“I’d stay up all night listening”: the two musicians Prince always tried to play like
Pop whirlwind and musical maestro Prince was possessed by a headstrong creative vision when he was still in his teens. Producing, arranging, composing, and performing the entirety of his 1978 debut For You at 19 years old, his subsequent career and chart domination of the 1980s were powered by an unwavering pursuit of self-sufficiency and controlling every inch of the recording process for defining albums such as Purple Rain and 1999.
His gift for multi-instrumentalism and studio mastery was bolstered by a breathless schedule. Throughout the 1980s, he released nine studio albums on top of various side projects and collaborations, most notably with The Family, who cut the original version of ‘Nothing Compares 2 U‘.
Prince came from impressive musical stock. Hailing from Minneapolis and born to jazz singer Mattie Della and pianist John Lewis Nelson, the young Prince was exposed early on to the songwriting craft, as was his singer-sister Tyka Nelson. Attributing his “wild side” to his mother, it was watching his father perform at five years old that proved the most formative moment: “It was great, I couldn’t believe it. People were screaming. From then on, I think I wanted to be a musician.”
With an unrivalled reputation for his staunch work ethic and trend-setting impact on popular culture, it’s interesting to consider the artists he sought inspiration from. Never one to embrace the media spotlight too readily, he did occasionally grant the odd interview and shed light on the artists that he revered. Unwittingly triggering the myth that he only listened to his own music, Prince told Riot On! in 1979: “I haven’t had a lot of time to develop a favourite artist. I try not to listen to too many people. It’s distracting.”
Prince would loosen up later in life, candidly revealing to Mojo in 1997 the artists he held affection for and even challenging artists who remained guarded about their heroes: “It’s such a drag to have musicians claim they never listen to the competition. They’re liars, man. I mean, I know bands who in the press badmouth artists they revere in rehearsal.”
He added: “I don’t wanna be like that. I crave great musicianship, and I don’t care who provides it. I’ve got no problems saying I dig D’Angelo. Or some of the things that Björk does… the Cocteau Twins… Musicians — we’re family. I hope young musicians learn from me — my mistakes too — the way I learned.”
For such a powerhouse original, Prince offers no faint praise for two artists he credits for almost imitating early in his career. Speaking to his hometown’s Minnesota Monthly about the importance of the region’s late-night KQRS radio: “That was the bomb station. I’d stay up all night listening to it. That’s where I discovered Carlos Santana, Maria Muldaur, and Joni Mitchell. Was I influenced by that?… Sure I was. Back then, I always tried to play like Carlos or Boz Scaggs.”
A virtuoso on the guitar, Prince’s admiration for Santana can be seen in ‘Purple Rain‘s’ ripping solo, and Scaggs’ early LPs boast a genre diversity that no doubt was appealing to the young Prince. Santana’s and Scaggs’ namechecking is an intriguing window into Prince’s creative development, an impressive accolade from an artist who didn’t mince his words when affording praise and doling out takedowns.
