I very much agree. He made the top 100 guitarists of all time in a recent Rolling Stone issue, but I thought he was still considerably underranked still.
If I have to guess to why he's underrated, I'll chalk it up to this. If you mention Santana or Hendrix to most folks, their first thought (probably only one) is their guitars.
Mention Prince to most folks, maybe they'll mention his symbol deal or maybe his name-changing melodrama or maybe him writing "slave" on his cheek during his feud with Warner Bros., or him wearing assless chaps, or the Jehovah's Witness connection or maybe those SNL skits mocking his eccentric reputation, whatever. Point is, his guitar work would probably be very low on such a list. Plus being tied to the hip forever with 80s MTV pop, namely Michael Jackson and Madonna, does him absolutely no favors either in that department.
Originally Posted By: klydon1
There is a video of him joining Tom Petty, Jeff Lynn, Dhani Harrison in a live rendition of "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" and his guitar solo is amazing.
That performance was what made me check his work out in the first place, and go blind faith buy one of his CDs from the bargain bin. I was so impressed (or mostly at least) with AROUND THE WORLD IN A DAY, I actually went back out the next day back to that same store and same bin and got another Prince record I saw buried in there earlier: PARADE. Never was the same afterwards.
Originally Posted By: pizzaboy
That's a great find, Ronnie. And you're right, it will get taken down before long due to copyright issues. But I already downloaded it .
A fustrating aspect about being a Prince fan (actually there are many, as me and Lilo can lecture) is all the quality shit he's got locked up at his infamous Vault, and apparently will never release them to the world until he apparently croaks. (DREAM FACTORY says hi) I mean that '83 concert is for fans a historical document, one that a good many fan would pay a fair price to buy it remastered on DVD.
I actually understand his stance on YouTube and all that, since it is his music, and that music is copyrighted. He's perfectly in his legal right to do. It's also a regressive, self-defeating practice in this epoch of the Internet, where free wide exposure expands your fandom. Fans don't like getting sued by their idols. It's stupid. (David Bowie said it bluntly as much.)
Shame really, since it's a disservice to both his discography and artistic reputation. Because despite the fact that he's pretty obviously a jerk and too divorced from reality for several decades now, few can match him at his best. Mad props especially to anybody who can pull this shit off with heels.
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