He and Prince seemed to have the longest most complex "relationship."

sro100 said:

He and Prince seemed to have the longest most complex "relationship."

I don't know why he wouldn't. He wrote one back in the 80s...

[Edited 5/5/16 20:29pm]

purplethunder3121 said:

sro100 said:

He and Prince seemed to have the longest most complex "relationship."

I don't know why he wouldn't. He wrote one back in the 80s...

Exactly. And he's also been pretty much writing about Prince in the Star Tribune continuously.

[Edited 5/5/16 20:30pm]

I just hope its not going to be a cut and paste job. I can spot those a mile away.

Goddess4Real said:

I just hope its not going to be a cut and paste job. I can spot those a mile away.

I can't imagine he'd do that. I could certainly imagine other "authors" (like those who publicize themselves on here) would do that.

This could be like Bream's holy mission.

I mean Prince "burned" him.

Meaning, they were connected, in a way.

[Edited 5/5/16 20:38pm]

[Edited 5/5/16 20:39pm]

Goddess4Real said:

I just hope its not going to be a cut and paste job. I can spot those a mile away.

There was one by a female author that was all cut and paste. She quoted half of Oprah's interview with Prince, and never once credited the show.

I'd prefer Jim Walsh, former writer for the Mpls City Pages and Pioneer Press.

He was at so many of the Paisley Park shows and was the one who wrote some of the liner notes in the Gold Experience.

Great writer and fellow Prince hardcore fan. His open letter to Prince - whether you agreed with him or not - was from the heart.

TrivialPursuit said:

Goddess4Real said:

I just hope its not going to be a cut and paste job. I can spot those a mile away.

There was one by a female author that was all cut and paste. She quoted half of Oprah's interview with Prince, and never once credited the show.

I think that was Liz Jones' book? I thought that one was pretty dreadful.

Bream would do a fine job and he's probably privy to more than just about anyone else in the journalistic field. Prince has had the fortune of having some pretty good books done on him. The first one I read was by Steven Ivory, on the surface it looked to be a thrown together tiger beat kind of book but it was actually very good. Interviews with several musicians and a complete history up to that point as well as a pretty objective look at P's shortcomings. In 1988 or so a British writer wrote Poplife which was even better and one that I would put up with any written on the man. Jon Bream's didn't seem to be an exhaustive bio but it was serviceable. Then there were others like Per Nilsen who focussed more on Prince's craft and body of work. Been a couple others through the nineties which had some surprising anectdots. Since that time, i've really done no more than skim the books that have come out on P. Toure's and another which name escapes me right now are pretty recent.

XNY said:

MissMarySharon said:

TrivialPursuit said:

There was one by a female author that was all cut and paste. She quoted half of Oprah's interview with Prince, and never once credited the show.

I think that was Liz Jones' book? I thought that one was pretty dreadful.

YES! I forgot her name. I remember being so pissed about that book, because it was such crap. DMSR wasn't out yet (or I'd not heard of it yet), and the only real book on Prince I'd read was A Pop Life by Dave Hill, which was great at the time. Jones' book was garbage. There was another a few years ago that was so dreadful, I returned it to the library before passing the first chapter or two. It was Prince: Inside the Music and the Masks by Ronin Ro. Garbage.

.

I would like to see more from Bream though. All those articles, and interactions, etc. It'd be great to compile those experiences, and expand on them. I need to get Alan Light's book. I remember his article in Vibe in the 90s, when Prince mockingly said, "Nell's son. Who is that?" I thought "Prince is such a dick!" hahaha but in a good way. Even back then, I understood what he was doing with .

TrivialPursuit said:

MissMarySharon said:

I think that was Liz Jones' book? I thought that one was pretty dreadful.

YES! I forgot her name. I remember being so pissed about that book, because it was such crap. DMSR wasn't out yet (or I'd not heard of it yet), and the only real book on Prince I'd read was A Pop Life by Dave Hill, which was great at the time. Jones' book was garbage. There was another a few years ago that was so dreadful, I returned it to the library before passing the first chapter or two. It was Prince: Inside the Music and the Masks by Ronin Ro. Garbage.

.

I would like to see more from Bream though. All those articles, and interactions, etc. It'd be great to compile those experiences, and expand on them. I need to get Alan Light's book. I remember his article in Vibe in the 90s, when Prince mockingly said, "Nell's son. Who is that?" I thought "Prince is such a dick!" hahaha but in a good way. Even back then, I understood what he was doing with .

Good to see Dave Hill´s book mentioned here. It´s very outdated now but it is still a very enjoyable read and very well written. I think Prince liked it, too.

Í´d love to see another book by Jon Bream or maybe a collaboration between him and Jim Walsh, or maybe even a bigger project, or several projects with some involvement from Per Nilsen, or some of the org longtimers such as Langebleue, BorisFishpaw, the Princevault team etc. etc.

That book is one of the very few that I don´t own and that I have never read. I know it is out of print and Prince bought the rights to it.

Is it still a good read or something you´d recommend? What was the reason that Prince stopped its further releases? Must be pretty personal.

Is it worth tracking down ?

purplethunder3121 said:

sro100 said:

He and Prince seemed to have the longest most complex "relationship."

I don't know why he wouldn't. He wrote one back in the 80s...

[Edited 5/5/16 20:29pm]

KoolEaze said:

That book is one of the very few that I don´t own and that I have never read. I know it is out of print and Prince bought the rights to it.

Really? I didn't know that and would appreciate hearing more, if you know further details.

Eileen said:

KoolEaze said:

That book is one of the very few that I don´t own and that I have never read. I know it is out of print and Prince bought the rights to it.

Really? I didn't know that and would appreciate hearing more, if you know further details.

If I recall correctly he found it a tad too personal and bought the rights to it. Hence no re-releases or reprints during his heyday. This was then followed by a feud or on and off "relationship" of sorts between Prince and Mr.Bream, including Mr. Bream not being allowed to enter Paisley Park for a while. I think they got closer again in the mid or late 90s.

He mentioned Jon Bream during the New Year´s Eve show at Paisley (the one with Miles Davis) . Jon Bream was there and Prince jokingly called him "red haired, Grover looking.." something.....

I would love to read that book but it is hard to get and quite pricey these days. Saw it on Ebay a while ago and it was approximately 50 dollars, now you have to pay at least 75 or more.

But then again, if it were such a must-have item then it would´ve been discussed more often here on the org.

One of my personal favorites besides Per Nilsen´s books will always be Dave Hil´s A Pop Life.

That was very well written and a good read, especially because Hill interviewed Sonny Thompson before he became the NPG´s bass guitarist. This was when Sonny was still playing Prince songs in the Twin Cities area after being rejected for being too fat to play with Prince (even though he had dramatically shed many pounds).

KoolEaze said:

That book is one of the very few that I don´t own and that I have never read. I know it is out of print and Prince bought the rights to it.

Is it still a good read or something you´d recommend? What was the reason that Prince stopped its further releases? Must be pretty personal.

Is it worth tracking down ?

purplethunder3121 said:

I don't know why he wouldn't. He wrote one back in the 80s...

[Edited 5/5/16 20:29pm]

I found it in a second hand store awhile ago and bought it. It's pretty good and Bream is a first rate journalist. I read it thirty years ago so forgive me if I can't give more details, the one I bought I did not re-read. I think, at the time, the Pics of prince with an afro, the high school pics etc.., were all firsts. Prince also had a relationship with Prince, my fave story was that Bream compared MJ to Prince in an article and he said Michael was a better dancer, Prince's reaction? To scream "Jon Bream watch this and he did a move but Bream was making a call or something and missed it.

thetimefan said:

I'd like Peter Guarlnick to write a P bio, he's very detail orientated and he's not sensationalist either so you would only get the real deal. He's wrote two acclaimed biographies about Elvis, Dream Boogie about Sam Cooke and has authored other music books too.

Unfortunately I don't see Guralnick tackling Prince, that would be way outside his focal points (southern soul, early rnr).

Did Per Nilson die?

Bream's book was the first P book I ever bought. Didn't know that P bought the rights to it. Nothing in the book puts him in a bad light and the photos are great. Still have it packed away. Dave Hill's book is a great read too.

Eileen said:

thetimefan said:

I'd like Peter Guarlnick to write a P bio, he's very detail orientated and he's not sensationalist either so you would only get the real deal. He's wrote two acclaimed biographies about Elvis, Dream Boogie about Sam Cooke and has authored other music books too.

Unfortunately I don't see Guralnick tackling Prince, that would be way outside his focal points (southern soul, early rnr).

ya, i agree, as great as those books were, and they were fantastic, setting the bar for that kind of writing. I doubt he'd bring any passion or interest to Prince.