music would have changed in a more classic

singer songwritter style.

His band would expand with keyboard instruments,saxophones.

And i think if Jimi was alive in the 80s he would go synth drum machine all the way.

Prince is a great guitarist.He always was but he didnt explore

the instrument in the way Jimi had.

Prince is a mix of influences so eclectic and thats the

thing that makes him so original.

But Prince innovated linn drum the same way Jimi did with guitar.

Prince used linn drum in a way nobody else did.many people call Prince The Hendrix Of Linn.

so they cant compare as a guitar players but they can as innovators in music field .

[Edited 3/11/14 16:44pm]

[Edited 3/11/14 16:45pm]

Listen to everyone who played before Jimi, then listen to everyone who came after him. Listen to everyone that came before Prince, then listen to everyone that has come after. Who caused more of a shift?

leonche64 said:

Listen to everyone who played before Jimi, then listen to everyone who came after him. Listen to everyone that came before Prince, then listen to everyone that has come after. Who caused more of a shift?

Could anyone have caused as much of a shift as Hendrix, though? I mean, is that still possible, no matter how great a player he or she might be? Historically, there was a moment--Hendrix was there to seize that moment. Rock was at that point, where genres were forming and dividing, and someone could be playing at that moment and be at the beginning (or close to it) of so much that was developing subsequent to him. As an innovative player at that moment, Hendrix can't be matched as far as legacy.

Dandroppedadime said:

yeah i can see how my comment about 'white gods' could be read wrongly. i meant it sarcastically to refer to the how the establishment see white rock music as the pinnacle of music (sales = quality), check out all the rock magazines they very rarely have a black artist on the front (ok Mojo had prince), but i suppose they are bowing to what the audience demands (zepplin, sabbath, bowie, beatles, bonzo dog dodah band etc). so i meant it sarcastically that the white acts are 'better', so i was going where many wouldn't dare go... to compare a black artist to a white artist. anyway i've probably made it worse trying to explain.

Eh, I think this explanation is fine. I got perfectly what you were trying to say.

Dandroppedadime said:

yeah i can see how my comment about 'white gods' could be read wrongly. i meant it sarcastically to refer to the how the establishment see white rock music as the pinnacle of music (sales = quality), check out all the rock magazines they very rarely have a black artist on the front (ok Mojo had prince), but i suppose they are bowing to what the audience demands (zepplin, sabbath, bowie, beatles, bonzo dog dodah band etc). so i meant it sarcastically that the white acts are 'better', so i was going where many wouldn't dare go... to compare a black artist to a white artist. anyway i've probably made it worse trying to explain.

But it is amazing how if you interview a lot of white artists, even contemporary ones, they would tell you their most influential musicians were black. Though Hendrix career span is short, he is very influential to a spectrum of artists, even Prince.

jaawwnn said:

Who was better? Definitely Bo Diddley. next!

Very soulful player, a class by himself, I'll say

novabrkr said:

As just a guitar player? Hendrix. He was the innovator of that style and did it better than anyone else since. Prince is obviously a follower of his, even if he initially pretty much denied it in interviews.

However, I was just listening to the Band Of Gypsys album the other day and was thinking that there was really nothing on the album that Prince couldn't have played. Mind you, Hendrix did have his fair share of bog-standard solos and he relied on his mannerisms on plenty of his songs (they're often the same scales and patterns - anyone that's tried to figure out how to play his solos should know what I'm referring to). By this point Prince has certainly had a more diverse approach with his guitar work, but who knows how Hendrix might have evolved himself.

Purple Rain or Purple Haze? What do you think?

thebanishedone said:

I can play guitar solo from All Along The Watchtower note by note.

does that mean im better than Jimi? of course not.

Its not only about what you play,its also about how you play.

Jimi played with so much confidence attitude,

he redefined the sound of electric guitar.

And Jimi influenced every guitar soloist .That guy set a standard

and changed the music forever.

Nobody can play Little Wing,Castles Made Of Sand ,

Who Knows and many others the way he did.

If there was no Jimi we wouldnt have Prince the way we know him.

Regarding Jimis career if he survived >I think that

Jimis music would have changed in a more classic

singer songwritter style.

His band would expand with keyboard instruments,saxophones.

And i think if Jimi was alive in the 80s he would go synth drum machine all the way.

Prince is a great guitarist.He always was but he didnt explore

the instrument in the way Jimi had.

Prince is a mix of influences so eclectic and thats the

thing that makes him so original.

But Prince innovated linn drum the same way Jimi did with guitar.

Prince used linn drum in a way nobody else did.many people call Prince The Hendrix Of Linn.

so they cant compare as a guitar players but they can as innovators in music field .

[Edited 3/11/14 16:44pm]

[Edited 3/11/14 16:45pm]

I think that though Prince is more diverse lyrically and musically, can take the listener to different moods, Hendrix seems to go deeper. He has a way of bringing out your dark side, even his own. Burning his guitar intensifies it. It could be scary. I wonder does anyone knows what I'm trying to say about Hendrix.

Dandroppedadime said:

yeah i can see how my comment about 'white gods' could be read wrongly. i meant it sarcastically to refer to the how the establishment see white rock music as the pinnacle of music (sales = quality), check out all the rock magazines they very rarely have a black artist on the front (ok Mojo had prince), but i suppose they are bowing to what the audience demands (zepplin, sabbath, bowie, beatles, bonzo dog dodah band etc). so i meant it sarcastically that the white acts are 'better', so i was going where many wouldn't dare go... to compare a black artist to a white artist. anyway i've probably made it worse trying to explain.

I don't think that was needed for Prince though

He's been compared to and he has made reference to those artists as well

Put it to Radio 6 (UK), as they've been doing The Great Rock Debate.

Last week Hendrix beat Clapton, Oasis beat Blur, can't remember whether the Beatles beat the Stones though.

Obviously as a guitar player Hendrix will win. Goes without saying. But as a musician it's not a fair comparison.

Beautifulstarr123 said:

novabrkr said:

As just a guitar player? Hendrix. He was the innovator of that style and did it better than anyone else since. Prince is obviously a follower of his, even if he initially pretty much denied it in interviews.

However, I was just listening to the Band Of Gypsys album the other day and was thinking that there was really nothing on the album that Prince couldn't have played. Mind you, Hendrix did have his fair share of bog-standard solos and he relied on his mannerisms on plenty of his songs (they're often the same scales and patterns - anyone that's tried to figure out how to play his solos should know what I'm referring to). By this point Prince has certainly had a more diverse approach with his guitar work, but who knows how Hendrix might have evolved himself.

Purple Rain or Purple Haze? What do you think?

Purple Rain, of those two.

A fairer comparison could be Let's Go Crazy or Purple Haze. In that case I might pick the latter.

thebanishedone said:

I can play guitar solo from All Along The Watchtower note by note.

does that mean im better than Jimi? of course not.

Its not only about what you play,its also about how you play.

Jimi played with so much confidence attitude,

he redefined the sound of electric guitar.

And Jimi influenced every guitar soloist .That guy set a standard

and changed the music forever.

Nobody can play Little Wing,Castles Made Of Sand ,

Who Knows and many others the way he did.

If there was no Jimi we wouldnt have Prince the way we know him.

Regarding Jimis career if he survived >I think that

Jimis music would have changed in a more classic

singer songwritter style.

His band would expand with keyboard instruments,saxophones.

And i think if Jimi was alive in the 80s he would go synth drum machine all the way.

Prince is a great guitarist.He always was but he didnt explore

the instrument in the way Jimi had.

Prince is a mix of influences so eclectic and thats the

thing that makes him so original.

But Prince innovated linn drum the same way Jimi did with guitar.

Prince used linn drum in a way nobody else did.many people call Prince The Hendrix Of Linn.

so they cant compare as a guitar players but they can as innovators in music field .

[Edited 3/11/14 16:44pm]

[Edited 3/11/14 16:45pm]

Can you explain more about how Prince innovated the linn drum the same way Jimi did with guitar with a few examples please?

Beautifulstarr123 said:

I think that though Prince is more diverse lyrically and musically, can take the listener to different moods, Hendrix seems to go deeper. He has a way of bringing out your dark side, even his own. Burning his guitar intensifies it. It could be scary. I wonder does anyone knows what I'm trying to say about Hendrix.

I suspect you are talking about the blues impulse, that dark, brooding atmosphere that pervades so much of Jimi's music and sound. Blues was the sauce in which he cooked up all his creations, and Jimi was much closer in feel, tone, culture and in history to the original blues artists than Prince, as well as having travelled the south a lot while on the 'chitlin circuit'.

For me, much as I love all his music, Prince is perhaps at his least convincing when trying to do a 'traditional style' blues song, like The Ride, or his imo weak renditions of Jimi's Red House, for example. He always sounds a little fake to me when doing straightforward blues. He doesn't seem to 'get' it, and is always on surer ground when he brings the psychedelic funk rock into the mix, superimposed over a blues song. I would say Prince's best original blues songs are Sign o' the Times, The Truth and Don't Play Me .

Having said that, a song like Sign o' the Times is totally a blues song in spirit if not in structure and is very much a 'modern' blues song in the tradition of Sly Stone and Curtis Mayfield. It has that blues feel in the lyrics and music, without being a 12 bar progression thang.

And yes, Jimi is undoubtedly the better all round guitarist, especially in lead playing. While very cool and flashy, none of P's solos hold a candle to Machine Gun from Band of Gypsies IMO. That track is the paragon of rock fusion guitar solos to me. Also, Prince has often relied too much on effects that mask his technique, while Jimi used a far narrower range of effects to far better 'effect', as it were .

Prince is obviously the better all round musician, as while Jimi was imo a better singer than he gets credit for, more accomplished on the keyboard than many realise (listen to Burning of the Midnight Lamp, that's him on harpsichord ), and was funky and supple on bass guitar (a lot of the bass parts on Electric Ladyland are Jimi overdubbing over Noel Redding after he left the band) and dabbled in drums, Prince was definitely the better multi-instrumentalist in his 20s, the only period we can compare with Jimi who left us at 27.

But Jimi was touched by God on the guitar. NOBODY can equal or surpass his awesome technique and pioneering contribution to the electric guitar, use of high volume and in the amount of 'soul' he brought to his playing.

Prince is great on guitar, probably the most accomplished player of both rhythm and lead guitar I know of who's alive, but, like all practitioners of psychedelic electric rock/ blues guitar since the late '60s, he plays in the long shadow of Hendrix.