In the 1999 era Prince had a very unique guitar style that lasted only

for a year or so.

Guitar solos on Drive Me Wild extended version,

Automatic,

Lady Cab Driver,

Automatic,

All The Critics Love U in NY

and all the solos he played live during 1982 1983 periods were punkish,

hysterical

with a very out there melodies combined with disonant notes.

I have a feeling that this period of his development is often overlooked

and i never seen or heard people discuss it.

After this short weird guitar phase he went back to a more traditional role od lead guitar.

Back then, P may have intentionally strayed away from pentatonic/blues box playing so he wouldn't get hit with the "Hendrix" tag...trying to have his own style.....he was playing very "outside the box" ........I think his attitude on the guitar (back then) kind of translated what he was going through in his life. He was young and energetic, very creative, and about to hit it big. He was like a young Mike Tyson in the ring.....P had complete control over what he was doing musically...his rules, his game... But he also said he wanted to focus more on his singing and being a frontman, so he had Dez take over as the lead guitarist on the "1999" tour (which I really didn't have a problem with..cuz' I love Dez too).

Not sure I agree, from Private Joy through some of the songs you name to Computer Blue and beyond, he had that style for quite a while and occasionally came back to it. It did become a lot rarer than around 1999 though.

mediumdry said:

How would you describe the solos in Computer Blue extended, When Doves Cry and Dance Electric extended (the, uh, full length version on bootlegs with that extra guitar overdub)? Do they fall into this or not? Tryna understand.

The solo to Drive Me Wild extended is quite precise, is that what we're talking about? Less feedback frenzy and more weird, but precise, melodies?

[Edited 9/1/20 8:20am]

For some reason I feel if Irresistable Bitch had electric guitar it would sound like 1999 era guitar

Computer Blue has some

...sometimes...it makes sense to not make sense.

jaawwnn said:

How would you describe the solos in Computer Blue extended, When Doves Cry and Dance Electric extended (the, uh, full length version on bootlegs with that extra guitar overdub)? Do they fall into this or not? Tryna understand.

The solo to Drive Me Wild extended is quite precise, is that what we're talking about? Less feedback frenzy and more weird, but precise, melodies?

[Edited 9/1/20 8:20am]

All the solos on 1999 album except Free which is played in a

more traditional fashion. yeah

Computer blue from first avenue 1983 fits the bill. Darling Nikki solo

Drive me Wild is precise only in terms of rhythm execution of the solos

but the solos are sloppy by intent i believe.

Those solos are characterized by flurry of notes that sound hysterical and

contain some dissonant notes.

Lady Cab driver is a perfect example of that style.

A style so unortodox that made Prince closer to anti guitar hero kind of players.

If you played those records to people who are pro guitar players most of them

would say that Prince cant play lead

cause those solos are so out there.

But Prince was striving to be recognised as a great guitar player

so this weird guitar phase was short lived.

Thats way with the next release Purple Rain Prince went into a

conventional periception of

what a guitar hero should sound like.

He did continue to explore sonic soundscapes of electric guitar further

on in his career but it was more regarding the sound than the

unconventional methods of playing guitar.

Prince was known for reinventing his music during his career

but he was sometimes reinventing

how he played electric guitar and like i said never have i seen or heard people

discuss his 1999 era guitar phase.

Not to be rude or disrespectful to you banished, but maybe no one has ever discussed P's "1999" era live guitar solos because no one (except maybe other musicians or Prince guitar fanatics) cares....Most casual (or non) fans never he could wail on the guitar until they saw "Purple Rain". Plus he said (in a much later interview) that once he started having hits, his "guitar hero" ideology went out the window. Again. not trying to be rude.

SPYZFAN1 said:

Not to be rude or disrespectful to you banished, but maybe no one has ever discussed P's "1999" era live guitar solos because no one (except maybe other musicians or Prince guitar fanatics) cares....Most casual (or non) fans never he could wail on the guitar until they saw "Purple Rain". Plus he said (in a much later interview) that once he started having hits, his "guitar hero" ideology went out the window. Again. not trying to be rude.

Im not thinking you are rude

i know casual fans dont have a clue and they dont care but we do

I'm listening to I Could Never Take The Place of Your Man(demo)

trying to listen to the guitar work. If feels more like Dirty Mind new wave to me

SPYZFAN1 said:

^^Agree...It was a hard shadow to escape from, especially back then. The "Purple Rain" era was where he was compared to Jimi the most. But I always heard the melodic Santana influence more.

SantanaMaitreya said:

SPYZFAN1 said:

Back then, P may have intentionally strayed away from pentatonic/blues box playing so he wouldn't get hit with the "Hendrix" tag...trying to have his own style.....he was playing very "outside the box" ........I think his attitude on the guitar (back then) kind of translated what he was going through in his life. He was young and energetic, very creative, and about to hit it big. He was like a young Mike Tyson in the ring.....P had complete control over what he was doing musically...his rules, his game... But he also said he wanted to focus more on his singing and being a frontman, so he had Dez take over as the lead guitarist on the "1999" tour (which I really didn't have a problem with..cuz' I love Dez too).

If that is true, then he failed, because he was always compared to Hendrix! He even talked about it in the Rolling Stone interview in 1985.

He didnt fail.the journalists failed to hear a change in Princes guitar playing.

What he played during 1999 days were very original leads

that didnt sound like Jimi.

I mean parts of it did sound but he played some strange

disonant phrases all over his solos.

But there are so many recordings even the 1999 album.