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Power Of Soul: A Tribute To Jimi Hendrix Prince compilation
Sony Music Entertainment
compilationI learned from Jimi Hendrix. They all wanted him to do the tricks, and at the end of his career, he just wanted to play.
Jimi Hendrix has been long cited a major creative influence on Prince. In his early career, Prince brushed aside comparisons between him and Hendrix, saying in 1985 his style was far closer to “prettier” flare of Carlos Santana, and that it was only because Hendrix was black such comparisons were drawn. Prince believed being compared to anybody was an accusation of ripping them off. It would also not have been lost on Prince when signing with Warner Bros Records in 1977 they were the label also of Hendrix.
That aside, Prince was no doubt flattered by the comparison, and performed Hendrix’s 1967 track Red House in concert on a number occasions from 1986 and right up to 2008. In 1999, Prince, then under the name Prince Love Symbol, recorded his version of the track in the studio and renamed it Purple House, after his Kiowa Trail home, which was indeed painted purple. The song is a bluesy cover played in Prince’s inimitable style, captured at Paisley Park Studios alongside Larry Graham on bass.
In November 1998 Hendrix’s Machine Gun was the inspiration behind Prince’s instrumental Habibi – the name given to his new purple symbol shaped guitar. But fearing the comparison was too close to the 1970 original, he edited the track before eventually releasing it on the NPG Music Club on 22 April 2001. Prince instead reached out to the Hendrix Estate to offer them a cover of Machine Gun free of charge. Then in 2004, the album’s producers contacted Prince, and sent them Purple House. Prince’s albums LotusFlow3r and Plectrumelectrum contain several songs drawing inspiration from Jimi Hendrix.
In December 1999, Prince performed Purple House during a medley in his concert marking the turn of the Millennium, Rave Un2 The Year 2000 and in 2004 gave the track to the Hendrix Estate to release on Power Of Soul: A Tribute To Jimi Hendrix, which dropped on 4 May 2004. The compilation also features Prince collaborators George Clinton, Lenny Kravitz, Chaka Khan and Sounds Of Blackness to name but a few. Prince’s Purple House has not been since released elsewhere.
Performers
- Vocals / All instr.
- Prince Love Symbol Purple House
- Bass Guitar
- Larry Graham Purple House
Data
- Producer
- Various
- Label
- Experience Hendrix
- Distribution
- Sony Music Entertainment
- Released
- 22 years ago on 4 May 2004
- Running Time
- 71:09
- US Chart Peak
- Did not chart
- UK Chart Peak
- Did not chart
- Orig. Format
-
Tracklist
- Gratitude [Intro by James "Al" Hendrix] (0:18)
- Are You Experienced? [Musiq] (4:23)
- Spanish Castle Magic [Carlos Santana] (4:09)
- Purple House [Prince] (3:39)
- The Wind Cries Mary [Sting] (4:31)
- Voodoo Child (Slight Return) [Earth, Wind & Fire] (3:38)
- Power Of Soul [Bootsy Collins and George Clinton] (4:48)
- Burning Of The Midnight Lamp [Eric Clapton] (4:23)
- Have You Ever Been (To Electric Ladyland) [Lenny Kravitz] (3:08)
- 30 Years [James "Al" Hendrix] (0:13)
- Who Knows [Devoted Spirits] (3:16)
- Purple Haze [Robert Randolph and The Family Band] (4:37)
- Going Home [Velvert Turner] (0:34)
- Little Wing [Chaka Khan and Kenny Olson] (3:40)
- Castles Made Of Sand [Sounds Of Blackness] (3:06)
- May This Be Love [Eric Gales] (4:26)
- Foxey Lady [Cee-Lo] (3:40)
- Red House [John Lee Hooker] (4:04)
- Little Wing / 3rd Stone From The Sun [Stevie Ray Vaughan / Double Trouble] (12:28)
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