mbdtyler said:

I'm more embarrassed when people immediately jump to comparing Prince and Hendrix as though one successful black guitarist couldn't possibly have any other important influences outside of the most successful black guitarist of all time [Edited 8/6/17 7:45am]

co-sign

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.

one of a few actual rip offs Prince and 3rd Eye Girl did was "Plectrum Electrum" but that was of the other Jimmy's riff from "The Ocean"

mbdtyler said:

I'm more embarrassed when people immediately jump to comparing Prince and Hendrix as though one successful black guitarist couldn't possibly have any other important influences outside of the most successful black guitarist of all time [Edited 8/6/17 7:45am]

LOL, that's hardly the only reason. There's the "Purple Rain/Haze", the edwardian ruffles and psychadelic getups, a lot of the poses/faces, some of the distortion...I think you're reaching a bit.

We've seen P in shorts, no shirt and suspenders and this is what you choose to be embarrassed about?

herb4 said:

mbdtyler said:

I'm more embarrassed when people immediately jump to comparing Prince and Hendrix as though one successful black guitarist couldn't possibly have any other important influences outside of the most successful black guitarist of all time [Edited 8/6/17 7:45am]

LOL, that's hardly the only reason. There's the "Purple Rain/Haze", the edwardian ruffles and psychadelic getups, a lot of the poses/faces, some of the distortion...I think you're reaching a bit.

I never said it was the only reason, and obviously there has been some influence on Prince over the years. But it's hardly the most noticeable or more important influence, for as much as people seem to bring Jimi up when talking about Prince

herb4 said:

OnlyNDaUsa said:

PliablyPurple said:

"Yeah that" to everyone above that disagreed with the OP and already gave all the reasons and mocked the topic enough that I don't need to...

LeeChristmas said:

Just wanna say Purple House was cool, as was All Along The Watchtower at the Super Bowl. No embarrassment there!

Watchtower is a Dylan song but I get what you mean (Jimi owned it wth his version that most know it for etc).

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......?

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.

When did he mention Rundgren?

I'm really curious to know. Todd's mentioned Prince several times in interviews, but I've never caught Prince mentioning Todd.

Embarrassed is the wrong word, completely.

Hendrix was around for a very short time. It would have been shame if what Jimi did would have been considered somehow "exclusive" to him and that no one after the year 1970 would have been "allowed" to play the guitar the same way as he did.

I've seldom seen anyone accusing anyone that has played the guitar the same way as Jimi did as "ripping off Jimi". It's not been the case with Hazel, SRV or anyone else. If anything, it seems to be the case that when people are doing Hendrix style licks it's just seen as "the right way to play the guitar".

You know, it's always been a "that guy gets it" type of a thing.

who do u think u are foolin'?

the OP = a troll =

Hendrix was a genius, so was Prince...

rdhull said:

During 1999 and Purple Rain, the similarities are countless . . . similar hairstyles, clothing, guitar, etc. you could almost credit the Purple Rain look to Jimi Hendrix.

I would say that he didn't physically copy Hendrix again after that era until the 3EG/afro era but this wasn't as obviousl as the Purple Rain era.

Musically, there might be a few hints here or there, but none more obvious than Dreamer. Another song, Habibi, is unknown to most people since it was a fanclub only download.

LeeChristmas said:

rdhull said:

Watchtower is a Dylan song but I get what you mean (Jimi owned it wth his version that most know it for etc).

Oh yeah I know but thanks anyway, if I hadn't known that would have been a mind blowing discovery! Yeah P's version is very much more in the spirit of Hendrix's rendition though the original still rocks. I wonder if there's a full length studio version in the vault?

2 years ago Id say I doubt it. Now, knwoing what I/We know, there s no doubt a studio version. Hell, I bet the SBowl performance was recorded 'live' version he synced to. Dont most of the SBowl peformances get taped for assurances?

[Edited 8/6/17 13:02pm]

herb4 said:

mbdtyler said:

I'm more embarrassed when people immediately jump to comparing Prince and Hendrix as though one successful black guitarist couldn't possibly have any other important influences outside of the most successful black guitarist of all time [Edited 8/6/17 7:45am]

LOL, that's hardly the only reason. There's the "Purple Rain/Haze", the edwardian ruffles and psychadelic getups, a lot of the poses/faces, some of the distortion...I think you're reaching a bit.

A bit?!?

PliablyPurple said:

rdhull said:

not embarrassed but do get perturbed then have to explain more sly/Santana than Hendrix. most of Prince's influences come from the "white" groups, singers and the San Francisco/Santana sound from his younger days. his stage presence comes from the various black artists that toured heavily on the chitlin circuit again from his youth. Prince's infamous Hohner is patterned after Bruce Springsteen Telecaster. don't forget his father's jazz influence. the media only remembers Prince from Purple Rain and their perception about his guitar style because in their minds black man plays guitar automatically equals Hendrix.

laytonian said:

Se7en said:

During 1999 and Purple Rain, the similarities are countless . . . similar hairstyles, clothing, guitar, etc. you could almost credit the Purple Rain look to Jimi Hendrix.

I would say that he didn't physically copy Hendrix again after that era until the 3EG/afro era but this wasn't as obviousl as the Purple Rain era.

Musically, there might be a few hints here or there, but none more obvious than Dreamer. Another song, Habibi, is unknown to most people since it was a fanclub only download.

I mentioned Habibi in another thread, so glad to see someone else mention it.

• As it relates to Prince and his Hendrix inspired sounds/looks/mannerisms: I believe that at his core, his influences were always going to manifest themselves, but he was able to uniquely remain Prince. Dreamer/Habibi are Hendrixian in nature, but that misses the point. He was able to use any of his influences and blend it into his vision for what he wanted his music to sound like. People that make the Hendrix comparison are only looking at Prince from a surface level and have to really listen and look to see that he encompassed so much more than that.

• I believe that the 3rdEyeGirl era was going to be a transition into another era. The whole Piano and Microphone tour seemed to be a way to "decompress" from the guitar god antics of the prior era. Another part of me also believes that he was going to revisit the Minneapolis Sound and the electro funk synth of the early 1980's would have been reimagined. I believe that the last Rolling Stone interview hinted to something along these lines.

kek21 said:

not embarrassed but do get perturbed then have to explain more sly/Santana than Hendrix. most of Prince's influences come from the "white" groups, singers and the San Francisco/Santana sound from his younger days.

Crazy. Prince's most pronounced influences are black - Prince was and is a black artist, first and foremost.

There's a hell of a lot of James Brown in there, which there would be, considering funk was at the core of what he did. You'll be saying that his falsetto owed more to Frankie Valli than Philip Bailey next.