We’ve all seen the video before. Probably multiple times.
During George Harrison‘s posthumous 2004 induction into the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame as a solo artist, an assemblage of rock ‘n’ roll royalty performed his song “While My Guitar Gently Weeps”. Tom Petty, Steve Winwood, Jeff Lynn, etc. But it was Prince who delivered a performance that left his more senior colleagues gawking in awe.
Now, 17 years later, Joel Gallen, the director of the original broadcast, has released a director’s cut of the performance, correcting things that have bothered him for almost two decades.
According to Gallen, “17 years after this stunning performance by Prince, I finally had the chance to go in and re-edit it slightly – since there were several shots that were bothering me. I got rid of all the dissolves and made them all cuts, and added lots more close ups of Prince during his solo. I think it’s better now.”
While Petty et al are good, the performance turns to fire at 3:29 when the spotlight hits the red chapeau wearing musical genius.
One of the great joys of the video remains watching the looks on the faces of Tom, Steve, Jeff, as well as George’s son Dhani as they are up-close and personal for this incendiary solo. The new cut may even include a few more shots of them reacting to Prince just being Prince, as well. They were probably thinking the same thing I was. “WTF? Playing guitar isn’t even the thing this guy is best known for!”
But does the new edit solve the performance’s biggest mystery? Where does Prince’s guitar go at the end? Sadly, no. We’ll just have to keep assuming that it ascended to heaven. If you’ve got a better idea, I’d love to hear it.
