Drummer Michael Bland toured and recorded with Prince and the New Power Generation. He tells "Musicians Reveal with Joe Kelley" about Prince's intricate recording process to deter people from covering his music.
I watched an interview with his engineer Susan Rogers. She said the most interesting thing I ever heard about his music. She said most artist, if you isolate each track it's linear. One main and multiple tracks in support. But with Prince it was spherical. She said you could rotate track to track and any one of them could be the lead or background.
I think it was more about protecting the integrity of his art though. Look at how he spoke out against the industry - he had a sense of humour but it was deeper than that. He had a strong sense of justice and integrity when it came to art.
This has nothing to do with "messing with people". If you knew anything at all about Prince, you'd know his feelings on the music industry, and why he did everything he could to protect his art.
I was born in 1980 and grew up a punk/metal kid, but my mom introduced me to the genius of his Purple Majesty and there were no musical bounds this man didn't cross. As a bassist I can say he is on our Mt. Rushmore.
Not to take ANYTHING away from Prince...as if....but the framework is that there are myriad of potential "Princes". We are not ever just seeing a lone diamond in the rough, no, we are seeing the effects of oppressive systems that suppress the emergence and livelihood of artistic geniuses like Prince. Point n case : at least a third of the commenters in the thread UNDERSTAND Prince's genius How many can dabble or replicate is a slightly different matter but nonetheless, the human artistic excellence is there...but how is it supported...suppressed? THAT'S more concerning to me than tokenizing artists. Edit: I don't think he made his music hard to cover simply so other artists couldn't cover him. I think it was to also make it hard for his music to co-opted and cheaply used and sampled by capitalists for shitty commercials and propaganda.
No he was NOT ahead of his time in the least. I know you probably meant it only as a compliment and not literal though. Literally if he came out today for example, it just wouldn’t be the same. Way too much digital and fakery. Let’s be thankful Prince came at the right time when he actually came out. On time.
@maudefindlay3949 well what you think means jack shyt to me buddy seeing that I spent almost 20 yrs engineering for a multi platinum producer and song writer who also won a couple of grammys
@@sherbstoneThey’re only talking about covers here. If someone wants to cover one of your songs it’s a compliment. The fact that he himself have covered other people’s songs makes this look selfish.
I think he came from the school of James Brown in that regard, where feel and groove mattered more than necessarily being technically perfect. Tony Bobuella's keyboard solo comes to mind. Tony wanted to do it over to ma it "better", but Prince liked the raw feel of the first take and kept that.
@@raceblakhart4941 can't get that through the heads of people who believe everything.. they still think everyone was and is performing live and without prerecorded audio.
Can't say that I blame Prince for not wanting to be covered - he was ultra unique. Loved him so much. Sure do miss him still. 😢 God bless his beautiful soul. 💐🙏🏽❤️
That was a great technique he used. I remember going to see The Time at BB Kings in NYC. A fellow musician friend marveled at the synth bass that Chance Howard played. Prince's technique. Thanks for watching.@@mactherealestateman
@@mactherealestatemanTrue, but that wasn’t so uncommon, the other detuned parts yes. And the reversals yes, the deep layering NO! The backwards masking, backward snares and stuff yes and no, rock groups did that too in the seventies. But it was the total combination that made it unusual! Esp for a Funk, R&B outtra type of cat new to the scene. MJ did that type of stuff too. Billie Jean was the hardest bass line for me to learn because it has like three layers over the main one!
@musiciansreveal See I never got to see Prince ( always wanted to) but I seen Stevie twice in Toronto. Stevie is actually my favorite musician and songwriter.
I agree with your statement here but I think you're leaving off a name. My HOLY-GRAIL would be PRINCE, STEVIE WONDER and DONNIE HATHAWAY! Of you listen to DONNIE'S ," SOME DAY WE'LL ALL BE FREE!" His musicianship and arrangements even had STEVIE WONDER in AWE! That's why STEVIE will always show up to any celebration of his life and music.❤
@@musiciansreveal yeah he was. I feel there shouldn’t be any comparisons done between him and Michael and other artist. Everyone is great in their own right. Michael never played a single instrument. But that didn’t take away his greatness. We should stop comparing peoples greatness. And just admire everyone’s contributions.
@@ezj9103 Michael played some percussion when he was songwriting but Idk what else. I don't understand why so many pple compare him to Prn as theyre very different & not just musically, their personalities were radically different. These trite pple should ask themselves if either artist would want to be compared that way in Remembrance.
Really made that song a study for years to come. I loved when Brown Mark played bass on "When Doves Cry" during the Purple Rain tour. Thanks for watching.
If you really listen to When Doves Cry, you'll notice that the kick drum acts as the bass line for the song, so he knew no one needed to play bass on it. Genius
When Prince Hit the Set... I was Up on Him ... & I bought his FIRST ALBUM. PRINCE WAS REALLY ONE OF MY FAVORITE ARTISTS / NUMBER 1 WITH A BULLET... THAT BOY ALWAYS BEEN BAD (((!!!)))
Warner wasn't just the problem. The entire industry has rampant thievery and plagiarism. Little Richard started Prince's career (in a way), and Little Richard got his own sound stolen & he got Whitewashed so much he made purposely difficult to do music.
@@musiciansreveal Funny how he got so mad @ Chaka Khan and Sinead O'Conner . . . Yet, those two Ladies made him piles and piles of money . . . "I Feel for You" is a brilliant song and arrangement . . . And Chaka Khan was Born to sing that song . . . He should be Humbly Honoured and Grateful . . . Just like when Jimi Hendrix recorded the Definitive Version of All Along the Watchtower for Bob Dylan . . . ! . . . :-) (-;
Anything Prince did musically, I adored. But the album titled Prince was on repeat at my house 24/7. ‘It’s Gonna Be Lonely’ was it for me and my 2 year old in 79. Those vocals were everything.
Prince often used multiple bass lines going back to 777-9311 where you got bass and synth bass playing together. Or in a song like ‘Dorothy Parker’ where you have the main bass line and then a slapped version playing around the main line.
Prince and MJ would hang out all the time. Lenny Kravitz told a story of Prince taking him to see MJ and they were just hanging out talking shit lol. Who knew... They also would chill out backstage in Vegas.
God gave his prophets the gifts of music, Michael quotes the book of Isaiah in Heal the World, Prince in Elephants in flowers said “Love the One who is Love, One who gives us the power, one who made everything, Elephants and flowers, one who listens when All others will not! THERE WILL BE PEACE FOR THOSE WHO LOVE GOD A LOT!!!”
One of the ABSOLUTE BEST covers I've EVER heard is actually a cover of a Prince song. Foo Fighters "Darling Nikki" is a testament to their love and respect for the Artist! It's PHENOMENAL! ❤ If ur gonna cover a song, THIS is how u do it!
ITS JUST A MATTER OF TASTE!!✔❤ HE WAS SO DIFFERENT AND ORIGINALE, WE DIDNT KNOW, HOW TO FEEL,AT FIRST! THATS THE WAY I FELT!!✔ GREAT PEOPLE, ARE OFTEN NOT UNDERSTOOD!!❤✔😮😮😮😮!🎉🎉
This man! When I was a kid it took some adjusting to get used to his new sounds. Around The World In A Day is a good example. Going from Purple Rain to ATWIAD for a 13 year old kid was very different. But once you got it, it was a freakn trip. 80’s music = amazing music. Tam-bou-rine
Prince have too many songs that I love. I saw prince at a 3hours 20 minute concert arena. Then hours later he did a two hour set in a small club in Boston. Not one song from the earlier concert was replayed in that night club set. He played songs we never heard before and they were great.😊
I remember when I first started learning guitar, I wanted to learn how to play Purple Rain because I love Prince and it sounded like one of the his easiest songs to learn, so I gave it a shot. When I found out how that song was played, it completely blew my mind how insanely complex and intricate just the first 4 chords were. Just goes to show that Prince truly was one of the greatest musicians to ever pick up a guitar, no one could ever do it quite like him
That is what he was suppose to do. I knew that his entire career. I would know when someone sampled his song. That was part of the Symbol album and the mystery behind it. Whoever tells him his name would inherit his kingdom. I was the only one who could not be the one who knew it.
he changed his name to a symbol because of his horrible contract which refers to prince as the artist, and owning the "ARTISISTs" rights and publishing, in perpetuity.
Fucking Genius man. I think there are plenty out there nowadays, but the culture is a puzzle that won’t allow the pieces to fit anymore. In other words, it’s harder to be a genius nowadays with no influence. Greatness comes in bundles.
Manic Monday too.thiugh to be honest hen listen to it the structure/formula totally sounds like a throwaway B side. The batman soundtrack was a bit like that. And still awesome.
Genius Genius! Prince was gifted & here to help other musician to see the light. Musician didn't listen to Prince. He was a prophet & noone believed what he was saying until now. It's falling now & fame, money & fortune will go down. ❤love❤
Prince’s recordings are so dense. So many instruments. So many tracks. It’s amazing he did all of this on tape. And I’m surprised the master tapes didn’t disintegrate due to all the overdub tracks. Prince simply did everything better than everyone. Unreal.
Good point. Probably why all the recordings were shipped to a better storage facility. I'm in the process of digitizing all our radio shows and interviews. Tape and CD degeneration crops up occasionally.
Thats true and I we probably won't be able to hear it all in our lifetime. I love seeing the high quality concert releases. Wish there were more. But can understand they don't want to flood the market and it is very costly to get it right like the D&P Glam Slam show.
With all due respect the trite nursery rhymes and funk retreads are not that impressive or intimidating .... He is an accomplished musician but an over rated writer
😤SO MUCH HATRED👹 RIP PRINCE ROGERS NELSON Thank God for all the Blessings that you give to an EVIL WORLD of ADOLESCENT IGNORANT PEOPLE WHO ENVY YOUR GENIUS EXAMPLFED🎼 🎶
I love that I've been his friend since I was 7 yrs old ....listen 2 Micheal B. , my God how u do that and can say he's not the Greatest profromer, entertainer, Musican... All of those descriptions is why 2 simplify that....He was The Greatest Artist ...
Omgsh Prince is a Legend! I can't really say my favorite song by Prince. He has so many awesome songs!! This is a few of my favorites. Purple Rain, 1999, KISS, Cream, Take Me With You, When Doves Cry, Pussy Control & Baby I'm A Star, Diamonds & Pearls❤❤
