SPRAKA said:

You are correct Hendrix is historical, but Prince is the present tense. Prince was/is a pioneer in so many different ways not just on guitar so that to me makes Prince in a catagory of his own. Comparing him to anyone is actually a disservice to Prince.

Hendrix was Hendrix...James was James....but!

Prince is Hendrix, James, Sly, Joni, Stevie, and more all wrapped in one. So what does that equal to? The greatest musician of all time with NO peers.

I will drop it. No one is going to see "eye to eye" with me on Prince being the greatest guitarist ever. I thought the general public was "out-of-the-know" on his guitar playing, but not one person will back me up on this in the Prince realm, either.

I will send you a cd that i put 2gether FREE and even if it dose'nt show you who the best is then nothing will, but on the other hand it's like someone said at least we still have PRINCE here to enjoy.This topic can go on 4ever all we as Hendrix's fans can do his see old tapes but today and for the last 25 years Prince is the best thing going 2day hands down.

I find these posts bashing Hendrix hilarious. I too love Prince's guitar playing but c'mon, let's be realistic here. Claiming that Prince is a greater guitarist than Hendrix is like saying that Miles Davis was better than Louis Armstrong. They are from different times. Without Jimi's revolutionary playing, Prince may not have evolved into the guitarist that he is today.

Prince came close last night man.

EverlastingNow said:

Yes Prince is multi-talented. That's not in question. I was just talking about THE GUITAR.

And you are right! An alive Prince is better than a dead Jimi! We should all be grateful that Prince hasn't joined "that stupid club" as Kurt Cobain's mother so brilliantly put it.

If it's alive guitarists you want to talk about then fine. Let's do it!

Anybody walking around today saying Prince is the best guitarist in the world should pick themselves up a copy of VAN HALEN's first album. Yeah that's right EDDIE VAN HALEN! If I go out to the Crossroads and meet ol' Satan and he says pick one guitarist for an old fashion duel I'll pick Mr. Van Halen, not Prince.

As a side note. If any of you orgers want to come into this Hendrix-Prince discussion you better not step to me with that "Hi, I'm from the U.N, why can't we just get along, they're both good guitarists, just different" crap. SAVE IT!

This is a serious discussion about a SILLY topic! Ha! Ha! That's what the internet is for baby! Serious debate about trivial topics. Pick a side. Fence sitting is boring!

SPRAKA said:

And Jimmy Page is still alive too.

Jimi versus Prince.

I've heard good musicians state that Jimi was limited in his playing by the blues format. I have never really analyzed it that close. I have also heard Jimi used complex stravinsky type chords in his songs as a composer, unheard of in rock. I don't really know. I am not a guitar aficionado. Maybe I should listen closer. I do know that noboby, and I mean nobody, has the raw,primitive, rageful, huge sound that Jimi had. Prince has tried to imitate that feel and it sounds like toy guitar time.
It is well known that jimi could also play lead and rhythm simultaneously which is a rare skill that Prince can't imitate with his tiny hands. Jimi was a pioneer in the sound of the electric guitar, experimenting, coming up with new sounds, weird sounds. Jimi was also a great producer, innovative in the use of stereo. Great songwriter, lyricist. It is difficult to compare and I really would have to study better to come up with a good answer, but for my money, nobody touches Jimi, and that is just my uneducated opinion. Nobody will ever touch Jimi, he was a monster.

Its all subjective and there is no real way of saying who is best. But people who claim Prince cant play what Jimi can play are wrong,Jimi wasnt a fast guitarist nor technically brilliant but he had great tone and wrote some fantastic guitar tunes.How can you say that no one can touch Jimi,in what way is this true,modern players Vai, Sach,Van Halen,Malmsteen are far better technically.

Also Mozfonky with no disrepect intended,how do you figure that Princes small hands will mean he cant play lead and rhythm simultaneously when he just buys guitars with thinner necks.It isnt a rare skill in fact its very common,like most people who play guitar can do it.

ok...

Prince can't play Hendrix...his cover of Who Knows is too tight...Hendrix was the MASTER of time...he'd play in and outside the beat and still rock...

ya know the RRHOF solo isn't Prince's best...its just being celebrated as such because we have a video clip...I prefer the ONA Joy In Repetition and Shhh from HK Rocks - Prince's playing is very technical...he's learned in a very disciplined way, to be faultless and precise, rather than Jimi, who worked in a more exploratory, and thus IMO more interesting way....

Prince is amazingly good on the guitar...let me say that now...he's the best guitarist working right now...Eddie Van Halen needs to come back and do something...he combines speed and tone...like Prince, but in a much more METAL way. listen to something like Romeo Delight for the power of EVH

Technique is a very subjective thing...Jimi played with a more advanced technique than most guitarists to this day...his technique was far more wide-ranging, like his control of feedback and his mastery of non-musical noisemaking

All who suggest that Prince is in any way a better guitarist than Jimi Hendrix must sit down and watch the Star Spangled Banner, Purple Haze and the Woodstock Improvisation at the 69 Festival and really appreciate the master at work

MorehouseMan said:

I'd like to point anyone interested in this thread to Charles Shaar Murrays book Crosstown Traffic. Jimi Hendrix and Post War Pop

I love both Jimi and Prince. In terms total musical abilty Prince beats out jimi but he can't touch him in guitar. Not a chance. Jimi's lyrics tend to be a little too abstract at times but he was a wonderful poet. Prince's lyrics are much more accsessible and his sexuality is infused more into his lyrics which is good for horn dogs like me. haha. Booth Jimi and Prince were wonderful stage performers giving thier all in thier performences. But you can see Jimi's influence in Prince whole persona.
Prince Is the Jimi Hendrix for this generation.

I love them booth

SPRAKA said:

Alright let's do it?? Are you kidding me with that shit?? I think I just heard the intro to "Beat It"

Give me a break! Somebody always got to pull Eddie Van Halen out of their ass, yes he's a great guitar player but all the little tricks don't impress me. Prince is the baddest mf'n guitar player out right now. I could give a shit who Satan would pick at the Crossroads, I'm more impressed with the man chosen by God as one of the greatest GUITARISTS ever. There I picked a side.

EverlastingNow said:

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I'll remind you of your words next time we have one of your "Prince is nothing without Wendy & Lisa " rants...

EverlastingNow said:

Oh yeah, I completely forgot about Eddie's solo on Beat It. That was awesome! Eddie is kind of like Hendrix in the sense that they were both innovators and pioneers. Before each of them arrived on the scene no one sounded like them. After they arrived, they spawned a 1000 imitators.

I brought in the Satan/Crossroads analogy because that is my favourite part of the whole blues mythology that Hendrix, Clapton and the like were so fond of. I also thought it would make the discussion more fun. I totally agree with you though, Prince is one of the baddest muthf'n guitarists out there right now.....

....but he ain't no Hendrix

SPRAKA said:

You're right about that, thank Jehovah he's still breathing!

2 me it's Prince's fault that he is not mention when all of these Greatest Guitarists list comes out Rolling Stone did'nt even have him in the top 100(not they they know all) but being a fan of Prince it's like we r the only one's who knows how great he is,there have been lots of things said about who is the best and i never hear them say prince, and 4 the record Eddie Hazel's solo on Maggot Brain were Super i did get 2 see him play it for 18:00 mins it was all that and far much more.

listen to bambi from 2002 celebration,on that one prince topped hendrix.only that time

ThreadBare said:

Word.

LovesexyIsThe1 said:

richierich said:

I don't know much about guitar playing but from what I understand the feat of playing lead lines and rhythm is rare. I've never heard Prince do it. At least not like jimi. There is a reason most bands have two guitarists you know. Also, as far as the guys you mention, I really don't like virtuosity as much as I like feel. Steve Vai and the rest of those guys don't touch me like Jimi does. Neither does Prince.

ThreadBare said:

'Twas moi. But it's an assertion that many people hold.


Eh? Say whaaaaat?

Anywho, I agree with what you say about Jimi, but at this point, after the gazillions of threads comparing him and Prince, I just .... I'm just glad BOTH of them graced the earth with their talents. Music would be lesser without 'em.

As a musician I can't believe what i'm reading.

But as was so aptly put by "SPRAKA", "That's what the internet is for baby! Serious debate about trivial topics."

With that in mind, i've counted to 10 and will attempt to write a sane post.

1st let me say that I AM a Prince fan who laid down good money to see him here at Staples in L.A. on 5/26.

I'm guessing the majority of you that are flat out saying that Prince is a better guitar player that Jimi Hendrix are relatively young (nothing wrong with that) and have never actually heard him play live (my point for bringing up age) or have not seriously listened to Are You Experienced, Axis Bold as Love, Electric Ladyland, Band of Gypsies or the Monterey Pop Festival and Woodstock performances. Jimi introduced a new palette of sounds for electric guitarists.

Another element to consider is that, for the most part, Hendrix did what he did the context of a 3 piece format. He is extremely fortunate that Mitch Mitchell had some jazz chops which kept Hendrix's music from being restricted to strictly rock rhythms. (We won't discuss the bass player. True Hendrix fans will know why.) Now i'm not saying the Prince can't do this, but it would be interesting to see how he'd fare in stripped down 3 piece setting. The best Hendrix concert I saw was at Hunter College (NYC) (relatively intimate and great acoustics) where he decided to minimize the theatrics and focus on straight guitar playing. It was simply amazing how he could effortlessly shift from the funkiest rhythm guitar playing, something he doesn't get enough credit for (Remember, he "put in work" with the likes of Sam Cooke, B.B. King, Little Richard, The Isley Brothers, Jackie Wilson, Wilson Pickett and Ike and Tina Turner. Not much room for soloing here.) to the most unearthly solos and soundscapes using relatively pedestrian equipment by today's standards.

I'm going to skip over some of the more flamboyant and obvious examples of his guitar techniques but for rhythm guitar check out his treatment of Bob Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone" from the Monterey Pop Festival or the classic "Little Wing" from Axis: Bold As Love. For the pure Hendrix tone check out "Voodoo Chile" from Electric Ladyland (a cut that Steve Winwood, another inductee, played on). For pure innovative experimentation check out "Third Stone From The Sun" from Are You Experienced or "1983 ... (A Merman I Should Turn To Be)" and "Moon, Turn The Tides ... Gently Gently Away" from Electric Ladyland.

Btw, regarding the "to not die in his prime by something as pathetic as an overdose" statement, a leading forensic scientist said at the time that the dose of sleeping pills was too low to be fatal in itself. The official cause of death rendered was "inhalation of vomit due to barbiturate intoxication". Who knows, if he had received better medical care he might still be here today and settle this "silly" argument himself.

All in all, Supernova has said it best, "I'm just glad BOTH of them graced the earth with their talents."

Prince is a great guitarist but he is mimicking Jimi's sound and moves. Even his dress at times.


Jimi the original Prince the imitation.

Fact Fiction

EverlastingNow said:[quote]

SPRAKA said:

Or, the greatest imitator of all times

70sLove said:[quote]

EverlastingNow said:

No, I'm pretty sure the greatest musician of all time But thanks for playing!

I don't know what's more disturbing - the next thread about Prince smoking crack or your constant misspelling of the name "Hendrix"

Jamademus said:

I love them both, but Jimi - "hold onto your wigs!"

i love Prince and Jimi, however,Jimi Hendrix was the baddest guitar player around.