Sometimes you just have to admit that there’s someone out there who is better than you at your craft, and even if you’re considered to be up there with the best, like Prince, it’s good practice to acknowledge that there are people capable of knocking you down a few pegs.

A multi-instrumentalist, producer, songwriter, and phenomenal vocalist to boot, there wasn’t much standing in the way of Prince Rogers Nelson when it came to flexing his musical abilities, and throughout his life, his accomplishments were reflective of his multitudinous talents. Across a career filled with glory, with plenty of critically acclaimed albums and awards, how could one possibly admit to not being good enough with a resumé as stunning as his?

One thing he was known for was recording virtually everything on his records himself, although in his later years, this strict policy was relaxed a reasonable amount, and he began to invite plenty of other performers to collaborate with him on records. There are plenty of potential reasons as to why Prince wasn’t exactly forthcoming with the idea of having session musicians, and while there’s perhaps an element of him being protective over the end product, his personality suggests that he may not have been the easiest person to work alongside.

That said, one player whom he did invite into his Paisley Park residence and studio was bassist Larry Graham, best known for having been a former member of Sly and the Family Stone, and also having led his own ensemble, Graham Central Station. It wasn’t until the late 1990s that Graham would come to work with Prince, contributing to both Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic in 1999 and The Rainbow Children in 2001 and touring with him from 1997 to 2000, but he made such a significant impact on Prince during this time that his departure from the group left a gaping hole.

Of course, no longer having a bassist in his band would have been no skin off Prince’s nose, as he was more than accomplished enough on the instrument himself to have survived without the services of Graham, but no longer having him on board to play in his live band led Prince to feel as though his abilities on the instrument were no longer sufficient enough.

Before Graham’s stint with his backing band, Prince would spend a few songs per live show on bass rather than guitar in an effort to show off his abilities on various other instruments, but he’d refrained from doing this once he’d worked with Graham. “I can’t even physically reach for it anymore,” he claimed in a 1999 interview with Bass Player Magazine. “I don’t know. I hope it’s out of respect for Larry, and not because I feel inadequate compared to him.”

Even after Graham’s departure, he still stopped himself from picking up the instrument during live performances, and while Graham was a phenomenal player in his own right, who could have potentially put Prince to shame, it’s more likely that Prince came to the realisation that he would never have it as good as he did with Graham

Source :https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/artist-made-prince-never-want-to-play-bass-again/?callback=in&code=ZDAYODE4OGYTN2I2YI0ZMJMZLWJMMZITMDA1MMU3MTGYZGU5&state=93c3ec7961be413abbad283773936cbb

"Prince would spend a few songs per live show on bass rather than guitar in an effort to show off his abilities on various other instruments, but he’d refrained from doing this once he’d worked with Graham."

Bullshit.

ludwig said:

#next

[Edited 9/21/25 5:45am]

Far Out may very well be a content factory, their articles are so short they seem to be part of a constant stream of clickbait anecdotes only made to generate views.

I have yet to see a Prince show where Graham does something else than his ludicrous quarter notes, with the occasional distorsion glissando.

Even in the few seventies videos I came across where he slaps, I don't like what he's doing. Yay for the Sly records, yawn for anything else. And the same goes for Maceo Parker, legendary James Brown session player, nothing much to say when it's time to come up with a solo.

I never understood Prince's interest in them, aside from them being part of the music he grew up listening to. They're certainly very fine players, but the star system wants his legends, so here we are.
Everytime Prince is announcing "Maceo!" on a live performance, I feel some inevitable disappointment, whereas Eric Leeds never fails to surprise me. Same for Ida and Rhonda, they're inventive, and just funkier.

I think Bootsy would have been a much better recruit, but talk about Prince feeling "inadequate"!
He became way too conservative to suffer that much extravaganza.
And we know the reason as to why Larry was around anyway.

^

I saw Larry Graham live on stage some 4 or 5 times I think, most of them in the late 90s. A few of those front row in very little venues. His bass playing was mindblowing, some of his solos gave me chills. I remember thinking it must have been like this to see Hendix play the guitar. I saw Marcus Miller, too, and by comparison that show felt like an audition: "look, I can do this, oh, and look, I can do that, too, oh, and look, I can also do this and this". No dis inteneded for Miller, he's a giant in his own right, too, but while Larry was much less versatile in what he did or did not play, the sincerity and intensity were constant. And what was cool, given that Larry was already a legacy act by then, was that he and his band really seemed to enjoy doing what they were doing (I saw a lot of legacy funk act at the time, and this cannot be said for all of them).

.

I saw Maceo about 4 or 5 times as well. At one of his shows he opened for James Brown and smoked him. Brown's show felt like a soulless legacy show set on automatic mode, without a glipse of passion or enthusiasm left. The funk was gone. I mean it was there, but it didn't really groove at all anymore. Maceo's shows, like Larry's, were always as lively as they were funky.

.

To each their own, but I find Larry and Maceo very hard people to attack as musicians. Both are very solid players (Maceo actually comes from jazz, just like Eric) and both were very important protagonists in making funk history. I can't imagine why Prince would not want to have them in his band. Another thing is Prince needed to be the leader. We know he was uncomfortable producing Miles Davis or George Clinton because he didn't see himself ordering them around, and didn't really know how to put himself at someone else's service either. The fact that Larry and Maceo, despite being Prince's heroes, being older, being legends in their own right and having been in the business much longer than him, were humble enough to accept acting as bandmembers and following his directions says a lot about their professionalism and humility IMHO.

BonnieC said:

masaba1 said:

Stop this. Put some respect on these guy's names. Huge contributors to this music we love.

No doubt.

There was no intention to dismiss them, they're just not my cup of tea.
Besides, I have a soft spot for unsung mavericks who flew under the radar.

And I gladly stand corrected by databank's comments.

[Edited 9/23/25 12:18pm]

BonnieC said:

masaba1 said:

No doubt.

There was no intention to dismiss them, they're just not my cup of tea.
Besides, I have a soft spot for unsung mavericks who flew under the radar.

And I gladly stand corrected by databank's comments.

[Edited 9/23/25 12:18pm]

There certainly is such a remarkable amount of "unsung mavericks" as you call them. Many artists I have a couple of records from, who flew completely under the radar despite being incredibly talented... Sometimes it's sad because it put their career to a halt and I can't help wonder what if...

.

Eric Leeds, since you mentioned him, counts as one of those underrated talents IMHO. He is such a remarkable player and arranger, with a style that's so unique!! I never understood why, once he left Prince, he didn't become a high in demand session player. It truly is a riddle to me since he'd had enough exposure with Prince (or so you'd think). On the other hand, had Alan Leeds never become Prince's tour manager at all, Eric may have ended up playing in jazz clubs his whole life, and we may have never heard of him at all, which in itself says a lot about how it's not just about talent, but being at the right place at the right time.

Here's an early (I think the only?) Eric Leeds session recording from before his time with Prince: great stuff https://www.youtube.com/w...XxF4WPh3ME