I saw Prince perform a half dozen years or so ago at a club in Las Vegas. It was an incredible performance, easily the best I’ve ever seen in a nightclub, but I don’t think it was an unusually great show for Prince. He sounded like Jimi Hendrix fronting James Brown’s band, and the band was every bit as brilliant as he was–in fact, he left the stage for a half hour just to let them run amok. What a show. “So many hits, so little time,” he remarked at one point. “The old school, that’s the whole school,” he said at another.

Years ago, Tony Glover wrote of Little Walter: “Genius is a f—ed-over word these days, but Walter was one for sure. What’s more, he knows how to get you off.” Those words apply in full to Prince.

RIP Prince, and thanks for all the great music.