I always forget how young he was when he was multitasking at such an astonishing degree.

Does anyone ever marvel at how many people (musicans) worked for Prince when he was in his early 20'sand how much power he had?. Wasn't he 23 or something when he was fronting a band, writing (or co-writing) for the Time (and also producing them?) and doing the same for Vanity 6.

22-23. that is so flipping young. NO wonder he made some mistakes and had disgrunted employees..LOL.

Agreed! It's amazing what he achieved at such a young age and also how advanced he was in his style and songwriting so young. It's almost as if he had his complete Prince persona with his trademark musical styles and screams already fully formed in the late 70s and just continued with it through the decades. That's why listening to old albums sounds just as Prince like as the things he recorded decades later!

I also feel that there's almost an inverse relationship to maturity, it's almost as if as he got older he became more childlike perhaps sometimes infantile in his dealings with the industry and with people. Perhaps that's just the price of fame which seems to insulate people from reality but it seems at the beginning he really was quite mature and had his finger on the pulse. Although he would probably argue he was immature then and once he knew what record companies were up to he changed?! But it does seem interesting when you think about it. But the fact that he was young was great too because the songs of that era really captured the raw feelings and passion that he had and you can hear it! In his later work, with some notable exceptions, that passion (in the studio at least) seemed to be lacking but also I guess that is perhaps a natural progression particularly when you gave so much at a younger age.

[Edited 6/25/17 2:19am]

In some ways as a musician/songwriter, he was more mature as an adult; in some ways, he was less mature. He's got some reflective lyrics later that I don't think he could have done when he was younger. One of the reasons,he can seem more mature as a youth was because he knew he didn't know the answers. As an adult, occassionally, he acted as if he did know. MOre mature people tend to realize that they do not know everything.

A couple things the Melvoins stated resonated with me here. Susannah stated something about Prnce being tender but not vulnerable back in the day. Wendy(or maybe it was LIsa, I can't remember) stated something about Prince have a deep 'insecurity' as he got older. They also said he was sort of naive when he was younger. I think when he was younger, he went with his instincts and his instincts were brilliant. He just dove in. When he was older, he doubted them more (I assume) but didn't really want to admit that the doubts were there. He was more paranoid and fearful. In some ways, he matured as a public speaker and a hollywood insider after the name change back to Prince though. And we can't forget the horrible stuff that happened to his child and the possible drug usage at a younger age than we originally suspected. I also think he suffered from depression...(this is just a hunch or feeling, but picking a name that can't be spoken [which in a way is almost like the shedding of one's identity] feels like the action of a depressed man and not just a gimmick to outmaneuver the record company.)

TheFreakerFantastic said:

Agreed! It's amazing what he achieved at such a young age and also how advanced he was in his style and songwriting so young. It's almost as if he had his complete Prince persona with his trademark musical styles and screams already fully formed in the late 70s and just continued with it through the decades. That's why listening to old albums sounds just as Prince like as the things he recorded decades later!

I also feel that there's almost an inverse relationship to maturity, it's almost as if as he got older he became more childlike perhaps sometimes infantile in his dealings with the industry and with people. Perhaps that's just the price of fame which seems to insulate people from reality but it seems at the beginning he really was quite mature and had his finger on the pulse. Although he would probably argue he was immature then and once he knew what record companies were up to he changed?! But it does seem interesting when you think about it. But the fact that he was young was great too because the songs of that era really captured the raw feelings and passion that he had and you can hear it! In his later work, with some notable exceptions, that passion (in the studio at least) seemed to be lacking but also I guess that is perhaps a natural progression particularly when you gave so much at a younger age.

[Edited 6/25/17 2:19am]

[Edited 6/25/17 7:46am]

[Edited 6/25/17 7:49am]

When you're young, you don't know (or worry or even think about) all the things that can go wrong. Prince's sense that he was inevitable/invincible/infallible worked for him.

in a way he had nothing to lose.

Genesia said:

When you're young, you don't know (or worry or even think about) all the things that can go wrong. Prince's sense that he was inevitable/invincible/infallible worked for him.

purplerabbithole said:

In some ways as a musician/songwriter, he was more mature as an adult; in some ways, he was less mature. He's got some reflective lyrics later that I don't think he could have done when he was younger. One of the reasons,he can seem more mature as a youth was because he knew he didn't know the answers. As an adult, occassionally, he acted as if he did know. MOre mature people tend to realize that they do not know everything.

A couple things the Melvoins stated resonated with me here. Susannah stated something about Prnce being tender but not vulnerable back in the day. Wendy(or maybe it was LIsa, I can't remember) stated something about Prince have a deep 'insecurity' as he got older. They also said he was sort of naive when he was younger. I think when he was younger, he went with his instincts and his instincts were brilliant. He just dove in. When he was older, he doubted them more (I assume) but didn't really want to admit that the doubts were there. He was more paranoid and fearful. In some ways, he matured as a public speaker and a hollywood insider after the name change back to Prince though. And we can't forget the horrible stuff that happened to his child and the possible drug usage at a younger age than we originally suspected. I also think he suffered from depression...(this is just a hunch or feeling, but picking a name that can't be spoken [which in a way is almost like the shedding of one's identity] feels like the action of a depressed man and not just a gimmick to outmaneuver the record company.)

TheFreakerFantastic said:

Agreed! It's amazing what he achieved at such a young age and also how advanced he was in his style and songwriting so young. It's almost as if he had his complete Prince persona with his trademark musical styles and screams already fully formed in the late 70s and just continued with it through the decades. That's why listening to old albums sounds just as Prince like as the things he recorded decades later!

I also feel that there's almost an inverse relationship to maturity, it's almost as if as he got older he became more childlike perhaps sometimes infantile in his dealings with the industry and with people. Perhaps that's just the price of fame which seems to insulate people from reality but it seems at the beginning he really was quite mature and had his finger on the pulse. Although he would probably argue he was immature then and once he knew what record companies were up to he changed?! But it does seem interesting when you think about it. But the fact that he was young was great too because the songs of that era really captured the raw feelings and passion that he had and you can hear it! In his later work, with some notable exceptions, that passion (in the studio at least) seemed to be lacking but also I guess that is perhaps a natural progression particularly when you gave so much at a younger age.

[Edited 6/25/17 2:19am]

[Edited 6/25/17 7:46am]

[Edited 6/25/17 7:49am]

I agree that when he was younger he went with his instincts and dove right in. (A lot of people never muster up that kind of courage over their whole life.) However, I think he had so little business knowledge that he soon realized (at least once he was a mega star) that diving right in cost him A LOT. Meaning, he realized he made a lot of mistakes. (Even if he didn't publicly admit them.) I think realization of those mistakes made him gun shy as he got older and he probably overcompensated for mistakes by trying to "make up" for prior losses or missteps.

I think he was depressed as well, many times over the years, but unlike a lot of people, he turned that depression into works of art by just throwing his whole self into his craft. Many, many relationships, notwithstanding, sometimes including his fans.)