Happy Birthday To His Royal Badness: Prince

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="267" caption="The Prince, Photo Credit: Micahmedia"][/caption]

The great leader of The Who and guitarist, Pete Townshend, once said that the Beatles were four guys, but Prince was one man. This is the respect and accolades the Minneapolis musician have garnered from his peers and elder statesmen in music. For me, there has never been a musician with the total package like Prince Rogers Nelson; Prince may not be able to dance like the late Michael Jackson; or write lyrics as good as Bono or Dylan; or have the pure honey-suckle voice of a Stevie Wonder or a Roy Orbison, but if you want all those musical attributes in one man, it is in Prince.

You want dancing… watch Prince in the video for Little Red Corvette; you want honey-suckle voice, listen to Prince emote in Purple Rain; and if you want lyrics, go back again to Little Red Corvette… with lyrics like: she had a pocket full of horses, Trojans, and some of them used…. I remembered the first time when I heard Prince’s music - I was taking part in a joint military exercise in Germany when I heard the German soldiers playing the music of Prince… specifically, the party anthem, 1999. It was later on when I heard the pulsating beat of When Doves Cry… when I decided to purchase every single album he had made then. I had the pleasure when I was stationed in Fort Lewis, Washington to see him live… and to this day, it was one of the best live performances that I have ever witnessed.

I remembered the spirited arguments among my siblings and friends about who was the “baddest” between Michael Jackson and Prince. I would always tell my little sister that if one saw Michael performing every night, they will get accustomed to his dancing …because they are  limited moves in dancing and to one’s repertoire… no matter how unique (the Moon Walk)… but Prince can, if he so chooses, play every night… literally different genres of music, if the patrons so desired. Prince once boast that there weren’t many instruments that he hadn’t mastered and went on to opine that he would only defer to his friend… the late Jazz genius, Miles Davis and only because Miles played the trumpet.

Prince’s prowess in music is legendary; you want guitar to rival Van Halen or Hendricks, listen to the opening riffs in When Doves Cry or in the romp, U Got The Look; you want bass playing to rival anything you hear from Bootsy Collins, from Sly and The Family Stone or Flea, from The  Red Hot Chili Peppers, listen to Prince’s  playing on the title  track of Sign O The Times; you want sobering lyrics, listen to “If I were your Girlfriend”: If I were your girlfriend, would you run to me even if someone hurt you even if the someone was me?  You want to hear angelic voices, listen to Prince's voice in the song, Adore. I used to be afraid… thinking that Prince would lose his voice, but in listening to greats like Van Morrison and Smokey Robinson, who could still “blow,”  I am certain Prince at age 52 and beyond will still have the unique gifts, which caused the Rolling Stone magazine to dub him, “His Royal Badness.”

I am reminded that the competition between the late Michael Jackson and Prince was not only played out among fans of both; but apparently they knew about it too. It was reported by one of the producers (Kenny Ortega) for the last tour MJ was working on before his untimely death, that when he asked Michael why he was practicing so hard… The King of Pop responded by saying that when the muse came to him in the wee hours with ideas, if he didn’t write them down, that said muse might give them to Prince. There is no greater compliment needed than that – Happy Purple Birthday Prince Rogers Nelson.