Prince’s Legacy: His 57 Greatest Songs from the Classic Years (1978 – 1996)

Djrob:

I was inspired to read your blog after we talked about the passing of Prince. Certainly a musical figure that is a big part of my life and that he, as well as Michael Jackson, were two musicians with whom I grew up and came of age following and listening to.

As I reviewed your list of Prince’s top 57 songs, it brought back lots of memories. I thought about a lot of the songs which were either so in sync with the times or so cleverly penned that they would deserve recognition on such a list. It’s difficult to get agreement across a broad spectrum of people on what truly were the best 57 songs by Prince. There might be some debate about what his classic period might have been but the years of demarcation (1978 -1996) make sense. For fun, I thought I would politely, respectfully and slightly tongue-in-cheek submit this retort for general consideration.

“Alphabet St” did well for Prince but was probably not even in the top four tracks on that LP. “Positivity” and “Anna Stesia” are certainly more of interesting rhythmically and vocally but depart from Prince’s inclusion of crossover tracks for popular consumption on an LP.

I would nominate “Forever In My Life” for a spot in the top 57. It’s a practical example of the clever things that Prince loved to do with vocals. Instead of using the classic “call and response” from the backing vocals, he put the backing vocal in front of the verse which he then sung, again pointing to the creativity and playfulness of Prince’s composing.

There is without question a glaring omission from this 57 last and that is “I’m Yours” from the first LP “For You.” Not only did Prince compose, perform and arrange all the tunes on his first two LPs, but “I’m yours” is probably one of the most simple, yet interesting tunes he ever wrote, with a pop vocal and a rock platform featuring trading 4s between Prince on electric guitar and electric bass in a way in which we very rarely heard in any type of pop, funk or R&B tune of the time or since. You might have to go back to Graham Central Station, Mother’s Finest or Betty (Mabry) Davis to hear something similar. Other notable mentions from that album would, of course, include “Soft and Wet” and Crazy You” but “I’m Yours is a definite nominee for this list.

I noticed that “Emancipation” really didn’t get very much love on this list and are so many tunes from that album which I think deserve recognition. It makes the cut for his “classic years” and is a three-disc set so there is a lot of material from which to choose. “In This Bed I Scream” and “The Holy River” are probably the two which, besides the covers, are notables from the set.

Omitted from the list is the “Batman” soundtrack which I think was one of the most creative soundtracks of its time. Others soundtracks that come to mind are Herbie Hancock’s soundtrack to the original “Death Wish” starring Charles Bronson and Stanley Clarke’s “Passenger 57” soundtrack starring Wesley Snipes. Absolutely phenomenal soundtracks that you can listen to from beginning to end and easily “Batman” is one of those soundtracks that fits that bill. Curtis Mayfield’s Superfly and Isaac Hayes’ Shaft fit the bill as well. My nominee from this recording would be “Electric chair.” In the chorus, Prince offers:

“If a man is considered guilty
For what goes on in his mind
Then give me the electric chair
For all my future crimes…”

Once again never to be outdone by a clever vocal.

When I think about prolific vocalists and singer-songwriters, the three that come to mind are Prince, Stevie Wonder and Joni Mitchell: Stevie Wonder because of being a multi-instrumentalist, a strong composer and ability to provide diverse messages whether they be about love, politics or religion all at the same time if need be (i.e. “Songs in the Key of Life” and “Conversation Peace”) and Joni Mitchell for many of the same reasons except her not being a mufti-instrumentalist but a sophisticated composer (i.e. “Mingus,” “Turbulent Indigo” and “Chalk Mark in a Rain Storm”). Prince absolutely stands with these three for this musical idiom.

Glad to see “Anotherloverholenyohead” on this list; “Girls and Boys” deserves an honorable mention. Since “Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic,” “Musicology” and “3121” fall outside the defined period, those tracks will have to wait for another list.

I do think however that there is another glaring omission and that is “The Black Album,” one of the classics of its time because of its underground release. “Bob George” and “Movie Star” are two of the most entertaining songs that you might never listen to by Prince but certainly deserve honorable mention (check them out!)

No love for “Chaos and Disorder?” It makes the classic years cut and features a series of tracks in successions that should be listened to in order:

3. “Dinner with Delores”
4. “The Same December”
5. “Right the Wrong”
6. “Zannalee”

My favorite and a top 57 nominee is track 10 “Dig U Better Dead,” another display of his ability to integrate sexuality, spirituality and politics.

In an interview with Arsenio Hall, Miles Davis referred to Prince as “a genius.” Davis said, “he can do anything [musically].” And I would consider Prince one of the all-time great rock guitarist of his time. The creativity, virtuosity and risks he took deserve mention here. There were several great rock/blues style guitarists of the latter 20th century but six stand out to me for their contributions to musicians and performance art as a whole: they include the too-soon departed Jimi Hendrix, the eclectic Eric Clapton and George Benson, the versatile Mahavishnu John McLaughlin, the scintillating clarity of Eddie Van Halen and the late Hendrix disciple Pete Cosey. This list certainly takes a pretty diverse view of the instrument and its virtuosos. My point is that Prince was a guitarist of significant note.

One of the things that prompted me to even response the blog was my going through it and having it bring back so many great memories about this musician which whom I came of age and also a conversation with DJRob about a Prince tune we were listening to, “Strollin’,” that I remarked is a favorite of mine but would not crack my top 16 Prince songs. So to go through this list of 57, I guess I proved to myself that it is not even in my top 57. It’s a memorable track because back in the day when I would trade mix tapes with a good friend of mine (whom I will call B, the biggest Prince fan I’ve ever met or known), I would for some reason begin half a dozen of them with “Strollin’.” B would pop in the cassette (see Wikipedia for a definition if you must), turn to me and say, Really??, Strollin’?” Each time, I would be surprised by not remembering that I’d recorded it for him before. The bottom line is that it didn’t crack my “top 16” and it appears I doesn’t crack my top 57 either but if you’re not familiar with it, maybe throw it on and just listen to it. There’s nothing particularly special about it but a walking baseline with a very simple vocal setting and a very simple sentiment about a couple enjoying being together.

I hope this was fun and contributory to the blog. There many things about which I am passionate: music is one of them. Farewell, Prince; gone but never to be forgotten.

ddw