My first post on this thread referenced its cyclical nature. This, I hope, will be my last post on this.

I encourage all of you who think of Jimi as a sloppy and rote player who likely could be schooled by his student Prince to go out and buy "Band of Gypsies," "Blues" and "Jimi Hendrix: Woodstock."

Those 3 discs show what a monster on guitar JH was, particularly within a live setting. Like I said earlier, both he and Prince need to be seen within live performances to truly be appreciated.

I'm not looking to change anyone's mind. But, while there are many other discs that highlight JH's mastery of the guitar, these 3 spotlight his craft, dynamic playing and sheer beastliness on the axe.

Jimi's style was fairly loose and he didn't mind hitting a wrong note or two,but this to me is what I enjoy about his music if thats him being sloppy then I'm glad because its what gave it ,its character.
I first saw Jimi's Woodstock Star Spangled Banner when I was about 6-7 I bought a guitar a couple of years after and I have been into rock ever since.BTW Star Spangled Banner still blows my mind after 20 years.

As an artist...Jimi takes it. He was a living revolution. His creativity, spirt and sense of freedom set marks that Prince can only aspire to.

As a guitarist, Prince wins, in my opinion. He's adept at more styles. He's had forty years of practice. Jimi played guitar half as long, and only spent 3-4 years alive in the spotlight. Prince does things on the guitar that Jimi only saw in his dreams. Prince built on Jimi. "Standing on the shoulders of giants" and all that.

I heard some other names come up and I'll share some opinions on them...

Eddie Van Halen is out of touch and his playing is no longer inspired. He's amazingly fluid but his best days are behind him. He collapsed inside his playing like a plastic ball in a microwave oven. Valerie Bertinelli made him soft and complacent. Eddie Van Halen doesn't even belong in this conversation.

Anyone repping Malmsteen, put down the bong and step away. Malmsteen is playing dive bars in redneck towns. Watch Prince's solo at the Hall of Fame and you will see a cascading run that probably made Malmsteen wet his pants. And Prince was just toying with them. Prince's level of skill is unprecedented.

As for Jimmy Page, I've seen him three times in the past 10 years and he's a sloppy mess. To those who say, "Exactly, that's Pagey," I say, "Ehh." Page can't touch Prince now. In his prime...say, '67 to '78, if i'm being generous...Page was a mind-bending player. But Prince can duplicate everything Page did, THEN step out into funk "chicken grease" and jazz territory that Page never even approached.

Vai? A science fiction oddity. Satriani? Not enough passion. Carlos? All the passion, but half the versatility. Clapton? All the playing skills, but half the fire, and no funk.

Considering how this discussion has brought up many other artists than just Jimi, shouldn't this thread title be changed to "Prince VS every other guitarist when they were in their "prime"? Because people keep mentioning how so-and-so can't cut it anymore, and aren't relevant anymore, etc.

i agree w/poeticrockstar & squarepeg.....

Temptation said:

HA! HA! HA! That's a funny piece of fiction there. Dismissing the skills of world reknowned MASTERS. You left out Earnie Isley being the "same old same old" and Stanley Jordan being to "jazzy" and playing too many notes! 

Regardless of what's said in any of these silly FANrants, the fact still remains that no one else in the real world sees Prince as anywhere near Jimi's level. Jimi is almost synonimous with guitar, while Prince is NOT and will nver be. I can go anywhere in any major city and hear guitarists that are better than Prince playing in bars, etc. I CAN'T go anywhere and hear another Hendrix. Prince is good, but he ain't THAT good. Another fact that still remains is that outside of Prince having his own "style", he's contributed NOTHING to guitar playing itself. Jimi did. Eddie did, too. Y'all need to borrow a clue from somebody. I don't give a DAMN if this is Prince.org. Truth is truth. PRINCE wants to be a guitar legend, and THAT is why you FANS want it for him. I have more respect for his versatility and his ability to be so prolific than I do his guitar playing. Give credit where is due. Prince the songwriter is far greater than Prince the guitarist.

Temptation said:

I brought Eddie in because 'Everlasting Now' didn't like Prince being compared to a dead guy. I thought Eddie was a good example of a guitarist who had inspired a generation of guitar players like Hendrix before him. It's hard to believe, but Eddie's style of playing was once fresh and exciting. Unfortunately over the course of the 80's his sound was driven into the ground by hundreds of crappy hair metal bands. That's what the music industry does to fresh and vital music trends. It beats them to death. The whole genre became a joke and Nirvana came around and put an end to all the nonsense. Van Halen was one of the few hard rock bands to initially survive the grunge onslaught.

Van Halen and Prince in the 90's became examples of how bad business decisions can erode your fanbase. The lead singer debacle pretty much destroyed any credibility the band had left. Eddie and Prince have also endured many personal problems. Eddie has endured throat/tongue cancer, hip replacement, battles with alcoholism and Valerie Bertinelli leaving him.

Eddie has been completely off the map for 7 years now. The reason I am bringing all this up 'temptation' is because before January 2004 I also described Prince with "his best days are behind him and his playing is no longer inspired". In just two months Prince has done the near impossible. I am just as excited about Prince's music now as I was in 1988 when I first started buying his records. Just this week Van Halen announced that they have reunited with Sammy Hagar and are launching a comeback this year with a new tour and some new songs. I'll admit I haven't been a Van Halen fan since the 1980's but Prince has showed me that anything is possible. Eddie and the band will probably be inducted in the RRHOF next year so a big comeback is not out of the realm of possibility.

Speakin of the RRHOF. One of the great things about Prince's solo was how flashy it was. Prince really hammed it up and I haven't seen a rock guitarist do that kind of thing in a long time. It was if he was reminding us that it is not enough to pull off a good solo you also have to look good doing it. That's a total 80's aesthetic. "the look of the sound". Prince is bringing back old fashioned showmanship. I think RAWK fans are getting tired of seeing "shoe gazers" perform. Once again, Prince is a great guitarist...

.....but he ain't no Hendrix

ThataintFunky said:

Seems to be that everyone thinks that Prince's Guitar is more entertaining than that dead overrated drug addict.

Prince is 100X more entertaining to experience at the guitar than the 60-70s Legend

& I appreciate/ listen to alot of 60s-70s Legends... Jimi isn't one of them. Too boring.

This is so depressing, thank God for St Johns Wort. There is a word that some of you none guitar players that only listen to Prince seem to be missing.... INNOVATION. Prince is a innovative artist. Mastering many instruments and styles while blending different genras of music effortlessly. Jimi Hendrix was a innovative guitarist, that predated Prince and many others. Innovation means the act of introducing something new. There is hardly a gutarist out there who was not influenced or have some sort of respect for Jimi . He was the bridge between blues and modern music, and he totally changed the game with his masterful style of blues rock and studio experiments. The following link is what Pete Towsend had to say about Jimi Hendix. Please take time to read with a open mind. You may come to realize how this "overrated drug addict" changed the face of modern music.

http://www.rollingstone.c...p?pid=1916

Oh yeah. I got one more thing to say..... MACHINE GUN!

Savannah said:

blas phe my

Handclapsfingasnapz said:

"blas phe my" X 10

http://www.rollingstone.c...p?pid=1916


nuff said

Jimi is a zillion times the better guitarist, P's the better multi-instrumentalist, simple as.

BlaqueKnight said:

I didn't dismiss their skills...I merely pointed out where their skills end, and where Prince's skills keep going. My comments began with major props for Jimi. I also complimented several other guitarists on their specific strengths.

I formed my opinion through experience. I've seen all of these guitarists perform live (except Jimi), and I've studied their recorded work. I also own over 100 Hendrix shows. Based on that foundation, I stated an opinion, and labeled it as such. Unlike you, I don't come on the Org spouting lines like "Truth is truth." Who are you to define "truth?" You sound like Prince and his Jehovah's Witness bullshit.



Plenty of folks in the so-called "real world" recognize Prince's talent. He was just inducted into Hall of Fame. Message boards all over the music world lit up with comments praising his guitar skills. So go ahead and visit those bars "anywhere in any major city" and come back when you find a guitarist better than Prince. Please, go. Take your time. Don't hurry back.



I don't give a fuck what Prince wants, I'm simply stating an opinion. Don't presume to know me or my motivations.
[This message was edited Sat Mar 27 2:13:29 2004 by Temptation]

Temptation
I know this is off the subject and I apologize,however something about your reply reminds me of Tim Dog. I cant put my finger on it. Oh well never mind me.


[This message was edited Fri Mar 26 23:25:01 2004 by Meloh9]

2 me and what i like in a great solo (and not just 4 a song or 5) is
1.Hendrix
2.Page
3.Eddie Hazel
4.Berry
5.Santana
6.Prince
7.Tom Morello
This topic will go on 4ever it's who you like.

theAudience said:

Simply more entertaining on every level... get over it.

Just because a previous generation called him a God.. doesn't mean he isn't boring as hell.

SPRAKA said:

SHEESH Jimi Boring thats 1 critisisim I thought I'd never hear ever,The guy is explosive to put it mildly,Its he stage presence that makes him so brilliant.Though each to their own.

richierich said:

Sorry was explosive

Temptation said:[quote]BlaqueKnight said:[quote]

Spew whatever crap you like, but when its all said and done, Prince will still never rank beyond Jimi on guitar. And that is TRUTH. Get off the .org every once in a while. With you fan-addicts its always extermes. I never said Prince sucked on guitar. Just because I don't praise every little note he plays doesn't mean I don't like his work. I liked the solo he did at the RRHOF. That still doesn't make him "greatest guitarist" in any sense.

Savannah said:

You might consider getting the facts before making unsubstantiated statements about one of the most innovative guitarists in ROCK...get under it.

However, everyone's entitled to their opinion...as inaccurate as it may be.

Tribal Disorder

I don't think you can compare Prince to Jimi nor vice versa. They are two musicians from two different times. I do understand to really really appreciate Prince and Jimi as a guitarist you have to be a guitarist and when you try to play their music you understand how NOT simple it is to recreate what they did. A couple of guitarists I know who first heard Hendrix said they didn't know what to think of Hendrix when they first heard him because they never heard music played like that. One admitted he didn't like Jimi at first but when he sat down and really listened and tried to play what he did, it was only then that he won his respect.

Jimi and Prince have their similarities, but if Jimi didn't come first, Prince wouldn't know how to do half the stuff he does on records - in fact, most rock music in general would be severely different had Hendrix not come along at all. He revolutionized music and it wasn't so much as his solos, playing behind his back and other tricks - many musicians can do that, but his tones, creating different sounds with his guitar, his inventiveness is what is celebrated in a time when people didn't know you could do all those things with the guitar. Jimi had his own customized pedals.

This is not to say that if Prince came out back in the 50's instead of the 80's if he could have done all this, but the point is, he didn't. However, Prince to me came along during a time when most Black music had a horn section in their bands and Prince put many of these guys out of work when he used keyboards for horns and everyone else followed suit in a short period of time. He threw rock songs on albums when many Black musicians didn't.

These two men are even keel with me. I could never put one before the other. They are both brilliant, exceptionally talented guys.

And by the way, Jimi wasn't a drug addict. Jimi died because he inhaled his vomit. There are many suspicious things regarding his death and there are many that would suggest that he was murdered and slipped those drugs the night before he died because of the erratic way he was behaving shortly before his death. He felt the record company was after him. So yes, get the facts first.

LQ

LadyQ said:

Very well said. It is beyond ridiculous to compare the two.

... And for the blanks up in here who "dont get" Hendrix...
...your loss...

Hootchietoad said:

I think prince should definitely be mentioned as 1 of the greats, but not ahead of jimi but definitely ahead of cobain. cobain can't compare to jesse johnson as a guitarist, kc is getting sympathy votes. Jimi and Prince has inspired both black and white and both rock and funk and r&b musicians alike whereas kcobain has influenced who?

70sLove said:[quote]

EverlastingNow said:

I agree that prince is the greatest all around musician of all time but jimi is number 1 when it comes 2 the gstrings, but my man prince is close!

BlaqueKnight said:

I beg 2 differ. Prince is not the best but he is up there with what i consider some of the best such as jimi,eddie hazel, ernie isley,phelps"catfish"collins,Mr. Singleton from cameo and even jesse johnson. I have seen all of them live except 4 jimi!

ThreadBare said:

If prince is not the master and jimi is, then prince i will state is junior master behind jimi in his era. The thing that hurts prince is that he has never just performed a whole concert just playing guitar. That is y he is overlooked but i assure u that if prince went on atour just playing guitar back in the 80's people would think differently!!