In my idolisation of Prince, I am always ready to praise Prince. I think his foibles and flaws make him that more interesting, but sometimes as much as he has given his fams, I sometimes regret certain things he did not do.

While some clouds remain over details, I regret.

Prince did not do the solo on Little Red Corvette (especially when it got in top guitar solo polls)

Prince did not do the tasty guitar solo by Levi on sexy mother fucker

The solo on Head, though I don't begrudge the amazing Dr Fink for coming up with this.

Uptown, Do Me Baby, Party Up or whatever bits he got from others

River Run Dry Love the Bobby Z song so much, want to know Prince had a lot to do with the production etc. The Claire Fischer strings make it.

Oh Sheila (Well it was basically a photocopy of the Minneapolis sound anywar)

The harmonica on Thieves in the Temple (just to add to his instrument tally)

The Tony Le mans song Different Kind of Thing - which I think he may have covered.

The scream on Gett OFF if it was not him but Rosie Gains.

Any part of Prince music or Prince related you would have loved to have been all his to add to your love for Mr P. (Chills, that sounded so Harley Quinn).

Okay And? Other than maybe trying to show off or maybe a little bait what is the point?

and you missed many other times or cases where someone else had input that went un or under-credited...but there are also many times when he gave credit where none was due.

robertgeorge said:

In my idolisation of Prince, I am always ready to praise Prince. I think his foibles and flaws make him that more interesting, but sometimes as much as he has given his fams, I sometimes regret certain things he did not do.

While some clouds remain over details, I regret.

Prince did not do the solo on Little Red Corvette (especially when it got in top guitar solo polls)

Prince did not do the tasty guitar solo by Levi on sexy mother fucker

The solo on Head, though I don't begrudge the amazing Dr Fink for coming up with this.

Uptown, Do Me Baby, Party Up or whatever bits he got from others

River Run Dry Love the Bobby Z song so much, want to know Prince had a lot to do with the production etc. The Claire Fischer strings make it.

Oh Sheila (Well it was basically a photocopy of the Minneapolis sound anywar)

The harmonica on Thieves in the Temple (just to add to his instrument tally)

The Tony Le mans song Different Kind of Thing - which I think he may have covered.

The scream on Gett OFF if it was not him but Rosie Gains.

Any part of Prince music or Prince related you would have loved to have been all his to add to your love for Mr P. (Chills, that sounded so Harley Quinn).

The expression 'no man is an island' sprung to mind, as I read your post.

Prince may not have been able to 'do everything' (I vaguely recall reading once that he was reputed to have listened intently to Claire Fischer's string arrangements, as if in an attempt to unlock its 'mystery', though whether there is even a grain of truth in that I'll probably never know), but he is still Superman to me. He's my favorite popular musician by miles, so he will never be anything else in my eyes, or to my ears, or in my heart.

I don't think even the most ardent of diehards here would be under any illusions that a variety of Prince's 'cohorts' have played a significant part along the way. I don't think that's unusual either. After all, how many musicians work throughout their careers in complete isolation?

In fact, I'd imagine pretty much all the greats would have benefitted from similarly significant contributions made by some of the hugely talented musicians that collaborated with them.

I'm sure that even the wonderful work by an innovative and original genius such as JB would have been significantly augmented by the skills of Jimmy Nolen, Clyde Stubblefield, Pee Wee Ellis, Fred Wesley and Maceo etc. (the latter two similarly benefitted that other essential 'giant' of funk, George Clinton, who could also call on a vast array of talents to enhance his music such as Eddie Hazel, Bernie Worrell, Bootsy etc).

All 3 are unique funky geniuses to be treasured imho. Getting 'a helping hand' isn't against the rules, and I don't think it diminishes their respective legacies to even the slightest degree.

Examples you have cited such as Dez's lovely solo in LRC (heard a variety of Prince's guitarists play it live yet none of them really hit the mark for me quite like Dez) and Levi's cool solo in Sexy MF are to those bandmates' great credit, but they in no way detract from Prince's significant achievements & wonderful talents imho.

I think that the majority of us here are very appreciative towards and fond of those bandmates who played with Prince throughout his long career. We know they 'put it in' (and no doubt had to work extremely hard in the process).

Prince may not have been perfect, but for me he is by far the brightest star in the musical constellation for his generation. We give him massive props and much love here, partly because we are his diehard 'fam-ily', but mostly because he has earned it.

EXACTLY>>>>> Plus, I think its important to remember what he did contribute to those songs. LIttle Red Corvette is not just a dez dickerson guitar solo. NO man is an island and no man should be expected to be one. I wish he had been more clear with credits in the beginning becuase I fear that his music for years will be picked apart for what others contributed until folks start doubting what he himself contributed to those songs besides lyrics and basic melodies. Another thing, I think this post should be on the Associates page.

As for any top guitar solo list, his purple rain guitar solo should be in that list. else its not worth the time to read through it.

GrayDorian said:

robertgeorge said:

In my idolisation of Prince, I am always ready to praise Prince. I think his foibles and flaws make him that more interesting, but sometimes as much as he has given his fams, I sometimes regret certain things he did not do.

While some clouds remain over details, I regret.

Prince did not do the solo on Little Red Corvette (especially when it got in top guitar solo polls)

Prince did not do the tasty guitar solo by Levi on sexy mother fucker

The solo on Head, though I don't begrudge the amazing Dr Fink for coming up with this.

Uptown, Do Me Baby, Party Up or whatever bits he got from others

River Run Dry Love the Bobby Z song so much, want to know Prince had a lot to do with the production etc. The Claire Fischer strings make it.

Oh Sheila (Well it was basically a photocopy of the Minneapolis sound anywar)

The harmonica on Thieves in the Temple (just to add to his instrument tally)

The Tony Le mans song Different Kind of Thing - which I think he may have covered.

The scream on Gett OFF if it was not him but Rosie Gains.

Any part of Prince music or Prince related you would have loved to have been all his to add to your love for Mr P. (Chills, that sounded so Harley Quinn).

The expression 'no man is an island' sprung to mind, as I read your post.

Prince may not have been able to 'do everything' (I vaguely recall reading once that he was reputed to have listened intently to Claire Fischer's string arrangements, as if in an attempt to unlock its 'mystery', though whether there is even a grain of truth in that I'll probably never know), but he is still Superman to me. He's my favorite popular musician by miles, so he will never be anything else in my eyes, or to my ears, or in my heart.

I don't think even the most ardent of diehards here would be under any illusions that a variety of Prince's 'cohorts' have played a significant part along the way. I don't think that's unusual either. After all, how many musicians work throughout their careers in complete isolation?

In fact, I'd imagine pretty much all the greats would have benefitted from similarly significant contributions made by some of the hugely talented musicians that collaborated with them.

I'm sure that even the wonderful work by an innovative and original genius such as JB would have been significantly augmented by the skills of Jimmy Nolen, Clyde Stubblefield, Pee Wee Ellis, Fred Wesley and Maceo etc. (the latter two similarly benefitted that other essential 'giant' of funk, George Clinton, who could also call on a vast array of talents to enhance his music such as Eddie Hazel, Bernie Worrell, Bootsy etc).

All 3 are unique funky geniuses to be treasured imho. Getting 'a helping hand' isn't against the rules, and I don't think it diminishes their respective legacies to even the slightest degree.

Examples you have cited such as Dez's lovely solo in LRC (heard a variety of Prince's guitarists play it live yet none of them really hit the mark for me quite like Dez) and Levi's cool solo in Sexy MF are to those bandmates' great credit, but they in no way detract from Prince's significant achievements & wonderful talents imho.

I think that the majority of us here are very appreciative towards and fond of those bandmates who played with Prince throughout his long career. We know they 'put it in' (and no doubt had to work extremely hard in the process).

Prince may not have been perfect, but for me he is by far the brightest star in the musical constellation for his generation. We give him massive props and much love here, partly because we are his diehard 'fam-ily', but mostly because he has earned it.

[Edited 5/19/18 7:15am]

part of being a true great is recognizing greatness and not being too prideful to accept it and its influence.

OnlyNDaUsa said:

Okay And? Other than maybe trying to show off or maybe a little bait what is the point?

and you missed many other times or cases where someone else had input that went un or under-credited...but there are also many times when he gave credit where none was due.

It does seem like a bait post, especially when including "Oh Sheila", which had no Prince input whatsoever.

The OP forgot that Prince didn't write "Around The World In A Day" either, let Wendy & Lisa finish many songs starting in 1984, Dr. Fink played the manic piano solo in the extended "Let's Go Crazy" to which he wasn't credited, overdubbed other players parts because he thought he could do better (including much of the stuff on the 3 live tracks on Purple Rain), credited people where they had no input at all, did not credit people where they deserved it, pulled The Time from the bill in major cities out of sheer jealousy that they would kick his ass on stage, paid some band members very little money while on tour, I mean - shoudl we go on?

To bring up something like Dez playing a guitar solo - duh! He's in the band. WTF?! Did you also credit Prince, Wendy, and subsequent band members for learning that solo, too? Levi played a lot during his time w/ the band, and much of the NPG contributed to the records you hear. He even recycled Michael B's drumming on a Larry Graham song, and used Michael B. and Sonny on 3121 again.

I guess I'm wondering where is the OP's line of bitchiness, boredom, or bait in their post? The things listed as simply what musicians with a band do.

I don't think he ever claimed he wrote the music to Around the World in a Day. Also, he paid some musicians quite well (especially in the last 20 years) . I tend to cut him a little bit of slack for low pay when he was younger simply because he was not quite as rich as he become, had a lot of people to pay, was seriously multi-tasking, saw band member's tenure with him as a step in their later advancement in the industruy, had financial advisors probably more concerned with the bottom line, and maybe had no concept of the money needed for a decent standard of living (being a musician who was either dirt poor or doing okay as a teenager in the 70's may not really equip you to know what people need to meet basic standards in the 80's and 90's.) That being said, he probably was being cheap with the Time members because he relegated them to a live band and was being competitive with them in the same vein as the battle of bands shit they used to do in the 70's.

Also, there was a reason he called himself Prince and the Revolution or PRince and the NPG. HE was indirectly acknowledging their contributions even if credits got murky.

TrivialPursuit said:

OnlyNDaUsa said:

Okay And? Other than maybe trying to show off or maybe a little bait what is the point?

and you missed many other times or cases where someone else had input that went un or under-credited...but there are also many times when he gave credit where none was due.

It does seem like a bait post, especially when including "Oh Sheila", which had no Prince input whatsoever.

The OP forgot that Prince didn't write "Around The World In A Day" either, let Wendy & Lisa finish many songs starting in 1984, Dr. Fink played the manic piano solo in the extended "Let's Go Crazy" to which he wasn't credited, overdubbed other players parts because he thought he could do better (including much of the stuff on the 3 live tracks on Purple Rain), credited people where they had no input at all, did not credit people where they deserved it, pulled The Time from the bill in major cities out of sheer jealousy that they would kick his ass on stage, paid some band members very little money while on tour, I mean - shoudl we go on?

To bring up something like Dez playing a guitar solo - duh! He's in the band. WTF?! Did you also credit Prince, Wendy, and subsequent band members for learning that solo, too? Levi played a lot during his time w/ the band, and much of the NPG contributed to the records you hear. He even recycled Michael B's drumming on a Larry Graham song, and used Michael B. and Sonny on 3121 again.

I guess I'm wondering where is the OP's line of bitchiness, boredom, or bait in their post? The things listed as simply what musicians with a band do.

[Edited 5/19/18 8:41am]

[Edited 5/19/18 8:44am]

I didn't know Rosie did the scream on Gett Off! Good for her.

rogifan said:

and he's never heard Cyber Single!

And his mom was not even a virgin when he was born!

OnlyNDaUsa said:

And his mom was not even a virgin when he was born!

and he's actually older than his father

next...prince was not batman....

I believe Magnoli wanted P's name above the title for directing due to some legal, business or union issue (I can't remember what it was.)

ufoclub said:

rogifan said:

What is the OP’s point? Seems awfully random.

Maybe the point is that some well known or loved details of the music are erroneaously attributed to Prince... as the originator or actual performer. For example, the scream at the beginning of Gett off, or the guitar solos in Little Red Corvette winning a best guitar solo and thought of as Prince doing the playing. A big one to me is that Prince is credited as having directed the movie concert SOTT, but the slates when you see the raw footage credit Albert Magnoli. (Of course most of the directing of what happens for each song on a stage is Prince... similarly to Purple Rain I suppose. But I can see how a guiding hand would shape it into something more cinematic... and the lack of that kind of hand leads to Graffiti Bridge or the amusing but fairly non-effective Under The Cherry Moon.) Too bad Spike Lee never got to direct a Prince movie!

purplerabbithole said:

I believe Magnoli wanted P's name above the title for directing due to some legal, business or union issue (I can't remember what it was.)

could be... I heard that George Lucas was expelled from the directer's guild over how he opened Star Wars with no credits.

ufoclub said:

TrivialPursuit said:

OnlyNDaUsa said:

Okay And? Other than maybe trying to show off or maybe a little bait what is the point?

and you missed many other times or cases where someone else had input that went un or under-credited...but there are also many times when he gave credit where none was due.

It does seem like a bait post, especially when including "Oh Sheila", which had no Prince input whatsoever.

The OP forgot that Prince didn't write "Around The World In A Day" either, let Wendy & Lisa finish many songs starting in 1984, Dr. Fink played the manic piano solo in the extended "Let's Go Crazy" to which he wasn't credited, overdubbed other players parts because he thought he could do better (including much of the stuff on the 3 live tracks on Purple Rain), credited people where they had no input at all, did not credit people where they deserved it, pulled The Time from the bill in major cities out of sheer jealousy that they would kick his ass on stage, paid some band members very little money while on tour, I mean - shoudl we go on?

To bring up something like Dez playing a guitar solo - duh! He's in the band. WTF?! Did you also credit Prince, Wendy, and subsequent band members for learning that solo, too? Levi played a lot during his time w/ the band, and much of the NPG contributed to the records you hear. He even recycled Michael B's drumming on a Larry Graham song, and used Michael B. and Sonny on 3121 again.

I guess I'm wondering where is the OP's line of bitchiness, boredom, or bait in their post? The things listed as simply what musicians with a band do.

I will spell it out clearly as most of you have misunderstood my intentions, and based on that have raised some points that do not pertain to my pov.

This was not bitchiness at all. Prince is my favorite artist. He has done enough to justify this status, and could have done so with even half his catalogue. I simply expressed that there were some moments I really enjoyed that it would have been cool if he came up with. It was not an admonsihment, not a criticism and does not diminish it at all. I don't even understand how that is bait.

I did not try and show-off by exhaustively listing every example, that is such a low blow. I listed some examples that I could think of and curtailed it at that. I was going to mention Mountains, but felt the list was getting long and decided to end it there. I knew that Prince did not write Around the World in a Day and did not think of it when I posted. I DID NOT know that Dr Fink did not do the solo on Let's Go Crazy, so have learnt something. The reason I made the list at the top was to list out personal examples, and to spur conversation. At the level of fandom at the org, I assume that most of the stuff I mentioned was common knowledge. So how am I "showing off" if my examples are the equivalent of telling people the capital of the United States or that Ford is a motor company. I do not attempt to be the most knowledgeable Prince fan in the world, but enjoy to express my opinion.

The not Superman bit is perhaps what annoyed people. It is a quote form the first Spiderman Movie, by Peter's Aunt May. In the context of the movie May was unaware that Spiderman was a superhero. I was just trying to say Prince was not perfect but he was the greatest for me. It was perhaps an acknowledgement as a loyal fam you always want to think the best of Prince, and while I did not state it (do I really have to put a disclaimer I am not baiting and explain every intention just in case somebody thinks I may be criticisizing Prince now?) it was silly that I had this desire for Prince to write these songs or parts but I just wanted to express it and see if it anyone else had considered that idea. The Harley Quinn comment at the end was a reference to how much I have enjoyed and been obsessed with Prince's music. I like to use references and metaphors, if they are clumsy or underdeveloped feel free to ask rather than assuming the worst and flaming me.

I did not try and bait anybody (it is a pity as I seemed to have been successful). If you have read my posts, I try and focus on the aspects of Prince I enjoy, which is oh so much of it. I spend a lot of time here, and I read far more than I post. When Prince did some stuff I did not like, I mainly bit my tongue. I did not wade in on his treatment of family or the band, I did not talk about his religious beliefs, I did not talk about his issues with Wendy and Lisa etc. I had opinions, but I did not start creating irate anti-Prince posts as I did not know the full story and everybody has things other peopl don't agree about, so who really cares. When Prince released albums I cared for less, I did not post Prince has lost it threads, I did not curse him out or threaten to leave the org. Because I am hear to discuss and learn about Prince not abuse him.

I realise that bands play a significant role in creating musical ideas and content (if not why have them right) It is a blessing to have a band that can contribute. The many contributions from James Brown's band members for example does not diminish James Brown in the slightest. I just thought it would be cool if Prince had came up with the Head solo but acknowledged it was awesome that Dr Fink had put such a signature solo on the album. To this I would add, that I was always in favor of hearing Prince collaborate with Pharrell, Trent Reznor, Joni Mitchell, Mark Ronson, Bootsy Collins, Stevie Wonder, anybody with talent later in his career. If I was in favor of this, it would mean I would not care if Prince was not a one man band.

I tried to keep the examples realistic. For example I did not say, I wish Prince would have done all the string arrangements, because what Claire Fischer did was unique, and "made brighter the colors black and white", I did not say, I wish Prince would have mastered all the real horns and never had Eric Leeds, Eddie M or Maceo Parker etc, I did not say I wish Prince had wrote Stairway to Heaven, invented a time machine, killed Mozart and composed all of his work and come back to the future. Surely that would have been the bait thread or pointless thread you were looking for.

Finally to answer a couple of questions not from you but from others.

I like the harmonica and blues. It would have been cool to see Prince playing the harmonica, that is why I mentioned the Thieves in the Temple harmonica. I found out recently it was a sample.

Oh Sheila is a cool song inspired by Prince's sound, it would have been cool if he wrote it. That was all I was thinking. Of course I didn't expect him to have written every song, it was just a thought I had.

So to make it clear, I love Prince's music, I was not trying to create a bait thread (In fact at a time when these were prevalent it really spoiled my time here, so I am not keen to do this) I thought this was an ok thread, it wasn't Is Prince Elvis reborn, did Prince like cucumber sandwiches, Was Prince a white witch or was Prince secretly transitioning. But oh well, whatever floats your boat.

I thought these two sentences made the whole thing pretty damn clear. A pretty soft way to start a post "trashing Prince" surely.

robertgeorge said:

In my idolisation of Prince, I am always ready to praise Prince. I think his foibles and flaws make him that more interesting, but sometimes as much as he has given his fams, I sometimes regret certain things he did not do.

While some clouds remain over details, I regret.

Prince did not do the solo on Little Red Corvette (especially when it got in top guitar solo polls)

Prince did not do the tasty guitar solo by Levi on sexy mother fucker

The solo on Head, though I don't begrudge the amazing Dr Fink for coming up with this.

Uptown, Do Me Baby, Party Up or whatever bits he got from others

River Run Dry Love the Bobby Z song so much, want to know Prince had a lot to do with the production etc. The Claire Fischer strings make it.

Oh Sheila (Well it was basically a photocopy of the Minneapolis sound anywar)

The harmonica on Thieves in the Temple (just to add to his instrument tally)

The Tony Le mans song Different Kind of Thing - which I think he may have covered.

The scream on Gett OFF if it was not him but Rosie Gains.

Any part of Prince music or Prince related you would have loved to have been all his to add to your love for Mr P. (Chills, that sounded so Harley Quinn).

robertgeorge said:

OperatingThetan said:

robertgeorge said:

In my idolisation of Prince, I am always ready to praise Prince. I think his foibles and flaws make him that more interesting, but sometimes as much as he has given his fams, I sometimes regret certain things he did not do.

While some clouds remain over details, I regret.

Prince did not do the solo on Little Red Corvette (especially when it got in top guitar solo polls)

Prince did not do the tasty guitar solo by Levi on sexy mother fucker

The solo on Head, though I don't begrudge the amazing Dr Fink for coming up with this.

Uptown, Do Me Baby, Party Up or whatever bits he got from others

River Run Dry Love the Bobby Z song so much, want to know Prince had a lot to do with the production etc. The Claire Fischer strings make it.

Oh Sheila (Well it was basically a photocopy of the Minneapolis sound anywar)

The harmonica on Thieves in the Temple (just to add to his instrument tally)

The Tony Le mans song Different Kind of Thing - which I think he may have covered.

The scream on Gett OFF if it was not him but Rosie Gains.

Any part of Prince music or Prince related you would have loved to have been all his to add to your love for Mr P. (Chills, that sounded so Harley Quinn).

Without the overall song of 'Little Red Corvette' or 'Sexy MF' would those solos have even existed? What memorable or popular songs did ANY of these artists contribute after working with Prince? Prince is the common denominator. Aside from Madonna's'Ray of Light', what did even Wendy and Lisa contribute that had an impact on popular consensus? Nothing at all.

You are right, and I am not trying to take anything away from Prince at all. You could even argue that his music, rehearsals and leadership brought out the best in his band members like Jimmy Jam, saying that having to play a keyboard line, sing a harmony and do a dance step seemed impossible, but was done everynight once they worked on it when he was in the Time. This was through Prince's leadership. I completely see Prince as the creative engine of all he did. I just said it would have been cool if Prince came up with some of the parts I mentioned, but I recognise them just the same and do not consider any of the songs not Prince songs because of the natural contribution of the bands he worked with and got the best out of.

robertgeorge said:

purplerabbithole said:

I don't think he ever claimed he wrote the music to Around the World in a Day. [snip]

Respectfully, I think you missed my point. I wasn't bringing up those things because I was adding to a list of faults I found with Prince. I was mocking the original post and how bait-y it is.

My bad. Sorry.

TrivialPursuit said:

purplerabbithole said:

I don't think he ever claimed he wrote the music to Around the World in a Day. [snip]

Respectfully, I think you missed my point. I wasn't bringing up those things because I was adding to a list of faults I found with Prince. I was mocking the original post and how bait-y it is.

TrivialPursuit said:

purplerabbithole said:

I don't think he ever claimed he wrote the music to Around the World in a Day. [snip]

Respectfully, I think you missed my point. I wasn't bringing up those things because I was adding to a list of faults I found with Prince. I was mocking the original post and how bait-y it is.

Expressing that some parts of Prince's work that contained collaboration would have been cool if Prince would have came up with them is hardly bait-y, but the fact you used mocking as what you were doing says a lot about how you directed the balance and fairness of your comments. I suppose you smell a bit of blood you have the right to try and shit on people. I still cannot see how my comments in anyway had a dig at Prince, but who wants to try and start new threads anyway.

OperatingThetan said:

robertgeorge said:

You are right, and I am not trying to take anything away from Prince at all. You could even argue that his music, rehearsals and leadership brought out the best in his band members like Jimmy Jam, saying that having to play a keyboard line, sing a harmony and do a dance step seemed impossible, but was done everynight once they worked on it when he was in the Time. This was through Prince's leadership. I completely see Prince as the creative engine of all he did. I just said it would have been cool if Prince came up with some of the parts I mentioned, but I recognise them just the same and do not consider any of the songs not Prince songs because of the natural contribution of the bands he worked with and got the best out of.

Agreed. It's notable to me though that aside from Jam and Lewis, none of the Prince band members, including the Revolution, had any tangible impact aside from working with Prince. As I stated previously, Wendy and Lisa did work with Madonna on 'Ray of Light', but other than that even they have had zero impact outside of their work with Prince. And even that is galvanised in connection with him. Who would seriously give a shit about even Wendy and Lisa without the Prince connection? And they are among the most famous of his collaborators.

Man, you are not right, OperatingThetan! I love me some Prince, and Wendy and Lisa did not make Prince the successful artist that he was, but they certainly did help him--the whole band did so through their own innovations to varying degree or acting on his direction with proficiency.

>

Sometimes fans can be blinded by the stardom side of the music business in regard to important contributions being made. But looking at impact for impact's sake, Wendy's work with other star acts beside Madonna shouldn't be ignored--she contributed also to the writing and recording of other artists whom I know of: Cheryl Crow, Meshell Ndegecello, and Sananda Maitreya. W&L had their own major label record contract of their own accord for a while, so don't sneeze at that. W&L's teamwork in soudtrack recording has been stellar, also, if not directly comparable to the pop music markets.

>

As far as what other band members have gone to do, don't forget about Sheila E., the largest, brightest musician's name of all the Prince cohorts. Eric Leeds was certainly a full-fledged collaborator with Prince, and was definitely doing his own thing before they hooked up. Others? Let's see, there's Candy Dulfer, was doing her own saxophone thing before Prince, and after, career enhanced by her association with him, but going on her own. Guiarist Mike Scott has gone on to tour with other great acts after the NPG, and he was good before he met Prince! Rhonda Smith, 100% ditto, with a couple of great indie releases under her belt, to boot. Michael Bland has taken his excellent drumming on the road with other acts. Prince took John Blackwell from another great, funky-as-hell stellar act. Maceo Parker hooked up with the guy--please! All of these people's success will be dependent on the industry connections that they are individually able to make and each's own drive to succeed in the popular music venture.

>

Anyway, when the day is done, from my spectator's viewpoint, Prince's singular vision and drive was exceptional, along with the overall quality in facets of entertainment that he produced. To me, that does make him a superman. I'm sure that all of the aforementioned names would concur with the thought.

paulludvig said:

The solo on Little Red Corvette was edited together by Prince from three different takes. Dez had to learn the solo from the record. Clare Fischer's arrangments also got the Prince treatment. Compare Fischer's full arrangements for Parade songs to what ended up on the album.

Hmmm, zery interstink, Ludvig! Thanks for sharing that!

I hadn't been aware that Prince used three separate takes for Dez's solo. Kinda shatters my illusion, as I had foolishly envisaged Dez strolling into the studio and nailing it in one take.

In my ignorance I also hadn't appreciated how involved Prince was in the process of utilizing Claire's string arrangements. I expected it to simply be a process of Prince giving him songs with requests/guidelines for sympathetic arrangements. I haven't heard Clare's full arrangements for Parade.