So this amazing guitar solo Prince supposedly played during While My Guitar Gently Weeps at the Hall of Fame last night...

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Lost forever? Surely not.

― Lukas (lukas), Wednesday, 17 March 2004 00:22 (twenty-two years ago)

they film that ceremony and show it on vh1 later, usually

― anthony kyle monday (akmonday), Wednesday, 17 March 2004 00:25 (twenty-two years ago)

more info? more info?

― Forksclovetofu (Forksclovetofu), Wednesday, 17 March 2004 02:03 (twenty-two years ago)

it's scheduled to air Sunday night.

― Al (sitcom), Wednesday, 17 March 2004 02:09 (twenty-two years ago)

I saw Prince in concert in the middle of his squiggle period and he actually played a guitar solo that made me cry.

― Dadaismus (Dada), Wednesday, 17 March 2004 09:45 (twenty-two years ago)

So, does he play the song in its entirety? What band setup? This could be the coolest thing he's done in ten years.

― mark grout (mark grout), Wednesday, 17 March 2004 09:55 (twenty-two years ago)

When I lived in Minnesota I'd occasionally hear on the radio "...and Prince has just announced an impromptu concert at the Fine Line, starting in twenty minutes..." apparently sometimes it'd just be him lying on the floor with his guitar going crazy for hours. OOOooooh.

― Lukas (lukas), Wednesday, 17 March 2004 18:37 (twenty-two years ago)

Prince needs to start releasing CDRS and hanging out with the Freedom From kids.

― LITTLE LAMB [Jon Williams] (ex machina), Wednesday, 17 March 2004 22:10 (twenty-two years ago)

mark grout, I think he just solos in the big too-many-people-on-stage tribute. But I dunno.

― subgenius (subgenius), Wednesday, 17 March 2004 23:19 (twenty-two years ago)

ah right. According to the NME, he got inducted, and George Harrison also. Dhani Harrison sang "While my guitar gently weeps" with the usual suspects, Prince was not mentioned...

― mark grout (mark grout), Thursday, 18 March 2004 08:19 (twenty-two years ago)

Holy crap, that was the greatest thing I've ever heard in my life.

― Simeon Van Der Graaf, Monday, 22 March 2004 06:12 (twenty-two years ago)

the best part was at the end of the song when they had a tight close-up on Prince and he just threw his guitar up into the air, and then they cut away to a big shot of the whole stage, and neither he nor anyone around him appeared to have caught it, it was like the guitar just vanished into thin air. Prince is so awesome.

― Al (sitcom), Monday, 22 March 2004 06:56 (twenty-two years ago)

where can i download a soundbyte or the whole dam thing? i would pay 100$ for a copy of that guitar solo, figuretively speaking, when i saw the 2004 inductions, and heard that song, i thought i saw jimmy.....he could rip off voodoo chile if he wanted to

― laura adams, Wednesday, 31 March 2004 22:27 (twenty-one years ago)

A bit torrent was on sharingthegroove.

― subgenius (subgenius), Wednesday, 31 March 2004 23:47 (twenty-one years ago)

I too would PAY to get a video of Prince playing "While my Guitar Gently Weeps" on the Hall of Fame program. I was in such awe watching Prince play, I forgot to hit record on my DVR! Watching Prince play that song, mad ME weep! It was one of the best moments in guitar history as far as I am concerned. Please, someone, tell me how to get it!

― Wendy Sims, Friday, 9 April 2004 13:43 (twenty-one years ago)

Yeah, I too would love to see this. After that completely reprehensible George Harrison "tribute" a few years back (Paul Shaeffer and band with Jewel and that Matchbox 20 cockgoblin...singing WAY THE FUCK off-key and even forgetting the fucking words [to "Here Comes the Sun", like HOW HARD is it to remember that shit!?! ugh]), I would really like a proper sending-off for my favorite Beatle.

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Friday, 9 April 2004 13:48 (twenty-one years ago)

According to Rolling Stone magazine Bob Seger and the Hall of Fame All Star band, including Eric Clapton, Bruce Springsteen, and Bonnie Raitt, transformed the staid ballroom into a sweaty roadside juke joint witha killer rendition of "Old Time Rock'n' Roll."

― Mark (MarkR), Friday, 9 April 2004 14:14 (twenty-one years ago)

Anyone who has seen the video care to confirm?

― Mark (MarkR), Friday, 9 April 2004 14:19 (twenty-one years ago)

I thought the version of Old Time R&R was really hard to watch and that Seger was struggling to find whatever he had once - which was pretty limited (and that's spoken as an ex-Detroiter).

― southern lights (southern lights), Friday, 9 April 2004 15:12 (twenty-one years ago)

Yeah, Seger's thing was with his guys (or I'm assuming it's his guys; apparently the Silver Bullet Band has meant a bunch of different folk since the 70s). I didn't see any of the other stars up there with him.

But southern lights is right - that thing was painful; not because of the choice of song, but because of Seger's voice. It's shot.

It's no wonder he's essentially retired from music.

― Broheems (diamond), Friday, 9 April 2004 15:37 (twenty-one years ago)

i must hear princes solo or i will kill myself and my cat, in that order. does anyone know where i can download it?

― atticus Finch, Monday, 12 April 2004 04:14 (twenty-one years ago)

http://www.sarahbacon.com/prince/halloffame/wmggw.htm

― David McNeill, Tuesday, 13 April 2004 12:06 (twenty-one years ago)

― david mcneill, Tuesday, 13 April 2004 12:16 (twenty-one years ago)

So, does he play the song in its entirety? What band setup? This could be the coolest thing he's done in ten years.
-- mark grout (mark.grou...) (webmail), March 17th, 2004. (link)

Yup. Coolest thing he's done in ten years. All star tribute in "Not lame" shock.

― mark grout (mark grout), Tuesday, 13 April 2004 12:27 (twenty-one years ago)

two years pass...

So I'm sure those in need already found this and I certainly wasn't searching for this thread, but just in case:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JLdVkoKNToE

It really is quite great.

― matt2 (matt2), Wednesday, 20 September 2006 02:24 (nineteen years ago)

I wz just telling someone about this earlier today! Specifically about how Tom Petty does jack shit.

Also, watching this again: George Harrison's son looks like Conor Oberst

― Curt1s St3ph3ns, Wednesday, 20 September 2006 02:35 (nineteen years ago)

Underwhelming. More blues-rock cliches per bar than your neighborhood Guitar Center on Friday at 5:30pm.

― Steve Shasta (Steve Shasta), Wednesday, 20 September 2006 02:41 (nineteen years ago)

Thanks, I never heard this before.

― Rockist_Scientist (RSLaRue), Wednesday, 20 September 2006 02:49 (nineteen years ago)

(Tom Petty is generally a bore anyway.)

― Rockist_Scientist (RSLaRue), Wednesday, 20 September 2006 02:51 (nineteen years ago)

That is some masterful fucking guitar playing. I'm not fond of the guitar tone though. Too smooth n' creamy moderne for me. Nice to hear a guy bust out some decent vibrato.

― Brooker Buckingham (Brooker B), Wednesday, 20 September 2006 15:55 (nineteen years ago)

prince has got to be one of the most overrated guitar players ever.

― M@tt He1geson: Real Name, No Gimmicks (Matt Helgeson), Wednesday, 20 September 2006 16:19 (nineteen years ago)

What? Prince is a fantastic rhythm guitarist, and pretty damn good lead guitarist in the classic sense. Those Hendrixian leads he played in the Purple Rain era were fantastic!

The guy has played many memorable riffs, licks and hooks on the guitar, in my opinion.

He's never pushed the envelope, per se. He's no Richard Thompson or Tom Verlaine.

― Brooker Buckingham (Brooker B), Wednesday, 20 September 2006 16:25 (nineteen years ago)

I agree with Mr. Buckingham.

― polyphonic (polyphonic), Wednesday, 20 September 2006 16:28 (nineteen years ago)

Henry Kaiser said of Tom Verlaine: "I'm always surprised that anyone admires this guy. To me he seems a lame Bloomfield-Garcia copyist." (xp)

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Wednesday, 20 September 2006 16:29 (nineteen years ago)

But Henry Kaiser doesn't half talk a lot of crap on occasion

― Am I Re-elected Yet? (Dada), Wednesday, 20 September 2006 16:30 (nineteen years ago)

HI TIM I READ FORCED EXPOSURE TOO

― Stormy Davis (diamond), Wednesday, 20 September 2006 16:43 (nineteen years ago)

Prince is probably the greatest bad guitar player of all time.

― Eppy (Eppy), Wednesday, 20 September 2006 19:12 (nineteen years ago)

Oh yeah Verlaine pinched a lot from Jerry Garcia. I don't hear the Bloomfield. Perhaps John Cippolina? I can guarantee, just like Peter Laughner and probably Robert Quine, that Verlaine was copping a lot of ideas from Richard Thompson's Island LPs, both solo and with Linda.

But lame? Damn. I love Verlaine's tone, phrasing, style. Certainly more memorable and melodic than Henry Kaiser.

― Brooker Buckingham (Brooker B), Wednesday, 20 September 2006 23:14 (nineteen years ago)

Weird. Curt1s isn't the only one. Someone was just telling me about this solo last night. It isn't quite as amazing as he made it sound, but it's pretty damn good.

― Rodney doesn't like polka. He is racist. (R. J. Greene), Thursday, 21 September 2006 01:37 (nineteen years ago)

Where'd the guitar go when he threw it in the air?

― J-rock (Julien Sandiford), Thursday, 21 September 2006 01:50 (nineteen years ago)

I was just debating in my head whether or not to buy a Telecaster off Musician's Friend tonight. This pretty much sealed the deal.

― Marmot (marmotwolof), Thursday, 21 September 2006 02:18 (nineteen years ago)

Actually, you really shouldn't.

― Dave Depper (Dave Depper), Thursday, 21 September 2006 07:49 (nineteen years ago)

"Actually, you really shouldn't"

Why not? I love mine. Everyone I know who has one seems more than happy enough with them.

― J-rock (Julien Sandiford), Thursday, 21 September 2006 07:59 (nineteen years ago)

"Look up in the air, it's your guitar! Oh hang on, it's mine!"

― mark grout (mark grout), Thursday, 21 September 2006 08:01 (nineteen years ago)

Yeah, why shouldn't I have bought it? I'm left handed, so my selection is pretty limited. It was either the Tele, a Strat (which I've owned two before and am sick of, for now), an SG (which I've never played before) or a Les Paul (which is way too fucking expensive).

― Marmot (marmotwolof), Thursday, 21 September 2006 08:27 (nineteen years ago)

It's a guitar solo. People who like guitar solos will probably like it, people don't will hear cliches. If this was just an audio clip. I think what gets people about Prince's guitar playing is that he's got all the chops, but it's only a secondary interest with him. As though you need some sort of deep rooted passion to do the same hammer-ons and bends that 16 year olds all across YouTube film themselves mastering.

― bendy (bendy), Thursday, 21 September 2006 10:35 (nineteen years ago)

Yikes, that was incoherent. I had a squirming kid on my lap and a dog barking to be let out. Anyway...if this weren't Prince and you couldn't see the showmanship, I don't think there would be people chattering about the musical content.

― bendy (bendy), Thursday, 21 September 2006 10:40 (nineteen years ago)

yes, but that's kind of the point isn't it Bendy.

You can do the same blindfold trick with dozens of famous guitar players and think the same thing. Showmanship is a huge part of soloing, and here, it's not some kid who's been practicing the same lick over and over in his bedroom, it's a guy who's done those licks a zillion times over and added nuance in a live setting with a band. Huge difference. It's not the notes that are played, it's how you play them. Which is why Kenny Wayne Shepherd can play Hendrix and SRV over and over and never sound quite like either of those guys. Which is why hundreds of studio goons drop in guitar parts seamlessly every year. Which is why tribute bands are so successful. Anyone can do it? Yeah, and so what. Prince has "done it" for the better part of 25 years, and he can do it at the highest levels effortlessly.

― don weiner (don weiner), Thursday, 21 September 2006 13:43 (nineteen years ago)

Where'd the guitar go when he threw it in the air?

I was wondering the same things.

― Rockist_Scientist (RSLaRue), Thursday, 21 September 2006 13:44 (nineteen years ago)

thing.

― Rockist_Scientist (RSLaRue), Thursday, 21 September 2006 13:44 (nineteen years ago)

his SNL performance of "Fury" was so so awesome.

― a|ex (Pareene), Thursday, 21 September 2006 13:58 (nineteen years ago)

effortlessness is boring. if someone's going to wank cliches all over the place they should at least push themselves. Either play faster and harder or put more energy into your performance.

― Fetchboy (Felcher), Thursday, 21 September 2006 14:49 (nineteen years ago)

But that's why Prince is so great...it's not just the licks, it's the moves and the stage falls and the combing his hair in the middle of a solo. Also, I don't hear his guitar solos as being that cliched. Maybe I'm just listening for it because he's such a great singer and songwriter, but I think his solos are pretty melodic and interesting.

― Jordan (Jordan), Thursday, 21 September 2006 15:10 (nineteen years ago)

effortlessness is boring. if someone's going to wank cliches all over the place they should at least push themselves. Either play faster and harder or put more energy into your performance.

Why? Faster and harder does not equal better. Ask just about any woman if that's all she wants in a lover.

Don Weiner is on the mark.

― shorty (shorty), Thursday, 21 September 2006 15:16 (nineteen years ago)

DONT BUY FROM MUSICIAN'S FRIEND --- they are actually your enemy with their high prices

― millenarian (millenarian), Thursday, 21 September 2006 16:50 (nineteen years ago)

how does one play "harder"?

― don weiner (don weiner), Thursday, 21 September 2006 17:07 (nineteen years ago)

it's awright. i'm curious why they didn't just get clapton to play his own solo, tho.

― gypsy mothra (gypsy mothra), Thursday, 21 September 2006 17:19 (nineteen years ago)

yeah, bear in mind his foundation for this solo is fucking while my guitar gently weeps played on forty-eight acoustic guitars, some of which may even be twelve-stringed. it's not like it's his response to a cage score.

also discussing a single guitar solo that took place two years ago as a totally isolated musical moment is kind of retarded.

― tom west (thomp), Thursday, 21 September 2006 18:38 (nineteen years ago)

...kind of retarded.

-- tom west (u3i0...), September 21st, 2006.

― Squirrel_Police (Squirrel_Police), Thursday, 21 September 2006 20:29 (nineteen years ago)

I always hear more Hazel than Hendrix in Prince's soloing, and for this I am grateful - but yes, WHERE DOES HIS GUITAR GO AT THE END?! Don OTM about the showmanship - c'mon people its a guitar solo!

― Shakey Mo Collier (Shakey Mo Collier), Thursday, 21 September 2006 20:34 (nineteen years ago)

i can't believe they couldn't get clapton. was his wife having a baby that day, or summat?

― Squirrel_Police (Squirrel_Police), Friday, 22 September 2006 02:51 (nineteen years ago)

i just imagined what the last couple of beatles albums would have sounded like with clapton solos. it sounded so good i almost had a heart attack.

― Squirrel_Police (Squirrel_Police), Friday, 22 September 2006 02:53 (nineteen years ago)

seventeen years pass...

20 years ago

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MC6s9HHonU

just the greatest ever to do it

― mookieproof, Friday, 15 March 2024 06:05 (two years ago)

canonically no one knows what happened to the guitar

― mookieproof, Friday, 15 March 2024 06:37 (two years ago)

it ascended, like we all did

― assert (matttkkkk), Friday, 15 March 2024 07:14 (two years ago)

Faaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaark

― H.P, Friday, 15 March 2024 07:30 (two years ago)

The guitar did descend. Here's the remastered version (with even! more! Prince!) from a couple of years ago:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWRCooFKk3c

― ArchCarrier, Friday, 15 March 2024 09:24 (two years ago)

omg it's the Zapruder movie of flying guitars

― Morris O’Shea Salazar (Noodle Vague), Friday, 15 March 2024 10:03 (two years ago)

That was a good solo / showmanship, just repeated and extended for way too long

― Nabozo, Friday, 15 March 2024 10:26 (two years ago)

I’m calling the guitar descent faked. It never came down.

― assert (matttkkkk), Friday, 15 March 2024 13:16 (two years ago)

I showed that remastered video to my mother-in-law recently and was disappointed that the guitar did come down.

This oral history is pretty good:
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/28/arts/music/prince-guitar-rock-hall-of-fame.html

― jaymc, Friday, 15 March 2024 13:38 (two years ago)

First time seeing this. Love Prince, but love even more how much fun Dhani seems to be having watching him perform.

― ✖✖✖ (Moka), Friday, 15 March 2024 15:51 (two years ago)

Prince's guitar tech at the time was this dude that worked with him for a real long time named Takumi who got REALLY good at catching his guitars. If you ever saw him live it was amazing - he would catch them all the way on the other side of the stage. Takumi left P under some bad circumstances (like a lot of people did in his camp). I wonder what happened.

Takumi Suetsugu, who caught the guitar Prince threw off — seemingly into the void — after his searing guitar solo at the 2004 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony. (Prince told him to hand the guitar to Oprah, said Suetsugu, and after the performance, internal monitors cut to a shot of the dumbstruck talk show host holding Prince's axe.)

Per explicit instructions from Prince, Takumi stood in the front row and caught the guitar...and then promptly handed it to Oprah Winfrey. Prince was known to toss many a guitar over the years, but this one deserves its own place in the R&R Hall of Fame. And I'll bet Takumi never dropped a guitar even once in all those years.

After he tosses the guitar and just before he exits the stage with his Princely confidence, you can see him cast a quick glance in the direction of his faithful and beloved guitar tech.

― kurt schwitterz, Friday, 15 March 2024 16:08 (two years ago)

Given the poor PQ of that remastered version, I guess they only have standard-def footage of that performance and had to up-res it. Ah well, at least it's something.

― birdistheword, Friday, 15 March 2024 19:11 (two years ago)

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