Prince is music.
Prince is a prolific writer.
Prince is a workaholic.
Prince can be tough at times.
Prince has a way of pushing you beyond your self-assumed boundaries and will have you doing things you never thought possible…
We hear these notions that describe Prince so often, it’s almost easy to gloss over exactly what they mean. Only when we hear specific stories or accounts about working with him do these phrases truly begin to resonate past lore and into real life experience.
Prince and the Purple Rain Era Studio Sessions: 1983 and 1984 describes a young man who is almost solely fixated on his craft. He “hears” something and becomes singularly focused on translating what he hears for us to enjoy. When he says his songs are his “children”, he truly means this. He grows them, nurtures them, feeds them, spends quality time with them, he does all he can to help develop them into beautiful works of art we all deeply connect to.
This book explores the meticulous ways in which our hero brings his children to life. What you’ll read here is a study guide really for students of the music industry, sound engineering, production, musicianship, songwriting, musical collaboration…it is a book that shows the dedication and tenacity that goes into being such a prolific artist and all that it takes to support that artist in their work. This book shows that success does not happen overnight…or even that your biggest songs aren’t always a direct download straight to tape. Sometimes you will tinker for weeks to get it juuusssst right. Bias aside (smile) Prince is of course the greatest to have ever done it, and it’s important to know that there’s A LOT of work and A LOT of sacrifice that happens behind the curtain…a message that clearly comes through in this book.
For fams, this book will give you a deeper appreciation for these songs that mean so much to us. The amount of work and care that Prince put into them is INCREDIBLE. For those who wonder what a certain song was about, you’ll get a bit of insight into that here. You’ll also get some insight into what a good day working with P is like…and what a bad day working with P is like. You’ll also get some information about where he found his inspiration…or his muses if you will, and that inspiration does not always come from those you would expect…
Prince and the Purple Rain Era Studio Sessions: 1983 and 1984 is an AMAZING labor of love that gives a great history in this bountiful time of Prince’s musical history. Take your time traveling this journey with him and imagine what it must have been like… 4am at Sunset Sound knee deep in tinkering on Computer Blue after several weeks of work on this same song to make it perfect for us, his family.
Thank you, Prince.
And thank you Duane for chronicling this incredible journey for us.