Prince And His Greatness As An Instrumentalist
By now everyone on the planet has publicly expressed their grief over the untimely passing of a musical icon. Prince Rogers Nelson passed away at his Minnesota mansion on April 21 and the cause of his death has yet to be determined.
Through the expression of that grief people have also recalled the great memories that they have of the singer, songwriter, and composer who is quite possibly the most talented human being to ever take a breath. In the last few days we’ve been reminded of his fantastic music, his influence on fashion and style, and his impact on social issues as an activist that is still being felt as we mark the one year anniversary of the death of Freddie Gray.
I want to take this opportunity to talk about Prince the musician, not the lyricist, (as great as he was) but the guy who at nineteen years old played all 27 instruments on his debut album “For You.” Instruments as diverse as the guitar, the piano, drums, synthesizers, and wind chimes. Even though the album, which was released in 1978 is one of the lesser known works of an artist who would go on to become a superstar it was glimpse into his unique ability to play whatever anyone would put in front of him.
As a product of the Hip-Hop generation it drives me crazy when I hear my elders describe the music as nothing more than noise (something that Prince himself was guilty of from time to time).Afrika Bambaataa, Grandmaster Flash, and Kool Herc’s mastery behind two turntables and a microphone are just as important and just as strong as Eddie Van Halen’s mastery of a Frankenstrat. Any resistance to this fact is a refusal to acknowledge the creativity of black and brown kids from the South Bronx of the late 70s, black and brown kids who quite simply made a way out of no way.
With that said there is a romanticism that comes with traditional music and the instruments that produce it. There is an affection for musicians that can do it all or in this case play it all. Stevie Wonder is a soul music icon because of it and has been for six decades now, Paul McCartney is his pop music equal because of it and has been for the same amount of time, and Prince is bigger and better than both of them because of it, along with his ability to meld both of those genres and so many more.
When I think Prince and musicianship I think of the song “Kiss,” the lead single off of his 1986 album “Parade.” It is right out of the James Brown catalog, funk guitar riff and all while simultaneously and undoubtedly being a Prince jam. However when you get to the bridge of it ( “I think I wanna dance) you hear the use of a Wah Wah pedal, a use that is so good and so masterful it would make Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton both drop their jaws in sheer amazement.
I think about “When Doves Cry” which to me is his best use of the Lin Drum machine. In 1984, the year the song was released the Lin was still fairly new and figuring out the best ways to utilize it was a problem for a lot of musicians. It wasn’t for Prince. It’s the greatness that he exhibits playing slap bass on the song “Let’s Work.”
It’s the extended version of The Time’s “777–9311” where Morris Day’s lead vocal is the only contribution from anyone not named Prince. He sangs backup, plays bass, synthesizer, and delivers one of the best guitar solos anyone has ever performed in the history of music.
In the wake of the horrible news, a large number of fans began to view the YouTube video of Prince performing the song “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” on the night that he was inducted into The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. It was a song written by fellow inductee and former Beatle George Harrison. Prince performed it alongside Harrison’s good friends Tom Petty and Jeff Lynne, and his son Dhani Harrison. The looks on the faces of Petty and Harrison as Prince performs “the guitar solo from heaven” is indescribable. It was part astonishment and part resignation, fellow musicians taking note of the greatness that they were watching while knowing that they could never be as good. It had to be something akin to being a great basketball that just so happened to share the same court with Michael Jordan or being at your complete best as an actor on movie set that contained Denzel Washington.
The great Prince Rogers Nelson is leaving the earth at a time when American society is becoming more and more selfish and self-involved. Listening to friends and classmates describe him as someone who spent his idle school time in the band room playing the piano, the trumpet, and going over the arrangements for the upcoming band performances makes me smile and shake my head in anger at the same time.
The United States government and the politicians that we put in charge to run it are routinely cutting funding for arts education. Nowadays students are not given the opportunity to take music classes and play instruments in public schools, some public schools don’t even have bands. The possibility of producing another Prince is extremely slim but that doesn’t mean that we as a society should end our attempts to do so.
The power of music and it’s importance to life itself can never be overstated. That power was instilled into the mind and the body of a small kid from Minneapolis, Minnesota and the rest of the world was better for it. That power was also taken away this week and far too soon. Goodnight Sweet Prince.
Eric Brewton is a professional blogger. Read his thoughts on social and political issues at TheTruthUndisputed.wordpress.com and follow him on Twitter @ebrew79
