Do you think that Prince is undervalued by the public??I ask because today at work, I was playing "Xenophobia" and "Family Name" (live version) and someone who was listening could not beleive that was Prince playing the guitar on those songs. They said that they never knew Prince played like that. They said that they always thought of Prince as the 80's pop artist and not as a serious musician ..especially not a musician on the level of playing thats on those songs. Do you think that the public (average Joe) know the genius and prowess of Prince on the instruments?

Ye he's mega undervalued most peeps think he is just a R'n'B singer.

Yeah you're right, especially on Guitar. Did you see the jaws drop, during the RRHOF solo. For some, it was the first time they seen Prince play, atleast like that. The solo itself was great, but the best thing was the individuals who heard that solo.

If his guitar skills were ever questionable before that, they sure in hell aren't now...

No,but I think they are Learning. Just watching his HALL OF FAME and GRAMMY PERFORMANCE Showed People what he is Made Of.

DigitalGardin said:

No. But the average Joe doesn't know a lot in general if it's not mainstream.

Zelaira said:

Or showed foolhearted people what they've long 4gotten

True that.

I've always felt like he was undervalued even when he was still in his commercial prime. I had a couple of people, including my Grandmother, who doesn't think much of Prince, tell me that he was real good on the RRHOF and that they didn't know he could do what he did with the guitar.

Most people know Prince by the singles he has released; go-figure. If they saw him live (especially at an aftershow), then they'd know different. It doesn't hurt to give them video clips of things like his guitar performance at the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame.

When I tell people that Prince practically does everything on a record, their eyes just glaze over. I dont' think they realise how difficult and amazing it is that he plays and composes everything himself in the studio.

It would be like Beethoven in the studio recording a classical album all on his own - running around playing the violin parts, the double bass, the cello, then putting altogether....

"You hear the 5th Symphony on Polydor records? The violin solo? Yeah, that's all Beethoven himself, you know. Even the triangle".

Supernova said:

Truer words were never spoken!!!

The saddest thing about this is that most people fail to realize his contributions to other artists. I once had this conversation with my ex about "I Feel 4 U." O.k., he's one of those people who argues that MJ is better than P and that P is not all that talented. Well, the song came on the radio and I told him that that's P's song. Don't you know this fucker had the nerve to argue with me for over an hour about that? I didn't have the album in front of me so I couldn't prove it to him. We broke up before I ever did. My pastor who loves country music and is a Prince fan didn't believe me when I told him that P wrote a song for Kenny Rogers [to this day, I can't remember the name of the song]. He actually thought I was lying!

Anyway, I think this is partly P's fault. His eccentricities are a distraction from his genius. Therefore, if I wanted to share some of his music with my father or friends, they'd just say, "oh, he's weird, or he's a freak or gay." They aren't even willing to listen. To me, that's the saddest part of it. People realize that he's talented, but they don't realize HOW talented he is because of his own behavior. That's sad.

Especially if he hadn't changed his name, wore butt out pants, style his hair better [not the typhoon shit], had better dancers, didn't do the slave thing, and I think becoming a JW also gives the impression that here's just another one of P's idiosyncracies...

One more thing: he's apparently undervalued by the critics as well. The fact that Rolling Stone could not even consider him for the 100 greatest guitarists is testament to that fact. I wonder how P feels about the way he's viewed...not as a man but as an artist. I'm sure he could give less than two shits about how people view him or his personal life. But I'm sure it hurts not to be taken seriously as a musician especially when you work so hard and you produce so much music and you really put your heart into it. So, even though I don't believe it, when he said that he doesn't read reviews of his albums, if that's true, then I can see why. He's probably tired of getting blasted by the critics, even if the music isn't up to par. His musicmanship IS! And that's got to hurt...tremendously!

yes, he's undervalued. Some idiots here think he's just an ENTERTAINER

Yep. He doesn't release enough concerts on Video/DVD, that's why.

I was just contemplating this very topic this evening, when i was walking home past a guitar shop ... it had framed posters on the the wall of bands/musicians - Hendrix & Chilli Peppers to name a couple - but no prince...There seem 2 be lots of places like it...

Also, Musicology came on the radio when i was at work the other day, and natuarally, i got a bit excited! I was dancing around saying "It's Prince! It's Prince!' and a co-worker (nice guy but...?) says "OH, the 'self-confessed' genius!" WTF?? Im sure that P's been told that he's a genius enuf times over the years...besides, if some1 is a genius r they supposed 2 b all modest & deny it??? If u got the talent, u got the talent.
((It's kinda like the way the media claimed MJ called himself the King of Pop - show me where he started that, then I'll believe it! As far as I can c it started from Liz Taylor calling him that...And i recently saw Justin Timberlake being called the King of Pop - & that's ok is it??!))

I was showing my housemate a thread the other day where some1 asked 4 a complete list of P's albums - she cldn't believe that he had so many...Most ppl here in Australia seriously don't know much appart from D&P, Raspberry Beret & 1999. Then they discover (wth a little help ) how many instuments he can play & wat else he does and they don't believe it...People just don't seem 2 want 2 believe it or appreciate it...Me, i can't think about wat P can do 2 much cos it freaks me out!

As 4 all u other ppl who have had arguments with ppl about P writing particular songs...top this 1 - i once had this argument that went on 4 ages with this chick who was convinced that P didn't write Kiss but Tom Jones did... & that was back in the early 90's....

bellababie said:

This is so sad!!! I told you guys that my pastor who is a Baptist minister revealed that he's a big P fan. Well, even HE didn't realize that Prince career went way back to the late 1970's. When I told him that I have P's very first album, he's like "yeah, Purple Rain was the best." I was like, "no, his first album was 'For You' back in 1978." He was like, "oh." And this from someone who claimed that he's a fan. (????) This is sad. When I try to explain that P has probably thousands of unreleased material and has released over 30 albums [authorized/unauthorized] in only about 26 years, they don't believe me. It's such a shame, really. That's the worst part...it's the fact that there's so much terrific music out there and noone will ever hear...

I've always believes that P will never received his just "prop n' pounds" until long after he's dead. Afterall, very few really appreciated Mozart's work until after he was long dead. SAD!!!!

laylow03 said:

OMG Can u imagine ppl's recation if u compared P 2 Mozart??? It's true tho...

laylow03 said:

"You're My Love".

.

laylow03 said:

You can't have the good without the bad - if he wasn't such an 'eccentric' weird changeable character, perhaps his music wouldn't be so interesting also.

bellababie said:

MJ might not have started the King of Pop title - but he sure ran with it! I have seen many official MJ t-shirts with 'The King of Pop' emblazoned on it! Whereas at least Prince doesn't have t-shirts with 'genius' written on them!

"There's more to the word genius/than anything/I could bring" or something like that in 'Now'.

of course he is undervalued by the public. they still think that he wrote "I feel 4 U" for chaka kahn when they don't realize that he had written the song long before she even made it a hit. That always pisses me off. I hate when people assume.

bellababie said:

Actually people do! There have been critics who've called P "A Modern Day Mozart" and that's why I mentioned M.

giotto said:

That's it! I'll tell him tomorrow at church. Thanks!

But....Prince is very intelligent when it comes to his business and it's in the ways he "markets" his material. He's very quiet about his steez....but knows his TRUE fans will follow whatever to get whatever. He's done very well in creating his own industry engine in that he can survive on the truest of fans. I don't know of any other artist that charges a fee to get the exclusivity to his shows and product.....with no discount. His fans will flock to whatever it is that he does. And purchase whatever. And because it's majority independant, most of the dough goes to him.

He's also keen to timing. He knows when the market needs a bit of a toss up. RRHOF was a key element. He's an industry shark I love his M.O. Esepcially with so may artists going the indi route because of the state of the industry, I think he's the trendsetter in this respect.

If you find yourself in debate with others with MJ vs. P, Prince is number one at the bank because of his business saavy. MJ is serious financial ishhhh and is still an industry whore/cash cow. Madonna is also a fairly shrewd business woman. Hat's off to Prince! Class is in session, and P is the professor

BlaqueKnight said:

I agree with you. I'm speaking of him in a business sense. Your sig is bananas! There is much truth in that in some respects.....

missfee said:

I feel u..
I read once in a review.....the reviewer said "Prince even played a line of CHAKA KHAN'S song I FEEL 4U" I was like what the heck??

DigitalGardin said:

And Chaka even played a line of Whitney Houston's song "I'm Every Woman"

BlaqueKnight said:

As a musician myself, I have always appreciated ALL musical artforms. Yes, every genre!! I am also in awe of REAL musicians that are really good. Prince is just one example of that. For any musician, he should be among the list of the most respected.