Prince said that Santana is his bigger influence than

Jimi and people took that for granted

but is it true?

What is your opinion on the subject?

I can agree that Prince played a lot of Santana dorian mode guitar solos

but on the other hand whenever he played rhythm guitar that was not

Jimmy Nolan funky guitar he played Jimi Hendrix text book rhythm style.

Proof?

When he did Cream for mtv acoustic when he sings this it it.the next lick

is pure Bold As Love Jimi Hendrix style of playing,or Push And Pull live soundcheck

version that you have on youtub

with Prince singing or live with Nikka Costa.

I dare to say that Prince chordal rhythm guitar style is every lick you hear on the song Bold As Love.

So i would say that guitar solos are maybe more 70s Santana on steroids but rhythm guitar is Jimi.

LoveGalore said:

You can absolutely hear where Prince pulls from Bold As Love in a lot of different ways. I think he didn't want to be lumped into the same "black guitarist" category. But he leaned in to it more during Rainbow Children and beyond.

Glad i aint te only one to hear it

I think that it depends on the song. "Bambi" for example, to me is straight Hendrix influenced whereas songs like his solos on "The Everlasting Now", or even those little chromatic licks he does on "Rave" and throughout the Small Club show, are very Santana-esque

So I think it is a case of not neccesarily one is of more influence than the other, but both provided a basis for Prince to musically access different styles whenever he felt like it

Was just listening to "Deliverience" and both the guitar intro and ending guitar solo are soo Jimi


To me I think we can all agree that Prince's guitar playing has its own sound and voice. And that comes from internalizing and playing so many different sounds from so many different influences

[Edited 9/21/20 16:51pm]

I can hear signature licks from both throughout Prince's career. I was always amazed at his ability to give you just a taste of his influences during his solo's but still keep them unique to his own style. Remarkable.

It's not Eddie Hazel?

[Edited 9/21/20 17:14pm]

ForceofNature said:

I think that it depends on the song. "Bambi" for example, to me is straight Hendrix influenced whereas songs like his solos on "The Everlasting Now", or even those little chromatic licks he does on "Rave" and throughout the Small Club show, are very Santana-esque

So I think it is a case of not neccesarily one is of more influence than the other, but both provided a basis for Prince to musically access different styles whenever he felt like it

Was just listening to "Deliverience" and both the guitar intro and ending guitar solo are soo Jimi


To me I think we can all agree that Prince's guitar playing has its own sound and voice. And that comes from internalizing and playing so many different sounds from so many different influences

[Edited 9/21/20 16:51pm]

yap Deliverence is another good example

soladeo1 said:

Santana over Hendrix...but both of them overshadowed by Jimmy Nolen from James Brown’s band.

So when Prince plays non funky songs you hear Nolen?

I think the influence by both is equal. I also heard a lot of Ernie Isley in P's playing too. Especially on "Pink Cashmere" and "3 Chains Of Gold".

Hard 2 say........Prince was the only guitarist I've really heard that plays so many different ways that u couldn't tell really. I could heard a Jimi or Santana riff in 2 seconds. Prince.....not so much. He was much more diverse in his playing styles. I think overall he played more like Ernie Isley or Hazel than either Santana or Jimi.

Well the man himself said Santana so I'm gonna go with that.

RJOrion said:

funk riffs Prince was clearly influenced by Freddie Stone from Sly & The Family Stone, and Jimmy Nolen (JBs) rock/blues riffs sound Santana influenced.. i never really hear the alleged Hendrix influence

Rj i see Jimis influence in Princes rhythm work when he is not playing funky guitar.

examples Push And Pull ,Cream mtv art of Musicology

its full of riffs from Bold As Love by Jimi

intro rhythm guitar on Just My Imagination is Hendrix also

tab32792 said:

LoveGalore said:

Prince played like Santana, only 2000% better. Prince sounded nothing like Hendrix and when he tried it sounded like a caricature.

steakfinger said:

steakfinger said:

Prince sounded nothing like Hendrix and when he tried it sounded like a caricature.

like on Plectrum Electrum

The whammy bar feedback solos on the end of songs like "Orgasm" and "Rearrange" have Jimi written all over them. "Habbibi" too. He knew when to go into Jimi mode when he wanted to. The ending solo in "L.G.C" sounds like the solo at the end of "Johnny B. Goode" by Hendrix (Jimi Plays Berkeley).

Ha!

No way...he admired both but Prince on the guitar was his own beast.

I do mean BEAST! Poor Goo doesn't sound like anybody. Alexa De Paris doesn't sound like anybody.

Batdance definitely doesn't sound like anybody!

he had his own sound more in the 80s

but from the mid 90s onwards, prob more so from the early 00s, he started wanting to sound more 'serious', so ended up sounding more like his heroes. never like a replica, but he just started to play in a more obviously influenced way. he obv wanted people to see how much he had changed or improved as a musician. he wanted to be taken seriously.

just gonna... keep ignoring posts related to Eddie Hazel?

WhisperingDandelions said:

just gonna... keep ignoring posts related to Eddie Hazel?

i dont ignore it ,sorry.im not sure how influenced by Eddie Prnce was.

Eddie was a derivate of Jimi Hendrix.

But of course Prince was influnced by Funkadelic rock sound.

But for example if Cosmic Slop was one of his favorite jams than the guitar soloist on the original

is Garry Shider The Starchild.

Get It Up guitar solo sounds Ernie Isley influenced

michael hampton too

but i see those guys, much as i like p funk, to be kinda hendrix fanboys.

im sure prince liked them a lot, but i doubt he saw them as being models in the way he did santana or hendrix.

weirdly i dont think he has any joni mitchell influence in his guitar playing.

steakfinger said:

Prince played like Santana, only 2000% better. Prince sounded nothing like Hendrix and when he tried it sounded like a caricature.

The problem with Santana is that starting with te 90s Santana lis not representative of what Santana can do.

In the 70s Santana was a much better guitar player.he played a lot of unortodox and wild stuff.He also imployed some fast guitar runs similar to what Prince played.

Too see how much better Carlos was on guitar check George Benson

and Carlos Santana playing Breezin by Benson. So on a Benson song

in front of George Benson i wouldnt say Santana played better but

he was not playing worse,actually he embelished the song.and you will be suprise by Santanas lead and rhythm playing there.

p.s, also in the 80s Santana played very good,its especially interesting to hear mid 80s Santana because Carlos tried to adapt to the 80s kind of guitar playing style and he didnt play typical Santana licks