Jimmy Jam <

The thing that was cool about it was I remember that class

was going to put a band together to play at this school play. I told them I would play drums and Prince said, “I’ll play guitar.” I looked at him because I didn’t know he could play guitar. I thought he only played keyboards. He said, “Yeah, I play the guitar too.”

So we get into our first rehearsal and Prince plugged his guitar

in and he was unbelievable. He played “Make Me Smile” by Chicago, and the song had a guitar solo. And, if you played the guitar, it was like the go-to guitar solo. It was a great way of showing someone that you could really play the guitar. Prince ripped the solo note-for-note, and I was like, “Oh, my God!” I had no idea he was that good. I said to myself, “This is the baddest dude I’ve ever seen.” We took a break from the rehearsal. I went to the bathroom, and I heard someone playing the drums and they’re tearing them up. I was thinking it was the music teacher Mr. Hamilton. Mr. Hamilton was really good. So I walked out, and it was Prince sitting at the drums. We were twelve or thirteen at this time. If I remember correctly, Prince got his record deal when he was fifteen. We did the whole gig, and I remember a few years afterward someone told me that Prince played all the instruments on his demo. I told them I bet he did because I saw him do it before.

Hey man! Thanks for posting!

thebanishedone said:

If I remember correctly, Prince got his record deal when he was fifteen.

He isn't remembering correctly. Prince turned 19 the year he signed his deal (1977).

Also (as we discussed in a previous thread), I've been a lifelong Chicago fan. I've never heard any version of "Make Me Smile" - be it album, single or live - which contains a guitar solo. I believe Jimmy must be remembering a different song.

hopefularranger said:

Hey man! Thanks for posting!

thebanishedone said:

If I remember correctly, Prince got his record deal when he was fifteen.

He isn't remembering correctly. Prince turned 19 the year he signed his deal (1977).

Also (as we discussed in a previous thread), I've been a lifelong Chicago fan. I've never heard any version of "Make Me Smile" - be it album, single or live - which contains a guitar solo. I believe Jimmy must be remembering a different song.

Listening to it now, and it does have a kick-ass guitar solo at the 2:45 mark. Pretty impressive if P played it note for note.

luv2tha99s said:

hopefularranger said:

Hey man! Thanks for posting!

He isn't remembering correctly. Prince turned 19 the year he signed his deal (1977).

Also (as we discussed in a previous thread), I've been a lifelong Chicago fan. I've never heard any version of "Make Me Smile" - be it album, single or live - which contains a guitar solo. I believe Jimmy must be remembering a different song.

Listening to it now, and it does have a kick-ass guitar solo at the 2:45 mark. Pretty impressive if P played it note for note.

My bad! You are correct! I'm getting old!

hopefularranger said:

http://www.waxpoetics.com/features/articles/jimmy-jam-interview

I like the whole article, especially the detailed description, from Jam's perspective of how Prince formed The Time. It's the same story but from a totally different angle.

[Edited 8/22/14 15:36pm]

Yes, God definitely blessed Prince with musical talent, and also made him handsome to boot!

The reason i posted is because some orgers like to question his ability on various instruments.

I take Jimmy Jams word over some of the org people.

thebanishedone said:

The reason i posted is because some orgers like to question his ability on various instruments.

I take Jimmy Jams word over some of the org people.

I've never heard anyone say that Prince was not a highly talented musician. Of course he can play the hell out of a number of instruments. But is he a highly talented composer? That's where I get confused. You hear some of his PR era through SOTT era stuff and say of course he's a great composer, but then you hear his 1989-2014 material and say of course not.

'Around the World in a Day' is reminiscent of that Chicago song at the beginning. I get song ideas based off of other songs, too. I imagine that is what was up with Prince and this song.