Battle of the Underrated Guitarists: #24 (Round 2) Robin Trower vs Prince

[a21schizoidman]

ROBIN TROWER

Robin Leonard Trower (born 9 March 1945 in Catford, South East London, England) is an English rock guitarist who achieved success with Procol Harum during the 1960s, and then again as the leader of his own Hendrixesque power trio.

He grew up in the seaside resort of Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England.

In 1962, Robin Trower formed a group that would come to be known as The Paramounts, later including fellow Southend High School pupil Gary Brooker. The Paramounts disbanded in 1966 to pursue individual projects. Trower then joined new band Procol Harum in 1967, with whom he remained until 1972. After going solo in 1973 (his place in Procol Harum being taken by Dave Ball), he found the individual identity and style that have brought him acclaim to this day.

Before launching his own eponymous band, he joined singer Frankie Miller, bass player James Dewar, and former Jethro Tull drummer Clive Bunker to form the short-lived combo Jude. Although this outfit played some well-received gigs, it did not record and soon split up.

Trower retained Dewar as a bassist, who took on lead vocals as well, and recruited drummer Reg Isidore (later replaced by Bill Lordan) to form the Robin Trower Band in 1973.

Perhaps Trower's most famous album is Bridge of Sighs (1974). This album, along with his first and third solo albums, was produced by his former Procol Harum bandmate, organist Matthew Fisher.

In 1977, feeling he had already proven himself as a performer, Trower ventured into new musical realms, as demonstrated by the release of the In City Dreams album. The 1978 release of Caravan to Midnight was in a different style from the rest of his earlier work, symbolising a change in direction for him. "I am spending much more time and energy and effort on writing and arranging the material," he said at the time, adding "I think music today is suffering greatly from a cleanness. It's too set, too pat, too clever, there's not enough spontaneity."

In the early 1980s, Trower teamed up with former Cream bassist Jack Bruce and his previous drummer Lordan for two incarnations, BLT and Truce respectively.

Trower's album, Living Out of Time (2003), features the return of veteran bandmates Dave Bronze on bass, vocalist Davey Pattison (formerly with Ronnie Montrose's band Gamma) and Pete Thompson on drums - the same lineup as the mid 1980s albums Passion and Take What You Need.

Trower toured the United States and Canada in summer and autumn 2006. A 2008 World Tour began in Ft. Pierce, Florida on January 16, 2008. Joining Davey Pattison and Pete Thompson is Glenn Letsch (formerly of Gamma) playing bass. European dates began in April.

Too Rolling Stoned:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OhQJE...eature=related

Bridge of Sighs:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJ97e...eature=related

Little Girl:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dama3...eature=related

vs

PRINCE

Prince Rogers Nelson (born June 7, 1958, in Minneapolis, Minnesota) is an American musician. He performs simply as Prince, but has also been known by various other names, among them an unpronounceable symbol, leading fans and critics to dub him The Artist Formerly Known As Prince or simply The Artist.

Prince is a prolific artist, having released several hundred songs both under his own name and with other artists. He has won six Grammy Awards and an Academy Award, and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2004. In 2004, he was named as the top male pop artist of the past 25 years by ARC Rock on the Net,[1] and Rolling Stone Magazine ranked Prince #28 on their list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.[2]

From his early material, rooted in R&B, soul and funk, Prince has expanded his musical palette throughout his career, absorbing many other genres including pop, rock, jazz, new wave, psychedelia and hip hop. Some of his primary influences include Sly Stone, Curtis Mayfield, Jimi Hendrix, Joni Mitchell, Madonna and Carlos Santana. The distinctive characteristics of the early-to-mid 1980s work, such as sparse and industrial-sounding drum machine arrangements and the use of synthesizer riffs to serve the role traditionally occupied by horn riffs in earlier R&B, funk and soul music—was called the "Minneapolis sound" and has proved very influential.

(Prince doesnt allow youtube vids so..)
http://www.last.fm/music/Prince

PLEASE LISTEN BEFORE YOU VOTE!

[wrldindstries302]

May I suggest, to those who have the privilege of being able to "listen to" Prince songs, the guitar work in the following songs:

Lady Cab Driver
Let's Go Crazy
Purple Rain
Temptation
Batdance
Fury (http://www.last.fm/music/Prince/_/Fury?autostart)
Joy In Repetition (11 minute live version)
Computer Blue
Loose
Shhh
3 Chain's O Gold
The Everlasting Now
Last December
Family Name

Also, any live Prince is bound to have amazing guitar work, and he's a really good jazz-fusion guitarist, as evidenced by his instrumental albums Xenophobia and N.E.W.S.

Prince is my favorite guitarist of all time.

(second is Dean Ween, and he better be in this contest)

[AxlVanHagar]

His Royal Badness , hands down.

[DyWeasel]

Axl, your signature is a re-affirmation of why I read message boards. You simply cannot make stuff like that up.

[defenestrater]

This is a no contest win for Prince. Or at least, it should be.

[AxlVanHagar]

Axl, your signature is a re-affirmation of why I read message boards. You simply cannot make stuff like that up.

Very true! Good ol' P13 has been full of some quote worthy material over the years. His stuff is almost always good for a laugh. While I admire his devotion he is the biggest Poison nutswinger I've ever seen. Borderline scary.

[Jhail83]

Big fan of both artists, but my vote goes to Prince.

[foolosophy]

The artist formerly known as Prince.