1. Motherless Child - I only recently discovered this and can't get over how spine tinglingly good it is, not sure if he ever performed it outside that Spanish show?

2. Just My Imagination - I just wish this was released, gives me goosebumps

3. Creep - electric performance, amazing how he can turn an average song into gold. Did Radiohead ever comment on the quality of the actual performance?

4. A Case of U - love his Piano & A Microphone version. Also enjoy One Nite Alone version but have heard an early 80s live version that sounded more passionate maybe

5. Mary Don't You Weep - love Prince's gospel sound/voice

7. While My Guitar Gently Weeps - legendary guitar solo blowing everyone else off the stage, nice showboating too

8. Whole Lotta Love - I think the version on Indigo Nights had more to it than Aladdin Live? Not as good as the orignal though.

8. Best of You - similar to Creep in terms of average song, this was very brief and left me wanting more

10. Proud Mary / All Along the Watchtower - brilliant but would love to hear full versions

11. Miss You - even though I've only heard the live snippet from an aftershow I love it, Prince does a great Mick Jagger

12. Heroes - love Bowie, love this song, haven't heard Prince's full version though but enjoyed the heartfelt piano snippet

13. Emancipation covers (6 maybe?) - I like these but am not overly familiar with the orginals. One of Us is probably the most memorable.

14. Sweet Thing - as above

15. Don't Stop 'Till You Get Enough - again have only heard a snippet but sounded like he did a good MJ

My rankings are natuarlly subject to change. Would be interesting to see the rankings of other orgers and to see what I've missed/forgotten - I'm sure he also likely covered JB, Wonder, Gaye etc?

[Edited 12/26/20 18:48pm]

I Can't Make You Love Me. Many don't care for it but Prince brings his vulnerable side to it just perfectly.

not attempting to rank (sorry!)

first experience of Prince doing a cover was falling in love while watching First Avenue Case of U performance

The Whole of the Moon
Waiting in Vain
Let's Go

One of Us

[Edited 12/27/20 12:08pm]

kingricefan said:

I Can't Make You Love Me. Many don't care for it but Prince brings his vulnerable side to it just perfectly.

Been surprised at this one not getting more appreciation. Vocals are lovely and expressive.

Anotherlove

Colonised Mind

My Medallion

Planet Earth

ludwig said:

Colonised Mind

My Medallion

Planet Earth

Here's a church, here's a steeple...

Kidding, of course. When I first listened to My Medallion and heard those familiar notes, I did think, "cool cover." At the time, I assumed Prince had presented it as a remix, or a song built around Spill the Wine phrases.

[Edited 12/27/20 22:22pm]

Villanova Junction

kinaldo said:

1. Motherless Child - I only recently discovered this and can't get over how spine tinglingly good it is, not sure if he ever performed it outside that Spanish show?

2. Just My Imagination - I just wish this was released, gives me goosebumps

3. Creep - electric performance, amazing how he can turn an average song into gold. Did Radiohead ever comment on the quality of the actual performance?

4. A Case of U - love his Piano & A Microphone version. Also enjoy One Nite Alone version but have heard an early 80s live version that sounded more passionate maybe

5. Mary Don't You Weep - love Prince's gospel sound/voice

7. While My Guitar Gently Weeps - legendary guitar solo blowing everyone else off the stage, nice showboating too

8. Whole Lotta Love - I think the version on Indigo Nights had more to it than Aladdin Live? Not as good as the orignal though.

8. Best of You - similar to Creep in terms of average song, this was very brief and left me wanting more

10. Proud Mary / All Along the Watchtower - brilliant but would love to hear full versions

11. Miss You - even though I've only heard the live snippet from an aftershow I love it, Prince does a great Mick Jagger

12. Heroes - love Bowie, love this song, haven't heard Prince's full version though but enjoyed the heartfelt piano snippet

13. Emancipation covers (6 maybe?) - I like these but am not overly familiar with the orginals. One of Us is probably the most memorable.

14. Sweet Thing - as above

15. Don't Stop 'Till You Get Enough - again have only heard a snippet but sounded like he did a good MJ

My rankings are natuarlly subject to change. Would be interesting to see the rankings of other orgers and to see what I've missed/forgotten - I'm sure he also likely covered JB, Wonder, Gaye etc?

[Edited 12/26/20 18:48pm]

Good ones!!

I recommend: One of Us, Santana Medey, Honky Tonk Women, JAilhouse Rock, Motherless CHild, With a little help from my friends, The Middle, Let's Go, The Best of you, I'll Take You There, Sweet Thing, What I Know, Purple House (Red HOuse)

Motherless Child is terrible,i guess slapping some weir guitar effect and playing one of his worst solos but making facers while doing it is god for some of you folks to think it's great. nut not only it's not great it's not even good.it's terrible

thebanishedone said:

Motherless Child is terrible,i guess slapping some weir guitar effect and playing one of his worst solos but making facers while doing it is god for some of you folks to think it's great. nut not only it's not great it's not even good.it's terrible

FUCKING HELL...possibly THE worst comment ever!

kinaldo said:

1. Motherless Child - I only recently discovered this and can't get over how spine tinglingly good it is, not sure if he ever performed it outside that Spanish show?

2. Just My Imagination - I just wish this was released, gives me goosebumps

3. Creep - electric performance, amazing how he can turn an average song into gold. Did Radiohead ever comment on the quality of the actual performance?

4. A Case of U - love his Piano & A Microphone version. Also enjoy One Nite Alone version but have heard an early 80s live version that sounded more passionate maybe

5. Mary Don't You Weep - love Prince's gospel sound/voice

7. While My Guitar Gently Weeps - legendary guitar solo blowing everyone else off the stage, nice showboating too

8. Whole Lotta Love - I think the version on Indigo Nights had more to it than Aladdin Live? Not as good as the orignal though.

8. Best of You - similar to Creep in terms of average song, this was very brief and left me wanting more

10. Proud Mary / All Along the Watchtower - brilliant but would love to hear full versions

11. Miss You - even though I've only heard the live snippet from an aftershow I love it, Prince does a great Mick Jagger

12. Heroes - love Bowie, love this song, haven't heard Prince's full version though but enjoyed the heartfelt piano snippet

13. Emancipation covers (6 maybe?) - I like these but am not overly familiar with the orginals. One of Us is probably the most memorable.

14. Sweet Thing - as above

15. Don't Stop 'Till You Get Enough - again have only heard a snippet but sounded like he did a good MJ

My rankings are natuarlly subject to change. Would be interesting to see the rankings of other orgers and to see what I've missed/forgotten - I'm sure he also likely covered JB, Wonder, Gaye etc?

[Edited 12/26/20 18:48pm]

Great thread & I have to say an impeccable list. One of Us always brings a tear to my eye.

PURPLEIZED3121 said:

thebanishedone said:

Motherless Child is terrible,i guess slapping some weir guitar effect and playing one of his worst solos but making facers while doing it is god for some of you folks to think it's great. nut not only it's not great it's not even good.it's terrible

FUCKING HELL...possibly THE worst comment ever!

well maybe for you,but even though Prince is a master on guitar ,during Rave era it's obvious that he didn't touch guitar except when on stage and you can hear how unbelievable bad he was on guitar during that era. Only people who don't know what Prince can do on guitar can think that Rave era guitar playing is good.

Motherless Child is one big mess with terrible guitar solo and you can see that he don't know what he is doing on guitar.

You know as a guitarist myself i can asure you that no matter how great you are on your instrument if you stop practising,you start losing it.Your hands get week.Take a look at Cabaret Metro 1998 Rave 2000 dvd,Septimo 1999 performances.You can notice that Prince is not attacking guitar like his usual self. he didn't play those fast shread lines ,you know those

moments when Prince play lots of notes in a small frame (Push n Pull solo from 2002 Vegas dvd) well why do you think he didn't do that stuff?

Because he couldn't. cause he didn't touch guitar out of concert

and it shows. If you think i'm saying bullshit compare for example guitar solo

on So Far So Pleased to Redhead Stepchild. the first solo is played by somebody who struggle to play anything decent and the second solo is played by a beast.

Prince from Rave era was not in a shape and couldn't play Fury,Joy In Repetition ,Xogenus...

Prince from any other era could.

Maybe Prince vocals were great on Motherless Child but his guitar playing is way bellow his standard and everybody who thinks otherwise is just starry eyed when it comes to Prince and they think Prince can do no wrong. Rave era Prince= worst guitar sound he ever had and terrible playing.as a matter of fact if we wanna make a collection of worst guitar solos by Prince all will come from Rave era .for example Fly Away Rave dvd,Jungle Love live with The Time Vegas 1998-1999 ,complete Rave dvd,Cabaret metro london 1998 all just plain bad.

[Edited 12/28/20 5:15am]

Thanks for your comment. I respect your opinion but would respectfully disagree that it's terrible. Perhaps on a technical level you're right about his guitar playing, but I know many others would disagree with you, and at least to my untrained ear it still sounds brilliant, and is played and sung with incredible passion. Each to their own of course.

thebanishedone said:

PURPLEIZED3121 said:

FUCKING HELL...possibly THE worst comment ever!

well maybe for you,but even though Prince is a master on guitar ,during Rave era it's obvious that he didn't touch guitar except when on stage and you can hear how unbelievable bad he was on guitar during that era. Only people who don't know what Prince can do on guitar can think that Rave era guitar playing is good.

Motherless Child is one big mess with terrible guitar solo and you can see that he don't know what he is doing on guitar.

You know as a guitarist myself i can asure you that no matter how great you are on your instrument if you stop practising,you start losing it.Your hands get week.Take a look at Cabaret Metro 1998 Rave 2000 dvd,Septimo 1999 performances.You can notice that Prince is not attacking guitar like his usual self. he didn't play those fast shread lines ,you know those

moments when Prince play lots of notes in a small frame (Push n Pull solo from 2002 Vegas dvd) well why do you think he didn't do that stuff?

Because he couldn't. cause he didn't touch guitar out of concert

and it shows. If you think i'm saying bullshit compare for example guitar solo

on So Far So Pleased to Redhead Stepchild. the first solo is played by somebody who struggle to play anything decent and the second solo is played by a beast.

Prince from Rave era was not in a shape and couldn't play Fury,Joy In Repetition ,Xogenus...

Prince from any other era could.

Maybe Prince vocals were great on Motherless Child but his guitar playing is way bellow his standard and everybody who thinks otherwise is just starry eyed when it comes to Prince and they think Prince can do no wrong. Rave era Prince= worst guitar sound he ever had and terrible playing.as a matter of fact if we wanna make a collection of worst guitar solos by Prince all will come from Rave era .for example Fly Away Rave dvd,Jungle Love live with The Time Vegas 1998-1999 ,complete Rave dvd,Cabaret metro london 1998 all just plain bad.

[Edited 12/28/20 5:15am]

FanAllMyLife said:

kinaldo said:

1. Motherless Child - I only recently discovered this and can't get over how spine tinglingly good it is, not sure if he ever performed it outside that Spanish show?

2. Just My Imagination - I just wish this was released, gives me goosebumps

3. Creep - electric performance, amazing how he can turn an average song into gold. Did Radiohead ever comment on the quality of the actual performance?

4. A Case of U - love his Piano & A Microphone version. Also enjoy One Nite Alone version but have heard an early 80s live version that sounded more passionate maybe

5. Mary Don't You Weep - love Prince's gospel sound/voice

7. While My Guitar Gently Weeps - legendary guitar solo blowing everyone else off the stage, nice showboating too

8. Whole Lotta Love - I think the version on Indigo Nights had more to it than Aladdin Live? Not as good as the orignal though.

8. Best of You - similar to Creep in terms of average song, this was very brief and left me wanting more

10. Proud Mary / All Along the Watchtower - brilliant but would love to hear full versions

11. Miss You - even though I've only heard the live snippet from an aftershow I love it, Prince does a great Mick Jagger

12. Heroes - love Bowie, love this song, haven't heard Prince's full version though but enjoyed the heartfelt piano snippet

13. Emancipation covers (6 maybe?) - I like these but am not overly familiar with the orginals. One of Us is probably the most memorable.

14. Sweet Thing - as above

15. Don't Stop 'Till You Get Enough - again have only heard a snippet but sounded like he did a good MJ

My rankings are natuarlly subject to change. Would be interesting to see the rankings of other orgers and to see what I've missed/forgotten - I'm sure he also likely covered JB, Wonder, Gaye etc?

[Edited 12/26/20 18:48pm]

Good ones!!

I recommend: One of Us, Santana Medey, Honky Tonk Women, JAilhouse Rock, Motherless CHild, With a little help from my friends, The Middle, Let's Go, The Best of you, I'll Take You There, Sweet Thing, What I Know, Purple House (Red HOuse)

Cheers, I forgot oabout Jailhourse Rock and some of those other ones I'll have to check out!

Margot said:

Anotherlove

kinaldo said:

FanAllMyLife said:

Good ones!!

I recommend: One of Us, Santana Medey, Honky Tonk Women, JAilhouse Rock, Motherless CHild, With a little help from my friends, The Middle, Let's Go, The Best of you, I'll Take You There, Sweet Thing, What I Know, Purple House (Red HOuse)

Cheers, I forgot oabout Jailhourse Rock and some of those other ones I'll have to check out!

.

Johnny be Goode?

kinaldo said:

Thanks for your comment. I respect your opinion but would respectfully disagree that it's terrible. Perhaps on a technical level you're right about his guitar playing, but I know many others would disagree with you, and at least to my untrained ear it still sounds brilliant, and is played and sung with incredible passion. Each to their own of course.

thebanishedone said:

well maybe for you,but even though Prince is a master on guitar ,during Rave era it's obvious that he didn't touch guitar except when on stage and you can hear how unbelievable bad he was on guitar during that era. Only people who don't know what Prince can do on guitar can think that Rave era guitar playing is good.

Motherless Child is one big mess with terrible guitar solo and you can see that he don't know what he is doing on guitar.

You know as a guitarist myself i can asure you that no matter how great you are on your instrument if you stop practising,you start losing it.Your hands get week.Take a look at Cabaret Metro 1998 Rave 2000 dvd,Septimo 1999 performances.You can notice that Prince is not attacking guitar like his usual self. he didn't play those fast shread lines ,you know those

moments when Prince play lots of notes in a small frame (Push n Pull solo from 2002 Vegas dvd) well why do you think he didn't do that stuff?

Because he couldn't. cause he didn't touch guitar out of concert

and it shows. If you think i'm saying bullshit compare for example guitar solo

on So Far So Pleased to Redhead Stepchild. the first solo is played by somebody who struggle to play anything decent and the second solo is played by a beast.

Prince from Rave era was not in a shape and couldn't play Fury,Joy In Repetition ,Xogenus...

Prince from any other era could.

Maybe Prince vocals were great on Motherless Child but his guitar playing is way bellow his standard and everybody who thinks otherwise is just starry eyed when it comes to Prince and they think Prince can do no wrong. Rave era Prince= worst guitar sound he ever had and terrible playing.as a matter of fact if we wanna make a collection of worst guitar solos by Prince all will come from Rave era .for example Fly Away Rave dvd,Jungle Love live with The Time Vegas 1998-1999 ,complete Rave dvd,Cabaret metro london 1998 all just plain bad.

[Edited 12/28/20 5:15am]

You are welcome,but i don't hear any passion .I mean judging by the faces he made there it looked like he is playing some transcedental stuff but imo it's a mess.he even start the solo on the wrong beat which is odd for Prince.

Lots of turmoil in his life before/during the Rave era.

thebanishedone said:

PURPLEIZED3121 said:

FUCKING HELL...possibly THE worst comment ever!

well maybe for you,but even though Prince is a master on guitar ,during Rave era it's obvious that he didn't touch guitar except when on stage and you can hear how unbelievable bad he was on guitar during that era. Only people who don't know what Prince can do on guitar can think that Rave era guitar playing is good.

Motherless Child is one big mess with terrible guitar solo and you can see that he don't know what he is doing on guitar.

You know as a guitarist myself i can asure you that no matter how great you are on your instrument if you stop practising,you start losing it.Your hands get week.Take a look at Cabaret Metro 1998 Rave 2000 dvd,Septimo 1999 performances.You can notice that Prince is not attacking guitar like his usual self. he didn't play those fast shread lines ,you know those

moments when Prince play lots of notes in a small frame (Push n Pull solo from 2002 Vegas dvd) well why do you think he didn't do that stuff?

Because he couldn't. cause he didn't touch guitar out of concert

and it shows. If you think i'm saying bullshit compare for example guitar solo

on So Far So Pleased to Redhead Stepchild. the first solo is played by somebody who struggle to play anything decent and the second solo is played by a beast.

Prince from Rave era was not in a shape and couldn't play Fury,Joy In Repetition ,Xogenus...

Prince from any other era could.

Maybe Prince vocals were great on Motherless Child but his guitar playing is way bellow his standard and everybody who thinks otherwise is just starry eyed when it comes to Prince and they think Prince can do no wrong. Rave era Prince= worst guitar sound he ever had and terrible playing.as a matter of fact if we wanna make a collection of worst guitar solos by Prince all will come from Rave era .for example Fly Away Rave dvd,Jungle Love live with The Time Vegas 1998-1999 ,complete Rave dvd,Cabaret metro london 1998 all just plain bad.

[Edited 12/28/20 5:15am]

Margot said:

Lots of turmoil in his life before/during the Rave era.

thebanishedone said:

well maybe for you,but even though Prince is a master on guitar ,during Rave era it's obvious that he didn't touch guitar except when on stage and you can hear how unbelievable bad he was on guitar during that era. Only people who don't know what Prince can do on guitar can think that Rave era guitar playing is good.

Motherless Child is one big mess with terrible guitar solo and you can see that he don't know what he is doing on guitar.

You know as a guitarist myself i can asure you that no matter how great you are on your instrument if you stop practising,you start losing it.Your hands get week.Take a look at Cabaret Metro 1998 Rave 2000 dvd,Septimo 1999 performances.You can notice that Prince is not attacking guitar like his usual self. he didn't play those fast shread lines ,you know those

moments when Prince play lots of notes in a small frame (Push n Pull solo from 2002 Vegas dvd) well why do you think he didn't do that stuff?

Because he couldn't. cause he didn't touch guitar out of concert

and it shows. If you think i'm saying bullshit compare for example guitar solo

on So Far So Pleased to Redhead Stepchild. the first solo is played by somebody who struggle to play anything decent and the second solo is played by a beast.

Prince from Rave era was not in a shape and couldn't play Fury,Joy In Repetition ,Xogenus...

Prince from any other era could.

Maybe Prince vocals were great on Motherless Child but his guitar playing is way bellow his standard and everybody who thinks otherwise is just starry eyed when it comes to Prince and they think Prince can do no wrong. Rave era Prince= worst guitar sound he ever had and terrible playing.as a matter of fact if we wanna make a collection of worst guitar solos by Prince all will come from Rave era .for example Fly Away Rave dvd,Jungle Love live with The Time Vegas 1998-1999 ,complete Rave dvd,Cabaret metro london 1998 all just plain bad.

[Edited 12/28/20 5:15am]

yeah i know and i think those distractions kept him away from guitar during those 2 years.

[Edited 12/28/20 8:15am]

He saved his best studio covers for later in his career choosing relatively unknown songs an made them his own.

-What If

- Anotherlove

His live performance of Case of You and Just My Imagination are something special. All the other fall a bit flat for me although I think his "Still the One" is really nice and deserves a quality release.

i like his "Purple House" and "Crimson & Clover"

"Do Yourself A Favor" is also alot of fun!

kinaldo said:

1. Motherless Child - I only recently discovered this and can't get over how spine tinglingly good it is, not sure if he ever performed it outside that Spanish show?

2. Just My Imagination - I just wish this was released, gives me goosebumps

3. Creep - electric performance, amazing how he can turn an average song into gold. Did Radiohead ever comment on the quality of the actual performance?

4. A Case of U - love his Piano & A Microphone version. Also enjoy One Nite Alone version but have heard an early 80s live version that sounded more passionate maybe

5. Mary Don't You Weep - love Prince's gospel sound/voice

7. While My Guitar Gently Weeps - legendary guitar solo blowing everyone else off the stage, nice showboating too

8. Whole Lotta Love - I think the version on Indigo Nights had more to it than Aladdin Live? Not as good as the orignal though.

8. Best of You - similar to Creep in terms of average song, this was very brief and left me wanting more

10. Proud Mary / All Along the Watchtower - brilliant but would love to hear full versions

11. Miss You - even though I've only heard the live snippet from an aftershow I love it, Prince does a great Mick Jagger

12. Heroes - love Bowie, love this song, haven't heard Prince's full version though but enjoyed the heartfelt piano snippet

13. Emancipation covers (6 maybe?) - I like these but am not overly familiar with the orginals. One of Us is probably the most memorable.

14. Sweet Thing - as above

15. Don't Stop 'Till You Get Enough - again have only heard a snippet but sounded like he did a good MJ

My rankings are natuarlly subject to change. Would be interesting to see the rankings of other orgers and to see what I've missed/forgotten - I'm sure he also likely covered JB, Wonder, Gaye etc?

[Edited 12/26/20 18:48pm]

Thanks again for this list and great comments!

Loved P's humor when talking to Musicology tour audience about playing Proud Mary as he was first learning guitar.

Like you, I want more Miss You! Do you like P's cover of Honky Tonk Women?

How about Prince's cover of I Want You Back? Do love Michael Jackson's singing on I Want You Back.

In general, my brain is missing a few cells when it comes to appreciating MJ. Didn't get into Off the Wall album with exception of Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough. Absolutely love Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough! Didn't know it until years later, but I may have Sheila E. to thank for that. Maybe you've seen this video? Sheila gives brief demo of how she put a part on that track. She plays glass bottles.

https://www.facebook.com/...620066407/

"Another Love" (LOVE his version! Love Alice Smith--she's amazing)

"Just my Imagination"--mind blowing! (The Hague, 1988)

"Tell Me Something Good" with India.Arie and Stevie Wonder (Tribute to Chaka Khan). So happy to see India performing with Prince and Stevie!! She must cherish that performance to this day.

thebanishedone said:

PURPLEIZED3121 said:

FUCKING HELL...possibly THE worst comment ever!

well maybe for you,but even though Prince is a master on guitar ,during Rave era it's obvious that he didn't touch guitar except when on stage and you can hear how unbelievable bad he was on guitar during that era. Only people who don't know what Prince can do on guitar can think that Rave era guitar playing is good.

Motherless Child is one big mess with terrible guitar solo and you can see that he don't know what he is doing on guitar.

You know as a guitarist myself i can asure you that no matter how great you are on your instrument if you stop practising,you start losing it.Your hands get week.Take a look at Cabaret Metro 1998 Rave 2000 dvd,Septimo 1999 performances.You can notice that Prince is not attacking guitar like his usual self. he didn't play those fast shread lines ,you know those

moments when Prince play lots of notes in a small frame (Push n Pull solo from 2002 Vegas dvd) well why do you think he didn't do that stuff?

Because he couldn't. cause he didn't touch guitar out of concert

and it shows. If you think i'm saying bullshit compare for example guitar solo

on So Far So Pleased to Redhead Stepchild. the first solo is played by somebody who struggle to play anything decent and the second solo is played by a beast.

Prince from Rave era was not in a shape and couldn't play Fury,Joy In Repetition ,Xogenus...

Prince from any other era could.

Maybe Prince vocals were great on Motherless Child but his guitar playing is way bellow his standard and everybody who thinks otherwise is just starry eyed when it comes to Prince and they think Prince can do no wrong. Rave era Prince= worst guitar sound he ever had and terrible playing.as a matter of fact if we wanna make a collection of worst guitar solos by Prince all will come from Rave era .for example Fly Away Rave dvd,Jungle Love live with The Time Vegas 1998-1999 ,complete Rave dvd,Cabaret metro london 1998 all just plain bad.

[Edited 12/28/20 5:15am]

If you're first and foremost a guitarist, then it's fully understandable you may not want to comment on other instruments/voice. : )

But just in case you're up for giving thoughts, do you think that greatly decreasing guitar practice erodes guitar playing more than some other areas of performance, e.g. piano, voice, bass, drums, etc.?

Do realize this question is a bit simple-minded, but wondering if your impressions (that make this period stand out for you in the way that it does) extend to voice and other instruments. Is your impression that focused music practice may have in general been less available? Or that P may have turned away from guitar in particular and focused on other things?

Thanks for your comments and the link, didn't realise Sheila had worked with MJ. Think I saw a brief clip of P doing I Want You Back but can't remember well.. I also have to go back and listen to Honky Tonk Women - was never a huge fan of the original but it's been so long I can barely remember how it goes. Always open to reevaulation though!

I should have also included Crimson and Clover as mentioned by someone else above - another great cover version.

rednblue said:

kinaldo said:

1. Motherless Child - I only recently discovered this and can't get over how spine tinglingly good it is, not sure if he ever performed it outside that Spanish show?

2. Just My Imagination - I just wish this was released, gives me goosebumps

3. Creep - electric performance, amazing how he can turn an average song into gold. Did Radiohead ever comment on the quality of the actual performance?

4. A Case of U - love his Piano & A Microphone version. Also enjoy One Nite Alone version but have heard an early 80s live version that sounded more passionate maybe

5. Mary Don't You Weep - love Prince's gospel sound/voice

7. While My Guitar Gently Weeps - legendary guitar solo blowing everyone else off the stage, nice showboating too

8. Whole Lotta Love - I think the version on Indigo Nights had more to it than Aladdin Live? Not as good as the orignal though.

8. Best of You - similar to Creep in terms of average song, this was very brief and left me wanting more

10. Proud Mary / All Along the Watchtower - brilliant but would love to hear full versions

11. Miss You - even though I've only heard the live snippet from an aftershow I love it, Prince does a great Mick Jagger

12. Heroes - love Bowie, love this song, haven't heard Prince's full version though but enjoyed the heartfelt piano snippet

13. Emancipation covers (6 maybe?) - I like these but am not overly familiar with the orginals. One of Us is probably the most memorable.

14. Sweet Thing - as above

15. Don't Stop 'Till You Get Enough - again have only heard a snippet but sounded like he did a good MJ

My rankings are natuarlly subject to change. Would be interesting to see the rankings of other orgers and to see what I've missed/forgotten - I'm sure he also likely covered JB, Wonder, Gaye etc?

[Edited 12/26/20 18:48pm]

Thanks again for this list and great comments!

Loved P's humor when talking to Musicology tour audience about playing Proud Mary as he was first learning guitar.

Like you, I want more Miss You! Do you like P's cover of Honky Tonk Women?

How about Prince's cover of I Want You Back? Do love Michael Jackson's singing on I Want You Back.

In general, my brain is missing a few cells when it comes to appreciating MJ. Didn't get into Off the Wall album with exception of Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough. Absolutely love Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough! Didn't know it until years later, but I may have Sheila E. to thank for that. Maybe you've seen this video? Sheila gives brief demo of how she put a part on that track. She plays glass bottles.

https://www.facebook.com/...620066407/

rednblue said:

thebanishedone said:

well maybe for you,but even though Prince is a master on guitar ,during Rave era it's obvious that he didn't touch guitar except when on stage and you can hear how unbelievable bad he was on guitar during that era. Only people who don't know what Prince can do on guitar can think that Rave era guitar playing is good.

Motherless Child is one big mess with terrible guitar solo and you can see that he don't know what he is doing on guitar.

You know as a guitarist myself i can asure you that no matter how great you are on your instrument if you stop practising,you start losing it.Your hands get week.Take a look at Cabaret Metro 1998 Rave 2000 dvd,Septimo 1999 performances.You can notice that Prince is not attacking guitar like his usual self. he didn't play those fast shread lines ,you know those

moments when Prince play lots of notes in a small frame (Push n Pull solo from 2002 Vegas dvd) well why do you think he didn't do that stuff?

Because he couldn't. cause he didn't touch guitar out of concert

and it shows. If you think i'm saying bullshit compare for example guitar solo

on So Far So Pleased to Redhead Stepchild. the first solo is played by somebody who struggle to play anything decent and the second solo is played by a beast.

Prince from Rave era was not in a shape and couldn't play Fury,Joy In Repetition ,Xogenus...

Prince from any other era could.

Maybe Prince vocals were great on Motherless Child but his guitar playing is way bellow his standard and everybody who thinks otherwise is just starry eyed when it comes to Prince and they think Prince can do no wrong. Rave era Prince= worst guitar sound he ever had and terrible playing.as a matter of fact if we wanna make a collection of worst guitar solos by Prince all will come from Rave era .for example Fly Away Rave dvd,Jungle Love live with The Time Vegas 1998-1999 ,complete Rave dvd,Cabaret metro london 1998 all just plain bad.

[Edited 12/28/20 5:15am]

If you're first and foremost a guitarist, then it's fully understandable you may not want to comment on other instruments/voice. : )

But just in case you're up for giving thoughts, do you think that greatly decreasing guitar practice erodes guitar playing more than some other areas of performance, e.g. piano, voice, bass, drums, etc.?

Do realize this question is a bit simple-minded, but wondering if your impressions (that make this period stand out for you in the way that it does) extend to voice and other instruments. Is your impression that focused music practice may have in general been less available? Or that P may have turned away from guitar in particular and focused on other things?

hello.i play guitar and piano.i look at every aspect of a performance.i see guitar as a part of the arrangement.I think that Prince was not practicing guitar during that period because he was dealing with negative aspectsof his life.But interesting thing is that during hs whole career his bass chops were always great.So maybe he didn't practice because of turmoils in his private life or maybe he had less time to keep in shape on all 4 instruments that he plays.remember to maintain skills on 4 instruments you need 1 hour for each at least.thats 4 hours in totall.and what about busdiness meetings,rehearsals ,side projects,other business ventures.So yeah Motheress Child vocals are top notch but guitar playing was at his lowest

kinaldo said:

Thanks for your comments and the link, didn't realise Sheila had worked with MJ. Think I saw a brief clip of P doing I Want You Back but can't remember well.. I also have to go back and listen to Honky Tonk Women - was never a huge fan of the original but it's been so long I can barely remember how it goes. Always open to reevaulation though!

I should have also included Crimson and Clover as mentioned by someone else above - another great cover version.

rednblue said:

Thanks again for this list and great comments!

Loved P's humor when talking to Musicology tour audience about playing Proud Mary as he was first learning guitar.

Like you, I want more Miss You! Do you like P's cover of Honky Tonk Women?

How about Prince's cover of I Want You Back? Do love Michael Jackson's singing on I Want You Back.

In general, my brain is missing a few cells when it comes to appreciating MJ. Didn't get into Off the Wall album with exception of Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough. Absolutely love Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough! Didn't know it until years later, but I may have Sheila E. to thank for that. Maybe you've seen this video? Sheila gives brief demo of how she put a part on that track. She plays glass bottles.

https://www.facebook.com/...620066407/

LOVE P's Crimson and Clover cover and the way P puts Wild Thing in the mix.

Got a tiny side note re: the way that P switched up one lyric from original Peter Lucia and Tommy James.

P turns "my my, such a sweet thing" to "inside your sweet thing." Tiny detail, but so very P.

Also LOVE that the Crimson and Clover video features Misty Copeland.

thebanishedone said:

rednblue said:

If you're first and foremost a guitarist, then it's fully understandable you may not want to comment on other instruments/voice. : )

But just in case you're up for giving thoughts, do you think that greatly decreasing guitar practice erodes guitar playing more than some other areas of performance, e.g. piano, voice, bass, drums, etc.?

Do realize this question is a bit simple-minded, but wondering if your impressions (that make this period stand out for you in the way that it does) extend to voice and other instruments. Is your impression that focused music practice may have in general been less available? Or that P may have turned away from guitar in particular and focused on other things?

hello.i play guitar and piano.i look at every aspect of a performance.i see guitar as a part of the arrangement.I think that Prince was not practicing guitar during that period because he was dealing with negative aspectsof his life.But interesting thing is that during hs whole career his bass chops were always great.So maybe he didn't practice because of turmoils in his private life or maybe he had less time to keep in shape on all 4 instruments that he plays.remember to maintain skills on 4 instruments you need 1 hour for each at least.thats 4 hours in totall.and what about busdiness meetings,rehearsals ,side projects,other business ventures.So yeah Motheress Child vocals are top notch but guitar playing was at his lowest

Thank you SO much for your thoughts! Really enjoyed seeing brief part of Rave New Year video where Prince is playing bass. Sounds great to me, and Prince looks like he's truly having a ton of fun communing and doing his musical conversation.

Especially poignant, because as you reference, those were heartbreaking years. I will have to look when I can get home to check Steve Parke's book, but I think it might have been Steve that described a rare Prince mention of weariness and stess. Possibly during the filming of Greatest Romance video. Something along the lines of P expressing how he felt the weight of everything he needed to keep afloat.

If you don't mind my asking, what got you into the guitar? Around what age did you start playing? Which (piano or guitar) came first for you?