Odds and Ends:
What other skills round out a music performer? How about the ability to play instruments? As mentioned, Michael had rudimentary skills. He could play simple enough works to be recorded, perhaps, but when he had a hit-in-the-making such as “Beat It”, for instance, he’d call in Eddie Van Halen to perform the guitar solos because they were beyond Michael’s ability. On the other side, Prince is one of the most skilled musicians in history- Speaking to members of The New Power Generation- his post-revolution revolving-member band in the 90’s, and confirmed in numerous Prince biographies, he’s a master of over 59 different types of instruments- he could be a tenured music professor for any one of these instruments at the most prestigous of music programs. And, while the debate rages on, the majority of polls predominately consider Prince the greatest guitarist in history- he long ago surpassed one of his sources of influence, Jimi Hendrix, by popular consensus.
When recording albums, Prince often records every section himself- sometimes the album comes to creation without another human being involved in performance of the music but Prince. And when his bands are the ones performing the songs? If they slip up, Prince has been known to kick them off their instrument and replace their part with his effort. Prince’s only instrumental weak-spot is the brass section. To what degree he can or can’t play horns is unknown, so he has a short list of the greatest horn players around at his beck and call for performances.
Clearly, when it comes to playing the music- Prince stands alone not only from Michael, but from the overwhelming majority of other musicians.
So what comes next when the music is being made? Production of albums. Michael worked with many amazing producers to get his hit albums out. Talented people working the sound boards, arranging the tracks, filling in the fine details. Yet again, Prince stands out. If you look on the majority of Prince’s albums throughout his career, you will notice a phrase synonymous with Prince’s legend: “Produced, Arranged, Composed and Performed by Prince”. That’s right, not only is Prince performing every single instrument, he’s the one working the soundboard, composing the songs, arranging the tracks- but in recent years, he’s even crossed into self-packaging and producing his work through his own record label, he’s done some amazingly innovate publishing stunts that have changed the recording industry.
When it comes to putting an album together- Prince is a one man army.
Awards. They are the ultimate measure of talent for an artist, no? No, of course they aren’t. Award ceremonies in any entertainment field are highly flawed, corrupt messes. The award programs that exist for music are highly political, often swayed by various factors unrelated to the work, and easily (and often) bought-and-paid-for by corrupt aspects of the radio and music industry.
Michael has won a staggering amount of awards of all varieties, though when you look to Prince he’s won a comparable amount. Michael has won some that Prince hasn’t (for instance, a Grammy for “We Are the World” for which Michael actually blocked Prince from participating), and Prince has won awards that Michael never did (An Oscar for Purple Rain’s soundtrack).
However, Prince has achievements and awards of such unique variety it’s interesting to examine.
Prince has had an award winning national Joffrey Ballet tour, set to his music, travel the nation to sellout performances- twice. He recently booked the O2 arena in the U.K. for an unprecedented 21 nights, selling out in record time. Prince also has the #1 Super Bowl halftime show in Super Bowl history, holding the highest ratings and overwhelming critical agreement of its superiority to any effort before or since. Both men have done amazing work with charities, though Prince has done most of his within his hometown of Minneapolis, while Michael’s was more global.
Still, when compared both receive major thumbs up for their accomplishments. Both have won well deserved awards by the boat load.
There’s one key difference that makes Prince’s award wins all the more impressive, though. Michael Jackson was beloved by the music industry executives. Michael was glad to follow their rules, pay for radio time, and wait years between releases, all while allowing the rights to his music to go to the publishing studio.
Prince, however, has led a charge against the corruption within the radio and music industries, leading to major changes in the way artists are treated and working to ensure that when an artist makes a song, they maintain the rights to it. Prince’s famous “name change” to his logo (technically an unpronounceable symbol, though known for copyright purposes as “Love Symbol #2″) was often seen as a bizarre quirk of “crazy” by Prince. Yet the stunt was merely a means for him to work through a stifling Warner Brother’s contract via loophole, and allow him to do what he most wanted- continue to put out his music at the pace he wanted. (Using the logo was simply one of Prince’s trademark examples of humor- his version of a social experiement, if you will. The term “Artist Formerly Known as Prince” is not his creation- that is what the media dubbed him, and thus his use of “The Artist” on some occassions.)
The fact that Prince continues to win awards from the very same people he’s started a war against speaks to the quality- and respect for- his work.
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