If you really want to know about the talents of any artist put them in a room with a mic and acoustic instruments.
Back in the summer of 1987, when I was playing with The Del Vikings, we played a pool party in New Jersey - a rather exclusive pool party. The guy throwing it was a high-powered sports and entertainment lawyer; there was a dizzying array of celebrities, including MTV personalities and execs.
We got rained on during our first set. After the rain let up we broke everything down, and loaded out. However, we were asked (for a substantial additional fee) if we could continue the set inside. I played on the acoustic grand and my melodica, the bass player and guitarist shared a practice amp and the drummer used his snare and hi-hat with brushes. The singers sang without any amplification at all. We did two one hour sets. The reception was amazing, and we all had a lot of fun playing in the casual format.
It was less than 18 months later that MTV aired it's first episode of MTV UnPlugged. I'll never know, and there's a very different "origins" story on Wikipedia, but I've always wondered if that particular afternoon and evening was a major part of the inspiration for MTV UnPlugged.