By Dave Siderski

Like so many others, I was both surprised and saddened to hear the news of the passing of Prince last Thursday. I had turned on CNN expecting to hear the typical update about the Democratic and Republican primary races. For once, we heard very little about this as the focus was almost entirely on one of the great musical icons of the past 35 years. After following this story for the past several days, I’ve learned a great deal about Prince that I never knew. I also now realize that I never truly appreciated what an incredibly talented and unique musician this man actually was.

Growing up in the 1980’s, the first songs of Prince that I remember hearing were 1999 and Little Red Corvette. They used to play these at the roller skating rink on Revere Beach Parkway where I hung out as a kid. These were great dance tunes which fit right in with the venue. Later, I bought Prince’s album Dirty Mind and listened to his song, Head, which elicited the snickers and giggles of a 13 year old listening to something while hoping his parents wouldn’t walk in. Then of course there was the groundbreaking Purple Rain Album which came out in 1984 and gave us singles such as: When Doves Cry, Let’s Go Crazy and Darling Nikki, in addition to the title track.

As I got a little older, my musical tastes gravitated more towards Classic Rock and later I developed a love for the genres of jazz and blues. I followed Prince’s music less closely and, placed him in the category of pop artists from the 80’s who no longer appealed to me. In retrospect, yes this was completely ignorant and unfair on my part. Mind you, I still liked Prince but he wasn’t necessarily my first choice when I decided to pop a tape or CD in the home or car stereo. Now I’ll fast forward to last Thursday.

I started to learn more about his life, career and relentless 24/7 dedication to the pursuit of his craft. There was talk of his 2:00 AM performances at Paisley Park along with the vast warehouse of his unreleased recordings referred to as “The Vault”. I listened to his guitar solo as he and several other artists performed: “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” in tribute to George Harrison. Damn! I never realized how brilliant this man was on the guitar! I listened and watched footage of him jamming with Miles Davis and James Brown. I listened to his classic cover of Jimi Hendrix’s “Red House, which he aptly renamed “Purple House”. Wow! This guy could really jam!

Finally, I went back and listened…….really listened…….to some of his classic tunes back in the 80’s, for example Purple Rain and When Doves Cry. I mean this stuff was incredible. I talked of my love of Classic Rock, Blues and Jazz, well you can hear elements of all of these genres and so much more in his music; R+B, Soul, Funk, Motown, Early Rock and Roll, the range and depth of Prince’s music was endless. This guy wasn’t just any old pop star, he was the real deal!

Prince was a master of nearly every instrument imaginable. On his very first album, he performed 27 separate instruments. Yes, 27 instruments! That is just unfathomable! It was Prince who wrote the most songs that appear among Rolling Stone’s “500 Greatest Songs of All Time”. In addition to his own hits, he also wrote numerous hit tunes for other artists including: Stand Back, by Stevie Nicks, The Glamorous Life, by Sheila E, Manic Monday, by the Bangles, I Feel For You, by Chaka Khan, “Nothing Compares to U”, by Sinead O’Connor, and numerous, numerous others. Prince was also unique in his support of women in music and a prolific philanthropist.

I’m not sure what else there is to say here except that, as in any other pursuit, a truly great musician stands the test of time. Prince has already influenced countless musicians over the course of his 35+ year musical career. Safe to say, we will still be talking about innovative influence of Prince 50 or even 100 years from now. I have no doubt that somewhere out there right now is a burgeoning future young musical genius listening to Prince for the first time right now who will, in the future, point to Prince as one of his or her inspirations as an artist. If that isn’t the ultimate definition of greatness, I’m not sure what is.

My best to Prince’s family and friends during his time. Thankfully his music will live on for generations to come!

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