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Prince's music
- Thread starter Gorn
- Start date
30+ albums, thousands of unreleased songs, allegedly played 27 instruments... Yeah, not sure why he was considered brilliant.
I'm the same way. It's no biggie. I can respect an artist for what they've done/achieved or given the community and not really be into their music.
I think the bulk of his output was firmly in the funk/soul/dance vein. He wasn't playing prog or jazz or anything where there was an obvious "look at my musical genius" quality. And to be honest, for myself, I liked a lot of his music but if someone had said, "name your favorite artists," Prince would not have occurred to me to be on the top five or probably top ten. That's just taste. On the other hand, I will say that when he was at his height in the 80s popularity-wise with Purple Rain and all, some of his songs were unlike anything else you heard - it did NOT come across as just another synth-pop tune, of which there was a great flood in the 80s. The minimalism of a tune like Kiss or When Doves Cry jumped off the radio at you.
I was indifferent to Prince until I saw him in concert in 2005 after my wife drug me to it.
I'm not a rabid fan, but I enjoy just about everything I hear in my wife's car.
I'm not a rabid fan, but I enjoy just about everything I hear in my wife's car.
Same could be asked of Jaco, Mingus and any other bass player. I will likely post a similiar thread when Geddy Lee kicks the bucket. Because I feel the same way about his music. Thank god for differing tastes and opinions. To each his own
Prince absolutely could play jazz and did. One or more of his albums were strickly jazz albums. He held jazz jams on a regular basis. He released a ton of music off his website. A lot of stuff that record companies never saw!
I agree with the original post, acknowledge his tremendous talent, but, not a big fan. I liked the funkier stuff, but I also saw a lot of James Brown in his music, and Little Richard in his showmanship. Sorry he had to leave us so young.
So, what I hear in the OP is 'why exactly is this man respected for his talents?". Fair question, I'm sure a lot of clips have answered that.
Before I post anything, the stats speak for themselves. At least one album he played ALL the instruments on, great singer, and great dancer.
And then the NON commercial clips. All off my FB page btw.
You've seen it, but listen to the commentary.
Before I post anything, the stats speak for themselves. At least one album he played ALL the instruments on, great singer, and great dancer.
And then the NON commercial clips. All off my FB page btw.
You've seen it, but listen to the commentary.
Prince could have easily been a guitar hero. Practical virtuoso on several instruments. I wasn't a fan of his music but as a musician he was a giant.
Bass12's Musicology link says it all. Listen to the band. Prince was tight - On time - Right on the mark with his music. In other words, there was no sloppyness or off beats or to be frank, mistakes in his music. Like the artist he mentioned in the interview, Sly Stone and James Brown, They were also very tight, like a metronome. Prince, as was JB and Sly, was a perfectionist and you can hear it in his music. That's what it's all about and that's why he was so respected by the industry. I saw a video of him the other day playing solo guitar to While My Guitar Gently Weeps and it was AMAZING. I'm a HUGE Beatles fan, and I must say he made it his own and got it right. You don't have to like his music. I don't like everything he did, but if you listen to it, really hear it, you might understand what it's all about... Flawless and Tight.
Not a fan of his music, but I hear he was talented. But the former precludes me from investigating the latter.
You don’t have to be a fan stylistically but if you can't acknowledge his brilliance then you're just not listening. Put aside some of the sexual innuendo and cheeky lyrics and listen to, no really listen, to his song arrangements. His use of space, complex chord changes (rarely 1-4-5) and rhythms that intertwined elements of jazz, funk, gospel, metal, folk, rock, r&b and even classical - all made for something totally unique. Throw in those three, four and five part harmonies and each tune became a little funky studio masterpiece. Then he would execute it all live, perfectly and dynamically, with fantastic musicians - most of whom were relatively unknown before joining his band. He was not only a great... no, a BADASS guitarist, but an incredible singer who could go from his trademark high falsetto to a funky Baritone on a dime. He was also a great pianist/keyboardist, bassist and player of 20+ instruments. He appealed to so many people, from the casual top 40 listener to accomplished jazz musicians like Miles Davis and legends like Larry Graham and Stevie Wonder. If he wasn't a modern musical genius I'm not sure who is?
Questlove wrote a beautiful tribute to Prince for Rolling Stone. Nobody is required to like Prince - but for those who don't "get why he was any different" or good, it makes good reading so at least you understand objectively.
I posted another thread about the tribute.
I posted another thread about the tribute.
To me he is mainly one of those great funk band leaders in the tradition James Brown, Sly, George Clinton, standing on the shoulders of all those great big-bands and dance-hall orchestra's from the 50's and before that. It's no wonder he'd do shows with Larry Graham.
I was able to find one cut from Lotusflow3r on Youtube; who knows how long it will stay. It sounds a lot like the album Ben Harper did with Relentless7.
This is why Prince was the master of music. Dude could take the stage and play absolutely anything. While his commercially released music tended to veer more towards Pop, his vast library lays down much, much more diverse styles than that. And rumor has it, his unreleased material can span decades of posthumous releases if his estate chooses to release it.
Mick Sterling is a well regarded local musician who had the pleasure of "sharing the stage" with Prince just a few short weeks ago and wrote a tribute to him that summarizes Prince's influence nicely, at least for those of us in the land of 10,000 Lakes.
Remembering Prince: His music, our moments
Mick Sterling is a well regarded local musician who had the pleasure of "sharing the stage" with Prince just a few short weeks ago and wrote a tribute to him that summarizes Prince's influence nicely, at least for those of us in the land of 10,000 Lakes.
Remembering Prince: His music, our moments
