I just played Just My Imagination taken from Small Club 19 times in a row and that guitar solo gets better every time. He played from the soul on this one. I've had this CD for years and I'm not sick of it at all. It actually matures like a fine wine with every listen.

I defy any of today's musicians to come up with anything this powerful.

There I said it!



I heard that it's true that he shed a tear whilst playing this



I imagined this edit
[This message was edited Tue Apr 22 16:21:44 PDT 2003 by JimmyNothing]

Damn it , someone burn this for me

Much love Pochacco

JimmyNothing said:

It's an absolutely incredible thing, isn't it? Mind-blowing. Amazingly NEVER officially released either.

Yes! Possibly the best live performance I've ever heard.

JimmyNothing said:

Even Prince...

But I do have to say there were and still are quite a lot of Prince fans who haven't heard this yet, so for all we know there are musicians who have done even better recently.

I think most people are looking at the wrong people as Prince's peers. I don't think they're all necessarily pop artists or even famous for that matter. People acknowledge that the marketing machine is what's controls the charts, but on the other hand if someone isn't famous, sold millions of albums, he/she can't be any good.

JimmyNothing said:

I have 2 different versions of this performance. One version is OK. The other is where Prince just plain burns. He's downright incandescent.

I love the tone of that peach geetar

Now I gotta pull this out

It remains to this day the greatest live performance I've yet encountered.

There's a magical, almost supernatural quality to it.

Just put it on, turn it up, and hold on to your soul lest you should have an out-of-body experience.

the best guitar solo ever! I still get weepy when I hear it

AMEN!

Also give Sheila E. some credit for the amazing drumming on this performance!

I co-sign each and every one of these posts!
My absolute FAVOURITE Prince live moment.

The way it builds up from those plaintive guitar chords to that ferocious ending - God, I WISH I'd experienced that. But, no matter, just listening to it makes you feel like you were there.

I don't care if this was recorded 15 years ago, he could release this tomorrow and it would wipe the floor with anyone.

It's fantastic. Prince was channeling something that night.

Might this be the one and only Prince moment/song where we can ALL agree on?

I once started talking about 'the best guitar solo ever' to a guitar player and before I said anything he said 'you mean Prince in Just My Imagination'. This definately is something most who've heard it can agree upon. It's magical.

In my 'What was Prince listening to when he wrote...' thread UnsymmetricalySymmetrical claimt that 'the guitar solo Prince did on "just my imgination"(on the small club show cd) is note for note almost the exact same solo from Carlos Santana's "song of the wind".' I don't think so, but the Santana-influence is clear.

Other influences are Eddie Hazel and Blackbyrd McKnight from Parliament/Funkadelic. If you like Just My Imagination you'll probably like Cosmic Slop by P-Funk Allstars live at the Beverly Theater. Same mindblowing effect.

THis cut is the reason that Small Club is still the greatest Prince bootleg ever. It also comes the closet to being the only thing that justfies bootlegs. If you do not have this and call yourself a Prince fan, you are slipping. It is absolutely essential - more so than some of his official releases.

JimmyNothing said:

very passionate solo indeed... from the time he wasn't capitalising on his aftershows, but instead playing for fun.

---
[This message was edited Wed Apr 23 7:35:30 PDT 2003 by huggy]

Sorry to spoil everybody's party here, but Prince's vocals weren't up to scratch that night.

The guitar playing was amazing, though.

.

giotto said:

Bollocks theres nothing wrong with his vocals. He's
slightly undermiked on Just My Imagination but thats all.It still remains a must have boot.

Jamademus said:

giotto, you're kind of a glass half empty man aren't you?

Jamademus said:

I didn't say it wasn't "a must have boot".
However, I firmly believe I am justified in saying that Prince's vocals just didn't rise above the level of a whisper during most of that performance ("slightly undermiked" is understatement of the year, particularly when it comes to 'Just My Imagination').
Whether it was a technical glitch, or just Prince's voice needing a rest, is neither here nor there.

By point of comparison, Camden's vocal rendition of 'Just My Imagination' was a heck of a lot better, even if the fretwork during Den Haag's does indeed remain unsurpassed.

A sense of perspective must prevail when it comes to what is, admittedly, a much feted and sung-about boot like this one. It's time somebody righfully pointed out its flaws too.

It certainly won't take anything away from it.


.

ConsciousContact said:

I usually down my pint in one go before I even notice

.

giotto said:

Yes, the vocal is too soft and has too much echo, those layered keyboard chords are too loud, there's too much treble on the drums and the guitar comes in way too loud.

Great isn't it! I wish Prince would creatively under-produce his records more that way, like he sometimes used to do in the eighties. The f***ed up balance only adds to the mystical atmospheric quality of the track.

Best Prince guitar solo? Sorry y'all, but that title belongs to Something In The Water Does Not Compute on Neon Rendezvous! Now, that can't be fucked with! Complete, utter bliss!

PeterLucas said:

This is exactly how Prince would've wanted it. The balance is perfect for my liking - lotsa guitar up front, nice hard hittin drums, souped up keys. Yum.

alexnvrmnd said:

Now u r dreaming there...

NEXT!!

slvrhrt7 said:

Yes I get goosebumps listening to this. The solo starts off soft and quiet and builds with such an intensity and passion... it's the kind of thing that leaves one in tears.

I have mentioned this before, I know, but I was DYING to ask Femi Jiya at last year's Celebration to get Prince to play this...

Apart from the wonderful surprise that was 'Empty Room' (I NEVER thought I'd hear that live!), I would've been in sheer HEAVEN if he'd played this. I can dream, I suppose...
[This message was edited Fri Apr 25 0:16:29 PDT 2003 by onenitealone]

i saw footage

of prince doing

a rehearsal

of the song,

'just my imagination'

he was at

an outdoor

stadium

his hair

resembled the

graffitti bridge

era

he was emotionally

caught up

in the song

this song

must hold

a special place

inhisheart

it must remind

prince of someone

dear 2 him

JimmyNothing said:

Pure heaven!

alexnvrmnd said:

possibly.