Prince....playing a live bass solo

[4stringer77]

He even played some decent fretless to go with those slap chops.

[lowend1]

bootsy would cringe at that. maybe a new genre, noodle funk. let me 'splain , please. while prince did several things very well i would hesitate to call him virtuoso on anything. virtuoso is one of those words that get thrown around and applied without much critical thought and too much fan boy input. genius is the other word that comes to mind that suffers the same problems. constant misapplication of these words cheapens the intended definition of such until the real meaning becomes watered down and void. my 2.5 cents

Yeah, I'm on board with this. Since his death, that "Harrison" video has been (re)posted umpteen times with superlatives unnecessarily attached to his solo at the end. There are countless versions of WMGGW on YouTube, and lots of them have solos that are as good as or better than Prince's. The only reasons this is getting accolades now (it's several years old) are: a) it's Prince and b) he's dead.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-j3-EXejYao&ab_channel=ReneKaufmann

[Granny Gremlin]

Gotta disagree.  Good old Healey is a local hero so you think I'd be biased (I am actually not really a Prince fan; had some criticisms of him up earlier), but that solo doesn't approach Prince's at all.  There's actually a few rough bits in there.  While Prince's is just effortless and bang on.

[lowend1]

As a solo, IMHO, it lacks direction. There's no build, no peak. It's essentially a few decent phrases strung together by bluster and noise. The guitar tone is nothing to write home about either. I mainly included the Healey clip for Phil Sayce's solo (same changes), which kills Prince's (but nobody knows Phil Sayce), and Jeff "plays pretty good for a blind white boy" - to quote Patrick Swayze.
I don't recall anybody raving about his guitar playing before he died. Now all of a sudden the sun shines out of his a-hole. I ain't buyin' it, folks...

[Granny Gremlin]

Yes, Jeff is really good and the sloppiness of that solo is uncharacteristic.  I assume Phil is that other guy.  I found his solo cliche and unappealing.  Prince's isn't mind blowing, but there is some cool bits and it's deliverred with gusto and flair.  He can't build to a climax because Tom and Jeff keep on coming back with vocals.  THAT is how it is so much better - it fits the arrangement, enhances it without distracting from it or stepping on it's toes.  He's not just wanking, he could do more crazier shit, but he doesn't, because the song would suck a bit more if he did.  I winced at a few points in that Jeff Healey version where it felt like the soloists forgoot that there was a rythmn section still chugging along behind them; not so in the tribute version.

As for tone, whatever, it's subjective and a matter of such minor degrees of difference.  It's not a bad tone, but yeah, probably not holy grail tone. We're talking about playing skill - don't confuse the two.

[nofi]

i agree with lowend1 and what i posted originally. fanboy logic makes people delusional.

[Granny Gremlin]

Well, I guess it's about time in the debate to bust with the ad hominem.  The equally dismissive and invalid but opposite argument which you have now earned is:  haters gonna hate.  It is possible to appreciate a talent without liking the man or his work.

I agree there is a lot of opportunistic lip service going on. Same as with all of the other famous people that have gone recently, which is why I usually stay away from RIP threads.

[westen44]

As a solo, IMHO, it lacks direction. There's no build, no peak. It's essentially a few decent phrases strung together by bluster and noise. The guitar tone is nothing to write home about either. I mainly included the Healey clip for Phil Sayce's solo (same changes), which kills Prince's (but nobody knows Phil Sayce), and Jeff "plays pretty good for a blind white boy" - to quote Patrick Swayze.
I don't recall anybody raving about his guitar playing before he died. Now all of a sudden the sun shines out of his a-hole. I ain't buyin' it, folks...

It doesn't matter to me one way or another.  I wasn't a Prince fan, but I'm not a critic, either.  But on an anecdotal level I do remember my college roommate (quite a good guitarist) raving about Prince's guitar playing.  That was long, long ago.  It's true he and I had different tastes in music.  But I did respect his opinion and tried to listen more closely to Prince's guitar playing from that point on.  I don't think all this praise for Prince's guitar playing is recent is my point. 

[nofi]

who hates who? i can admire someone's talent without liking them. if you read the original post i say he can do many things very well. your hang up is the word virtuoso. my post will explain my thoughts on that word as well. try not to get this thread locked, ok.

[Dave W]

I'm late to this thread due to Prince fatigue, thanks to the temporary insanity that's overtaken Twin Cities media. And I don't watch bass solos anyway.

...
I don't recall anybody raving about his guitar playing before he died. Now all of a sudden the sun shines out of his a-hole. I ain't buyin' it, folks...

I've never been a fan of Prince's music, and personally he was a real weirdo. But I've heard people raving about his guitar playing for many years. That, at least, is nothing new. Over the years I've seen a few clips of his guitar and piano playing, and his playing always seemed accomplished and effortless in a way most people would envy. No point in debating whether or not he was a virtuoso, but he certainly had instrumental talent.

.....
fanboy logic makes people delusional.

It sure does, and the reaction to Prince's death is a prime example. OTOH he did have genuine talent and he pleased his fans.

[lowend1]

I'm late to this thread due to Prince fatigue, thanks to the temporary insanity that's overtaken Twin Cities media.

Good Lord, Dave, I forgot you were up there. Fatigue? That implies you could take a nap and it would go away.

[westen44]

This thread is having the effect of making me look at Prince in more of a negative light.  I agree that he was displaying a cavalier attitude on the "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" performance.  On the other hand, despite being a George Harrison fan, I wish they would stop with all the George Harrison tributes.  Most are not too good--with the most recent one being the worst.  I'm not really interested in watching Conan O'Brien, Weird Al Yankovic and others singing GH songs. 

[lowend1]

Y'know what I wish for? I wish for people to stop marking a musician's passing with trite little observations like "I guess he's up there jamming with Janis and Jimi and Bonzo" or "They must have one hell of a house band up there.". As if the first thing one does in the Great Beyond is to find out where the nearest open mic night is. Furthermore, if those are anything like the ones they have down here, it might not be heaven.

[westen44]

Y'know what I wish for? I wish for people to stop marking a musician's passing with trite little observations like "I guess he's up there jamming with Janis and Jimi and Bonzo" or "They must have one hell of a house band up there.". As if the first thing one does in the Great Beyond is to find out where the nearest open mic night is. Furthermore, if those are anything like the ones they have down here, it might not be heaven.

Or the reason someone died is because God just had to hear him play.  Or God wanted to take guitar lessons from him, etc.  I've heard people say stuff like this.  People may mean well, but making quips like that might not be the best thing to do. 

[nofi]

i have seen that harrison tribute thing. i like and respect the stuff george has done but twenty guitar players on stage at once does not a good tribute make. of course this is so typical with these sort of things. too bad because george's good work gets beaten to death by the chaos clowns trying to 'honor' him, and getting themselves recognized as sensitive, caring folks as well.