RIP Prince

[ear3]

It was really great to see the outpouring of love and respect for Prince yesterday with the news of his passing.  I was flipping through the radio FM dial (in the NYC market) just to hear some of the reactions, and at one point his music could be heard on 5 different stations.

His integrity and assertion of control over his own music meant that he didn't have as big an online presence as he otherwise might have had, since many of his songs are not available through Youtube, and so my sense was that a lot of younger folk didn't have that much exposure to him.  He was one of the few bright spots in the wasteland that was top 40 pop music in the mid to late 80s.  I've always wondered what he could have done musically had he been in his prime in the late 60s and early 70s, but he certainly made the best of what the culture offered him during his heyday.  But certainly all the extra-musical components of his identity -- the way he challenged gender norms or the music industry -- were only possible because he lived when he did.

And he was apparently an amazing basketball player as well:
http://www.cc.com/video-clips/e748y...-true-hollywood-stories---prince---uncensored

 

[Staniam]

I've been lucky to have a mother who is a die hard music lover, namely old school rock but she has truly loved all forms of music. So, growing up and being exposed to music in many forms and genre's, Prince was definitely near the top of my enjoyment when I was younger. My mom absolutely loves Prince and she cried a little bit.

It's cool to see a fellow music lover here on the FOG [member=37411]Edward A Reno III[/member]

 

[Cheese]

Hey Edward...that video was great thanks for posting.

FWIW, through the years I've seen most of the pop rock artists in live performances in the Twin Cities. I've seen Hendrix, The Stones, Led Zep, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Elton John, Ray Charles, James Brown, Jethro Tull, Fleetwood Mac, Eric Clapton the list goes on and on and on. However, without a doubt, the best concert I've ever been to was a Prince concert with Sheila E. The electricity was incredible, beyond description and years later I can still say it was the best live performance I've ever seen.

There was an interview on the Today Show this morning with L.A. Reid, the CEO of Epic Records. He said that in 1978 for his debut Warner Bros. album, "For You", Prince wrote all of the music, played all the instruments, sang all of the vocals and then produced the entire LP himself, making him, at 19-years-old, the youngest record producer in the history of Warner Bros.

He will be missed... [sad] [sad] [sad]

 

[tony_sheehan]

No doubt about it- he was up there with Nile Rodgers in terms of being an all time funk legend

 

[travisj]

He was our local legend of my generation.  The last time I saw him was a three night stint at the Xcel in '04.  Unbelievable shows.  The outpouring of people last night in downtown Minneapolis was very moving.  A couple of our local radio stations had tributes with our FM NPR station playing all of the albums in chronological order.  This morning I heard some tribute concert footage and can only assume it was from last night in front of the legendary First Ave (the music venue from the "Purple Rain" movie).

I haven't looked lately, but he wouldn't allow the majority of his music be put out in a digital format.  It was only available in LP, cassette, and CD.  Curious as to if this will now change.  The amount of fans he would gain by being more accessible could be astounding.

Regardless, music lost another legend yesterday.  It's becoming too frequent.  Bowie, Lemmy, Merle, and Prince all within the last couple of months.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Kev]

We're certainly losing our music icons. Prince was a major talent and stamped his influence on the industry.

 

[Cheese]

Regardless, music lost another legend yesterday.  It's becoming too frequent.  Bowie, Lemmy, Merle, and Prince all within the last couple of months.

Just thinking about this current loss of talent, I also recall the recent deaths of Maurice White from Earth Wind & Fire, Paul Kantner from Jefferson Airplane along with Glen Frey from the Eagles. For only being 4 months into the year, 2016 has so far proved to be toxic for musicians.

 

[bobbobbob]

Great clip of a great Prince solo here:

 

[Kev]

Great clip of a great Prince solo here:

Now you've gone and done it ... I'll be sitting up for the next couple of hours watching Concert for George again [embarassed]

Prince was a guitar master .. very few REAL masters in his class. Amazing thing about Prince was that he had so many other well polished talents too.

 

[Cheese]

I was on the Festool USA website today registering a tool when I ran across this. Rather clever and pretty cool despite a differing opinion. [cool]
https://www.instagram.com/p/BEeWgNVvnA3/