I know that Princ books can help you discover significant facts/details behind the origins of some of his songs, or the evolution of his albums.

But, do they offer any real significant insight into Prince's motivation? His drive? or his personality?

I've never read a Prince book becuase I always assume they're kind of like the Second Testiment Gospels--full of stories of what might have occured told through the perspective others.

Ur thoughts.

The best book on P Ive read was probably :"Posessed, The Rise & Fall.."
which had some insight into P's personal life. The writer did not have any first hand experience of P, but had info thru interviews he did with former employees or friends of P. So while it is 2nd hand information, it is still fascinating in many aspects and Im sure there is some truth to the stories.
I would not, however, compare it to the New Testament of the Bible, as many of the writers (apostles) lived,traveled and witnessed Jesus' comings and goings, and therefore were writing what they experienced. The writers of the P books are getting everything 2nd hand.


U can b the Prezident, Id rather b the Pope...

The only 1 I've ever read is Purple Reign, The Artist Formally Known as Prince.

And the answer to your ? is no.

DMSR was good. Had a lot of first-hand info, and shared sources.

thepope2the9s said:

Not to be too pain in the assy, but the earliest gospel was written about 30 years after Jesus' death. There are no firsthand accounts in the gospels.

Back on topic, I don't know if I'd say the Prince books have taught me much, but I would say they are informative. I find it interesting to see who will talk about their time in Prince's band/world and who won't. Many who will are disgruntled, so usually a grain or two of salt is needed. But they (the various books) give you different perspectives to consider when pondering the career of Prince, for those who do that sort of thing!

I'd say I've learned a lot from various Uptown publications. They're always thorough and fascinating.

I dunno...I guess I like that there's so much mystery, double speak and secrecy surrounding Prince's life. He's always put the attention on the music and performance and seems to live for his work. So I think it's fair that most of the literature about him would cover that. If he were an extremely public figure, got into lots of trouble or even spoke that much to the press, I could see how his personal life would be of more interest. But what's amazing about Prince is how he sounds, what he looks like and what he's able to do on stage, not who he's sleeping with or the drugs he's taking.

That said, I do wish Prince would sit down with an interviewer and have a good, long chat about his music. Give us something revealing about each record, the headspace he was in, the influences that brought them about, what he was trying to achieve, little anecdotes, things he would change, things he hates, things he's especially proud of and maybe even a little bit about what was going on in his life at the time. If I were an artist of Prince's stature, I would love for someone to sit me down and ask me these kinds of questions. I know Prince has an agenda each time he comes out with something whether it be dealing with his record company battles, his newfound spirituality or simply reminding everyone of how fabulous he is. But for once, I would love for him to focus his energies and his interviews squarely on the music.

It depends on the book.

Fact: Prince has had no involvement in any of the books. You are always going to get 3rd hand perspective by those around him.

That said the people who lend stories and whatnot are apparently close tied to Prince or once were. So, while you aren't getting it from P, you are getting it from folks who were there. Or who know. So it's up to you to decide if you believe Alan Leeds, or P's Manager (forgot their name), Dez or any of the people who have contributed. And the authors of such books bring the coororlated stories to the table.

Have you read the interview with Alan Leeds where he discusses his time with P? It's fascinating. And entirely believeable as he puts it into perspective that is believeable.

Then there are the "factual" books. Mostly by Per Nilson and mostly regarding the "facts" i.e. when songs were made, released, etc. His book THE VAULT, is a WEALTH of information re: Live performances, Songs...released and not...Time table of Princely things, etc.

Imago said:

All books, lessons, news reports, and eyewitness acocunts are just that... other perspectives.

If you want to try and build a picture of Prince behind the music, you have to remember 2 things.

1. Take a lot of what is reported with a pinch of salt. There are a lot of attention seekers out there. Only start believing when several independent sources say the same thing.

2. Be prepared to not like what you read. A musical genius he is, but there is a very good chance the man himself is a arsehole.

The best book for a long time was "A Pop life". This was then trumped by DMSR, which filled in a lot of gaps. Possessed took it a stage further, in that it was more willing to print the good and the bad.

If you are going to dive in. Try DMSR and then Posessed. Once you've read those, get the Vault for reference.

ufoclub said:

It doesn't mean that the information isn't true.

Imago said:

i love this book, i also have one at home that i will suggest that the writer be shot cause he don't even know where some of the pictures in the book are really from. i will look at the title tonight and report back.
example, "this picture is prince with the revolution on the purple rain tour" and you look at the picture and its a shot from the lovesexy tour.
the whole book is like that. i get pissed off every time i skim through it.

SquirrelMeat said:

I agree. DMSR comes first as a biography type book, then Possessed as a little topper to that.

The Vault is more of a reference/collecting tool, not a ripping yarn.

As much as I love Uptown, I've always found their album reviews a little dry and over-explanatory of the self-evident (I think some of this comes a language angle more than anything though, being European).

SquirrelMeat is right. Prince: A Pop Life was the best written of the ones I've read. Per Nielsen had a great reference book. One I received as a gift was just garbage -- it wasn't well-written or organized.

Imago said:

Well, you're partially right. When I study any great man, I read several, several books because they all have a different perspective and I try to get a full understanding of the man as If I'd know him all my life. I think if you are willing to work hard enough and are somewhat of a thinker, meaning you don't agree with everything you read, but give it though, then you can get to know Prince.
The man I think Prince is??
Somewhat solitary, humble, shy, sensitive but with an innate realization that he needs to be an asshole and he needs to be an extrovert at times to do what he wants to do. I feel he likes his stardom enough to play the game to the point he does. He's generally a good guy, high strung, demanding and willing to make enemies if they can't get things done. Very conservative, surprisingly so in spite of his image. He's also, like all of us, insecure. He's not the cocky guy he plays all the time. He's just a fella, as Clint Eastwood said in Unforgiven. Not a saint or sinner but a talented guy with clout.

thebige said:

Not to be a smartazz,but that would mean if Prince died and Mayte or Morris or Jerome, wrote a book 30 years later, somehow their account is not firsthand?

The Gospel of John/Luke/Paul/Matthew/, these were written by the respective authors, were they not? Did these apostles not live an additional 30 years or more after Jesus was crucified and rose?....

thepope2the9s said:

no.
Mark, who is credited with written the earliest gospel, was not an Apostle. His gospel was not written until 65 AD. (65 years after Christ died). This is the earliest written gospel.

The latest gospel, (JOHN) was written 100 years after the death of Christ.
There is no indication that the authors of these stories actually knew Jesus, though the verdict is out on John with regards to this.


But, to not let this digress to a philisophical discussion, I concede your point that those who are close to us may actually have very accurate things to say. As a matter of fact, what my sister has to say about me personally would probably be more accurate than my own memoirs.

My god yes...expecially reading things he has said...I just finnished a rare book about him called "Imp of Perverse" by Barney Hoskyns. Omg what a good read! The author had excellent analysis skills, and got qoates from Prince like twenty five years ago that made me see him from a different angle. The only thing that bugged me about the book was the author's harsh critisim of Prince's music. He really ripped apart alot of his songs/albums...but oh well..it's just his opinion of the work..but cool stuff I found in it was something Jill Jones said in the book....like if you're a woman he'll talk your ear off once he trusts you. "He likes to tell stories" she says "and he can size somebody up in minutes and take them off brilliantly. He's got an excellent memory for details" And she also talked about how when he was in the studio with her and he wanted a certain emotion of feel in her voice he'd engage her in a conversation before hand to provoke that inside of her before she started singing. (THAT'S SO COOL!) Jill Jones also said something that I thought was so profound in the book...she said "No one really knows Prince that well. People think they do but none of us does". I'd definatly belive that!

Yes Prince books I think are one of the reasons I decided I really liked him...because some of the things he has said I can really relate to.

truthfully all my P' knowledge comes from books, mags...some online
I have a few rare ones i think
1989 Per Nelsons - Prince Documentry
A bunch of old Controversy & Uptown mags
2004 the vault
1984- or 85 Prince inside the Purple Regin
and some others i cant remember ..or dont feel like looking for
But u can learn alot from them

did anyone read "Imp of the Perverse"? quality literature!

charlottegelin said:

Totally agree. This was the best of all the books. Highly recommended if you can find it. Try E-Bay

Sorry. It was Pop Life. My mistake!
[Edited 5/24/06 5:26am]

i thought i was the only one to have read "imp of the perverse!"



great title, but literature? all i know is, my research advisor submitted it to a french publisher for translation, and they found it "too anecdotal."

Heiress said:

it was complete rubbish!!!

I did also have one titled simply "Prince" published by Bantam Books too, can't remember the author, I read that a million times when I was 13

Oddly enough, this is what I learned from reading DMSR;

To convert 129cm to dm, it's 129 (1dm/10cm), or 12.9. The decimal place will always slied over, because you will always divide & multiply by multiples of ten, see?
The scale is


mm cm dm lm km

(I hope I got that part right)
So to convert mm to km, slide the decimal 6 places to the left. To convert m to mm, slide the decimal 3 places to the right. You may need to add a few zeros in some cases.

Also, the m in these cases stands for meter, a measure of distance, but the same is true for all metric conversions. Mili-meter to liter, for example.
Therefore, it stands to reason that metric is superior to"conventional" measurements like foot , yards, miles, gallons & all those others that we use here in the states.






Weird, huh?

(& ta think, before I learned this, I was just plain ig'nant....)

I think Possessed and DMSR are the best books about Prince, with Per's book getting the nod. I can't imagine anyone coming up with something better or even as good as these two, unless Prince himself decided to co-operate with a warts and all biography, which, let's face it, is highly unlikely.

I think it is impossible to get inside Ps mind as he is so elusive, books can only sytate facts or fictions and a lot of them are built on Misunderstandings, such as Hahn and Smith. Heres my opinion

Inside the Purple Reign - Naive and uninformed, semi accurate biography and a lot of drivel 2/10
Prince by Steve Ivory, cheap sensationalist paperback published to cash in on Purple Rain, again very few facts and alot of lies and inappropriate extras, eg God is a tree in the woods. 1/10
Per Nilsen, a documentary, The Vault etc, DMSR, Lots of facts, specialised understanding of music, good with dates attempts to understand Prince, but too much like a university thesis with some speculation, still hes the best 7/10
Alex Hanh Possessed, A entertaining read, alot of lies and quite a bit of hatred, very amusing though 5/10
Slave to the Rythmn, a more restrined version of Hahn, focusses too much on Emancipation era, good photos though. 4/10
Prince by John Ewing, Skimpy mid 90s bio, surprisingly accurate and detailed, Ewing is obviously a fan of Prince and he dosent hold back in his compliments 6/10
Imp of the Perverse by I have forgotten. Again a lot like inside the Purple Reign but a bit more accurate and more releveant 4/10

A Pop life by Dave Hill, undisputably the best book on Prince, i still reguarly reread my well thumbed copy, surprisingly detailed and accurate, it also cobvers his earlier career well and good and amusing photos 7/10

Shapeshifter said:

Have you read Hill's book? It's dated, but it's very well written.

namepeace said:

Yes, I did. Sorry. Forgot about that one. There still isn't a definitive Prince book, covering both the music and the personal side - a cross between Possessed and The Vault.

Shapeshifter said:

I see what you're saying.

The book on SOTT was really interesting.

I also bet a top-notch music writer like Ashley Kahn -- who wrote tremendous books on the making of A Love Supreme and Kind of Blue -- could really dig into the subject. But for all of the associates, bandmates, muses, paramours, et al. the Kid has had over the years, none of them either know or reveal much inside info.

Anyone read The Lyrics of Prince Rogers Nelson?

Very interesting take; really enjoyed it. Not tabloid-esque like some of the others.

The Lyrics of
Prince Rogers Nelson

A literary look at a creative, musical poet, philosopher, and storyteller.

http://www.inmotionmagazi...ince.html.