Friday, April 22, 2016

VenuG Presents: Prince RIP The Legacy that Prince left apart from Purple Rain?



This is an expanded version of my reaction at a status on Facebook of Madhavan Narayanan aka @madversity on Twitter. Thanks :)
To know about the author's connection with music,
Please read THIS blog post titled
" My initiation into Music" Thank You.
The author is a music freak, amateur singer, songwriter, composer, who is a passionate music mentor, currently living in Kolkata for work! But his protégés are all over the globe, whom he meets on the street, on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram & Periscope.
You can see for yourself by joining his scopes
@Venuspeak1560 & @Venuspeak katch.me/Venuspeak (Katch is closing on 4th May after which they'd be available on YouTube account "VenuG Venuspeak"

Note: This post is written from his memories & does not refer to any Prince Song.
Reader could very well find that on Wikipedia.
But many facets of his, especially those of an incognito philanthropist, theologist & mentor, I'm sure would be missing there.
Errors could creep in as neither did I Google nor go to Rolling Stones or Wikipedia.
He won everything from an Oscar, The Golden Globe both for Purple Rain, half a dozen Grammy's & 3 or 4 MTV VMA .
He's a part of Rolling Stones Rock & Roll Hall of Fame & must be among the top 30 all time musicians in the list of Rolling Stones Magazines Top 500,Rock Artistes.
The top being The Beatles.
Not only.did he write, record sing originals produce movies, but also did cover great songs. The best two to my memory is
A) While my Guitar Gently Weeps by The Beatles
B),I'm a Creep by Radiohead at Coachella fsstival.
He was a multi talented , multi-instrumentalist musician who played many musical instruments & at times two instruments together . Guitar & Piano, Guitar & Harmonica. Guitar & Drums.
The only matching musician was Brian Jones of The Rolling Stones. But Jones died young. He played Guitar, flute , harmonica , Tabla, ukulele, Sitar. 
Also Prince was a Guitar virtuoso of the level of Slash, Clapton, Page, John Mayer.
His genres were Funk, Pop R&B & Psychedelia. 
His best remembered skill was, he was a pioneer in online music selling without use of media, record companies (with whom he had a love hate relationship) & PR. He dropped albums, for free. Some of his latter albums were 6 hour length impossible on a Vinyl record double set. He did things now tried by Rihanna & Kanye West who drop albums on iTunes. Remember there was no iTunes / Spotify when he started this in the 90s. He never moved to New York or LA the home of recording companies & his every music gig was better than a Broadway play like Jesus Christ Superstar or Bombay Monsoon. Staying in Minnesota he produced his own albums, distributed them.
He was a brilliant theologist who could quote from religious books of many religions. 
He was a performer of the Level of The Rolling Stones
Live Show designer like Madonna for whom he produced a Record. Carmen Electra (name Carmen was his suggestion.
&
Marketer like Rihanna.
To have all the above qualities in one individual is fluke of nature.
Plus he was a Music Mentor to many including Madonna.

He would suddenly invite musicians at odd hours at short notice & brainstorm, write & record albums. His late night post gig party invites are remembered by his fan. He also at times invited musicians to impromptu Jam sessions, which were know for their high quality music output. 


He is to be remembered for his flamboyant appearance as the likes of Freddie Mercury of Queen & Multi instrument playing skills like Brian Jones of The Rolling Stones, lastly for his extravagant live shows which never used recorded music backup & at times like a Broadway Musical. 
Legacy that Prince Left
1 A Brilliant song writer.
2 A very intellectual thinker.
3 Virtuoso Instrumentalist
4 Funk musician
5 Theologician
6 Mentor
7 Social Activist par excellence
8 Incognito Philanthropist
9 Multi Talented artiste, who could play many instruments at times 2,of them together. 
10 Brilliant Live show producer.
11 Great friend
12 Fashion aficionados 
13 Online music marketer.
14 Someone who could take the might of Powerful record companies. 

RIP Prince
I'm sure you will inspire many even after your demise at the age of 57.