BlaqueKnight said:

Please show me if that is true.....? on what album? Mike Sembello or Ben Bridges aside from playing guitar on his records u show me a picture, a song or something that shows he does.

Until then he doesn't.

YODAHENDRIX said:

Stevie played bass on "It's A Shame" by The Spinners. He played guitar on "Let's Get Serious" by Jermaine Jackson. The Funk Brothers and any and everyone from the Motown era will tell you that Stevie played practically every and any instrument at Motown. That's how he got his name. His career set up Prince's. I love them both.

YODAHENDRIX said:

Stevie played bass on "It's A Shame" by The Spinners. He played guitar on "Let's Get Serious" by Jermaine Jackson. The Funk Brothers and any and everyone from the Motown era will tell you that Stevie played practically every and any instrument at Motown. That's how he got his name. His career set up Prince's. I love them both.

manray10 said:

Well if he could play on such tracks..how come he has never played them on his own recordings or never live like he has so many other things.

How old are you? Or should I say how young are you? In the seventies, Stevie would go from instrument to instrument playing most on th estage during his live shows. As for his recordings, he plays so many instrumenst that he doesn't list them all, juts like Prince. It just says musician, Stevie Wonder. Like Prince says Whatever with regards to instruments that he plays. Once again, Stevie provided the blueprint to Prince's career.





Gotta say Prince

manray10 said:

Never mind arguing with this cat, Manray. Everybody but him knows that Stevie played bass (and guitar and drums and keyboards). Some people just want to remain uninformed. Stevie has nothing to prove to some joker posting on a message board. his work is legendary and speaks for itself. The link in my previous post spoke of Stevie's credits...now he wants pictures. Not everyone wants to brag about what they do; some just do it. Humility has always been one of Stevie's most admirable traits.

manray10 said:

Never mind arguing with this cat, Manray. Everybody but him knows that Stevie played bass (and guitar and drums and keyboards). Some people just want to remain uninformed. Stevie has nothing to prove to some joker posting on a message board. his work is legendary and speaks for itself. The link in my previous post spoke of Stevie's credits...now he wants pictures. Not everyone wants to brag about what they do; some just do it. Humility has always been one of Stevie's most admirable traits.

Whatever so it's bragging when u show ure abilities 2 the world. Well ok, If u say so mate.Must be why u got a picture of a guitar as an avatar and not in ure hands eh?

Last time I checked ure on the same message board posting ure opinion like this Joker so don't get silly now.

or never live like he has so many other things.

Gotta say Prince

psychodelicide said:

Thank you Psycho...PSYCHOOOOO!!!

manray10 said:

Um, here's a thought. Since Stevie is BLIND, it may just not be feasible to have him running around from the bass to the piano to the drums, etc. when he performs live. Just maybe he saves that for the studio, because there aren't the time/physical constraints, etc. Just a different way to look at it.


S

BlaqueKnight said:

Look around you. You're the only skeptic on here posting about what YOU THINK Stevie doesn't play. According to your logic, if there isn't a picture of him doing it, he didn't do it. .

Mike Sembello or Ben Bridges aside from playing guitar on his records u show me a picture, a song or something that shows he does.


Oh And Prince hasn't had other people play parts on instruments that he could play himself on his records? Have you ever heard of say Dez Dickerson, Matt Fink, Andre Cymone, Wendy Melvoin, Rosie Gaines to name a few? Even One man bands don't do absolutely everthing by themselves ALL THE TIME.

Even Michael Jackson plays more instruments than people realize. Why has the number of instruments each plays become the focus of this discussion?

Here's My Opinion Line By Line

Singing: Stevie is a vastly superior singer to Prince, hands down. Even with material that's subpar by Stevie standards, his voice always enhances the enjoyability of his music. Conversely, Prince often makes a song sound worse than it could/should by relying too much on his often effeminate and obnoxious falsetto.

Songwriting: I'd have to say that Stevie is a superior songwriter too, even though they're both great. Both recycle ideas (who doesn't?), but Stevie pulls it off better, Prince bores me more often when it's obvious he's not really doing anything new. Also, even Stevie's conventional material (pre "Where I'm Coming From) was great, whereas Prince's conventional stuff (admittedly only really his first two albums) has often been described as "unremarkable", and justly so. Both have a diverse stylistic vocabulary, but Stevie's is more cohesive and no less eclectic. Plus I would never use the criticism "obligatory stylistic exercise" to describe Stevie's music, I would to describe Prince's music sometimes. Plus Prince has been known to have stolen ideas from his cohorts or used songs that generated collectively from jam sessions. Stevie, on the other hand has amicably allowed other people to take credit for his songs (eg Marvin Gaye's Praise). Plus, I think Stevie's melodies are just plain better too, and Prince has never been able to convey joy, heartbreak, or blues quite as well.

Prolificness-Prince may win this one, though I can't verify exactly how many songs they've both written. All I know is that Stevie didn't really have any side projects. However, let's be honest, Prince's best satellite act was The Time, and they weren't really that great. I do admitt that it is frustrating that Stevie takes these long breaks between albums lately while prince is averaging above an album a year since he started.

Consistency-Stevie's been less consistent since the end of his artistic prime in the 70s, but he's still remained pretty good. Prince, however, has never been as consistent as Stevie was in the 70s and Prince's best stuff, even Purple Rain and Sign O' Times, sounds kinda dated at times. Stevie's best stuff is still fresh as evinced by the fact that rappers are still ripping him off and making hits (coolio, Will Smith, Ja Rule). Also, I don't think Prince made anything in the 90s that was as good as his best albums of the 80s, with the possible exception of the Rainbow Children (yes I know that was 2001). Offhand, I'd say that Prince's 90s stuff is more dated than his 80s stuff, and stevie's 80s stuff is more dated than his 70s stuff, which is ironic.

Instrumentalism-This one is tough as I'm not positive exactly how many instruments each of them plays or how well they play each of them. Prince supposedly plays dozens of instruments, but I've found little evidence that he really plays anything beyond the staple instruments of rock (guitar, bass, drums, keyboards) and different types of synthesizers. I do know that Stevie has been compared to some of the best jazz keyboardists and drummers, he's virtually unequaled on the harmonica, and that he's better at using synths without making them sound cheesy (to say nothing at being the pioneering user of them), unlike prince who sounded kinda cheesy even in his prime (ala Dirty Mind, Little Red Corvette, Computer Blue and many others, good songs that sound a little cheesy). Prince is really only a virtuoso on one, maybe two of the instruments he plays (guitar, bass). Plus Stevie's at least competent on guitar and bass, and I've heard he plays things like harp, harpsichord and accordion as well.

Lyricism-They're both great lyricists. I'd say stevie's a little more awkward with scansion, while Prince is a little more awkward with subject matter, but they're both superb.

Influence-Stevie wins this one by virtue of the fact that he was a huge influence on Prince. Most of the people who would cite Prince as an influence would just as quickly mention Stevie as well.

Bandleading-Prince really takes after George Clinton (or perhaps Miles Davis) in this respect. He's great at assembling and directing great musicians. However in the early days he either didn't give them the chance to play/contribute, alienated or stole ideas from them, or failed to hold them together, and while he learned from these lessons, I do deduct points for that. I do admire him for being able to get Larry Graham and Maceo Parker to perform with him, but IMO they stole the show from him (eg Rave un2 the year 2000). I know Stevie had a band "Wonderlove" but I don't know much about them. I guess I can't really decide on this one

Imagery-Honestly who cares? I will address it because someone said Prince was superior on this level. However, I think his theatrics are more inane than they are impressive, and Stevie's had his share of crazy costumes too (as have a lot of other people). If imagery were really that important, David Bowie would be the greatest artist of all time (though he is pretty great).

Dancing-Prince routes Stevie in this one…. or does he? I know that, at least in his teenage/young adult years Stevie was described as being able to "bounce and dance around onstage as well as a sighted man." Maybe the only reason Stevie isn't a superior dancer is because he hasn't really tried since his teens, and because of his obvious disadvantage. Also, I don't think Prince is that great a dancer anyway, and the splits is just about the only genuinely impressive move he has. Plenty of singers can dance as well or much better than Prince, so he's hardly an exemplar.

Non Musical Talents- I can't really decide this one very well because I don't know the full extent of them. Stevie's an amazing vocal impressionist (ala Living for the City), Prince has tried his hand at filmaking (and sucked). I don't think this really is what any of us are talking about either

So I guess for me, Stevie is superior. And even if he wasn't, I would have to give him charity points for overcoming more disadvantages, being a better activist, and still making among his best music after having his skull smashed and being in a coma (which undoubtedly caused at least some brain damage). I don't think Prince would have been able to overcome blindness, poverty, and later on a near fatal accident as well. Plus Stevie's been amazing since he was a kid, Prince wasn’t until his late teens.

Stevie dont play guitar or bass in actuality.
Prince can play harmonica also ok not 2 that degree but gimme a fuc*ing guitar turned up 2 11 rather than a harmonica playing sweetly!


Prince is THE musician.

take it from a man who knows....

Miko Weaver, still regards Prince as the 'best guitar player around' as well as 'the best piano player'.

Testify Brotha .

However, I have to disagree with you about Rick James. Prince is very clearly a superior artist to Rick James, even if he wasn't always a superior musician on every instrument. Perhaps Prince stole ideas from Rick, but Rick stole ideas from Prince too and Prince if far more prolific and eclectic, which makes a big difference when you're talking about someone with as small and unvaried an output in comparison. That being said though, Rick had some killer grooves that prince rarely if ever matched, but Prince was just more versatile.

One of my favorite stories about their relationship was how they each accused the other of stealing the girl group idea from one another, when they really both stole the idea from George Clinton.