In another thread debating how many instruments Prince could play, there was consensus that Prince was a great on guitar, bass, keyboard/piano, and drums. Obviously I can name tons of songs that illustrate his mastery of the guitar, bass and keyboards. And obviously he was a peerless innovator of drum programming in the '80s.

But was he great on live drums? (By "live" I talking about an accoustic drum kit in the studio, not a performance in front of an audience.) I can think of a few songs where he was very competent on drums, but I can't think of any where he blew me away. When I think of "great" drummers I think of Mike Bland and John Blackwell.

Which of his songs do you think have the best live drumming (i.e. not drum machine programming) by Prince himself?

The "Parade" album. I think the first three songs (on the album) were laid down on drums by him (with no interruption). "Tambourine"and "I'm Yours" is great too.

lurker316 said:

SPYZFAN1 said:

The "Parade" album. I think the first three songs (on the album) were laid down on drums by him (with no interruption). "Tambourine"and "I'm Yours" is great too.

Aren't those all programming, not live drums?

Uptown; Tambourine; Musicology...


I mean, he was never more than a competent drummer on the face of it, you'd have him in your band if that's all he did but he wasn't changing the face of the planet with his drumming skills. He had great feel though didn't he?

masaba said:

Four, Crystal Ball, Junk Music

Yeah! God i'd forgotten about the entire Flesh sessions.

SPYZFAN1 said:

lurker316 said:

lurker316 said:

SPYZFAN1 said:

The "Parade" album. I think the first three songs (on the album) were laid down on drums by him (with no interruption). "Tambourine"and "I'm Yours" is great too.

Aren't those all programming, not live drums?

The Parade album was all live drums, with some embellished electronic drumming.

That album is timeless

Interesting that there appear to be few, if any, examples of his live drumming on his 90s and 21st century releases, to see how/ if he developed, as he definitely did on his other three instruments. I mean, he drums on the track FUNK in 2007, but it's all kinda processed. Would be cool if the vault eventually reveals some clear examples of his live drumming from the later years.

But yeah, that's him on Irresistable Bitch, God (instrumental), New Position and Crystal Ball, so some major funk chops and feel going on there.

Reminds me I really need to hear the Flesh sessions that leaked a few years back. I hear he's all over the drums on those.

Prince's drumming was Wild & Loose Tricky and on the Line

And for me it is why his purple sound was unique

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So I don't know if Tambourine was done straight through or pieced together, but that is my favorite example of Prince's drumming. Now is Darling Nikki live drumming because that one would be my first. Same vibe as Tamborine.

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Everywhere(Rainbow Children)!!

lurker316 said:

SPYZFAN1 said:

The "Parade" album. I think the first three songs (on the album) were laid down on drums by him (with no interruption). "Tambourine"and "I'm Yours" is great too.

Aren't those all programming, not live drums?

Susan Rogers tells a detailed story about it being live drums. He came in with his pieces of notebook paper. He taped them to a couple of stands and told her to just keep recording. He had laid out the skeleton and arrangment of the songs on the paper. So he played thru "Wendy's Parade", "New Position", "I Wonder U", and "Under The Cherry Moon" on drums. Then he went back and played bass all the way thru, then added a keyboard, or guitar part.

So it was the first four songs, not three. And it was live drums.

What's more interesting is that "New Position" dates back to 1982, but we've yet to ever hear that version. The Parade version was recorded as part of those 4 songs, making it a new version of the track.

OldFriends4Sale said:

Wolfie87 said:

OldFriends4Sale said:

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Everywhere(Rainbow Children)!!

No way!? That is some stunning drum work.

Actually, that was John Blackwell, who was the only drummer on that album .

As Princevault says, I quote -

' The track is based around a drum pattern created by John Blackwell when Prince was out of the studio. When John Blackwell returned to the studio the following day he discovered that Prince had created an entire track using the pattern.'

There's something slightly off-kilter about most of his 70's and 80's drumming that I've heard, like he's just slightly ahead of the beat but also flying by the seat of his pants? It feels slightly amateurish, like you can tell drums weren't his primary instrument, but he still managed to hold it together in a way that sounded cool. The breakdowns in songs like "Irresistible Bitch" and "Tambourine" are a good example of this.

mbdtyler said:

There's something slightly off-kilter about most of his 70's and 80's drumming that I've heard, like he's just slightly ahead of the beat but also flying by the seat of his pants? It feels slightly amateurish, like you can tell drums weren't his primary instrument, but he still managed to hold it together in a way that sounded cool. The breakdowns in songs like "Irresistible Bitch" and "Tambourine" are a good example of this.

Morris Day is on drums 4 Cloreen Bacon Skin, that drumming is like 99% the same as Irresistable Bitch. I always wondered........

TrivialPursuit said:

lurker316 said:

Aren't those all programming, not live drums?

Susan Rogers tells a detailed story about it being live drums. He came in with his pieces of notebook paper. He taped them to a couple of stands and told her to just keep recording. He had laid out the skeleton and arrangment of the songs on the paper. So he played thru "Wendy's Parade", "New Position", "I Wonder U", and "Under The Cherry Moon" on drums. Then he went back and played bass all the way thru, then added a keyboard, or guitar part.

So it was the first four songs, not three. And it was live drums.

What's more interesting is that "New Position" dates back to 1982, but we've yet to ever hear that version. The Parade version was recorded as part of those 4 songs, making it a new version of the track.

UTCM is so piano heavy I almost forget there are drums on that one. It almost sounds like someone playing a timbrel instrument.

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I remember reading Lisa asked Prince if they could New Position out the vault for Parade, glad it happened.

rnb said:

OldFriends4Sale said:

percy28 said:

steakfinger said:

OldFriends4Sale said:

Morris Day player drums on the Time records. Morris Day is also the drummer on Darling Nikki.

Source?

steakfinger said:

Morris Day player drums on the Time records. Morris Day is also the drummer on Darling Nikki.

Isn't Morris playing durms on Irristible bitch (Like Cloreen Baconskin)?

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And isn't Darling Nikki mostly Linn?

GaryMF said:

Isn't Morris playing durms on Irristible bitch (Like Cloreen Baconskin)?

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And isn't Darling Nikki mostly Linn?

THAT is my question too. But Morris isn't credited if he is.

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Darling Nikki sounds like live drums with linn. Listen to the unedited version.

Computer Blue is live drums too with linn(Bobby Z).