who was the best best player Prince has used studio and touring?

I vote 4 brownmark.

JQuad said:

Nope. It was me, LightBrownmark.

I'm tempted to say Rhonda...

...but I think i'll go with Mark too, he doesn't get much credit around here...so it's a sympathy vote really.

STUDIO -- Prince.
LIVE -- Prince.
Full-Time LIVE -- tough call...

for versatility -- tied between Levi and Rhonda.

for raw Minneapolis Funk Bass -- Mark Brown a.k.a.Brownmark.

Peace,

G.

violator said:

lightbrownmark

in ranking order Mark(underrated,most versatile),Rhonda(added the fretless,not that funky though),sonny(responsible 4 helping prince re-discover his funk roots.) andre and levi (tie).

Prince should add Mark 4 the hall of fame show. Of course he probably won't. wounds from the past may still run deep or Prince's pride may be the size of a 'big tall wall".

JQuad said:

co-sign! Brownmark all the way!!

LittlePill said:

[off-topic]where's your avvie? [/off-topic]

Brownmark and/or Sonny T.
I know people here hate his voice and all his swearing on Exodus but as a bass player, Sonny was da man .
I really miss Sonny, Michael B. and Morris ...the new NPG is still tight though.
Brownmark never got the respect or props he deserved...I don´t know much about technique but he had a very unique and distinguished sound.
Rhonda, Larry and Levi may be better technically, as I said, I don´t know, but I really liked Brownmark and Sonny.
And of course Prince himself, especially during the good old Gold Experience days ...( remember the old Days of Wild and his covers of I Believe In You/ Hair..)

Handclapsfingasnapz said:

I deleted it for the sake of a friend.
[This message was edited Tue Jan 20 13:13:48 PST 2004 by LittlePill]

My first decicion was Brownmark, but I just can't make up my mind they were/are all great.

I think that the instrument with best musician in Prince's past has been the bass.

Damn I'm gonna buy that Rhonda album some day.

I'm of 2 da wrecka stowe.

C ya

KoolEaze said:

yep I'd have to say they're both tied on my list as well...

and Rhonda is close second.

Brown Mark!

For God's sake.

What are we talkin' about?

If we talk about show it's clear that Levi Seacer has been his better bassist, no contest.

But if we talk about "the best bass player" is very very clear: MISS RHONDA SMITH. She can play fretless bass, 6, 5 and 5 string bass, slap, double bass, acoustic, all styles... It's the best by miles.

But if we talk about "nostalgia", then we can choose Brown

c'mon now!! levi could play the shit out of a bass gueeetar...

and then there came Larry.. many hate him but plenty imitate him...

PEJ said:

Yeah I really dig Larry's playing...sigh. But I gotta go with Sonny cuz I REALLY dig his funk! "Come" was so slammin' I can't stand it! And Rhonda is second especially with her fretless playing...man, her bassline on "The One" was incredible!

The best is André Cymone!
a good second is Brown Mark ...

The others don't come close

Sonny T all the way

my reason for Mark is this. Majority of the classic work Mark played on or executed live. He played on a few side projects. Prince kinda carried dude with the low mix of the bass or no bass at all in some material. I think when Mark bailed ship Prince saw what an asset he was. He began 2 try an give his bass players more spotlight. the others basically followed his blueprint. Had he stayed he would have be more involved in other projects than Levi or Sonny. Rhonda has another style. she tight with hers. Larry, stint was Prince playing with his idol. Check out the "Parade" shows. Mark is puttin' it down.

Studio-Prince
Live-Prince

While P is doing other things on the stage I would have to go with Levi or Larry because those 2 are the only ones that have the funk to hang with Prince.

However, they all feed off each others funk making them all play better. Who remembers the clip from the aborted documentary of Prince beating the bass to Partyman. Unbelievable funk in 10 seconds time.

GIRLPOWA Rhonda

Sonny T
didn't none of y'all watch the Undertaker video?
the man was on FIRE!
the bass on space is good 2.
and when P played 'the jam' on the gold tour, Sonny's solo was TIGHT!

phunkymunky said:

I don't know who the best is..
but I really liked Sonny Thompson

Probably Rhonda. But if you're talking about some funk/rock, then I'd go with Brown Mark.

ok dig this best bass solos or lines:
brownmark: head, irrestible bitch, do me,international lover,doves cry (live), baby i'm a star(jam-see live video),anotherlover,beautiful night,pop life, etc.

levi: dance on(maybe), at a loss here help?

sonny: had an advantage cause he benefited from after show gigs and doin covers with Prince. other than the undertaker solo live, the jam ,nothing else really stands out, feel free 2 help out...

Rhonda: great fretless work, added finger style funk

JQuad said:

sonny wasn't really much of a solist. but listen to the basslines on the come album. i think you'll agree...

To most of the peeps above I say your all no pun ...Remember in the SOTT movie Levi did a solo to Charkie Parkers "Nows the Time? That was some skillfull playing right there. I never saw Brown Mark jam like that. Yes Rhonda is an excellent player, and yes Sonny (one of P's bass mentors) could drop some mean bass lines but Levi really had it goin on. Obviously P felt Sonny played a better bass cuz he moved Levi over to regular guitar and put Sonny in his place but I wonder if he felt obligated to his supposed bass idol/teacher. I must say Sonny and Larry could mos def rock a bass to sound like a regular guitar and I was very impressed to have witnessed that style live on more than one occasion. Prince too can funk up a bass almost as good as any of the peeps mentioned in this thread. I dug seeing the video footage of him recording PARTYMAN in the studio. Talk about breakin it down he really showed his skills on that short bit of footage.

Rhonda. No question.

Her style can be monster, and it can be lyric. She's the bomb.

And, she does the funky pout.

ThreadBare said:

I love the funky pout!