OK. I admit it. I never really "got" Prince. Or much of Bowie for that matter. Or Lou Reed.

solo starts at around 4:00 in.   If you're not moved by it, then I don't have anything else to suggest

https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=6SFNW5F8K9Y

davepressel said:

solo starts at around 4:00 in.   If you're not moved by it, then I don't have anything else to suggest

 


https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=6SFNW5F8K9Y

I identified with DB's dilemma. But I'm glad I checked out the link. Found it interesting but I also liked the piece after the one with Prince, "Let It Be" with McCartney, Springsteen, Billy Joel, et. al.

OTOH I have a close friend who has been an Opera Fanatic since he was in High School. I never got it except the music he loves is still performed world wide to full houses in large halls two hundred years after it was written.

Interesting? Prince blew everyone else off the stage! It has been called the greatest single performance in R&RHOF history!! As I stated in a different thread, like comparing light bulbs with lightning.

What I am getting from this thread  is a wonderful conversation of what music seems to hold for each one of us. I can appreciate Prince for the passion my daughter and nieces hold for him. True love like I had for Paul McCartney and the Beatles. Like my son has for Bruce Springstein. Their memories light up my life. Before Paul I had Willie Nelson. Magic in the 50's and still magic today. I definitely can appreciate how others like Prince as well as others who don't get Willie Nelson like I do.

Eta: grand nieces love Justin Bieber and granddaughters love Shawn Mendes. Cool!

breal said:

That's the only explanation. Okay that was mean.  Different stokes.  But DB, have you had a listen to Purple Rain recently.  He was just a kid when he created that rekkid.  It's an album.  I bet u r an album man.  It's orchestrated.  It's funky.  The lyrics are way, way, way better than they needed to be.  "Let's Go Crazy" may not be 4 u.  OK.  So start with track 6, "When Doves Cry."  Maybe you weren't listening to pop radio back then, but it was . . . singular.  There was nothing, nothing around that sounded even a little like it.  It was an ear worm to the nth degree.  Then just let it ride through track 7, "I Would Die 4 U."  Maybe "Purple Rain," the album closer at track 9, is a problem because you are a person who likes lyrics to make sense?  Let that go. 

Finally, I would point out that Prince loved Jimi and James (Brown & Rick) anybody can hear that.  But he was also a fool for Joni.  

I am so down with Prince.

"Take Me With U" is a good a pop song a you'd ever want to hear. 

Agree, Tom.  Pure pop for now people.  

nohero said:

ridski said:

I can understand db here. It's kind of how I feel about Springsteen. I mean my iPhone knows Springsteen better than me, because everytime I spell Springsteen wrong, it corrects me, but while I like a couple of his songs, he never got into my soul.

Fair enough.  I suggest avoiding any song that was a "hit".  Try the album, "Wild, Innocent, and the E Street Shuffle."

Listen to your junk man, he's singing. 

My favorite song of his by a mile.

I don't "get" country music. But others do.   It is all subjective.   Shaming DB for not "getting" Prince is kinda silly.  

https://youtu.be/7YFPfE2ck-M

davepressel said:

solo starts at around 4:00 in.   If you're not moved by it, then I don't have anything else to suggest




https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=6SFNW5F8K9Y

I was actually going to mention this. I saw this a few years ago and was completely blown away by Prince's guitar playing. I had no idea he could play like that. 

What was most striking about it was how utterly different the music that came out of Prince that day was from everything I had heard from him before. (I admit I don't have a deep knowledge of Prince's catalog.)

Of all the mentions about Prince's greatness after he died, I read nothing about what a great guitar player he was. Nothing. So I don't think that clip is actually very representative of what Prince was known for to the general public. Or maybe even to most of his fans.

So if you think this one clip is enough to show me what Prince was all about - nope. He was a great, great guitarist. But geez, let's face it, there's a gazillion great, great guitarists. That doesn't make you a modern Beethoven.

Oh, BTW, I'm totally with you on Star Tavern pizza.

Oh, agreed on that one big time.

drummerboy said:

davepressel said:

solo starts at around 4:00 in.   If you're not moved by it, then I don't have anything else to suggest




https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=6SFNW5F8K9Y

I was actually going to mention this. I saw this a few years ago and was completely blown away by Prince's guitar playing. I had no idea he could play like that. 

What was most striking about it was how utterly different the music that came out of Prince that day was from everything I had heard from him before. (I admit I don't have a deep knowledge of Prince's catalog.)

Of all the mentions about Prince's greatness after he died, I read nothing about what a great guitar player he was. Nothing. So I don't think that clip is actually very representative of what Prince was known for to the general public. Or maybe even to most of his fans.

So if you think this one clip is enough to show me what Prince was all about - nope. He was a great, great guitarist. But geez, let's face it, there's a gazillion great, great guitarists. That doesn't make you a modern Beethoven.

I can't say I was the biggest Prince fan around.  And I only have a few of his recordings.  But we saw one of his live shows about five years ago.  And if you had experienced one of his concerts in person, you may have "got" him.  Of all the performers I've seen over the years in an arena setting, there are only a handful in that category for me -- Springsteen, U2, Prince, Stones, Who.  Artists whose songs and performance intensity can reach the back row of an enormous venue.

davepressel, thank you for the link.  Fantastic! 

I think I missed where somebody described him as a modern Beethoven. Is that your standard for pop-music greatness? I can't think of ANY pop musician who would clear that bar. 

Again, what do you actually like, drummerboy? You have something of a history of condescendingly denigrating stuff other people love (see the Boyhood thread, among others) in the guise of "not getting" things. It's of course 100% understandable that you don't love some things that others do. Everybody feels that way. So why do you feel the need to point that out to people who are genuinely moved by something, or who are grieving over an artist who meant a huge amount to them? If you don't feel it, then why not simply do/think about/listen to something else?  

drummerboy said:

 

So if you think this one clip is enough to show me what Prince was all about - nope. He was a great, great guitarist. But geez, let's face it, there's a gazillion great, great guitarists. That doesn't make you a modern Beethoven.

This is probably one of my favorite Prince live performances.  He has Maceop Parker on sax (used to be with James Brown's band) and the funk groove on this is just killer.  His funk rhythm guitar is so nasty on this, and the band is just insanely tight.  This clip pretty much encapsulates what Prince was to me:  stage presence, musicianship, and entertainment..........you may have to cut and paste the entire link into your browser

http://www.jukebo.com/prince/music-clip,1-1-1-is-3,s0sqf.html

I wasn't a big Prince fan but I appreciated his music and incredible talent and impact.  The other artists you mention were enormously important to me.  So it does beg the question what do you like?   It's been asked several times but I don't see any replies yet.   

drummerboy said:

Of all the mentions about Prince's greatness after he died, I read nothing about what a great guitar player he was. Nothing. So I don't think that clip is actually very representative of what Prince was known for to the general public. Or maybe even to most of his fans.

So if you think this one clip is enough to show me what Prince was all about - nope. He was a great, great guitarist. But geez, let's face it, there's a gazillion great, great guitarists. That doesn't make you a modern Beethoven.

Geez man, you gotta slow down with the condescending attitude. The first thing Prince fans get about him was his musical ability as a multi instrumentalist. You may not have been aware of it, but his fans have. For decades. 

I understand that this thread isn't really about Prince, but about your inability to appreciate the talent of someone whose music you really haven't considered important enough to listen to. I wonder if you're one of these people who would have "appreciated" Salieri, but wondered what all the fuss was about with that frivolous show off Mozart. 

I have this thing for the Tijuana Brass. Other fans could try breaking it down for me; haters could break it apart for themselves. I probably wouldn't "get" either. Doesn't matter. I have this thing for the Tijuana Brass, and that's enough for me.

DaveSchmidt said:

I have this thing for the Tijuana Brass. Other fans could try breaking it down for me; haters could break it apart for themselves. I probably wouldn't "get" either. Doesn't matter. I have this thing for the Tijuana Brass, and that's enough for me.

You won't get any criticism from me. "Whipped Cream" was on my parents' playlist constantly in the '60s, and Herb Alpert is the whole reason I took up trumpet all those years ago.

The cursory Prince fan can stop at Purple Rain.  I did.  The rest to me is opulent noise.

ok, except for Sexxy MF.

What she said:

http://www.npr.org/sections/therecord/2016/04/22/475210984/listen-to-my-body-tonight-how-princes-transgressive-spirit-broke-boundaries

Or maybe what he said:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1BxRYIoKMJU&feature=youtu.be

It's always kind of a tell for me when a long guitar solo is what decides a person about a pop artist. Not the groove or the singing or the words or the spectacle or the of-the-moment-ness of the expression as a whole.  Not the pop-ness of a pop song.  Nope:  The long guitar solo.  Okay.  Prince as instrumentalist.  Okay.  

breal said:

It's always kind of a tell for me when a long guitar solo is what decides a person about a pop artist. Not the groove or the singing or the words or the spectacle or the of-the-moment-ness of the expression as a whole.  Not the pop-ness of a pop song.  Nope:  The long guitar solo.  Okay.  Prince as instrumentalist.  Okay.  

I'm with you there. Assuming you're referring to the solo in the all-star version of While My Guitar Gently Weeps, I think it's a great solo, but it's just one solo. It doesn't even come close to defining his genius. No one thing does.

I don't think there is anything wrong with not 'getting' Prince's music. Not sure why a thread was needed during his celebration of life. As long as he's been making music this can't be a sudden revelation..

BrickPig said:

breal said:

It's always kind of a tell for me when a long guitar solo is what decides a person about a pop artist. Not the groove or the singing or the words or the spectacle or the of-the-moment-ness of the expression as a whole.  Not the pop-ness of a pop song.  Nope:  The long guitar solo.  Okay.  Prince as instrumentalist.  Okay.  

I'm with you there. Assuming you're referring to the solo in the all-star version of While My Guitar Gently Weeps, I think it's a great solo, but it's just one solo. It doesn't even come close to defining his genius. No one thing does.

it defines a lot of what he was though -- musical chops, showmanship, sense of humor, whimsy, bravado.  in just a few minutes it encapsulated a lot of what made Prince what he was.

If someone is swooning to the "Layla" coda and you (anyone) catch me smirking because that person hasn't heard the Muscle Shoals session work, please shoot me.

DaveSchmidt said:

If someone is swooning to the "Layla" coda and you (anyone) catch me smirking because that person hasn't heard the Muscle Shoals session work, please shoot me.

I thought Jim Gordon was a Wrecking Crew guy.  Or am I being dense and misunderstanding your meaning?

Ah. So that's where Delaney and Bonnie stole him from.