Meh. I wouldn’t worry about it. First of all, Clapton has always been a gracious guitar ambassador. I don’t think I have read an interview where he hasn’t held someone up as the greatest. Beck, Page, Hendrix, Freddie King, Robert Johnson, etc. If he made the comment - and I have no problem believing he might have at some point - it was merely a way to say “I really respect his playing.”
Dammit! 
Sorry I’m an ass, everybody!
(…and thanks!)
Bookmarked. Thanks.
The videos are starting to trickle in.
No need to apologize man, it’s a great example of one of those quotes that it seems likely that no one ever said, but is attributed to many people.
Clapton didn’t say it about Prince, or at least there is no proof he did, and it’s unlikely Hendrix said it about Rory Gallagher. The Hendrix quote is often attributed to him 1969, which is 2 years before Gallagher’s first album. Is it possible Hendrix knew about Rory from other sources? Sure, but it seems unlikely he would have said this in 1969, when almost no one outside of dedicated fans of the band Taste would have known who Gallagher was. Taste DID play at a festival in 1970 where Hendricks also performed, but no evidence exists to show that Jimmy was there when Taste played.
See post #15 (by one of our most handsome and talented members).
Christian guitar fans are always citing how Hendrix praised Phil Keaggy, who truly is a great guitarist.
Other folks have stated that Hendrix heaped big praise on Terry Kath the wonderful guitarist for Chicago who died tragically.
Again - if they were said at all, they were meant as respect, not to be taken literally. I would simply point out that Hendrix grew up in the Blues tradition and was exposed to so many amazing players from Blues to Jazz. If he was going to cite anyone, it would be a Buddy Guy, a Wes Montgomery - someone like that.
Agreed. And don’t get me wrong, I love me some Rory Gallagher. That man could shred.
Rory rocked!!
And possibly assless.
Kevin Smith has also told the story of when he met Prince’s film producer, who said there are at least 50 fully-produced videos for “songs you’ve never heard” sitting in a vault. The amount of unreleased material must be astonishing; there could be at least another 20 albums worth.
There’s a Snopes page on the supposed Clapton quote about Prince.
And the current rumor seems to be that Prince may have OD’d on Percocet, which he was taking to deal with pain from prior hip surgeries. So, not recreational drug use, which seems seriously out of character for him.
Fair enough. Maybe this is the wrong thread for me to post my opinion, since it’s specifically about why Prince is “considered to be a genius.” If people think he’s a genius, extremely talented, admirable, etc., because he was a great guitarist, a great singer, a multi-instrumentalist, a stylistic innovator, all rolled into one, I can understand that. What I specifically don’t understand is why he had so many hit songs, given that I personally don’t find his hits nearly as catchy, memorable, melodically interesting, or whatever you want to call it, as most other hit songs. But I guess there’s just a certain degree of “no accounting for taste” here.
(I have to say, though, that it’s not a case of this kind of thing:
The concept is a valid one, but that’s not what’s going on when I try to listen to Prince. I mean, “Love Me Do” by The Beatles or “God Only Knows” by The Beach Boys are 50 years old or more, but if I hear one of those songs on the radio, it’ll be stuck in my head for the rest of the day. Not so with a Prince hit.)
Probably because there is something about those Beach Boy and Beatles songs that appeal to you. I heard Prince’s Diamonds and Pearls yesterday around 6 pm. Just caught myself humming it while playing with the dogs in the back yard.
Different strokes, and all that.
Indeed. I heard “When You Were Mine” Friday night and it’s been stuck in my head all weekend and it’s still running through my head. His work can be earwormy with the best of 'em.
I’ve been a huge Prince fan since Purple Rain and my appreciation of his abilities as a musical artist have continued to grow with each new album and each story about what he was capable of.
If you want to talk about why he was considered a genius, I think it has been pretty well covered throughout this thread, but I thought I’d put my two cents worth in as well.
If we accept that being put on a “Top 100” list means you were among the best of the best in your chosen discipline, we can get a good picture of just how talented Prince was. He is on Rolling Stone’s 100 Greatest Singers at #30. That all by itself puts him in extremely rare company. But he’s also on Rolling Stone’s 100 Greatest Guitarists at #33 AND on Spin’s very different take on the 100 Greatest Guitarists at #6. And NME put Prince on their 50 of the Greatest Producers Ever list at #38. Did I mention that he’s also on Rolling Stone’s 100 Greatest Songwriters of All Time at #18?
Your musical tastes may not be in line with Prince’s many sounds and styles and you could argue that he’s rated too highly on one or more of these lists. But come on. If he’s in the conversation for best-of-the-best in so many disciplines, you’d have to be badly out of touch with reality to deny that this guy had it going on.
In my humble opinion, Prince wasn’t merely a genius; he was a multi-level genius. Name anything related to music and he could do it as well or better than virtually anyone else in the industry.
Since hearing the news, I haven’t listened to anything that wasn’t written by Prince, performed by Prince, produced by Prince, or all of the above.
Not sure when I might want to, but not today.
This is my take-away. I remember a few Prince songs from my youth, but his music is simply inaccessible. And I don’t mean difficult to understand; I mean difficult to find a way to listen to. I’m certainly missing out, but it’s not worth my time and money to figure out how to listen to Prince when I can already stream music I like.
It’s a silly argument. Prince may not have been your cup of tea. He wasn’t mine, either. But you gotta give the man his due. By all objective measure, he was a phenomenally talented and respected musician, songwriter and producer.
32 Grammy nominations, 7 wins. 4 MTV Video awards, a Golden Globe, oh, and a fucking OSCAR, bitches. 12 Platinum records, 8 gold records. Mentioned on how many ‘all-time best’ lists? Wrote big hits for how many other artists?? A 36 year career?
If you are not convinced, maybe you being a tad short sighted. Maybe youre personal definition of ‘great’ needs some tweeking? Did any of the people you find to be great do as well?
He decided he didn’t want to be known by a human word, but by a symbol. And the public went along with it. THAT’s how good he was.
Speaking of Prince and Miles Davis, here’s the two of them on stage together doing “Housequake”
Not only did he Become Prince, he later became famous as “The Artist Formerly Known as Prince” and later still Prince again. That’s gotta be worth somethin’ right there!