Prince and the Parade and Sign O' The Times Era Studio Sessions: 1985 and 1986

Meticulously researched, fascinating stories of the studio - if you are a fan who is genuinely curious about the production and output of Prince's most creative era and understand a little bit about music, you will find this an incredible page-turner. His Royal Badness' rich legacy offers a model for all musicians to aspire to. Miss this one at your peril.

I can't get over how good this book is. Given the speed at which he was working at that time, there's so much to unpack and document. It does such a masterful job of presenting a narrative which gives significant insight into the person, but it never feels like the opinions are yours, more that is a reportage that gives a lot of context that absolutely illuminates these works in new ways.It must be such a unique position to be proven to the jigsaw pieces of this life and the chance to collect the views of those around him mean that his presence throughout is everywhere, his own absence from the words never shows.Above all it shows what a god given gift people like Susan Rogers is. To have given up her life in pursuit of transcribing his.So many wonderful stories I've learnt and would never have guessed...How It's gonna be a beautiful night was an instrumental made up in rehearsal that dayHow Housequake takes on a deeper meaning knowing it was recorded the day after the band breakupHow Bob George vocal was Susan Rogers playing with the pitch shiftHow the predictive backing vocal on forever in my life was a studio happy accidentHow Slow Love is a cover version (kinda)How Madhouse aren't real!!! 40 years I've had that album hahaAbove all, it's yet another masterful work that paints Prince and his colleagues as incredibly hard working dedicated individuals, creating amazing works of art.He was a genius, that's undeniable and managed to find a workflow that enabled incredibly complex and diverse sophisticated works across all genres to pour out of him at an incredible rate. Whats astonishing is how he was able to present each piece fully formed without divulging what he truly felt, each a carefully crafted emotional sliver that showed you a viewpoint which hit so many marks musically, lyrically, vocally and technically- the like of which has never been matched.That he gave up any other life in that service means that those around him eventually lost out and were never given the kindest exit. Your words paint that honestly, but not cruelly, give understanding and allow those involved to acknowledge the greatness they were part of and offer forgiveness. It's a good balance and one that serves all involved well.It's been an absolute honor, yet again, to read your words. It's clear that this legacy is in the safest and best hands possible and I thank you from the bottom of my heart.In hindsight, its obvious that a studio focused diary was the only way to provide a window into his soul. That it was given to you to write is the most fortunate of blessings.Thank you so much.It's also great that because he was so prolific, we get a glimpse of the Black Album before Sign of the Times was even released. I've been playing The Black album a lot recently, so I'm keen for the next chapter.Once again, I salute you. The music lives on, but your words bring them, and him, alive.

I admit: I am a Prince scholar. I study everything I can get my hands on about the ART of Prince. As a lover of music and someone that has met Prince, I have purchased most of his authorized releases to include his protege acts, and reviewed countless literature sources and heard the sound checks and many of the unreleased vault tracks. Yet the main reason I like Prince is not his music though it's great. It's his dedication to his craft and work ethic. As someone who works very hard himself, I find Prince to be the ultimate roadmap of someone that did it and not just giving a bunch of speeches on how to be your best self - he was almost always his best self when it came to his art.That is why Tudahl's second book on Prince is so captivating. It provides the motivation behind the art AND how the art was made (in most cases of the latter). As Tudahl points out in his promo tour, the stories of Prince outside the studio are provided to provide the inspiration for his work inside the studio. There is the collection of Wendy and Lisa's stories; the thoughts of Brown Mark and Matt, and his most dedicated friend and number two historian (in my book when it comes to The Revolution), Bobby Z.This book is even more robust than Tudahl's first book for it really tries to lend full voice to all those involved. This is both a strength and a slight drawback. The strength is that everyone involved deserves a right for their story to be told yet the drawback is that in some cases, there are more questions than answers. The only minor suggestion would be for Tudahl to come to a conclusion based on the interviews, listening to the tracks (assuming access), and review of artifacts. Thus the strength is that it's a very robust and rich account - especially the drivers of the art. The drawback is that it makes "nice" and doesn't provide firm concluding thoughts given the provided information. It's definitely more art than science and perhaps that's the way it should be. By contrast the PR Sessions (Duane's first book) was more declarative in tone and confident in its conclusions. In this book, you "feel" the compromise.Now holding that view, I must admit that this book is very good. It's extremely well-written, thoughtful, and yet not over fanboying (and as a Prince friend myself, that's hard to do). Prince is not painted as this angel always doing the right thing. It paints a very human picture of Prince based on an impressive amount of interviews.Duane is going to complete the backend of the 80s here in the next year or two and one can only hope he gets to the Dirty Mind to 1999 sessions as well. No one captures the stories better though there is still room for clarity in collaboration (or not). This book should be enjoyed while listening to Prince during this period. No artist's day-to-day is documented better thanks largely to Prince, Susan Rogers, and countless dedicated staff members. Add Tudahl to the list of those directly responsible for keeping Prince's legacy alive and one can argue, expanding his legacy.Buy this book and if you want to come up with conclusions, review it along with The Vault and other sources that account for the recording of his vast and seemingly endless vault of recorded music.

Since his passing, there have been a flood of books written about Prince. For long time fans, in some cases, this has meant a treasure chest of information that was kept secret for the entirety of Prince's life and career. This is the 2nd book by Duane Tudahl- an absolute MASTER- documenting another 2 year period of Prince life and career, 1985/1986. I am one who go believes this period to be one of many creative peaks in Prince's career. I am not one stuck in the 80s believing his peak to be the 80s but must admit, these years documented in the new book were special. Some of us refer to these years as the "Flood". Prince released approximately 10 albums in 1987...much of that written in this period. Amazingly, the Sign O The Times Super Deluxe set from last year (originally 1987) saw 3 more albums worth of music from his vault! It is a dizzying level of top rate material and Duane overs all of this in amazing detail. As Prince never explained his music, for 35 years I have wondered why the poor grammar in the song "I Wonder U" (I, how u say, I Wonder U....). Duane explains that it was a girl in Brazil) who came up to Prince using broken English expressing her feelings for him. Prince took this brief encounter and made a song of it... amazing.The book does what Prince would not, it explains who he was. It shows how dedicated he was to his art. It sadly reminds you that, he was a comet and we were lucky to be witnessing his shooting across the sky in our lifetimes. If art is still important, this is must read. A testament to an unparalleled work ethic, God given superhero like talent and total devotion to his art.

Libro arrivato con copertina Rovinata. Lo stesso pochi giorni fa.

Cadeau pour mon Amour, il est captivé, il adore, c'est les périodes qu'il préfère !