The man died, he'll never perform for us again, he'll never write new songs and he's gone forever. Those are the worst things that could have happened as a fan. However, since he's passed, we are getting so many anectdotes, stories, hours and hours of pespectives from oodles of folks who knew him. For a guy who was so private, who formely intimidated people into silence or they just did it for their own reasons, it's a watershed event. There were excellent books on the man, most of them, especially the early ones don't always show him in the best light. It's wonderful to hear all the stories of his giving, of his humor, of his great character and the love just about everyone had for him, even the people who felt burned. Almost every week I find some hour long interview with someone who ads more to the riddle of who the man was, it's not who I thought he was, at least not as simple as the picture I got. The music we'll get will take time to come out but I'm enjoying all the access I have to the stories of the people who knew him for years and years. I only assume it's going to keep coming.

They don't shy away from saying he was difficult man...a bit of a lovable asshole version of Willy Wonka or a warmer more encouraging version of Miranda Priestly. . But he was also incredibly sweet, curious, sad, profound, filled with integrity, more open to honesty from others than he usually received . encouraging of others, surprisingly humble at times, and funny as hell and geniunely shy. Gotta love him. Maybe if he knew how much he was loved (truely loved, not just respected) his harder (more sadly paranoid, insecure, defensive, controlling, and withdrawn) sides would have softened even more. But he was multitudes.

I love Steve Parke's book to pieces . His former manager Ruth whatshername (whose facebook I just read) had hilarious accounts of P. She was allowed to get mad at him and yell at him and speak her mind, but he loved her for it after he knew she had her back (she worked for him for seven years) . She is still pissed at him for dying but she says she loved him like a brother and cant get over the loss. Lala escarzega has funny accounts of him, Greg Breyer is respectful, Morris Hayes relationship with P was complex but ultimately warm, even mayte's self-serving account shows some of his good sides. Tons and tons of accounts---sure, they probably won't go to much into the conflicts and some probably bonded better with him than others (Elisa seemed closer to him than Cassandra) I know Prince could exhaust people but I dont doubt that if they knew never seeing him again would happen, many of them would have run to his rescue.. or tried to. I am convinced of it. That's not to say that I don't think he was let down by some of his enablers/family and that his legacy is always being honored the best way. And the lack of interest in a bit of justice for his death concerns me but people are complex; the purple army is no different.

PeteSilas said:

The man died, he'll never perform for us again, he'll never write new songs and he's gone forever. Those are the worst things that could have happened as a fan. However, since he's passed, we are getting so many anectdotes, stories, hours and hours of pespectives from oodles of folks who knew him. For a guy who was so private, who formely intimidated people into silence or they just did it for their own reasons, it's a watershed event. There were excellent books on the man, most of them, especially the early ones don't always show him in the best light. It's wonderful to hear all the stories of his giving, of his humor, of his great character and the love just about everyone had for him, even the people who felt burned. Almost every week I find some hour long interview with someone who ads more to the riddle of who the man was, it's not who I thought he was, at least not as simple as the picture I got. The music we'll get will take time to come out but I'm enjoying all the access I have to the stories of the people who knew him for years and years. I only assume it's going to keep coming.

[Edited 12/29/17 13:42pm]

[Edited 12/29/17 13:57pm]

[Edited 12/29/17 22:27pm]

more like oodles of noodles...

daniorU said:

It is silly I know,these stories and anectdotes are fine for sure,but I wanted to live the future of Prince,the “now”. The loss is so hard...

sure, i'm not saying it's a good tradeoff, i'm just saying that we know so much more about the man. I had a good idea of who he was before because I followed him pretty closely for a long time, but the picture is so much more clear and even more positive which is a great thing. the negative stuff, people being people, had more interest to people when he was alive.

Silvertongue7 said:

It’s been a strange year, that’s for sure. On the one hand, I miss the man a whole lot more than I thought I would. And the more I learn about the human being that Prince was, the more I miss him. On the other hand, we’ve had so much music come our way... I am one of the few who really enjoyed the Purple Rain reissue (flawed as it was, but it included Possessed, Love and Sex, Electric Intercourse and the amazing Father’s Song), and I enjoyed even more the fantastic bootlegs that have seen the light, from The Flesh sessions to Wally, Nothing Compares 2U, Emotional Pump or even Deliverance. Nothing will bring the little great man back, but his music, oh boy I love his music. And we got so much this year...

ya, that's the other thing i didn't mention, no one is really being that strict with all the bootlegs,live performances, videos etc.., that we've gotten to see and hear. i loved the purple rain reissues, complete with the dvd of the syracuse show. Now, like anyone i've known who i've lost, even the bad things make me miss him. The stories of him being difficult just crack me up now.

Having never had the opportunity to see him live, it's a God send to find full performances on Ytube. For that I'm grateful because he is so electrifying on stage. I would trade it all to have him around still playing cat and mouse, dropping songs or tweets. The stories are wonderful to hear and it's great to have lived when he was around yet, it's bittersweet. First and last "celebrity" I've ever felt this way about. Can't even explain why.

Misslink88 said:

Having never had the opportunity to see him live, it's a God send to find full performances on Ytube. For that I'm grateful because he is so electrifying on stage. I would trade it all to have him around still playing cat and mouse, dropping songs or tweets. The stories are wonderful to hear and it's great to have lived when he was around yet, it's bittersweet. First and last "celebrity" I've ever felt this way about. Can't even explain why.

dude had his own brand of magic, no one gets talked about like him. People might speak in awed tones about Elvis or Michael, or Sinatra or whoever but Prince seems to be the most confounding and mysterious of all. People actually have said things to insinuate the guy was some kind of wizard or something, no one else gets talked about like that.

PeteSilas said:

Misslink88 said:

Having never had the opportunity to see him live, it's a God send to find full performances on Ytube. For that I'm grateful because he is so electrifying on stage. I would trade it all to have him around still playing cat and mouse, dropping songs or tweets. The stories are wonderful to hear and it's great to have lived when he was around yet, it's bittersweet. First and last "celebrity" I've ever felt this way about. Can't even explain why.

dude had his own brand of magic, no one gets talked about like him. People might speak in awed tones about Elvis or Michael, or Sinatra or whoever but Prince seems to be the most confounding and mysterious of all. People actually have said things to insinuate the guy was some kind of wizard or something, no one else gets talked about like that.

True. I think it was his authenticity, passion and spirituality that resonated with people on a subconscious level. Everything else was icing on the cake.