George Harrison passed away in 2001 before his induction at the 2004 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ceremony. So, his former Traveling Wilburys colleagues Tom Petty and Jeff Lynne led an all-star group, including Steve Winwood and Prince, for a rousing performance of “While My Guitar Gently Weeps.”
Come listen for Tom Petty’s haunting vocals, but stay for Prince’s amazing guitar solo at the end. Seriously, do not stop before Prince takes over.
The rest of the Beatles initially were not very impressed with “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” when Harrison first played it for them in 1968. But the song became one of their classics, with Eric Clapton playing on the original Beatle version.
In tribute to Prince, on Saturday night Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band opened with “Purple Rain.” The band entered the stage covered in purple light and then lit into the classic Prince song.
As regular readers know, we are big Springsteen fans. But I have to admit that Springsteen’s version of “Purple Rain” was much better than I expected. And Nils Lofgren’s guitar solo did the Purple One justice. Check out the performance at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center on April 23, 2016.
At least for now, Springsteen is offering the audio of the performance of “Purple Rain” as a free download on his website. Leave your two cents in the comments.
Today, the world received the shocking news that Prince had passed away at the age of 57. Like so many others, I can think back to many times where his music was the soundtrack to my past memories going back around four decades.
One of Prince’s memorable performances was at the Super Bowl XLI Halftime Show in February 2007. It was one of the most spectacular Super Bowl half-time shows of all time. Rolling Stone and Sports Illustrated rank it the second-best of all time (only behind the emotional post-9/11 U2 show), while Billboard ranks Prince’s show at number one.
At the 2007 halftime show, Prince’s setlist included “We Will Rock You,” “Let’s Go Crazy,” “Baby I’m a Star,” “Proud Mary,” “All Along the Watchtower,” “Best of You,” and “Purple Rain.” Below is his performance of “Purple Rain” during a downpour of rain.
Reportedly, before Prince went on the stage, organizers called him to ask if it was going to be a problem that it was raining. Prince responded, “Can you make it rain harder?” As we mourn his loss, this performance is a great way to remember how his music moved us. RIP.
Additionally, an NFL video features clips and a discussion of his amazing performance. (Within 24 hours of Prince’s death, the NFL changed the policy on the video so it is no longer available for embedding, but you may watch it here.)
Goodnight, our Prince.
What is your favorite Prince memory? Leave your two cents in the comments.
Prince has recently launched his own website, and new music is starting to trickle out. Although the website does not have much going on yet, it is a sign of the times that more is coming soon. For now, he does give us a new song and video, “Screwdriver.” Check it out.
On June 16 in 1903, Henry Ford signed the papers incorporating Ford Motor Company. A month later, the first Ford car was manufactured in Detroit. But it would not be until later when the company really began doing well, following the 1908 introduction of the Model T and the 1913 creation of an assembly line allowing mass production.
The automobile is intertwined with American history as well as with popular culture, as there are numerous songs about the highway and cars. Some popular songs are specific about the vehicles, such as Janis Joplin’s desire for a Mercedes Benz, Don McLean’s Chevy at the levy, and Prince’s Little Red Corvette.
Ford Motor Company products appear in songs too. In the video below, Marc Cohn sings about Ford’s Thunderbird car in “Silver Thunderbird.”
The title of the song “Silver Thunderbird” focuses on the car, which began manufacturing in 1955 and ended its run in 2005. But the lyrics of the song address Cohn’s childhood memories of how his father loved his car. “Great big fins and painted steel;/ Man it looked just like the batmobile,/ With my old man behind the wheel.”
“Silver Thunderbird” captures what a car can mean to a family. And I can relate, having grown up with parents who for some reason thought it was important to be loyal to one car company.
“Silver Thunderbird” is from Marc Cohn’s self-titled album from 1991 that also included the hit, “Walking in Memphis.” “Silver Thunderbird” later was covered by Jo Dee Mesina.
The most famous song about a Ford car is also one of the greatest car songs ever. “Mustang Sally” was written by Mack Rice and immortalized by Wilson Pickett in 1966.
The song, which asks Sally to slow her Mustang down, is not quite as wholesome as Cohn’s song about the Thunderbird. But the difference in song themes matches the different reputations of the two cars. Check out this amazing live Wilson Pickett performance.
Although nobody can surpass Pickett’s version, there are a number of good covers of “Mustang Sally.” For example, in the excellent rise-and-fall-of-an-Irish-soul-band movie The Commitments (1991), the band’s performance of the song is one of the highlights of the film, which came out the same year as Cohn’s song about the Thunderbird.
The movie scene with The Commitments performing the song is no longer available on YouTube. But here is one of the group’s live performances, featuring lead singer Andrew Strong.
