When Prince says " Las Vegas" it's a signal to his band for a big ending. Notice he is directing his band all throughout the performance. He motions for them to stop playing at certain parts and for the other singer to stop singing. He was known for changing things throughout a performance according to his bandmembers. He directs EVERYTHING. Great review per usual. Also, the shape of his guitar is in the shape of his symbol which he went by for a number of years. It's considered Prince's Love Symbol. Prince listened to all genres of music and could play all.
@@YesYouCANPlayGuitar Not super heavy but he covers "Creep" at Coachella where he kills that performance too. Check it out if you haven't already. I'm just now taking a tour of your clips.
RE: The physicality, there is a great interview with Jimmy Jam on UA-cam where he talks about a rehearsal. Prince noticed he was only playing the keyboard with one had so he should be using his other hand to mirror the bass... and he should be singing... and doing the choreography.
This is from a Spanish TV show in 1999 - he performed a 45 minute set. The introductory comments are indeed autobiographical. He didn't get on with his step-father and bounced around homes - his father's, his aunt's, and a family friend ended up adopting him as he was best friends with her son, Andre Cymone (early bass player for Prince and later a solo artist in the 80s). The song is famous to me from Woodstock. It is an old negro spiritual song but Richie Havens did a version there that brought it into popular culture. And you can hear Prince very deftly say "just like Richie". He prompted his audience to query these things. Do their research and broaden their tastes through investigation. I lost count of how many artists he opened me up to - and they're varied as hell! The Guitar shape is the O{+> symbol he changed his name to in the mid-90s to disrupt his contract with Warner Bros. And you know he had a luthier making these things special for him. The white (and later yellow/blue) Cloud guitar from Purple Rain, the leopard print Hohner tele, the symbol guitars - all hand made so he could bash them up and have more in reserve. This band here is kind of the Paisley Park Houseband - his longtime assistant Kirk Johnson on drums, the legendary Larry Graham of Sly & Family Stone on bass, Mike Scott on rhythm, percussion escapes my memory at the moment, and the vocals are Kip Blackshire. Many of these guys were around Paisley for a solid decade or more and would be a defacto band in between major tours, playing one-offs or smaller national tours. P's funk guitar is up there with Nile Rodgers... If only Nile could play lead, we might have someone comparable. I agree with you about his ear. I think he listened to everything. And probably had a go at it in practice jams and rehearsals. These guys were fit with the funk. I think the lifestyle and the practice regimen of 8-12 hours daily gets you ship-shape in no time. And don't forget these guys have history - Larry had Sly and his own band Graham Central Station. Mike Scott has played with everyone - just a few years ago, even at his advanced age, he played on Justin Timberlake's World tour. But we know how Prince died and his last couple of years do look like the toll of all the athleticism from the 80s and 90s had finally gotten to his body. Hip problems plagued him for 20 years and he performed like there weren't any... You're seeing now that a Prince performance hits a lot of targets. It is about the guitar work but that's just one aspect. The vocals, the choreography, the audience interaction, the pizzazz. "Vegas" was a call-out to the band to give an over the top vamp as if it was a Vegas ending. If you are intrigued by that heavy riff, Bambi from The Undertaker session. Probably the most straightforward heavy guitar he has played that we know of. We've yet to hit the late 80s when Prince was at peak powers of performance and live popularity. When we do, you will see that every band was forced to give 100% all the time. He rehearsed them so they had no spare capacity and that what they were doing should look effortless. Excellent performance as it is almost hypnotic and the way he builds the atmosphere up is masterful.
Amazing post as always. Bambi is on the short list for my next video shoot. The battle he had with the record label is very interesting, can you recommend any documentaries on it? I have watched how Prince changed the recording industry...
@@YesYouCANPlayGuitar That's the best one really. Everything else either concentrates on Purple Rain era and gives everything 1990 onwards a gloss over or eliminates it completely. I like the "Slave Trade" documentary as it really sits in that mid-90s era and shows how he played them at a game where he lost short-term but then changed the game so they lost long-term.
@@YesYouCANPlayGuitar he really spoke almost exclusively through his music. The Emancipation album has a few cuts like Face Down and Slave on it regarding the subject. Then you’d have to add that with various soundbites from him and others, plus a few other songs to get a really full picture. Interesting to look at the credits on his albums (like Emancipation) during his symbol period - many (like produced, arranged) are to Prince. He only “performed”under the symbol moniker during that time period.
The Bass player is Larry Graham from Sly & the Family Stone who was considered the first bassist to bring thumping and slapping into mainstream music at the time.
He really was an incredible artist. Seeing him often was always magical. Motherless child is a song written in late 1870s. Clapton covered it. I got to hold several of his guitars at Paisley Park, they are much lighter than I ever imagined.
@@YesYouCANPlayGuitarMost famously, it was performed by the black folk singer Richie Havens to kick off the Woodstock concert, and the movie that followed. So when Prince in the last verse says "Sometimes ... just like Richie", he's paying tribute to Richie Havens. Coincidentally, his bass player for this tour - Larry Graham - played at Woodstock when he was still in Sly and the Family Stone.
The last couple videos have been particularly entertaining. Lots of great observations about Prince's physicality and time management. For many fans I think the allure of Prince was that he gave all of himself to his music. It isn't something one immediately spots watching a video on MTV but rather over time.
@@ronnix23 3rdeyegirl played Train in Vain a couple of times during their stint. One acoustic in a show I'd love to here from the Guardian building in 2014.
Bass player in this video is the mighty Larry Graham from Graham Central Station,Inventor of slap bass The mighty Prince Just loves his craft and spreading the love and joy to all Just like u do my brother 🙌
Prince and his band mixed with Members from Sly and the family Stone Band Prince (l (vox, guitar), Kirk Johnson (drums), Larry Graham (bass, vox), Morris Hayes (keyboards), Kip Blackshire (keyboards, vox), Mike Scott (guitar), Michael Nelson (trombone), Dave Jensen (trumpet), Kathy J. (baritone saxophone) (The horn section is collectively known as 'The Hornheadz' This was aSpanish tv show called Septimo Motherless Child if I remember correctly is an old song from the 1800’s about the slave trade this was Prince’s take on it
Check out the video of the live performance of America. It’s from 1985 in Germany. He does what he does on guitar, and drums at the end of the performance. You can see how he has control of the band in that video, so you’ll understand his cadence better and he calls out Ls Vegas. He was rolling deep with The Revolution back then.
I'm no musician, I only played trumpet in school from 4th grade until sophomore year of high school. I've learned so much by watching his performances and listening to his music. He calls out "Las Vegas" as a call to.......I don't know how to phrase it or what its actually called but a call out to hey we're about to finish it up, like a hit me one time. That was a TV appearance over in the U.K back in 1999 to promote Rave un2 the Joy Fantastic album. The cloud guitar was actually modeled after a bass guitar that he saw in California back in 1977 when he was putting together his debut album titled For You. He bought it for his friend and then bandmate Andre Cymone. If you want to check out his Jazz-Fusion type music check out the album N.E.W.S it's only 4 tracks and it's him obviously on guitar, Rhonda Smith on bass, Renato Neto on keys, your favorite on drum John Blackwell, and Mr. Eric Leads on sax's and flute. Each song is about 14 minutes long. Awesome instrumental album.
The drummer s name is Kirk Johnson, normally a dancer in his live shows and bodyguard too. The name s TV shows "Séptimo" 1998 year... I remember saw his concert in Barcelona on December 1998, the 22 I think. Normally after his concerts he plays aftershows the same night, we try to go t o see him and the band but not chance this night haha. I recommend to you the purple rain version of Syracuse, New York while the Purple Rain tour 1985.. 20 min versión with 13 min of guitar solo. For me the best purple rain version. Another great purple rain version 1990, Nude tour in Spain, la Coruña... Amazing show the same night while Madonna plays in Vigo, at 100 kms. Abrazos from Tarragona, Spain.
I picked that guitar up when I went to paisley park in 2000. It’s very small even with strat scale length it’s really light. He makes it look big because his tiny. Same with the cloud guitar. He walked past me as he went on the small stage. My immediate thought was just how incredibly tiny he was. 5ft 2 keeps being put out there but if he was then that’s got to be including heals. Makes his guitar playing even more impressive given he must have had small hands. Legend.
The band members from what I can see and remember are Drums- Kurt Johnson, Larry Graham- Bass, Guitar- Mike Scott (very underrated IMO) Keyboards and background -Kip Blackshire, Horns- NPG horn section better known as the Horn Headz. They have a couple of albums.
And for your own personal viewing and listening pleasure check out the DVD’s of these live concerts Rave un2 The Year 2000. That was shot at Paisley Park on I think December 1999. The other is Prince Live At The Aladdin Las Vegas. You get a killer 3 piece horn section from Greg Boyer on Trombone, Mr. Eric Leads in Tenor sax and the legend Maceo Parker on Alto. John Blackwell on drums, Rhonda Smith on Bass, Renato Neto on keys 🎹.
Been watching your reviews of these amazing Prince performances, and I'm loving your comments and learning from you along the way. Like some others have said here, a lot of this performance is actually really spontaneous with Prince taking cues from the feedback he's getting from the audience and incorporating those into his performance at the same time he's giving cues to his band. Toward the end, after the audience starts a "Hey!" chant, he pauses what he was gonna do, encourages them to go louder as he dances and has the band vibe with it for awhile, and then when he starts to sing, he waves a hand to cut off Morris or Kip from singing backup, and then immediately tells Mike Scott to bringing in the rhythm guitar. His shout out "Vegas" is a cue to the band to end the song with a Vegas-style flamboyant chord crescendo or whatever ya wanna call it. I really love this performance for the way he feeds off the energy of the crowd and gives it right back to them, deservedly so. He really loved performing "with" his fans. I've been to some of his soundchecks and after-shows of which he did many, and he clearly loved his fans and "jamming" live for and with them. Thanks again for your informative reactions. Keep em coming! - Kippy
And I'm pretty sure Prince was a metal fan, specially somewhere in the 90's, because he was doing Thrash Metal versions of Bambi, and also covers of heavier stuff, during his concerts. Also, did you notice that this man could sing from silky falsetto, to Axl Rose type of distorition, to full on screaming?
Yeah I overlooked the guitar in When Doves Cry for a while and only recently realized it has metal influences. Also, funny you mention that insane vocal range and Axl Rose, I found an article recently that ordered popular singers by vocal range. I think it was Axl Rose 1st, then Mariah Carey, then Prince in 3rd.
@@gabriels1869 Prince was doing metal sweep picking as early as 1985, check Purple Rain live at Syracuse, you'll definitely hear a guitar player that was not JUST into Hendrix and Santana.
This reminds me that Prince released some "radio shows" he put together for the members of his NPG Music Club. The VERY first one called "NPG Ahdio Show #1" released Feb 18 2001 starts off with a guitar metal intro which is credited as being "Gothic Metal" by Jacob Armen. So yeah, I think he listened to and appreciated all forms and styles of music.
Someone sang this at Woodstock, so before Prince’s time. It was from a very old slavery song from the South. He played every genre of music as he was a genius and acknowledge as that in the academic world. He is now taught at musical colleges I am from down under so am not sure what you call further education facilities. Ours are Universities. If you get a chance, listen to the first engineer he had that worked with him for nearly five years in the eighties and through Purple Rain. Her talk will bring you to understand the level of the skill and magic of his making music. Susan Rogers is her name.
Hi Margi! Yes I believe it was Richie Havens who performed the song at Woodstock. I will definitely check that out. Great post my friend! That is fantastic about Australia, I just learned what a vegimite is just the other day (because of the Men at Work song) :)
He was vegan, had a gym at Paisley. Loved all music , from Zeppelin to Joni Michelle, was not a huge fan of rap but tolerated it! By the way , before Prince, I was a huge, huge Guess Who fanatic!! Loved watching Randy, and loved Burton's voice and piano playing!! I went straight from The Guess Who to PRINCE!! IM 68 yr and still on Prince!🎵🎶🎵🎶💜💜💜🎸🎸🎸
Prince starting : "You know... There was never any reason to Argue... " For all you can not know, There is a story behind this performance and the complete performance IN this Spanish TV show. There is a reason for his mood here. Prince was at war with Warner, and this program was conducted and hosted by a Warner hired , a singer call Miguel Bose who thought of himself by the way, he was the best in word 😂. The tv show have planned a Prince performance 2 songs and an interview with Prince by Miguel Bose. Prince arrived at the site early to record the program and as always, asked to conduct a 10-minute soundcheck with his musicians. The answer was NO without any reason, surely because of the ego of the host of the show and the Warner war.... What did PRINCE do? After several refusals by the program denying him his logical sound check, he thought about leaving and not recording anything. But it made go so much better. Instead Prince went into his dressing room.... and after a while that the host had him angry for nothing ... The TV show realized that better change mind OR not tv show at all .... Prince was finally able to do his sound check. His reaction? Not give any interviews, not even meet the host of the show and instead give away a big long LIVE performance (35 min ) because of his immense respect for the audience that was there, and all the viewers who would be watching the show on television who were not at fault for anything. Motherless Child was NOT programmed. He just decided to play it. He was hurt by everything that had happened and didn't understand Why. This is why you are watching THIS jewel... Love your reaction and comments. Now you know the context and the real life behind all his performance in this show... And also you have the clue for his mood and his words in the beginnig... Prince was an absolute genius musician and better human being,That song is how he felt again, belittled and mistreated . Just Love this musical jewel, just Real him exposing and giving how he is feeling Through his gift of music.
The wonderful guitar in purple rain is known as the cloud guitar by knut koupee I believe then later on schecter took it on But a lovely looking guitar
@@YesYouCANPlayGuitar Hindsight is a wonderful thing,I don't there is a person on this planet hasn't done stuff they have regretted I had a steve vai 90th anniversary edition hard case and certificate of authenticity and sold it to help a friend out,The kicker is we are no longer friends Doh!!
Another crazy performance - the Superbowl 41 halftime show - 15 minutes of amazing guitar-work in the pouring rain with at least 3 different guitars; plus he played his music along with some Hendrix and some Foo Fighters too... just another day in the office lol.
Prince was concert fit. He just played all the time so no need to get in shape for a tour unlike other performers. When he calls out “Las Vegas” it’s an instruction to the band to play a certain Coda, Elvis style. “Confusion” was another call and also “Hit me in the back”
@@YesYouCANPlayGuitar They say Livsexy is Liberace on acid! You'll see that during the piano medley. First half of show is his darker music and then the 2nd half he finds the light by playing his positive loving God style.
Another great video. Fun fact about Prince's EMG configuration that he used on all guitars apart from the Telecaster (even the Strats), he used the EMG SA on the neck, as per usual, but then on the bridge he used the EMG 85, which is a neck humbucker, instead of the 81. It gives the tone more body, since the EMG 81 can sound a bit too thin and "Hair Metal" sounding.
Prince was clearly into the Jimi Hendrix Experience and Jimi's Band of Gypsies, also the funk-rock band Funkadelic, Santana, Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones, Sly and the Family Stone, Grand Funk Railroad and he was influenced by the psychedelic rock era of The Beatles.
Another great breakdown analysis - thank you!. Agree with John Petrou below - if you've not seen it, you HAVE to watch the full Lovesexy Live '88 concert. It's virtually a rite of passage for being a Prince fan as it showcases so much of what made him magic. I was lucky enough to attend 2 shows in '88 and they remain to this day the greatest concert experience by any artist I've experienced... by some way too.
This was never one of my favorite Prince performances, however it's special because Prince really did literally run from home as a kid, he had an abusive step father as well. There's no telling what else he experienced as a youth sadly. I really felt like he was venting here
@@YesYouCANPlayGuitar that's up for debate. Prince in interviews would always appease the topic or sort of brush it off. He was known to vent about it behind the scenes a lot, it might be hard not sure, but there are old, rare interviews of a young Prince somewhat talking about his troubled childhood. He has a song called Papa, some say that song is about his father & step father. That's a deep Prince track if you ever react to it. Only Deep Prince fans know that track.
Thank you for reacting to this, its one of my favourite performances from Prince, im late to the party looks like everyone has answered your questions. Such an emotional performance by him you can see he felt that. Would love to see you react to Purple Rain live in Milan epic 🔥☔🔥🎸
He has stated that he grew up listening to all kinds of music, rock, funk, soul, r and b, this is why he was so diverse in his creative process, he pulled from everywhere, and basically went by what he felt. Eg....take a slow jam, then rip a guitar solo in there. Check out " I Hate U" A love song, beautiful, passionate.
What did you think of Purple Rain.? He was 24 years old and had never acted but being sensitive and able to write such great songs, his presentation of emotion in the film was stirring. People think Under The Cherry Moon was a let down but I love the humour in it and the music of course was great.
His father. The amazing thing about Prince is that he played piano, bass, drums at a professional level The only artist to be on the cover of guitar, bass and drum magazine
In real life, his stepfather was the prick and the main reason Prince was on his own at age 12. His father was an amazing pianist and definitely an influence.
Motherless Child is a cover. I believe the other voice is Larry Graham he is playing Base and is mic'ed wirelessly. Kirk Johnson on Drums. The White Guitar in Purple Rain is called "The Cloud" guitar. This was recorded at the Paisley Park sound studio.
He listened to a lot of different music. I can’t name all the heavier bands he was into but for sure two of them are The Clash and Led Zeppelin. He performed Whole Lotta Love a lot. My favorite version he does of it is on the Live at the Aladdin dvd.
Motherless Child is spiritual dating back to the civil war. There's so much emotion in this performance that I can't help but feel it's personal to him on some level. Prince's mother remarried and he didn't like the new arrangement, went to live with his dad who kicked him out for messing around with a girl. I really appreciate your channel, have been binge watching it for a few days.
I really appreciate you LB, I love your posts and I learn from them! If and when this channel hits 1000 subs, the thing I'm most looking forward to is to do a proper LIVE broadcast (which you can't until you have 1k subs) I'd really like to talk to everyone then in real time about Purple Rain, I really hope if and when that happens you will be able to talk about it with us.........
The "Motherless Child" refrain is lifted from Richie Havens sort of "made up on the spot" performance of "Freedom" as the 1st performer at Woodstock. Richie sang "Sometimes, I feel like a motherless child". Pretty sure this is a tribute to Richie. As far as his heavier guitar playing he was a vocal admirer of Hendrix.
Prince step father kicked Prince out of the house when he was 12 years old after Prince got caught in bed with a girl. Prince said he called from a telephone booth and begged to come back home. Prince was told no. Prince said he cried for an hour in that telephone booth. Prince said that was the last time he ever cried. One of Prince band member parents took Prince in until Prince was old enough to move out on his own. With this song Prince gives so much passion.
According to one of Prince guitar tech, Prince would favourite maple body and neck guitar, and Alder guitars so from that info, that guitar would be extremely heavy
Thank you Dystar! This was an older video I made some time ago, things have come a long way since then. Watching my older videos is tough, the lighting, how I spoke etc uuuuggghhhh but I'm glad you enjoyed it :)
That's Larry Graham on bass (Sly and Family Stone)...and Kirk Johnson on drums...and me on the congas! -just kidding...it's my doppelganger tho, and I do play congas and djembe lol. I suspect most of Prince's guitars were custom made for him. Prince was his own sound and genre.
@@YesYouCANPlayGuitar I had plans to go to PP with a friend in 2016...and then plans changed. I don't think I wanna go anymore, knowing Prince won't be there. Ya, his stuff is cool..but it's just not the same. Will you be able to jam at PP? Now, that would be cool!!!!
Oh yes, nice pick.this is one of his fav tunes imo .mostly because of the gospel church blues rock vibe.larry on da bass is a Frieghtrain of a player,he can go hard for ages.may I recommend you watch prince doing whole lotta love live .he uses his cloud guitar.another mind-blowing performance using everytrick in the book on guitar .live at the Aladdin LA's Vegas 2002.💜💜💜
@@YesYouCANPlayGuitar Aw. It's a good one. He does that every now and then. Goes full on into another world and the guitar is just making guitar sounds. That's the raw experimental prince I like. He can just flip a tracks mood mid way live. Unreal almost. Peace b 💜
The bass player is Larry Graham from Sly and the Family Stone and the guitar is the shape of his name symbol from the 90's. This production (a tv show in Spain) - not Vegas - though he did a residency there in the early 2000's) was done not too long after he and his wife lost their baby and not long before they divorced. I always thought there was a lot of emotion in this performance because of that... Also, I've read that to work with Prince you had to not only be in good physical shape but you had to memorize 100's of songs from his catalog because the set list for each concert was just a suggestion 😂 I love the songs you're reacting to - off the beaten track - this is so much fun; I'm not a musician, but I'm learning so much here - thank you.
Thank you Rhonda! I have a question. Prince apparently had a mansion in Toronto, was that because he was married to someone from there? I would be so out of luck if I had a chance to work for him, I could get myself in shape, but remembering that many songs with my manbrain..... :(
@@YesYouCANPlayGuitar Yes he did have a house in Toronto. He married Torontonian Manuela Testolini (his previous marriage ended in 2000) in the early/mid 2000s and they lived in a house in The Bridle Path development in North York. They split their time during that period with rented houses in LA and he seemed to spend a lot of time there. Probably the majority. I am aware that he could be seen out and about in Toronto though and people had run-ins with him at nightclubs and such.
@@YesYouCANPlayGuitar It's funny listening to your journey with Prince, because it's a lot like mine... I knew who Prince was when I was younger, but I was more of a U2 fan at the time, then a few years back I got sick and have been kind of sidelined and accidentally re-discovered him. Every song, album, video, etc. just kept blowing my mind, so I started reading up on him. He was, indeed, married to a young woman from Canada (I can never remember her name I'm afraid) - that was his second marriage - I think they divorced some time around 2005 and he never remarried. Just a suggestion - there's a ton of books out there about him, but one ("This Thing Called Life") written by a writer working for Rollingstone, Neal Karlen (Carlen?) not a long read, but incredibly entertaining w/an interesting look at Prince behind the scenes.
Hi some of Prince’s fave guitarists included Jimi Hendrix Joni Mitchell Carlos Santana Sonny T Tony Maiden Mark Farner Amos Garrett Terry Kath Freddie Stone Tom Scholz Jimmy Nolan
Terry Kath, my favourite guitarist from the 70's.... such a tragedy. Tom Scholz I find interesting that Prince was into his playing, but how could he not have been Boston was a hugely popular band when Prince started playing guitar. Joni MItchell, sadly as a fellow Canadian, I don't know much of her stuff but I do know she is amazing and influenced a lot of people....
Funny you mentioned that.... one of his songs he did toward the end of his life ... I should of been born on the Woodstock stage and the other lyric was mentioning Richie Havens.
It may seem somewhat autobiographical, but this is actually a cover of an old Blues song by O. V. Wright. So some of it fits his story but it is not in fact about Prince's childhood. I saw him live many times and he seldom used more than 2 guitars in a show, usually just changed the solos upon to suit the guitar he had!
Oh, and if you want to hear him doing more Metal, check out Bambi from his second album. There are a lot of live versions available as he kept playing not throughout his career.
U mentioned Les Paul, check out Strollin’ a different Prince sound. Fior his physical performance one good one is 6/8/98 Sinbad Vibe. His piano is icing on the cake. One U C that U’ll understand why his body was broken.
@@peaceofiona9198 I agree with u about the studio version, but the story that Prince tells in this is awesome & powerful...I do like this version much better 😉😎💯
Hah YAS! Glad you checked this one out. One of my favor guitar performances of his and veeeery underseen. If you want to check out a guitar heavy performance from his creative apex, have a look at I Could Never Take The Place of Your Man from the Sign of the Times Concert Film. The entire thing is very worth watching (best concert film ever) but that particular song has some heroic guitar work.
I also use to think he shouted vegas but I don’t think that’s what he is saying. It’s something he would say at different shows at different venues. And usually to indicate the band to do hits accents at the end of a song.
@@thesolitaryadventurer that's right...and we also had "Ice Cream" and "Confusion"....I can't remember but there were probably more for live performances...
Everytime I watch this video, the opening bass reminds me of " One Of Us " , would you please react to the studio or album version of " One Of Us " I know that you would appreciate & enjoy it
Great analysis again ! Some suggestions for next reactions 1987 - Sign O' The Times/Play in the sunshine ua-cam.com/video/Lys8jL5d5Zw/v-deo.html 1993 - Peach ua-cam.com/video/rfyW05La-PQ/v-deo.html 1994 - Santana Medley ua-cam.com/video/ExV0ls_5wQo/v-deo.html 2002 - Whola Lotta Love ua-cam.com/video/sMVFYGYr76A/v-deo.html 2006 Acoustic Medley ua-cam.com/video/kbeAOJAps78/v-deo.html
Funny you mention him being into heavier music. One of his former assistants state that he was inti Trent Reznor and nine inch nails. So that might be it. On top of he didn’t have a good relationship with his mother
Tarick my man! It was some time ago I did this reaction, but I remember really liking the riff in it. Great performance as always from the man himself. :)
Have you seen the 84 Purple Rain concert version? I’m curious what you think and how Prince progressed as a guitarist- Here is the link ua-cam.com/video/bm03wqLY3Nc/v-deo.html
For another good funk guitarist react to "Maggot Brain" by Funkadelic. Eddie Hazel is the lead. You probably would use the album version because I don't know of any good videos off the top of my head
“Just like Ritchie…” referring to Ritchie Havens. Your reactions are as interesting as the performances. Prince didn’t listen to other artists too much. But all his covers blow away the originals. P.S. been into Prince from the very start (I’m now 73) and continue to follow the Vault releases.
The guitar is not as big as it looks there. Prince was just that small. I was one foot away from Prince at 3 different after shows where I was on the same level as him (sort of like this video), however small you think he is, he was smaller than that.
oh man you really chopped up that song- great great video finally some one reacting to it than you sliced it up= No this is Richie Havens song he sang in Woodstock look him up not a tooth in his mouth they have that performance on you tube = hear Prince say on stage " Just like a Richie" yeah Tom Morello plays pedal= Tom Morello is great= Prince his cook said he was very strict no meat etc an others had to follow no meat in house etc - he fined his own wife when he saw snacks that might cause wt gain i read her book but she said she just shrugged her shoulders an went on accepting " hey its Prince" his 1st wife Mayte
@@YesYouCANPlayGuitar TY im so glad you did not take offense to what i wrote-yeah check out some Tom Morello maybe Rage against the Machine and watch him go-ive seen interviews with him an he did 4 yrs Harvard an he says he walked around campus with his yellow fin guitar around his neck an would play in stairwell and day he graduated he took off for LA he went to Harvard via scholarship he is brilliant
@@lindaaugone382 Hi Linda! No not at all, everyone has a right to their opinion and really UA-cam is all in good fun. Quick funny story for you, a few years ago I had a channel (I took a couple years away from the music industry and I had an unrelated channel that actually did ok, until the crazy changes in 2018) and at the first when I started the channel there was a (co-host) on the channel with me. When the nasty comments started coming in, I laughed my ass off at them, but he took such offense to them it was hilarious and he dropped off the channel soon after. It was pretty hilarious! What is your favourite RATM performance you would like me to react to?
Hey Shirley! I can't argue with that. My mother always told me I was a talker. On the flip side, it is a reaction video, and for some reason or another, some people like my thoughts on the video as it goes which is usually how reaction videos are done. I usually post the original video link in the description box for people who want to watch the performance and not a reaction video though. :)
When Prince says " Las Vegas" it's a signal to his band for a big ending. Notice he is directing his band all throughout the performance. He motions for them to stop playing at certain parts and for the other singer to stop singing. He was known for changing things throughout a performance according to his bandmembers. He directs EVERYTHING. Great review per usual. Also, the shape of his guitar is in the shape of his symbol which he went by for a number of years. It's considered Prince's Love Symbol. Prince listened to all genres of music and could play all.
He definitely was into heavier music too :)
He not only directs the band, he actually directs the audience. He made sure they chanted "play" loudly. I've never seen anything like it.
@@YesYouCANPlayGuitar Not super heavy but he covers "Creep" at Coachella where he kills that performance too. Check it out if you haven't already. I'm just now taking a tour of your clips.
RE: The physicality, there is a great interview with Jimmy Jam on UA-cam where he talks about a rehearsal. Prince noticed he was only playing the keyboard with one had so he should be using his other hand to mirror the bass... and he should be singing... and doing the choreography.
Also, a "Vegas chord" is a complex chord, with 9ths, 11ths and god knows what else. It makes the chord sound bigger.
This is from a Spanish TV show in 1999 - he performed a 45 minute set.
The introductory comments are indeed autobiographical. He didn't get on with his step-father and bounced around homes - his father's, his aunt's, and a family friend ended up adopting him as he was best friends with her son, Andre Cymone (early bass player for Prince and later a solo artist in the 80s).
The song is famous to me from Woodstock. It is an old negro spiritual song but Richie Havens did a version there that brought it into popular culture. And you can hear Prince very deftly say "just like Richie". He prompted his audience to query these things. Do their research and broaden their tastes through investigation. I lost count of how many artists he opened me up to - and they're varied as hell!
The Guitar shape is the O{+> symbol he changed his name to in the mid-90s to disrupt his contract with Warner Bros. And you know he had a luthier making these things special for him. The white (and later yellow/blue) Cloud guitar from Purple Rain, the leopard print Hohner tele, the symbol guitars - all hand made so he could bash them up and have more in reserve.
This band here is kind of the Paisley Park Houseband - his longtime assistant Kirk Johnson on drums, the legendary Larry Graham of Sly & Family Stone on bass, Mike Scott on rhythm, percussion escapes my memory at the moment, and the vocals are Kip Blackshire. Many of these guys were around Paisley for a solid decade or more and would be a defacto band in between major tours, playing one-offs or smaller national tours.
P's funk guitar is up there with Nile Rodgers... If only Nile could play lead, we might have someone comparable.
I agree with you about his ear. I think he listened to everything. And probably had a go at it in practice jams and rehearsals.
These guys were fit with the funk. I think the lifestyle and the practice regimen of 8-12 hours daily gets you ship-shape in no time. And don't forget these guys have history - Larry had Sly and his own band Graham Central Station. Mike Scott has played with everyone - just a few years ago, even at his advanced age, he played on Justin Timberlake's World tour.
But we know how Prince died and his last couple of years do look like the toll of all the athleticism from the 80s and 90s had finally gotten to his body. Hip problems plagued him for 20 years and he performed like there weren't any...
You're seeing now that a Prince performance hits a lot of targets. It is about the guitar work but that's just one aspect. The vocals, the choreography, the audience interaction, the pizzazz.
"Vegas" was a call-out to the band to give an over the top vamp as if it was a Vegas ending.
If you are intrigued by that heavy riff, Bambi from The Undertaker session. Probably the most straightforward heavy guitar he has played that we know of.
We've yet to hit the late 80s when Prince was at peak powers of performance and live popularity. When we do, you will see that every band was forced to give 100% all the time. He rehearsed them so they had no spare capacity and that what they were doing should look effortless.
Excellent performance as it is almost hypnotic and the way he builds the atmosphere up is masterful.
Amazing post as always. Bambi is on the short list for my next video shoot. The battle he had with the record label is very interesting, can you recommend any documentaries on it? I have watched how Prince changed the recording industry...
@@YesYouCANPlayGuitar That's the best one really. Everything else either concentrates on Purple Rain era and gives everything 1990 onwards a gloss over or eliminates it completely.
I like the "Slave Trade" documentary as it really sits in that mid-90s era and shows how he played them at a game where he lost short-term but then changed the game so they lost long-term.
@@YesYouCANPlayGuitar he really spoke almost exclusively through his music. The Emancipation album has a few cuts like Face Down and Slave on it regarding the subject. Then you’d have to add that with various soundbites from him and others, plus a few other songs to get a really full picture. Interesting to look at the credits on his albums (like Emancipation) during his symbol period - many (like produced, arranged) are to Prince. He only “performed”under the symbol moniker during that time period.
The Bass player is Larry Graham from Sly & the Family Stone who was considered the first bassist to bring thumping and slapping into mainstream music at the time.
Erm yeah we know dude
He really was an incredible artist. Seeing him often was always magical. Motherless child is a song written in late 1870s. Clapton covered it. I got to hold several of his guitars at Paisley Park, they are much lighter than I ever imagined.
Prince the best artist ever 💜
He was amazing, I keep seeing that more and more with every reaction video of him that I do ....
YES!💯🎯👍🏾
Motherless Child is actually an old blues song covered by a wide range of artists from different genres. He definitely made it his own here.
I did not know that! :)
Not a blues song, but a spiritual song.
@@YesYouCANPlayGuitarMost famously, it was performed by the black folk singer Richie Havens to kick off the Woodstock concert, and the movie that followed. So when Prince in the last verse says "Sometimes ... just like Richie", he's paying tribute to Richie Havens.
Coincidentally, his bass player for this tour - Larry Graham - played at Woodstock when he was still in Sly and the Family Stone.
The last couple videos have been particularly entertaining. Lots of great observations about Prince's physicality and time management. For many fans I think the allure of Prince was that he gave all of himself to his music. It isn't something one immediately spots watching a video on MTV but rather over time.
Even many years later like this guy :D He is awesome for sure!
Prince played a few Led Zeppelin covers during his concerts/after shows too. He also did The Clash and Rolling Stones. He loved a wide genre of music.
Not sure what Clash song he covered, but I’ve heard his covers of Honky Tonk Woman, Miss You and Whole Lotta Love.
@@ronnix23 3rdeyegirl played Train in Vain a couple of times during their stint. One acoustic in a show I'd love to here from the Guardian building in 2014.
Love ur comment about training for a year to be in his band. Your perspective into Prince is cool to watch. Rock on!!
Thank you so much my brother!
Bass player in this video is the mighty Larry Graham from Graham Central Station,Inventor of slap bass The mighty Prince Just loves his craft and spreading the love and joy to all Just like u do my brother 🙌
We always knew he was great …. you’re showing us why
Exactly!!
You guys are too kind :)
Prince and his band mixed with Members from Sly and the family Stone
Band Prince (l (vox, guitar), Kirk Johnson (drums), Larry Graham (bass, vox), Morris Hayes (keyboards), Kip Blackshire (keyboards, vox), Mike Scott (guitar), Michael Nelson (trombone), Dave Jensen (trumpet), Kathy J. (baritone saxophone) (The horn section is collectively known as 'The Hornheadz'
This was aSpanish tv show called Septimo
Motherless Child if I remember correctly is an old song from the 1800’s about the slave trade this was Prince’s take on it
Amazing band for sure!
Check out the video of the live performance of America. It’s from 1985 in Germany. He does what he does on guitar, and drums at the end of the performance. You can see how he has control of the band in that video, so you’ll understand his cadence better and he calls out Ls Vegas. He was rolling deep with The Revolution back then.
That is an amazing performance.
Just trying to find it, I did a reaction to the main America 85 video and it was blocked...
I Lovvvvvve that performance! It's one of my all times!
I'm no musician, I only played trumpet in school from 4th grade until sophomore year of high school. I've learned so much by watching his performances and listening to his music. He calls out "Las Vegas" as a call to.......I don't know how to phrase it or what its actually called but a call out to hey we're about to finish it up, like a hit me one time. That was a TV appearance over in the U.K back in 1999 to promote Rave un2 the Joy Fantastic album. The cloud guitar was actually modeled after a bass guitar that he saw in California back in 1977 when he was putting together his debut album titled For You. He bought it for his friend and then bandmate Andre Cymone. If you want to check out his Jazz-Fusion type music check out the album N.E.W.S it's only 4 tracks and it's him obviously on guitar, Rhonda Smith on bass, Renato Neto on keys, your favorite on drum John Blackwell, and Mr. Eric Leads on sax's and flute. Each song is about 14 minutes long. Awesome instrumental album.
Looking for it as I type this! :)
That album will give you a sound similar to the fusion band Weather Report. IMO.
He Injured his Back, Taking Meds, THAT BEGAN IT ALL!!! THOSE PAIN PILLS ,WE LOST THE GREAT ONE PURPLE MAJESTY'S!!!!
The drummer s name is Kirk Johnson, normally a dancer in his live shows and bodyguard too. The name s TV shows "Séptimo" 1998 year... I remember saw his concert in Barcelona on December 1998, the 22 I think. Normally after his concerts he plays aftershows the same night, we try to go t o see him and the band but not chance this night haha.
I recommend to you the purple rain version of Syracuse, New York while the Purple Rain tour 1985.. 20 min versión with 13 min of guitar solo. For me the best purple rain version.
Another great purple rain version 1990, Nude tour in Spain, la Coruña... Amazing show the same night while Madonna plays in Vigo, at 100 kms.
Abrazos from Tarragona, Spain.
Great suggestions! So Prince got a good deal with that guy, he could play 3 roles while working for him! lol
@@YesYouCANPlayGuitar Yesss hahaha.. I don t know the guy can play drums, I suppose this is a condition for work with him!
I picked that guitar up when I went to paisley park in 2000. It’s very small even with strat scale length it’s really light. He makes it look big because his tiny. Same with the cloud guitar. He walked past me as he went on the small stage. My immediate thought was just how incredibly tiny he was. 5ft 2 keeps being put out there but if he was then that’s got to be including heals. Makes his guitar playing even more impressive given he must have had small hands. Legend.
I would love to go to Paisley Park someday.....
The band members from what I can see and remember are Drums- Kurt Johnson, Larry Graham- Bass, Guitar- Mike Scott (very underrated IMO) Keyboards and background -Kip Blackshire, Horns- NPG horn section better known as the Horn Headz. They have a couple of albums.
Mike Scott is amazing
I want to check out more of his playing
And for your own personal viewing and listening pleasure check out the DVD’s of these live concerts Rave un2 The Year 2000. That was shot at Paisley Park on I think December 1999. The other is Prince Live At The Aladdin Las Vegas. You get a killer 3 piece horn section from Greg Boyer on Trombone, Mr. Eric Leads in Tenor sax and the legend Maceo Parker on Alto. John Blackwell on drums, Rhonda Smith on Bass, Renato Neto on keys 🎹.
I will do that for sure! :)
Been watching your reviews of these amazing Prince performances, and I'm loving your comments and learning from you along the way. Like some others have said here, a lot of this performance is actually really spontaneous with Prince taking cues from the feedback he's getting from the audience and incorporating those into his performance at the same time he's giving cues to his band. Toward the end, after the audience starts a "Hey!" chant, he pauses what he was gonna do, encourages them to go louder as he dances and has the band vibe with it for awhile, and then when he starts to sing, he waves a hand to cut off Morris or Kip from singing backup, and then immediately tells Mike Scott to bringing in the rhythm guitar. His shout out "Vegas" is a cue to the band to end the song with a Vegas-style flamboyant chord crescendo or whatever ya wanna call it. I really love this performance for the way he feeds off the energy of the crowd and gives it right back to them, deservedly so. He really loved performing "with" his fans. I've been to some of his soundchecks and after-shows of which he did many, and he clearly loved his fans and "jamming" live for and with them. Thanks again for your informative reactions. Keep em coming! - Kippy
Great post Kippy! Loved it! I will absolutely keep more coming! :)
And I'm pretty sure Prince was a metal fan, specially somewhere in the 90's, because he was doing Thrash Metal versions of Bambi, and also covers of heavier stuff, during his concerts. Also, did you notice that this man could sing from silky falsetto, to Axl Rose type of distorition, to full on screaming?
Yeah I overlooked the guitar in When Doves Cry for a while and only recently realized it has metal influences. Also, funny you mention that insane vocal range and Axl Rose, I found an article recently that ordered popular singers by vocal range. I think it was Axl Rose 1st, then Mariah Carey, then Prince in 3rd.
@@gabriels1869 Prince was doing metal sweep picking as early as 1985, check Purple Rain live at Syracuse, you'll definitely hear a guitar player that was not JUST into Hendrix and Santana.
This reminds me that Prince released some "radio shows" he put together for the members of his NPG Music Club. The VERY first one called "NPG Ahdio Show #1" released Feb 18 2001 starts off with a guitar metal intro which is credited as being "Gothic Metal" by Jacob Armen. So yeah, I think he listened to and appreciated all forms and styles of music.
I haven't seen him do sweep picking yet but I'm looking forward to seeing it (it's one of my specialties)
Yes, when he went into that riff it surprised me, I was like: "There it is, there's the curve ball!" lol
Someone sang this at Woodstock, so before Prince’s time. It was from a very old slavery song from the South. He played every genre of music as he was a genius and acknowledge as that in the academic world. He is now taught at musical colleges I am from down under so am not sure what you call further education facilities. Ours are Universities. If you get a chance, listen to the first engineer he had that worked with him for nearly five years in the eighties and through Purple Rain. Her talk will bring you to understand the level of the skill and magic of his making music. Susan Rogers is her name.
Hi Margi! Yes I believe it was Richie Havens who performed the song at Woodstock. I will definitely check that out. Great post my friend! That is fantastic about Australia, I just learned what a vegimite is just the other day (because of the Men at Work song) :)
He was vegan, had a gym at Paisley. Loved all music , from Zeppelin to Joni Michelle, was not a huge fan of rap but tolerated it! By the way , before Prince, I was a huge, huge Guess Who fanatic!! Loved watching Randy, and loved Burton's voice and piano playing!! I went straight from The Guess Who to PRINCE!! IM 68 yr and still on Prince!🎵🎶🎵🎶💜💜💜🎸🎸🎸
He sure was a fascinating human that's for sure Deb!
Prince starting : "You know... There was never any reason to Argue... " For all you can not know, There is a story behind this performance and the complete performance IN this Spanish TV show. There is a reason for his mood here. Prince was at war with Warner, and this program was conducted and hosted by a Warner hired , a singer call Miguel Bose who thought of himself by the way, he was the best in word 😂. The tv show have planned a Prince performance 2 songs and an interview with Prince by Miguel Bose. Prince arrived at the site early to record the program and as always, asked to conduct a 10-minute soundcheck with his musicians. The answer was NO without any reason, surely because of the ego of the host of the show and the Warner war.... What did PRINCE do? After several refusals by the program denying him his logical sound check, he thought about leaving and not recording anything. But it made go so much better. Instead Prince went into his dressing room.... and after a while that the host had him angry for nothing ... The TV show realized that better change mind OR not tv show at all .... Prince was finally able to do his sound check. His reaction? Not give any interviews, not even meet the host of the show and instead give away a big long LIVE performance (35 min ) because of his immense respect for the audience that was there, and all the viewers who would be watching the show on television who were not at fault for anything. Motherless Child was NOT programmed. He just decided to play it. He was hurt by everything that had happened and didn't understand Why. This is why you are watching THIS jewel... Love your reaction and comments. Now you know the context and the real life behind all his performance in this show... And also you have the clue for his mood and his words in the beginnig... Prince was an absolute genius musician and better human being,That song is how he felt again, belittled and mistreated . Just Love this musical jewel, just Real him exposing and giving how he is feeling Through his gift of music.
It;s a cover. It's a slave spiritual and was covered by Richie Havens at Woodstock.
I knew I heard it before!
Freedoom!!❤❤
The wonderful guitar in purple rain is known as the cloud guitar by knut koupee I believe then later on schecter took it on But a lovely looking guitar
I had 2 awesome schecter guitars that I sold to a student... and won't sell them back to me lol
@@YesYouCANPlayGuitar
Hindsight is a wonderful thing,I don't there is a person on this planet hasn't done stuff they have regretted I had a steve vai 90th anniversary edition hard case and certificate of authenticity and sold it to help a friend out,The kicker is we are no longer friends
Doh!!
Thank you for this. It has been my favorite of his performances that was released after he died.
Thank you :)
Another crazy performance - the Superbowl 41 halftime show - 15 minutes of amazing guitar-work in the pouring rain with at least 3 different guitars; plus he played his music along with some Hendrix and some Foo Fighters too... just another day in the office lol.
Saved and noted for the next video shoot :)
@@YesYouCANPlayGuitar Lol - you are great - thanks!
Not sure about hockey but he loved basketball and table tennis
Prince was concert fit. He just played all the time so no need to get in shape for a tour unlike other performers.
When he calls out “Las Vegas” it’s an instruction to the band to play a certain Coda, Elvis style. “Confusion” was another call and also “Hit me in the back”
Interesting.... :)
@@YesYouCANPlayGuitar "Vegas" was also the cue for when he wanted a big flashy ending. In this case, he wanted it more than once. 🙂
If u wanna be blown away, watch “LOVESEXY live. The whole show
It’s freakin unbelievable
I will do that for sure! :)
@@YesYouCANPlayGuitar They say Livsexy is Liberace on acid! You'll see that during the piano medley. First half of show is his darker music and then the 2nd half he finds the light by playing his positive loving God style.
His background singer is Kip Brockshire if I'm not mistaken. And the white cloud guitar was specially made for Prince by Dave Rusan for Purple Rain
He had an amazing voice as well. :)
Another great video. Fun fact about Prince's EMG configuration that he used on all guitars apart from the Telecaster (even the Strats), he used the EMG SA on the neck, as per usual, but then on the bridge he used the EMG 85, which is a neck humbucker, instead of the 81. It gives the tone more body, since the EMG 81 can sound a bit too thin and "Hair Metal" sounding.
I have an EMG 85 still sitting in the box brand new, never used..... not sure if I should sell it or not...
Prince was clearly into the Jimi Hendrix Experience and Jimi's Band of Gypsies, also the funk-rock band Funkadelic, Santana, Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones, Sly and the Family Stone, Grand Funk Railroad and he was influenced by the psychedelic rock era of The Beatles.
I'm thinking his list of influences is huge....
Another great breakdown analysis - thank you!. Agree with John Petrou below - if you've not seen it, you HAVE to watch the full Lovesexy Live '88 concert. It's virtually a rite of passage for being a Prince fan as it showcases so much of what made him magic. I was lucky enough to attend 2 shows in '88 and they remain to this day the greatest concert experience by any artist I've experienced... by some way too.
Great suggestion! I think that is awesome you got to see him live!
This was never one of my favorite Prince performances, however it's special because Prince really did literally run from home as a kid, he had an abusive step father as well. There's no telling what else he experienced as a youth sadly. I really felt like he was venting here
I think so too.... so who is the abusive father figure in Purple Rain based on, his father or his step father?
@@YesYouCANPlayGuitar that's up for debate. Prince in interviews would always appease the topic or sort of brush it off. He was known to vent about it behind the scenes a lot, it might be hard not sure, but there are old, rare interviews of a young Prince somewhat talking about his troubled childhood. He has a song called Papa, some say that song is about his father & step father. That's a deep Prince track if you ever react to it. Only Deep Prince fans know that track.
c'est magnifique super style la grâce bravo Prince💜🧡💙💛💙🧡💜
Absolument!
Thank you for reacting to this, its one of my favourite performances from Prince, im late to the party looks like everyone has answered your questions. Such an emotional performance by him you can see he felt that. Would love to see you react to Purple Rain live in Milan epic 🔥☔🔥🎸
I sure will :)
Prince played classical and of course all his popular music.
You should do prince's cover of a whole lotta of love.
I did recently but sadly it was blocked on UA-cam, it will be part of the content on my Patreon when it is up and running in a few weeks....
He has stated that he grew up listening to all kinds of music, rock, funk, soul, r and b, this is why he was so diverse in his creative process, he pulled from everywhere, and basically went by what he felt. Eg....take a slow jam, then rip a guitar solo in there. Check out " I Hate U" A love song, beautiful, passionate.
Prince - Take Me With U (Live 1985) [Official Video] AWESOME SOLO
Saved and noted, I'll do a reaction to this one for sure. :)
Look out for a Prince track called Bambi, it's abourt as close as Prince got to metal
Yessir, going to be doing a reaction to that video soon...
@@YesYouCANPlayGuitar The version from the Tokyo Dome has probably the heaviest arrangment
What did you think of Purple Rain.? He was 24 years old and had never acted but being sensitive and able to write such great songs, his presentation of emotion in the film was stirring. People think Under The Cherry Moon was a let down but I love the humour in it and the music of course was great.
First time watching it about a year ago I didn't get it, but as people educated me more and more on here, the second time through was much better :)
In the beginning of the song he references his mother and that he was kicked out at 12 years old
Who was the father figure that was such a prick in Purple Rain, his father or stepfather?
His father. The amazing thing about Prince is that he played piano, bass, drums at a professional level
The only artist to be on the cover of guitar, bass and drum magazine
In real life, his stepfather was the prick and the main reason Prince was on his own at age 12. His father was an amazing pianist and definitely an influence.
True Genius right up there with the likes of Mozart
Prince is appolo God of music
Motherless Child is a cover. I believe the other voice is Larry Graham he is playing Base and is mic'ed wirelessly. Kirk Johnson on Drums. The White Guitar in Purple Rain is called "The Cloud" guitar. This was recorded at the Paisley Park sound studio.
This is one killer song! The white guitar from, Purple Rain is called the cloud guitar.
He listened to a lot of different music. I can’t name all the heavier bands he was into but for sure two of them are The Clash and Led Zeppelin. He performed Whole Lotta Love a lot. My favorite version he does of it is on the Live at the Aladdin dvd.
I always heard that Grand Funk Railroad were also an early influence..
I would think so as they were really popular around when Prince first started playing guitar...
Motherless Child is spiritual dating back to the civil war. There's so much emotion in this performance that I can't help but feel it's personal to him on some level. Prince's mother remarried and he didn't like the new arrangement, went to live with his dad who kicked him out for messing around with a girl. I really appreciate your channel, have been binge watching it for a few days.
I really appreciate you LB, I love your posts and I learn from them! If and when this channel hits 1000 subs, the thing I'm most looking forward to is to do a proper LIVE broadcast (which you can't until you have 1k subs) I'd really like to talk to everyone then in real time about Purple Rain, I really hope if and when that happens you will be able to talk about it with us.........
The "Motherless Child" refrain is lifted from Richie Havens sort of "made up on the spot" performance of "Freedom" as the 1st performer at Woodstock. Richie sang "Sometimes, I feel like a motherless child". Pretty sure this is a tribute to Richie. As far as his heavier guitar playing he was a vocal admirer of Hendrix.
Brilliant
Prince step father kicked Prince out of the house when he was 12 years old after Prince got caught in bed with a girl. Prince said he called from a telephone booth and begged to come back home. Prince was told no. Prince said he cried for an hour in that telephone booth. Prince said that was the last time he ever cried.
One of Prince band member parents took Prince in until Prince was old enough to move out on his own. With this song Prince gives so much passion.
This is a very sad story, I think this is part of what drove him to be so successful.... Who treated him worse, his father or his step father?
According to one of Prince guitar tech, Prince would favourite maple body and neck guitar, and Alder guitars so from that info, that guitar would be extremely heavy
Yessir but the tone would be sooooo awesome.... :)
Great reaction 💥
Thank you Dystar! This was an older video I made some time ago, things have come a long way since then. Watching my older videos is tough, the lighting, how I spoke etc uuuuggghhhh but I'm glad you enjoyed it :)
That's Larry Graham on bass (Sly and Family Stone)...and Kirk Johnson on drums...and me on the congas! -just kidding...it's my doppelganger tho, and I do play congas and djembe lol.
I suspect most of Prince's guitars were custom made for him. Prince was his own sound and genre.
Maybe we could jam when I go to Paisley Park if you will be there around then? I'm hoping next spring....
@@YesYouCANPlayGuitar I had plans to go to PP with a friend in 2016...and then plans changed. I don't think I wanna go anymore, knowing Prince won't be there. Ya, his stuff is cool..but it's just not the same.
Will you be able to jam at PP? Now, that would be cool!!!!
Oh yes, nice pick.this is one of his fav tunes imo .mostly because of the gospel church blues rock vibe.larry on da bass is a Frieghtrain of a player,he can go hard for ages.may I recommend you watch prince doing whole lotta love live .he uses his cloud guitar.another mind-blowing performance using everytrick in the book on guitar .live at the Aladdin LA's Vegas 2002.💜💜💜
Sadly I did a reaction to Whole Lotta Love but it was blocked, it will be on my Patreon account when it is up and running in a few weeks...
@@YesYouCANPlayGuitar Aw. It's a good one. He does that every now and then. Goes full on into another world and the guitar is just making guitar sounds. That's the raw experimental prince I like. He can just flip a tracks mood mid way live. Unreal almost. Peace b 💜
At about 7:24 he seemed to like the audience's participation. I noticed he tended to say "ha" when he approved.
I have to go back and check that out, it's been awhile lol
Like to see your comments about the song bambi live from Tokyo.
I do believe I did do that one, if it isn't on UA-cam it's on Patreon :)
Bass player is the great Larry Graham
The bass player is Larry Graham from Sly and the Family Stone and the guitar is the shape of his name symbol from the 90's.
This production (a tv show in Spain) - not Vegas - though he did a residency there in the early 2000's) was done not too long after he and his wife lost their baby and not long before they divorced. I always thought there was a lot of emotion in this performance because of that...
Also, I've read that to work with Prince you had to not only be in good physical shape but you had to memorize 100's of songs from his catalog because the set list for each concert was just a suggestion 😂
I love the songs you're reacting to - off the beaten track - this is so much fun; I'm not a musician, but I'm learning so much here - thank you.
Thank you Rhonda! I have a question. Prince apparently had a mansion in Toronto, was that because he was married to someone from there? I would be so out of luck if I had a chance to work for him, I could get myself in shape, but remembering that many songs with my manbrain..... :(
@@YesYouCANPlayGuitar Yes he did have a house in Toronto. He married Torontonian Manuela Testolini (his previous marriage ended in 2000) in the early/mid 2000s and they lived in a house in The Bridle Path development in North York.
They split their time during that period with rented houses in LA and he seemed to spend a lot of time there. Probably the majority.
I am aware that he could be seen out and about in Toronto though and people had run-ins with him at nightclubs and such.
@@YesYouCANPlayGuitar It's funny listening to your journey with Prince, because it's a lot like mine... I knew who Prince was when I was younger, but I was more of a U2 fan at the time, then a few years back I got sick and have been kind of sidelined and accidentally re-discovered him. Every song, album, video, etc. just kept blowing my mind, so I started reading up on him.
He was, indeed, married to a young woman from Canada (I can never remember her name I'm afraid) - that was his second marriage - I think they divorced some time around 2005 and he never remarried.
Just a suggestion - there's a ton of books out there about him, but one ("This Thing Called Life") written by a writer working for Rollingstone, Neal Karlen (Carlen?) not a long read, but incredibly entertaining w/an interesting look at Prince behind the scenes.
you would have to train for 2 years ! to be in It's Going To Be A Beautiful Night !!! by Prince
Honestly at my age now, to be safe I would have to say 3 years....
Chills!
Hi some of Prince’s fave guitarists included Jimi Hendrix
Joni Mitchell
Carlos Santana
Sonny T
Tony Maiden
Mark Farner
Amos Garrett
Terry Kath
Freddie Stone
Tom Scholz
Jimmy Nolan
Terry Kath, my favourite guitarist from the 70's.... such a tragedy. Tom Scholz I find interesting that Prince was into his playing, but how could he not have been Boston was a hugely popular band when Prince started playing guitar. Joni MItchell, sadly as a fellow Canadian, I don't know much of her stuff but I do know she is amazing and influenced a lot of people....
Motherless Child- Richie Havens at woodstock
Soon :)
Funny you mentioned that.... one of his songs he did toward the end of his life ... I should of been born on the Woodstock stage and the other lyric was mentioning Richie Havens.
It may seem somewhat autobiographical, but this is actually a cover of an old Blues song by O. V. Wright. So some of it fits his story but it is not in fact about Prince's childhood. I saw him live many times and he seldom used more than 2 guitars in a show, usually just changed the solos upon to suit the guitar he had!
Oh, and if you want to hear him doing more Metal, check out Bambi from his second album. There are a lot of live versions available as he kept playing not throughout his career.
Bambi has been mentioned often, I'm looking forward to checking it out next video shoot :)
Motherless Child is a black spiritual dating back to slavery but Prince is paying homage to Richie Havens and his performance at Woodstock
Nice to hear you bring up Randy Bachman.
He is a guitar legend for sure, especially here in Canada.... he was always good at Takin' Care of Business :)
U mentioned Les Paul, check out Strollin’ a different Prince sound. Fior his physical performance one good one is 6/8/98 Sinbad Vibe. His piano is icing on the cake. One U C that U’ll understand why his body was broken.
I will Carol and I also watched that documentary you mentioned :)
Those were Shecter guitars with emg 86 at the bridge and single coil at the neck.
I had two awesome Schecter guitars years ago that I regretfully sold to a student of mine who won't sell them back lol...
Larry Graham is there as a guest in the band.
Love the band here!
Larry Graham on Guitar!!!!
Like many of Prince's other songs, this song didn't get the credit that it deserves
I agree! :)
@Miss McQueen yes, I know it wasn't his song, but what he turned it into, my goodness 🎶🎼🎵
@@gregwilliams9737 studio version didn't do much for me but this performance is out of this world
@@peaceofiona9198 I agree with u about the studio version, but the story that Prince tells in this is awesome & powerful...I do like this version much better 😉😎💯
@@gregwilliams9737 Of course you're right. He was one of a kind
Hah YAS! Glad you checked this one out. One of my favor guitar performances of his and veeeery underseen. If you want to check out a guitar heavy performance from his creative apex, have a look at I Could Never Take The Place of Your Man from the Sign of the Times Concert Film. The entire thing is very worth watching (best concert film ever) but that particular song has some heroic guitar work.
Hey Mike! There are a few out there, which performance should I react to in particular?
@@YesYouCANPlayGuitar this one should be the full performance ua-cam.com/video/G-n2GDOGF94/v-deo.html
PLEASE REACT TO THIS LIVE VERSION OF PURPLE RAIN LIVE Prince & The Revolution - Purple Rain (Live 1985) [Official Video] SO DOPE
Noted and saved! Will do :)
Drummer is Kirk Johnson.
He is amazing! :)
I also use to think he shouted vegas but I don’t think that’s what he is saying. It’s something he would say at different shows at different venues. And usually to indicate the band to do hits accents at the end of a song.
It is Vegas - just a cue to give an over the top showy vamp of an ending based around a chord.
@@thesolitaryadventurer that's right...and we also had "Ice Cream" and "Confusion"....I can't remember but there were probably more for live performances...
I think you are right, it looked like it....
"Hit me in the back!" for bridge or ending if a song.
Paco de Lucia - Guajiras de Lucia, George Benson - El Mar (from the White Rabbit lp), Gabor Szabo - Mizrab ( from the Sorcerer lp)
That's some great guitar playing! Friday Night in San Francisco is one of my all time favourites! I will do that in the future for sure. :)
That other voice is Kip Blackshire. And how are you not in awe of the Camille guitar tone?
I thought it was pretty good, I did this video some time ago, my reaction videos have come such a long way since then :)
👍 👌
By the way the bassist is Larry Graham
Like I said it's Prince
:)
@@YesYouCANPlayGuitar Yes I do!
Lovin' your channel!!
Everytime I watch this video, the opening bass reminds me of " One Of Us " , would you please react to the studio or album version of " One Of Us " I know that you would appreciate & enjoy it
Greg I absolutely will do that, saved and noted :)
@@YesYouCANPlayGuitar thank you my friend 💯👍😉
THs is in SPAIN Pal
Great analysis again !
Some suggestions for next reactions
1987 - Sign O' The Times/Play in the sunshine
ua-cam.com/video/Lys8jL5d5Zw/v-deo.html
1993 - Peach
ua-cam.com/video/rfyW05La-PQ/v-deo.html
1994 - Santana Medley
ua-cam.com/video/ExV0ls_5wQo/v-deo.html
2002 - Whola Lotta Love
ua-cam.com/video/sMVFYGYr76A/v-deo.html
2006 Acoustic Medley
ua-cam.com/video/kbeAOJAps78/v-deo.html
100% agree with any and all of these!
Saved and noted for a future video shoot :)
That guitar is heavy, and a little awkward, but it is cool!! I like that it didn't have fret spots on it. I owned the gold one he had. O(+>
:O Richard please tell me more!
Funny you mention him being into heavier music. One of his former assistants state that he was inti Trent Reznor and nine inch nails. So that might be it. On top of he didn’t have a good relationship with his mother
Tarick my man! It was some time ago I did this reaction, but I remember really liking the riff in it. Great performance as always from the man himself. :)
@@YesYouCANPlayGuitar yup yup! 🤝🏾🔥
Could you do Prince & the NPG The ride at the glam slam Miami 1994? Ignore if you already have.
For sure!
Heavy Guitar!!!
Have you seen the 84 Purple Rain concert version? I’m curious what you think and how Prince progressed as a guitarist-
Here is the link ua-cam.com/video/bm03wqLY3Nc/v-deo.html
I will check it out for sure Bob!
"kinda complex "
Umm it's prince ....naturally
:D
For another good funk guitarist react to "Maggot Brain" by Funkadelic. Eddie Hazel is the lead. You probably would use the album version because I don't know of any good videos off the top of my head
This performance video? ua-cam.com/video/KXq4GlHgROQ/v-deo.html
Mike Scott, the other guitarist is nasty AF...
He is
I'd like to check out more of his playing...
“Just like Ritchie…” referring to Ritchie Havens. Your reactions are as interesting as the performances. Prince didn’t listen to other artists too much. But all his covers blow away the originals. P.S. been into Prince from the very start (I’m now 73) and continue to follow the Vault releases.
I loved reading this post! :) Thank you for taking the time and the kind words, it really means a lot. :)
I Meant Bass!
He covered Whole Lotta Love, kinda meh IMO. Santana was his guitar hero. He worked Jungle Strut into a live performance for an award show.
I think that would be interesting to check out!
The guitar is not as big as it looks there. Prince was just that small. I was one foot away from Prince at 3 different after shows where I was on the same level as him (sort of like this video), however small you think he is, he was smaller than that.
A few people have mentioned that. I wonder if growing up being so small was difficult for him....
oh man you really chopped up that song- great great video finally some one reacting to it than you sliced it up= No this is Richie Havens song he sang in Woodstock look him up not a tooth in his mouth they have that performance on you tube = hear Prince say on stage " Just like a Richie" yeah Tom Morello plays pedal= Tom Morello is great= Prince his cook said he was very strict no meat etc an others had to follow no meat in house etc - he fined his own wife when he saw snacks that might cause wt gain i read her book but she said she just shrugged her shoulders an went on accepting " hey its Prince" his 1st wife Mayte
Great post Linda! He was an interesting guy for sure. Yes I do believe Tom Morello does use a whammy pedal as well... :)
@@YesYouCANPlayGuitar TY im so glad you did not take offense to what i wrote-yeah check out some Tom Morello maybe Rage against the Machine and watch him go-ive seen interviews with him an he did 4 yrs Harvard an he says he walked around campus with his yellow fin guitar around his neck an would play in stairwell and day he graduated he took off for LA he went to Harvard via scholarship he is brilliant
@@lindaaugone382 Hi Linda! No not at all, everyone has a right to their opinion and really UA-cam is all in good fun. Quick funny story for you, a few years ago I had a channel (I took a couple years away from the music industry and I had an unrelated channel that actually did ok, until the crazy changes in 2018) and at the first when I started the channel there was a (co-host) on the channel with me. When the nasty comments started coming in, I laughed my ass off at them, but he took such offense to them it was hilarious and he dropped off the channel soon after. It was pretty hilarious! What is your favourite RATM performance you would like me to react to?
Yah pause too much dude
Hey Shirley! I can't argue with that. My mother always told me I was a talker. On the flip side, it is a reaction video, and for some reason or another, some people like my thoughts on the video as it goes which is usually how reaction videos are done. I usually post the original video link in the description box for people who want to watch the performance and not a reaction video though. :)
@@YesYouCANPlayGuitar Ok