Prince on SNL
I was really excited to see a post on Stereogum about Prince's musical appearance on SNL. I watched it this morning while I was getting ready for work, and I too was pleasantly surprised by the song and his performance. He's a phenomenal guitarist. And I love his ending.
As good as it is, though, it's no match for his unbelievable solo over the ending of "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" at the 2004 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. It's a jaw dropper. Go ahead and fast forward past all the verses. Just watch his solo. By the way, that's George Harrison's son (as if you couldn't tell) right behind Prince, playing acoustic guitar (I'm not even sure it was turned on - clearly it was for sentiment's sake), and grinning like a schoolboy once Prince starts his antics.
God bless YouTube.
posted by Jason @ 9:21 AM
7 comments
7 Comments:
unbelievable??...hes got a bunch of bells and whistles that entertain...but hes not doin anythin crazy. plus hes got that gay little hat....
-ry
I think a good musical performance is about melding talent and showmanship.
From a technical standpoint, his solo shows me how many different ways he can approach the same four chords. He's not just shredding or just staying on one section of the fret board, or even staying to one type of rhythm. My favorite solos are ones that absolutely rip and then allow either silence or a note to hang - to give the guitar a second to breathe. Too many guitarists are interested in how many notes they can fit into a measure. I don't think Prince is one of them.
From a visual standpoint, he gets his entire body into the performance and makes it riveting to watch. A technically amazing solo doesn't impress me much if it doesn't seem like the musician is getting off on it. Prince makes the guitar his bitch.
As for the hat...well, at least he never tried dreadlocks. (zing!)
for one ...i don't like you...
two...yes its a nice solo indeed...i just wouldn't call it ubelievable
three...i'm gona make you my bitch
four...go watch some umphrey's solos
Why don't you do something productive and do a write-up on Umphrey's McGee? I'll post it here.
cuz nobody who reads this would care bout umphresys
ps.. send me sledghammer
Far more importantly, though, they did a Prince Show sketch in that episode, and he apparently doesn't have the sense of humor to allow himself to appear in it, even though the mirror gag appeared to have been written for him to make a cameo.
I thought about that. I didn't watch it live, so I already knew he wasn't going to be in it, but had I been watching it live I would have been disappointed. I'm sure Fred Armisen (or a rep from SNL) approached him, and he shot them down. A shame.
Prince is a freaky motherfucker. The best story I've heard about him comes from the "An Evening With Kevin Smith" DVD, where Kevin recounts being recruited by Prince to film a documentary. Obviously he's taken a bit of poetic license, but the majority of the story is totally believable.
I think I have it on mp3 somewhere. Once I start doing mp3 posts, I'll post it.
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