Barking Spiders Posted November 13, 2020 Share Posted November 13, 2020 Been trying to find some decent YT clips showing Prince's basswork but the various clips I've seen aren't much cop so I cant really tell. Anyone have any idea? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
itu Posted November 13, 2020 Share Posted November 13, 2020 His work raised some debate when Bass Player put him to the cover of that magazine. Some people thought he can not be there, because he is not a pure or real (?) bassist. Some others thought that he happens to be a multi instrumentalist and his work is very good. I think many of his songs are fantastic. Bass playing is just one part of the whole picture. There were some bitter discussions about how he chose the members of the band, but that is long gone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OliverBlackman Posted November 13, 2020 Share Posted November 13, 2020 He was a fantastic and innovative musician no matter the instrument. I’m sure he worked it out 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mr4stringz Posted November 13, 2020 Share Posted November 13, 2020 The one clip that I remember him playing bass on from years back was from the short lived C4 music show The White Room. Sure that’s somewhere on YT. But regardless, as above, one of those musicians that seemed great on anything he played... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris_b Posted November 13, 2020 Share Posted November 13, 2020 I saw him play bass on a TV show, many years ago. He was one of the best bassists I've seen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drax Posted November 13, 2020 Share Posted November 13, 2020 Funnily enough was sent this yesterday Generally think of Prince as someone who would be regarded in the top ranks on thier instrument, if they didn't play so many instruments. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barking Spiders Posted November 13, 2020 Author Share Posted November 13, 2020 No doubt about his chops on the electric guitar. Mind you while he sure was a great all-rounder from the outpourings if some fans on YT you'd think he was the only one. There are quite a few others out there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jus Lukin Posted November 13, 2020 Share Posted November 13, 2020 (edited) - Edited March 10, 2022 by Jus Lukin 1 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ubit Posted November 14, 2020 Share Posted November 14, 2020 In answer to the o.p........VERY! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deedee Posted November 14, 2020 Share Posted November 14, 2020 He was certainly better than me 😆 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ped Posted November 14, 2020 Share Posted November 14, 2020 He was about as good as me 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldslapper Posted November 14, 2020 Share Posted November 14, 2020 Pretty comfortable by looks of things 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cairobill Posted November 14, 2020 Share Posted November 14, 2020 (edited) Prince was a FANTASTIC bass player. A lot of the bass tracks on the earlier albums (including the Revolution era stuff) was him. This is particularly tasty. Prince took the bass part in this v cool cover of Whole of the Moon at one of his last big gigs in Minneapolis. Edited November 14, 2020 by Cairobill 3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fleabag Posted November 14, 2020 Share Posted November 14, 2020 (edited) Bit OT, sorry, but i used to get Prince mixed up with Jesse Johnson back in the 80's. Equally good musicians, but Prince was a multi instrumentalist, and not sure about Johnson Still , Johnson was magic on that there geeeeeter. Kicks in for real about 2:50 if you cant wait and a bit more after that at 4:15 Edited November 14, 2020 by fleabag Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cairobill Posted November 14, 2020 Share Posted November 14, 2020 Along with the brilliant Brownmark (Revolution bassist) he defined the chugging Minneapolis style. Prob best defined in 'Lady Cab Driver'. Just legendary. I'm pretty sure he tracked this on bass (and did everything else). Astonishing musician! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bubinga5 Posted November 14, 2020 Share Posted November 14, 2020 (edited) 22 hours ago, OliverBlackman said: He was a fantastic and innovative musician no matter the instrument. I’m sure he worked it out This says it all. Edited November 14, 2020 by bubinga5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bubinga5 Posted November 14, 2020 Share Posted November 14, 2020 (edited) His greatest trick was releasing a song without any bass and recording one of the greatest records. The record company thought it was a demo and demanded he record it again with bass. He told them to release it as, or he wouldn't record anything else for them.. he really had a great head on him. Edited November 14, 2020 by bubinga5 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hellzero Posted November 14, 2020 Share Posted November 14, 2020 I saw him live a few times and he always played bass on a few tracks. Saw the tour with Larry Graham on bass and they made a bass duet that was very musical with lot of good taste slap (I know there's that old thread and I am not myself a great slap fan...). So yes he was a great bass player. In fact his bass playing was as good as his guitar playing. As simple as that ! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nail Soup Posted November 14, 2020 Share Posted November 14, 2020 Sorry for the boring answer, but I think it is well established that Prince was extremely good on a number of instruments including bass. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Japhet Posted November 14, 2020 Share Posted November 14, 2020 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nail Soup Posted November 14, 2020 Share Posted November 14, 2020 On 13/11/2020 at 17:49, mr4stringz said: The one clip that I remember him playing bass on from years back was from the short lived C4 music show The White Room. Sure that’s somewhere on YT. But regardless, as above, one of those musicians that seemed great on anything he played... If I remember correctly when prince played the White Room there was a bass player in the band and prince played something complementary to that , kind of lead bass. It was a nice white bass if I remember right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BreadBin Posted November 14, 2020 Share Posted November 14, 2020 2 hours ago, bubinga5 said: His greatest trick was releasing a song without any bass and recording one of the greatest records. The record company thought it was a demo and demanded he record it again with bass. He told them to release it as, or he wouldn't record anything else for them.. he really had a great head on him. Another song on my list of tunes I'd like to cover as a vocalist - pitched down somewhat of course. When Doves Cry didn't have a bass line either - another massive hit 👍 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodwind Posted November 14, 2020 Share Posted November 14, 2020 2 hours ago, bubinga5 said: His greatest trick was releasing a song without any bass and recording one of the greatest records. The record company thought it was a demo and demanded he record it again with bass. He told them to release it as, or he wouldn't record anything else for them.. he really had a great head on him. I can't see a bass line would add to Kiss. I can imagine his demo sketches would have had a bass line and he just removed and refined elements until he was left with all that was necessary. As you say he had a really great head. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nail Soup Posted November 15, 2020 Share Posted November 15, 2020 Come to think of it , and reading through this thread, Prince was not only a great player............but he was one of the best at not playing too. He was one of the best at using space and leaving stuff out. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaypup Posted November 15, 2020 Share Posted November 15, 2020 1 hour ago, Nail Soup said: Come to think of it , and reading through this thread, Prince was not only a great player............but he was one of the best at not playing too. He was one of the best at using space and leaving stuff out. I didn't play on pretty much all of the greatest records of the last 40 years - a measure of just how good I am at leaving everything out. 3 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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