Where does Prince stand in the pantheon of Guitar Gods?
phongone
1,652 Posts
Saw Prince perform recently at the Inglewood Forum and dude's shredface was so effortless and melodic, it blew me away. I'm by no means a guitar expert but I have to put him in the top 100 guitar greats (living).
Exhibit A
Exhibit A
Comments
Really?
Top 500, Maybe.
I don't care for thrashing guitar solos these days as much as I did when I was young.
Having something to say with the guitar is as important as talking loudly.
I have no problem putting him in the top ten, but I probably haven't even heard the top ten current hot guitar players.
Problem with Prince was his guitar work was so entrenched in overproduction and keyboards that is hard to make him out. Live he is great... has great feel, Hendrixy. But I can think of a 100 more memorable guitar players than him. Eddie Hazel, for instance.
Yeah.
I am just putting him in top ten rock guitar players.
Best I know, rock guitar is "pentatonic shit with a little Hendrix flash thrown in". I mean Hendrix played "pentatonic shit" didn't he? If it aint pentatonic chances are it aint rock.
But I am no rock expert so I am probably wrong.
No doubt. I like Prince's guitar playing and I don't care for guitar solos that much, so I rate him.
But I still get emotional at Purple Haze. Dude can fuskin' play.
I think dudes need to start listing songs that are examples of his better guitar playing.
While I don't agree, I respect the choice.....we're all turned on by and tuned in to different things.
I'd put Leslie West and Myke Jackson in my Top Ten yet I'd expect no one else would.
I'm interested. Why does Pentatonic make Brenston spin?
In this song his guitar helps build tension.
Above Frusciante (another Hendrix biter), absolutely, but does not hold a chance agains Page / Van Halen. These dudes had very distinctive, influential styles. Prince... way too Hendrixy... and if I'm going to choose a Hendrix biter, it would be Eddie Hazel.
I skipped lunch today, can you tell?
Some Prince studio guitar rockers:
See, that's the thing...most so-called "guitar heroes" emphasize it. Even if you hate Eric Clapton, you don't question why he's considered a guitar hero by some**, because the guitar is always up in the mix. He's not going to hide behind a horn section. Prince, on the other hand, can probably hold his own with any ten shredders, but his records aren't exactly shred-a-thons.
It's like when there was a Soul Strut "favorite guitarists" thread. I confused a few people by mentioning Curtis Mayfield. With and without the Impressions, his music always had a prominent guitar. But because he never took any blazing solos, a few of you wondered exactly why I would mention him. Some of y'all probably never noticed the guitar at all, except in pictures. But he did have a distinctive style, even if he was in the background most of the time.
**I just needed a random example. If you want to start an anti-Clapton argument, now ain't the time. Besides, if you don't like Clapton, I'm probably on the same side as you.
I mean is this a Top 10 shredder argument or Personal Top 10 or All world Top 10. Obviously, by listening to that "I'm Yours" clip above... this dude can SHRED, but he never really stood out to me... because it was lost in all the pop shit.
He is not on my radar of 100 favorite guitar players... but neither is Yngwie Malmsteen... Some underrated players I think are better than Prince from a distinct sound / influential perspective include cats like Andy Summers, Lindsey Buckingham, Robert Fripp, Peter Green, Neil Schon....
He had a great quote about how people think a guitar is like a trumpet. On the trumpet it is hard to play high notes, but on the guitar it is easy, but the crowd goes nuts when you hit the high notes as if you were doing something hard.
I also like the scene in the Michael Jackson movie where he is teaching his guitar player (Jennifer Batten) the solo he wants. He keeps telling her to hit her highest note.
I will concede that Prince does not have an instantly recognizable guitar style.
I disagree.......EDIT. ... agreed....instant - No.
All of them. He might have had help in the SYMBOL days but dude runs the lead axe.