Was listening to Jimi this morning, man, he was good, but Prince's music sounds much better to me overall, even though I know Prince came behind him.

I wonder if Jimi would have been impressed with Prince?

Hendrix was great, but personally I think Prince, at age 27, was as good if not better than Hendrix at 27. Prince had an additional 30 years to master his craft beyond Hendrix, so it stands to reason that Hendrix would think very fondly of Prince's unmatched guitar prowess.

Alot of famous guitarists have said that Jimi was complimentary and supportive of them when he could have been competitive or dismissive. I imagine that if Clapton admired Prince then it wouldn't be a huge leap to think Jimi would have as well.

Jimi would have set all of his guitars on fire.

leadline said:

sharonbell said:

2olskool4u said:

leadline said:

Hendrix was great, but personally I think Prince, at age 27, was as good if not better than Hendrix at 27. Prince had an additional 30 years to master his craft beyond Hendrix, so it stands to reason that Hendrix would think very fondly of Prince's unmatched guitar prowess.

Yep 100%. What makes Prince stand out is his accuracy and immaculate playing, the amount of hours he put in is probably unthinkable

Exactly, he was fast, he was the most accurate and clean player I have ever seen, he could play all styles, he was genius at both rythm and lead, and he could improvise his ass off, which he basically did every time he took the stage. Prince has 30 years more experience on the instrument that Jimi, so for me, the comparison lost it's juice a long time ago. But you will always find folks that will argue till the end of time that Prince was not better.

[Edited 6/11/16 4:56am]

rogifan said:

Is it true that Prince didn't like being compared to Hendrix? I thought he once compared himself more to Santana than Hendrix.

He expressed that to the media, but Andre Cymone has since stated that Prince was more influenced by Jimi than he let on.

Jesse Johnson said that when he and P met he told Jesse and had never heard of or listened to Jimi. Jesse called him a "liar"...I think P always kept quiet about his Jimi influence in the earlier years just to stay original...The "P.R" era was when you really saw it, and the media ran with that. By the late 80's/ 90's he really didn't hide it too much...I think Jimi would have really dug P's style and I'm sure he would have been invited to Paisley to jam and record....and P would have probably showed up at Electric Lady too.

Prince passed Jimi Hendrix as a guitar player a long time ago. There's many reasons Hendrix was/is great but there's plenty of reasons P is better. way more versatile as well.

It's so futile to make the comparisons of them as players because #1 without Jimi (and Santana and Eddie Hazel, for example) there really is no Prince, not in the way that we know him. And that's totally ok, it doesn't take anything away from Prince. We are all the sum of our influences. I suppose Jimi would have really been down w/ what Prince as doing. As another poster stated Jimi was always pretty supportive of his fellow musicians.

scorp84 said:

"the comparison lost it's juice a long time ago".."it's so futile to make the comparisons of them as players".......This. Plus Jimi and P were two totally different guitarists from different generations......"way more versatile as well"....that may be true, but Jimi passed before he could stretch out musically... Santana, Sly, Miles, Gil Evans, and even Duke Ellington wanted to work with him. Some of the Funkadelic members knew him and jammed with him too..I even read Joni was a fan of his.. If he passed in 1990 (instead of 1970) there's no telling what he could have done.

SPYZFAN1 said:

"the comparison lost it's juice a long time ago".."it's so futile to make the comparisons of them as players".......This. Plus Jimi and P were two totally different guitarists from different generations......"way more versatile as well"....that may be true, but Jimi passed before he could stretch out musically... Santana, Sly, Miles, Gil Evans, and even Duke Ellington wanted to work with him. Some of the Funkadelic members knew him and jammed with him too..I even read Joni was a fan of his.. If he passed in 1990 (instead of 1970) there's no telling what he could have done.

YUP. I truly wish Jimi would have made it because honestly had he kept clean and focused I think he would have been a funk/rock BEAST in the 70s. He certainly could have arranged an outfit around himself that could have given P-Funk a run for their money. He was already headed in that direction. It's always sad to think about what could have been.

RiotPaisley said:

I think they'd compete as peers and try to out do each other, thereby both of them just getting better and better until all us mere mortal's heads exploded from the sonic majesty they created. They would then be left to keep on jamming under hazy paisley clouds of purple rain without us.

love that!

"he would have been a funk/rock BEAST in the 70's"...Absolutely! If Betty Davis was his lead singer, that project might have been heavier than Mother's Finest. (I love MF btw, no disrespect to them).

SPYZFAN1 said:

"he would have been a funk/rock BEAST in the 70's"...Absolutely! If Betty Davis was his lead singer, that project might have been heavier than Mother's Finest. (I love MF btw, no disrespect to them).

ooommmmmggggggggg....like, I know it wouldn't be real but this is a dj/producer project waiting to happen. Mash up/chop up some of Jimi's funkier tracks under some of her vocals.

lol! That is a dream project! P even tapped into some of that MF vibe with The Rebels.

CalhounSq said:

I remember reading in a guitar magazine he wanted to be a "guitar hero" at first. But then he said he started having hit singles and all of that changed. But nonetheless, he did cram a lot of guitar hero moments in those hits.

I think Jimi would have been envious.

scorp84 said:

SPYZFAN1 said:

Yes..It was very reminiscent...At the Seattle 3RD EYE Girl gig in Seattle (a few years ago) he rocked the headband and fringe jacket and gave props to Jimi........."I've always hated it when black musicians that play guitar immeadiately get compared to Hendrix"....GW: "You've been often compared to Jimi Hendrix. How does that make you feel? : "People make the world go 'round". (Guitar World interview-1994)

rogifan said:

Is it true that Prince didn't like being compared to Hendrix? I thought he once compared himself more to Santana than Hendrix.

I don't think it was that Prince didn't like the comparison. I think he just didn't think the comparison was apt. As someone else said, I think Prince thought it was based mostly on the fact that both he and Hendrix were black. He said that he thought his style was more similar to Santana's because Santana "played prettier."

Jimi would have loved Prince's playing purely for his sense of timing and rhythm.

I don't think you can say that one is better than the other, they each had their own voice on the instrument but the Hendrix influence is definitely obvious in Prince's soloing. Prince, intentionally or unintentionally replicated the things that came to Hendrix naturally.

[Edited 6/11/16 15:23pm]