My favorite Prince song, I’m reticent to admit, is “Purple Rain.” The choice is a bit clichéd—it’s the title track from Prince’s most successful album (and first film)—and it’s hardly representative of Prince’s eclectic musical style or risqué lyrics. But what I love about “Purple Rain” is the searing guitar solo that transforms the gospel ballad into a showcase for Prince’s most defining qualities: his musicianship and technical prowess.
Watch the video of a live performance of the song below:
Prince died Thursday at the young age of 57. The Minneapolis native had been recording music for more than 40 years, and became known as much for his sexually-charged persona, seen in his live performances and music videos, as his unique brand of R&B that incorporated elements of rock, funk, pop, and gospel music. After his popularity peaked in the mid-1980s, Prince made forays into hip-hop music and changed his stage name to an unpronounceable symbol. Absurdly, he was introduced to a younger generation as a basketball-playing, pancake-loving fop in comedian Dave Chappelle’s sketch comedy show in the early 2000’s.
But his skills and talent as a musician should not be understated. He had an impressive vocal range, often hitting its depths and heights within the same song. Listen to 1984’s “Purple Rain” or 1994’s “The Most Beautiful Girl in the World,” the latter of which offers a sample of his distinctive falsetto. And Prince played several instruments, claiming to play all or nearly all the instruments on several of his early albums.
His guitar playing was informed by several musical traditions, including jazz, the blues, and funk. As the above video and others demonstrate, Prince was no simple strummer. His technical proficiency allowed him to play complicated licks that had his fingers moving quickly up and down the neck. Watch this performance at the 2004 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction of George Harrison’s “While My Guitar Gently Weeps,” which features a characteristic solo from Prince in the song’s outro. But Prince excelled with more subtle guitar work. Listen to an early minor hit, 1979’s “I Wanna Be Your Lover.” What could have been a straightforward disco track is elevated by Prince’s complex riffing, which pokes out in the verses.
Prince had an ear for the offbeat riff that could make a pop song unforgettable. The main hook in his biggest single, “When Doves Cry” from the 1984 Purple Rain album, employs some tricky syncopation that gives the song more depth than your average dance tune. His 1982 hit “1999” also plays with syncopation in the main riff, particularly in the song’s intro, so that the listener isn’t quite sure where the beat is until the drums kick in.
And in 1985’s “Raspberry Beret,” the synthesizer plays a rich riff that stretches itself out in juxtaposition to the funky rhythm section. Together, it sounds both dissonant and familiar. Splice Today’s Nicky Smith called “Raspberry Beret” the “ultimate pop song” in a 2013 blog post. “It’s densely layered and instantly inspires this serene, lush feeling of beautiful, sublime resignation,” Smith wrote.
“Sublime resignation” is a fancy way of saying “coolness.” Which is exactly what Prince’s music suggested, with a detached attitude that masked high-level talent.
