Prince had many influences, James Brown, Little Richard, Sly Stone, Stevie Wonder etc, etc but his devotion to Jimi Hendrix did make me cringe at times.

Trying to convince non Prince fans he was the most talented solo artist of all time was rather difficult when he was seen by many as a Hendrix rip off, a Jimi karaoke.

His dress sense, the way he played guitar, the bandanas, frilly ruffled shirts, tongue, facial expressions.

He just seemed to copy Jimi's style far too much IMHO, it's always embarrassed me for some reason.

Dancing like Brown, playing the piano like Little Richard, having a multi racial band like Sly or being a multi instrumentalist like Wonder never bothered me but his Hendrix fixation always troubled me.

With all his other influences it felt like he was paying tribute to them but with Jimi it felt different somehow, but not in a good way. Sorry, it's hard to describe, but his Hendrix infatuation never sat well with me.

Anyone else ever feel this way?

WTF? Like Loder said:Like Jimi and Sly, Prince is an original; but apart from that, he's like no one else.

Him doing the lick myself and rub my crotch circle dance at the end of IWD$U in Purple Rain was all his own and other antics as well.

Yall are the one's on drugs lately..it wasnt Prince.

[Edited 8/5/17 21:25pm]

BobPaisleyPark said:

Prince had many influences, James Brown, Little Richard, Sly Stone, Stevie Wonder etc, etc but his devotion to Jimi Hendrix did make me cringe at times.

Trying to convince non Prince fans he was the most talented solo artist of all time was rather difficult when he was seen by many as a Hendrix rip off, a Jimi karaoke.

His dress sense, the way he played guitar, the bandanas, frilly ruffled shirts, tongue, facial expressions.

He just seemed to copy Jimi's style far too much IMHO, it's always embarrassed me for some reason.

Dancing like Brown, playing the piano like Little Richard, having a multi racial band like Sly or being a multi instrumentalist like Wonder never bothered me but his Hendrix fixation always troubled me.

With all his other influences it felt like he was paying tribute to them but with Jimi it felt different somehow, but not in a good way. Sorry, it's hard to describe, but his Hendrix infatuation never sat well with me.

Anyone else ever feel this way?

Whaaat?

U must be too young to have experienced Jimi while he was alive to know there is no Hendrix "fixation" by P. I NEVER thought this once. Ever.

Embarassed is not the word, but I noticed he went "too much" into Jimi after 2010 for my taste. He didnt ´need´ it.

.

I missed him playing the Strat with whammy bar from 2004-09

No, never once thought anything like this. Not ever.

But I'll tell you what, I am definitely embarrassed at some of the ridiculous bs that so-called fans are posting on the org lately about Prince.

BobPaisleyPark said:

Prince had many influences, James Brown, Little Richard, Sly Stone, Stevie Wonder etc, etc but his devotion to Jimi Hendrix did make me cringe at times.

Trying to convince non Prince fans he was the most talented solo artist of all time was rather difficult when he was seen by many as a Hendrix rip off, a Jimi karaoke.

His dress sense, the way he played guitar, the bandanas, frilly ruffled shirts, tongue, facial expressions.

He just seemed to copy Jimi's style far too much IMHO, it's always embarrassed me for some reason.

Dancing like Brown, playing the piano like Little Richard, having a multi racial band like Sly or being a multi instrumentalist like Wonder never bothered me but his Hendrix fixation always troubled me.

With all his other influences it felt like he was paying tribute to them but with Jimi it felt different somehow, but not in a good way. Sorry, it's hard to describe, but his Hendrix infatuation never sat well with me.

Anyone else ever feel this way?

you should be ashamed of yourself

I find BobPaisleyPark/the OP´s view a tad too harsh but I must admit that I kind of agree with him to an extent, but more so with what GustavoRibas said. Prince clearly hinted at the Jimi influence much more often during the mid 2000s and later on, and like GustavoRibas I think it was rather unnecessary.

In the 80s Prince would often deny comparisons to Jimi and rightly so, and mention that he was much more influenced by Carlos Santana and his clean guitar playing style but then, at some point, you´d often see him mention Jimi, or hold a CD case of a Jimi Hendrix album, or play Strats with whammy bars and songs like Fury, which had a lot of Jimi references in the singing and playing style.

But embarrassed?

I think that´s a bit far fetched.

But I do agree with you that it was a bit too much and not really necessary because , in my opinion, he was a very unique and original music icon himself and the Jimi references were not really needed.

To be honest, I am not much of a Jimi Hendrix "fan". I do like many of his songs but Prince was, in my opinion, much more interesting than Hendrix.

I agree with KoolEaze (and thus also with GustavoRibas) and I think it's specifically true for the song "Dreamer". That's almost a cover version. I love Jimi's music but I don't care much for "Dreamer".

GustavoRibas said:

Embarassed is not the word, but I noticed he went "too much" into Jimi after 2010 for my taste. He didnt ´need´ it.

.

I missed him playing the Strat with whammy bar from 2004-09

I don't. I couldn't stand it when Prince would use the whammy bar for vibrato.

There are far worse people to imitate than Jimi. Not seeing anything to be embarrassed by. Prince does have a habit of playing down very obvious influences, such as Jimi. Hell, I don't think he ever spoke of being a Todd Rundgren super fan in his teens.

Nah, don't agree at all. Hendrix was just one of his many inspirations.

BobPaisleyPark said:

Prince had many influences, James Brown, Little Richard, Sly Stone, Stevie Wonder etc, etc but his devotion to Jimi Hendrix did make me cringe at times.

Trying to convince non Prince fans he was the most talented solo artist of all time was rather difficult when he was seen by many as a Hendrix rip off, a Jimi karaoke.

His dress sense, the way he played guitar, the bandanas, frilly ruffled shirts, tongue, facial expressions.

He just seemed to copy Jimi's style far too much IMHO, it's always embarrassed me for some reason.

Dancing like Brown, playing the piano like Little Richard, having a multi racial band like Sly or being a multi instrumentalist like Wonder never bothered me but his Hendrix fixation always troubled me.

With all his other influences it felt like he was paying tribute to them but with Jimi it felt different somehow, but not in a good way. Sorry, it's hard to describe, but his Hendrix infatuation never sat well with me.

Anyone else ever feel this way?

I hear ya. I'll go even further - to this day I cringe at some of the fans that Prince attracted.

Freek99999 said:

jjam said:

GustavoRibas said:

Embarassed is not the word, but I noticed he went "too much" into Jimi after 2010 for my taste. He didnt ´need´ it.

.

I missed him playing the Strat with whammy bar from 2004-09

I don't. I couldn't stand it when Prince would use the whammy bar for vibrato.

There are far worse people to imitate than Jimi. Not seeing anything to be embarrassed by. Prince does have a habit of playing down very obvious influences, such as Jimi. Hell, I don't think he ever spoke of being a Todd Rundgren super fan in his teens.

Maybe not a "superfan" but he did mention Rundgren a couple of times.

By the way, one of Rundgren´s guitar looked a bit like a predecessor of Prince´s Symbol guitar.

Freek99999 said:

I agree with KoolEaze (and thus also with GustavoRibas) and I think it's specifically true for the song "Dreamer". That's almost a cover version. I love Jimi's music but I don't care much for "Dreamer".

Oh, yes, I forgot to mention that very obvious song. I do like it, but like you said, the Hendrix influence is a bit too obvious for my taste.

KoolEaze said:

jjam said:

I don't. I couldn't stand it when Prince would use the whammy bar for vibrato.

There are far worse people to imitate than Jimi. Not seeing anything to be embarrassed by. Prince does have a habit of playing down very obvious influences, such as Jimi. Hell, I don't think he ever spoke of being a Todd Rundgren super fan in his teens.

Maybe not a "superfan" but he did mention Rundgren a couple of times.

By the way, one of Rundgren´s guitar looked a bit like a predecessor of Prince´s Symbol guitar.

More a case of Prince copying Rundgren's guitar, you mean

if there was one prince was devoted to it would be god ... sure not hendrix.
prince always did his very own thing and never tried to be someone else ... of course he had influences ... every reflecting person has and he never denied that. but there's not more to that. he rather gave a s**t about what others were thinking or doing ... that's one of thousand reasons I adore him but the main reason he was misunderstood and underrated his whole life.

that said ... how can one be embarrassed by anything somebody else does?

I never felt this at all. P's guitar style, as he said himself, was closer to Santana for the most part.

The only people who have brought up this comparison in conversation to me, are folks who don't know enough about black music, so they see a black man playing guitar well and automatically think of Hendrix.

If your music knowledge is more expansive, then you wouldn't do this. Hell, most of Prince's hits aren't even guitar driven songs. I struggle to see how anyone would automatically think of Hendrix when listening to 1999, Kiss, Diamonds & Pearls, TMBITW, SOTT, Raspberry Beret, When Doves Cry, Cream, Controversy, Gett Off......?

rogifan said:

Freek99999 said:

I agree with KoolEaze (and thus also with GustavoRibas) and I think it's specifically true for the song "Dreamer". That's almost a cover version. I love Jimi's music but I don't care much for "Dreamer".

A cover version of what? The very beginning of the sone is Jimi-esque but the rest is straight up kick ass rock & roll to me. I’ll take that from Prince any day of the week.

Essentially "Voodo Chile (SlightReturn)." "Dreamer" was the only ime I was like "ok, that's a bit much".

Had no interest when he would go down these roads but at shows when he would do Elvis Presley medleys that was interesting & on point....he even had mentions of Elvis in the songs : Face Down & Rock n Roll is alive & lives in Minneapolis.

Dead Like Elvis.

Militant said:

I never felt this at all. P's guitar style, as he said himself, was closer to Santana for the most part.

The only people who have brought up this comparison in conversation to me, are folks who don't know enough about black music, so they see a black man playing guitar well and automatically think of Hendrix.

If your music knowledge is more expansive, then you wouldn't do this. Hell, most of Prince's hits aren't even guitar driven songs. I struggle to see how anyone would automatically think of Hendrix when listening to 1999, Kiss, Diamonds & Pearls, TMBITW, SOTT, Raspberry Beret, When Doves Cry, Cream, Controversy, Gett Off......?

See that´s exactly the point. In the 80s and until the 2000s Prince would say the same thing . That people should not compare him to Hendrix just because both happen to be black guitar players, and that his style of playing guitar was more reminiscent of Carlos Santana than Hendrix but then, at some point in the 2000s, you´d see him play strats, or mention Jimi more often , or be photographed holding a Jimi CD and whatnot.

No big deal in my opinion but still, he was much more obviously hinting at Jimi as an influence then ever before, even musically (Dreamer and Fury come to mind, or his covers of Jimi songs).

.

Even his stage presence had more of a Jimi influence in his later years.

I think the OP´s view is a bit extreme but I see where he´s coming from.

I find it odd that you are accusing people who see this as ignorant of black music or as lacking expansive knowledge of music in general.

There´s nothing wrong with discussing tendencies, trends and changes in Prince´s body of work, musical direction and changes in his attitude or style.

I wonder what prompted Prince to become more Hendrixfied in his later years.

Maybe the fight over Jimi´s songs and how his estate was being managed?

Or did he become more open as he got older?

Or was it just nostalgia?

In the 80s you would barely find any hint of Hendrix at all, except for the clothes during the Purple Rain and ATWIAD era or maybe some musical elements here and there, whereas in the 2000s you would see more and more Hendrix inspired moves, mentions or nods.

Militant said:

I never felt this at all. P's guitar style, as he said himself, was closer to Santana for the most part.

The only people who have brought up this comparison in conversation to me, are folks who don't know enough about black music, so they see a black man playing guitar well and automatically think of Hendrix.

If your music knowledge is more expansive, then you wouldn't do this. Hell, most of Prince's hits aren't even guitar driven songs. I struggle to see how anyone would automatically think of Hendrix when listening to 1999, Kiss, Diamonds & Pearls, TMBITW, SOTT, Raspberry Beret, When Doves Cry, Cream, Controversy, Gett Off......?

Prince's lead rock soloing doesn't exactly stray too far from the pentatonic stylings of Jimi, although he's ultimately more expansive melodically. Yeah, there are a few embellishments he'd use which are Santana-esque but he owes FAR more to Jimi playing wise. As I've said earlier, Prince was adept at playing down obvious influences.

To be honest, it just sounds like you're regurgitating Prince's own quote about his playing, and there's more than an element of you being on your high horse with the statement of "If your music knowledge is more expansive, then you wouldn't do this". I had NO idea that you are the leading worldwide authority on all things musical, but now I know.

It's also hilarious that one of your examples of a Prince song that someone would struggle to identify any Hendrix influence in is When Doves Cry, considering the...well, Hendrixian intro in particular as well as the solo. Hell, he's even using one of Hendrix's trademark effects (the octaver).

And I haven't even touched on the times Prince has borrowed elements of Hendrix's image/imagery.

Put Carlos Santana's style and Eddie Hazel's style in a blender and you get Prince's rock guitar and not much Hendrix...

Neversin.

If I had to name one guitarist in terms of Prince's soloing, I'd say Bill Nelson. There is NO way that Prince didn't hear his playing.

But overall, including showmanship, come on, it's Jimi.

BobPaisleyPark said:

Prince had many influences, James Brown, Little Richard, Sly Stone, Stevie Wonder etc, etc but his devotion to Jimi Hendrix did make me cringe at times.

Trying to convince non Prince fans he was the most talented solo artist of all time was rather difficult when he was seen by many as a Hendrix rip off, a Jimi karaoke.

His dress sense, the way he played guitar, the bandanas, frilly ruffled shirts, tongue, facial expressions.

He just seemed to copy Jimi's style far too much IMHO, it's always embarrassed me for some reason.

Dancing like Brown, playing the piano like Little Richard, having a multi racial band like Sly or being a multi instrumentalist like Wonder never bothered me but his Hendrix fixation always troubled me.

With all his other influences it felt like he was paying tribute to them but with Jimi it felt different somehow, but not in a good way. Sorry, it's hard to describe, but his Hendrix infatuation never sat well with me.

Anyone else ever feel this way?

Your disrespect is what's embarrassing! "Jimi karaoke?"

Prince did have some similar aspect of style as Hendrix but most of it is in the mind of one that doesn't really know both of their catalogs...most of it is in their minds....