one of the very few negative comments i have seen about prince's wonderful performance on rnrhaf. this is from tom petty's website forum,
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Member
posted March 22, 2004 09:56 AM
It was a great show. I can't help but wonder though what George would have thought of all of Prince's "showboating". I'm not at a familiar with Prince's music or show style, but I thought he was rather a prick when he just walked off the stage after his solo when all of the other musicians stayed there to at least aknowlege the crowd. It also appeared to me when Prince was soloing and leaning backwards off the stage with somebody holding him up, that Tom kind of gave him a "what the f**k are you doing????" look.

"Before you criticize someone, walk a mile in their shoes. That way, you'll be a mile from them, and you'll have their shoes."

If you ever saw that video footage of Prince on stage with James Brown's band... it was kinda the same thing. He doesn't mix well with other big-shots. Remember he blew off the Band-Aid (?) thing in the 80s.

Nyabinghi said:

you mean the "We Are The World" thing in the 80s

another opinion on this subject from rec.music.beatles

Kurt Straub wrote:
>
> I just finished watching, it was great. How cool for Jim Capaldi and Steve
> Winwood to come out and play percussion and organ (respectively) for While
> My Guitar Gently Weeps. Personally I loved the Prince guitar solo at the
> end. Kudos to Prince for playing in the style of the song, and really making
> his guitar "weep." Plus did everyone notice how he ran off the stage after
> completing his solo, not even waiting around for audience applause?
> Especially for a stage hound like Prince, how very subdued and respectful.
> I was impressed.
>
> ---- Kurt Straub

Who really gives a shit !
Tom Petty standing there in his usual boring annoying self.
P at least made the song exciting and added some enthusiam which was seriously lacking !!! P showboat 4 all I care and leave those boring $#@%^** behind. U ripped it apart and left em 4 dead. [b]

Well, I think the same performance without Prince's solo would have been incredibly boring. I mean, that solo was the only thing about the performance.

Bout the attitude? I liked him throwing the guitar and leaving. that's cool, that's the Rock & Roll atitude. But I would have preferred if he had come back after that. It'd been a little more respectful, perhaps.

I saw a quote where he said:
"And a word to the young artists: a real friend and mentor is not on your payroll. "
== PRINCE, at his induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Does this mean that Maceo and Larry are workin' 4 free? hmmmmm.....

















i think not

Prince just wanted to school those old goats.

oh Prince played a dazzling solo but yes i do think he was hamming it up. obviously he has that control issue that he can't get around when someone else is in the room but there you go.
the look on Tom Petty's face was like

blackboab said:

The way I look at it is that Dhani Harrison was extremely happy about that solo and moved. His opinion of that should stand out more than Tom Petty's. Still, that was just one person's observation of Tom Petty's opinion. P also got a lot of positive comments on Tom Petty's web site. The rest of them were extremely boring.

Dhani looked excited by the whole performance, and his opinion matters more than anyone else on the stage, I think.

They are trippin' at that forum etc.. Can people please shut the fuck up about the fact that Prince did not hang around to "loiter" onstage like all the others? He isn't part of the Eagles/Petty school of performance. Some sem upset Prince didn't sit around the picnic table with his paper plate in hand.

boring ass musicans edit
[This message was edited Tue Mar 23 8:38:26 2004 by SENSHY]

SENSHY said:

Exactly.

Why shouldn't he ham it up? He's one of the greatest guitarist ever and this was his night to shine amongst all the music industry players and big shots. He was asked to play the lead on the song and he played his ass off. What's wrong with that? Also, he never makes any of the "greatest guitarists lists" and perhaps this was his time to show all of them that he does deserve to be included amongst the greatest. He seldom hangs around to socialize so leaving the stage just before it was over is nothing new to me.

This is a rare case where I think criticisms of Prince are overboard and full of it. What was he supposed to do, play a dull set and try to fade into the background? Please.

Anyway, negative comments about the HOF performance are in the tiny minority among people I know and forums I have read here and elsewhere. People will always find something to bitch about.

Prince had a concert to do after that R&RHOF induction. We waited for hours
outside and three hours inside before he came onstage. He finally shows up and during his changing of outfits he decides to make a phone call.

Seems to me if Prince hadn't tore shit up no-one would've been talking about that WMGGW performance ,it'd be just a so-so performance of a great song. Prince made the performance an event , its what he does .

enjoyniki said:

he knows no matter what..folks will still come see him and wait some more and next time he will ask to use someone's phone and call long distance.

He made some of dem mugs wait in the cold for that Rave to Year 1999 taping too

I agree with most, people are being very over-critical of his performance if they say he was hamming it up. We as prince fans, knows he really gets into it when he plays a guitar solo. I've seen him do way more theatrics and playing solo's over the years. I'm just glad he got a chance to show the Tom Petty fans, and others that he is definately one of the top 10 guitarists of all times.

On a side note, I would have loved to b in the room when they rehearsed this performance. Knowing Prince, he probably just asked them what key they would be in and was like cool, I'll see you tomorrow.

SENSHY said:

Yea! I was one of them! But it was worth it! Great show once got in plus I'm on a DVD!!! I stop it on the crowd and see myself!!















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[This message was edited Tue Mar 23 9:27:31 2004 by sonicfreak]
[This message was edited Tue Mar 23 9:27:57 2004 by sonicfreak]

dealodelandron said:

A-FUCKIN-MEN!!!

freakebear said:

Ain't it the truth? I find it so sad that people have to bitch and pick apart every little thing that doesn't go the way THEY think it should go.

Milty said:

That's just what his old sourpuss always looks like, but he did bust a coupla grins out during the solo. I think the rest of Petty's expressions are him concentrating and trying to keep up, I think he dug it tho. The whole thing was planned out, so if Tom had a problem with Prince doing the solo that way, he could've voiced it during rehearsals.

enjoyniki said:

I wonder who he was calling? Hey maybe he was calling for a vegetable pizza to be delivered backstage after the performance.

DaIllest said:

i totally agree. before prince came out with the solo that song was barely registering. all i could hear was petty's voice, which sounded rough, and the the guitar playing seemed so-so. it sounded like everyone was mumbling, like their best days were behind them and they couldn't put on a good performance anymore. Then Prince came in with the solo and BAM! it woke the song right up.

and his attitude? i think it's more that prince knows how to actually put on a show and not just stand in the back and mumble like everyone else. Petty and co. aren't really about putting on a fantastic show. i feel sorry for their fans.

Speaking of artists who sounded like their best days are behind them, did anybody notice how different Bob Seeger's voice sounded? I was surprised at how much it had changed over the years. It seemed like he was having trouble hitting the notes correctly.

As I watched the performance, I thought about Miles Davis's quote about Prince, which roughly was, "When he wants to make love to his woman, he don't hear Ravel, he hears horns and shit." Prince's expression is so completely different from Petty and the others on stage. I saw no disrespect, and complete abandon, which I think shows great respect. I'm guessing a similar thing took place in rehearsals, because u can see Dhani nodding to Prince before the solo even starts, as if to say, "bring it!" As for Prince walking off stage, no, not the coolest thing to do, but that's Prince being Prince. He doesn't care much for performing in those situations, and I saw that as him saying, "Okay, I'll play the game, and I'll kick some ass doing it, but I ain't gonna stand around and hug all those strangers when I'm done!" Of course, he wouldn't actually say "ass", but u get the point.

This is why I love Prince because he's himself no matter what the circumstances.

First off, folks should realise how rare it was for Prince to participate in something like this at all. It truly shows how much respect he has for George Harrison. Second, P is always about the attitude. Its part of his onstage persona. He got up there, ripped a kickass solo, then left. Two reasons for this: one, he had done what he set out to do, and was leaving the stage, as if to say "that's what you came here for. No more needs to be said". Second, he wasn't going to sit their and take applause that should be for George Harrison. The fact that some don't get that is beyond me, but whatever.

As for Tom Petty, I don't know if he was actually giving attitude towards P or not. It wouldn't necessarily surprise me if he did. I love a whole lot of Tom's songs, but he can sometimes be a real picky ass about certain things he thinks other artists should be doing. I remember him, back in the 80s, slamming alot of New Wave bands for using keyboards. He's a traditionalist, and doesn't understand when new ways of making music come about. This doesn't detract from him as an artist, it just shows that he has a very narrow way of working.