[FOLKS PLEASE NOTE: Copying/pasting of book paragraphs and/or pics is NOT allowed for copyright reasons - luv4u]

.

New articles:

.

Interview with Dan Piepenbring by Associated Press News (lotsa spoilers, obviously): https://www.apnews.com/3b...2fcbbaef47

.

Billboard reprints the AP interview:

https://www.billboard.com...y-for-fans

.

CBS News has an excerpt from the book: https://www.cbsnews.com/n...iful-ones/

.

Overview of much anticipated books in USA Today, contains an excerpt from their review (which isn't yet online): https://eu.usatoday.com/s...458082001/

.

Short Associated Press News article that is reprinted all over the place: https://www.apnews.com/f2...2259c29c7f

.

Looks like French magazine Jazz Magazine will have an article on the book in their upcoming issue: https://twitter.com/fredg...2477584385

.

=========== STAFF NOTES ===========




Prince's book, The Beautiful Ones, is out now on Penguin Random House.

Purchase it here or in your local bookstore.

LoveGalore said:

Peeped the article with his drawings. Crazy/fascinating stuff. Really can't wait for this.

NPR's review of Prince's memoir "The Beautiful Ones" (BEWARE: reviews can be SPOILERISH): https://www.npr.org/2019/...one-s-mind

.

Huffington Post's review of Prince's memoir "The Beautiful Ones" (BEWARE: reviews can be SPOILERISH): https://www.huffpost.com/...93740424bc

.

USA Today's review of Prince's memoir "The Beautiful Ones" (BEWARE: reviews can be SPOILERISH): https://eu.usatoday.com/s...067894002/

.

The Current's review of Prince's memoir "The Beautiful Ones" (BEWARE: reviews can be SPOILERISH): https://www.thecurrent.or...ook-review

.

CBS News item (7.5 minutes) on Prince's memoir "The Beautiful Ones" and the upcoming "1999 Deluxe":

(This item contains numerous spoilers for the book, including many previously unseen photos and handwritten pages. It also contains a small excerpt from an outtake from the "1999" era, but I didn't recognize it. Sounds like an alternate or live version of "Do Me, Baby", in fact.)

https://www.cbsnews.com/n...iful-ones/

.

Here’s an exclusive, behind-the-scenes look of Dan Piepenbring at Paisley Park with CBSSunday https://twitter.com/Paisl...3296909313

.

USA Today interviewed Dan Piepenbring about Prince's memoir "The Beautiful Ones" (BEWARE: obviously this contains SPOILERS): https://eu.usatoday.com/s...457211001/

.

Variety's review of Prince's memoir "The Beautiful Ones" (BEWARE: reviews can be SPOILERISH): https://variety.com/2019/...203383683/

.

Review by Scott Woods: https://scottwoodsmakesli...iful-ones/

.

Who knew the boy could write?

I suppose the money earned from the sell of this book will go to Prince's Estate?

Damn, they cut off the best part of the cover photo!

[Edited 10/28/19 17:13pm]

Astasheiks said:

I suppose the money earned from the sell of this book will go to Prince's Estate?

.

If you care so much, why don't you read the extensive legal documents linked in the estate thread?

Good Morning America segment on Prince's memoir "The Beautiful Ones", including interview with Dan Piepenbring (BEWARE: SPOILERISH): https://www.youtube.com/w...9R8ePvvCbo

.

NPR's Fresh Air has an interview with Dan Piepenbring (BEWARE: likely SPOILERISH): https://www.npr.org/2019/...-co-writer

[Edited 10/28/19 17:08pm]

Beaten, but came here to post the NPR interview

I read a lot into it but it could just be confirmation bias. Seems to me Prince knew he was on borrowed time and I honestly don't think it was from the drug addiction.

BartVanHemelen said:

Astasheiks said:

I suppose the money earned from the sell of this book will go to Prince's Estate?

.

If you care so much, why don't you read the extensive legal documents linked in the estate thread?

Because nobody here is as smart as you are, obviously.

God you insufferable. Are you like this on your day to day to life or do you save it all up for us?

My full YouTube review can be found here. Don't watch it if you don't want to see spoilers.

Can't wait to read all of your thoughts.

I don't know about this. Prince didn't even come close to completing this. As of matter of fact he passed just as he was starting. I bet this is just another Bio, made up mostly of compiled past and already published interviews.

PurpleBlackmon said:

I don't know about this. Prince didn't even come close to completing this. As of matter of fact he passed just as he was starting. I bet this is just another Bio, made up mostly of compiled past and already published interviews.

.

Why do you lot keep lying? The contents of the book have been known since April, and through numerous articles in the past week we now know exactly what the book contains. Try reading them instead of making shit up.

Have the PDF vrsion while waiting for the actual book and can't wait to read it tonight.

PurpleBlackmon said:

WOW, that early configuration of ''For You'' looks amazing - considering half of the songs on there are not even listed on Prince Vault!

Prince Vault are going to be very busy making updates!!!!

Side One:
For You
Bodyfreeze
Never Really Fell Out Of Love With You
You Are Everything To Me
I Spend My Time Loving You

Side Two:
Soft And Wet
Baby
Let Me Touch You
Love In The Morning
Send In The Clowns

[Edited 10/29/19 2:35am]

[Edited 10/29/19 2:39am]

https://www.demorgen.be/t...~b46f843b/

.

Long review contrasting The Beautiful Ones with Morris Day's On Time in Belgian newspaper De Morgen today (in Dutch). In the newspaper there is a big photo on the front page of the newspaper, and the review takes up the first 1.5 page of the second section of the newspaper. (I'll post photos later.)

Item (in Dutch) on De Ochtendshow To Go: https://www.gids.tv/video...over-jeugd

[Edited 10/29/19 10:01am]

FranceInfo review (in French): https://www.francetvinfo....79029.html

[Edited 10/29/19 4:30am]

DW review (in German): https://www.dw.com/de/pri...a-51019175

[Edited 10/29/19 4:30am]

Interview with Piepenbring in Morgenpost (in German): https://www.morgenpost.de...k-vor.html

[Edited 10/29/19 4:31am]

FranceInter article on the book (in French): https://www.franceinter.f...-librairie

[Edited 10/29/19 4:31am]

USA TODAY review https://www.usatoday.com/...067894002/

BR24 review (in German): https://www.br.de/nachric...es,RgHARQ1

bonnie184 said:

USA TODAY review https://www.usatoday.com/...067894002/

.

Already posted yesterday.

#2 on Amazon (US).

[Edited 10/29/19 4:42am]

Mine says it is out for delivery! But boo! I have to do two visits today, one this morning and one in the afternoon, but I'm off tomorrow! So I can spend all day savoring that book.

shout out to BVH for posting all the links & keeping us all up to speed. An annoying fan at the best of times BUT very useful on occasion!

Seriously though , thanks, these links are great.

Possibly one THE most important releases of any kind under the Prince banner.

BartVanHemelen said:

PurpleBlackmon said:

I don't know about this. Prince didn't even come close to completing this. As of matter of fact he passed just as he was starting. I bet this is just another Bio, made up mostly of compiled past and already published interviews.

.

Why do you lot keep lying? The contents of the book have been known since April, and through numerous articles in the past week we now know exactly what the book contains. Try reading them instead of making shit up.

i resisted giving that muppet any abuse..seriously some fans!! Well done for doing it for me BVH!

benni said:

PURPLEIZED3121 said:

[Book discussion. Off topic snip - luv4u]

yello1 said:

[Book discussion. Off topic snip - luv4u]

[Edited 10/29/19 10:13am]

Just read it, just feels like i read an unfinished book! Which i know it is, ofcourse, Its ok, the best bits are what prince actually wrote. So its a real shame that he never got to finish it. Anyhow, i dont think i will be reading it again.

I'm squinting and squeezing my eyes.. uh... what dis book say?

As far as this book, it's the little things with P for me; the little things which make him seem like a brother to me. His Dad looks like he could have been one of my Granddad's brothers; were any of his Dad's brothers from Mississippi? His Mom stands sharply dressed by a car on one page that has my initials in the tag. P died on the 21st; I was born on the 21st.

As far as a book, I don't know how deep it is but, as a fan, it's all the link that I have to the Supernova that was Prince. Outside of the music, that's all I/we've got!

I do like the talk about playing husband, as a kid, to some girl name Laura Winnick.

[Edited 10/29/19 15:14pm]

I'm reading P's written words and holding back tears. I know there aren't many pages left to read of what he left us, and can only imagine what else he would have revealed. It's just sad. I guess I'll have to make do with all the music. And really, who can complain about that??... Dan Piepenbring's writing is superb so far. I never thought this book would be released as soon as it was and I'm just glad to have it.

Good heavens...I loved this book. Consumed it in one multi-hour sitting when I should have been working this afternoon.

Pure heaven to experience the thoughts and rememberances and see the hand-written notes and lyrics...

Thank you, Mr. Piepenbring, for briging this treasure to the masses...

People magazine reviews Prince's memoir "The Beautiful Ones" (BEWARE: likely SPOILERISH): https://people.com/music/...iful-ones/

.

Kirkus reviews Prince's memoir "The Beautiful Ones" (BEWARE: likely SPOILERISH): https://www.kirkusreviews...iful-ones/

.

UK newspaper The Times reviews Prince's memoir "The Beautiful Ones" (BEWARE: likely SPOILERISH): https://www.thetimes.co.u...-f5vd7rj5g

.

The Hollywood Reporter: "Prince's Book Agent Reveals an Unconventional Path to ‘Beautiful Ones’" (BEWARE: likely SPOILERISH): https://www.hollywoodrepo...es-1250555

.

CNN: "What we learned from Prince's memoir" (obviously SPOILERS) :https://edition.cnn.com/2...index.html

.

Has anyone translated what Prince writes in the handwritten bits 'coz I can't read his writing!

[Edited 10/29/19 16:34pm]

From reading THE BEAUTIFUL ONES I've uncovered some here-to-unknown tracks...at least unknown to me, a pretty big Prince fan since 1983 or so...

From the For You Sessions:

Bodyfreeze

Never Really Fell Out Of Love With You

You Are Everything To Me

I Spend My Time Loving You

Let Me Touch You

Love In the Morning

Send In The Clowns (????)

From the Purple Rain Sessions:

Too Tough (is this the same as Too Rough??)

I Just Wanna Be Rich

Have any of you heard of these songs before???

[Edited 10/29/19 16:46pm]

TheEnglishGent said:

Has anyone translated what Prince writes in the handwritten bits 'coz I can't read his writing!

[Edited 10/29/19 16:34pm]

It is typed out following the handwritten section.

soladeo1 said:

donnyenglish said:

Thank you Dan. Well done.

I've only read Dan's intro so far but it was well written. Can't wait to dive into the rest.

[Off topic snip - luv4u]

I got the Kindle version this morning and finished really quickly. The biggest surprise for me? Sometimes it Snows in April was on an early configuration of For You! The song has apparently been floating around for that long.

mnfriend said:

[Off topic snip - luv4u]

Moderators have final say.
prince.org administrators and moderators reserve the right to edit, relocate and/or remove any message, at any time, for any reason. Consider all editing decisions final. If you don't agree with a decision, you may discuss it with the moderator who made the judgment in private.

Dutch newspaper De Volkskrant has an interview with Dan Piepenbring (BEWARE: likely SPOILERISH): https://www.volkskrant.nl...~bc9a0bc0/

French newspaper Le Monde reviews Prince's memoir "The Beautiful Ones" (BEWARE: likely SPOILERISH): https://www.lemonde.fr/bi...32693.html

There is an excerpt from Tamron Hall's interview with Dan Piepenbring in this video (BEWARE: likely SPOILERISH):
https://people.com/tv/tam...attention/

benni said:

BartVanHemelen said:

Belgian magazine Humo has an interview with Dan Piepenbring (BEWARE: likely SPOILERISH): https://www.humo.be/humo-...ft-gegeven

.

Now, I've read this. And quite frankly, I doubt the veracity of large sections of this. Because a lot of this interview is completely unlike other Piepenbring interviews. I've regularly suspected Serge Simonart to enhance his interviews with quotes from other interviews and/or by adding a lot of stuff to his own questions that he never asked that way. Quite frankly I'd be amazed if the tape of this interview contained the same words as they are written down here, because I cannot imagine Piepenbring expressing some of these thoughts.

.

If you've read it, please do not use this thread to discuss the most salacious bits; start separate ones for those. I'm including the link here since this is an interview that is part of the publicity wave for the book, and Piepenbring does discuss the book and its contents.

.

But again: some parts of this interview sound wildly out of character for Dan when you compare them to the dozens of other interviews he's done or to the introduction of the book.

BartVanHemelen said:

Belgian magazine Humo has an interview with Dan Piepenbring (BEWARE: likely SPOILERISH): https://www.humo.be/humo-...ft-gegeven

.

Now, I've read this. And quite frankly, I doubt the veracity of large sections of this. Because a lot of this interview is completely unlike other Piepenbring interviews. I've regularly suspected Serge Simonart to enhance his interviews with quotes from other interviews and/or by adding a lot of stuff to his own questions that he never asked that way. Quite frankly I'd be amazed if the tape of this interview contained the same words as they are written down here, because I cannot imagine Piepenbring expressing some of these thoughts.

.

If you've read it, please do not use this thread to discuss the most salacious bits; start separate ones for those. I'm including the link here since this is an interview that is part of the publicity wave for the book, and Piepenbring does discuss the book and its contents.

.

But again: some parts of this interview sound wildly out of character for Dan when you compare them to the dozens of other interviews he's done or to the introduction of the book.

I can´t read it ...can you post it?

A sort-of review on Belgian website VRT NWS (in Dutch) (BEWARE: likely SPOILERS): https://www.vrt.be/vrtnws...an-prince/

.

Also available here: https://radio1.be/vandaag...it-geweest

.

(Note that both articles also features an audio recording of the conversation with one of the two people interviewed for the article: Sasha Van der Speeten.)

.

[Edited 10/30/19 6:11am]

bsprout said:

Interview with Dan Piepenbring in Dutch newsaper Het Parool (BEWARE: obviously SPOILERISH): https://www.parool.nl/kun...~baef9d74/

Review by Eric Alper: https://www.thatericalper...by-prince/

Review by Funk-U (in French): http://www.funku.fr/2019/...inacheves/

.

[Edited 10/30/19 6:30am]

Review by LCI (in French): https://www.lci.fr/sortie...36218.html

violetcrush said:

bsprout said:

I'm reading P's written words and holding back tears. I know there aren't many pages left to read of what he left us, and can only imagine what else he would have revealed.  It's just sad.  I guess I'll have to make do with all the music.  And really, who can complain about that??...  Dan Piepenbring's writing is superb so far.  I never thought this book would be released as soon as it was and I'm just glad to have it.

He put most of his life and thoughts into his music. Each album/song is really a portal into his brain at the time it was recorded.
*
For me, his handwritten drawings/notes and the old photos never before seen are special to see. That is, if I EVER get my copy from Amazon

mELdOURADOsELVAGEM said:

BartVanHemelen said:

There is an excerpt from Tamron Hall's interview with Dan Piepenbring in this video (BEWARE: likely SPOILERISH):
https://people.com/tv/tam...attention/

Lol this is the same link that mnfriend got snipped for. 😃 The email 😐 😒 geez 😂

It is funny, isn't it? He was really something. Maybe I got snipped because I called him a sexy MF.

By 9 pm tonight, per my delivery update

Looks like I'll just have to wait for a couple of days, the book is not yet available neither in the store or online yet here.

Anyway, does anybody know whats up with the two versions (different publisher?) first one is:

• 9780399589652

Second one is:

• 9781780899176

Book covers look slightly different too.

[Edited 10/30/19 10:46am]

BartVanHemelen said:

Belgian magazine Humo has an interview with Dan Piepenbring (BEWARE: likely SPOILERISH): https://www.humo.be/humo-...ft-gegeven

.

Now, I've read this. And quite frankly, I doubt the veracity of large sections of this. Because a lot of this interview is completely unlike other Piepenbring interviews. I've regularly suspected Serge Simonart to enhance his interviews with quotes from other interviews and/or by adding a lot of stuff to his own questions that he never asked that way. Quite frankly I'd be amazed if the tape of this interview contained the same words as they are written down here, because I cannot imagine Piepenbring expressing some of these thoughts.

.

If you've read it, please do not use this thread to discuss the most salacious bits; start separate ones for those. I'm including the link here since this is an interview that is part of the publicity wave for the book, and Piepenbring does discuss the book and its contents.

.

But again: some parts of this interview sound wildly out of character for Dan when you compare them to the dozens of other interviews he's done or to the introduction of the book.

Bart I can´t read it ...can you post it?...pleaseee?

antonb said:

violetcrush said:

He put most of his life and thoughts into his music. Each album/song is really a portal into his brain at the time it was recorded.
*
For me, his handwritten drawings/notes and the old photos never before seen are special to see. That is, if I EVER get my copy from Amazon

Everything about prince is in his music! You dont need this book. I think that’s why it’s not affected me at all! I read it and didn’t really feel anything! But that’s just me of course! Each to there own.

casi1 said:

violetcrush said:

Washington Post review: https://www.washingtonpos...story.html

Review (sort of) in Belgian newspaper Het Laatste Nieuws (in Dutch): https://www.hln.be/showbi...~ae718968/

violetcrush said:

Shockadelica9 said:

violetcrush said:

My thoughts too. Bought it just in case there were important revelations from Prince, but since there’s not it will still be nice to have the old photos and his drawings. [Edited 10/30/19 9:24am]

what revelations are his fans looking for exactly?? I personally believe that some of his fans are upset because his writings didn’t fit their narrative. This book was beautiful I’m so happy he had time to write about his childhood because that was the the most mysterious era in his life

revealations??....waking up in those places we'd hardly believe???

I tell you what! I sure as hell didn't know what Prince was saying on Soft and Wet, until I say those written lyrics on page 153 or whatever.

It's cool to see what was going through Prince's head in the early days.

williamb610 said:

This book is awesome.

Just saying.

Shockadelica9 said:

jfenster said:

MarcelS67 said:

Looks like I'll just have to wait for a couple of days, the book is not yet available neither in the store or online yet here.

Anyway, does anybody know whats up with the two versions (different publisher?) first one is:

• 9780399589652

Second one is:

• 9781780899176

Book covers look slightly different too.

[Edited 10/30/19 10:46am]

They are for Random House US and Random House UK respectively. I happened to order the UK version from a Swedish site and now it says "delivery date unknown" while the US version can be delivered in a few days...

I hope the UK version is not cancelled...

Dear moderators, I have but a sense of humor.

From the new book, copied from page 273, lest anyone think I am off topic:

"Let's Go Crazy"

This handwritten version adds another foreboding line to the preacherly monologue that opens the song:

"So u better try to be happy 'cause one day the sun may set for good."

mnfriend said:

Dear moderators, I have but a sense of humor.

From the new book, copied from page 273, lest anyone think I am off topic:

"Let's Go Crazy"

This handwritten version adds another foreboding line to the preacherly monologue that opens the song:

"So u better try to be happy 'cause one day the sun may set for good."

And this is why I think a fan wants to buy this book. In my short time with it, I read 1 handwritten page of Prince being open, honest, intelligent introspective about himself - it is the WAY he puts his own thoughts together, word selection, sentence structure- Like his song writing. His.
Thank you.

Okay my last comment, it's on topic, with no spoilers:

word to the wise, do not read/ look at book, and then listen to 'Purple Rain', unless you need a good cry.

I love the pictures of his mother as a young woman. I can see her in Prince.

[Edited 10/30/19 20:58pm]

[Edited 10/30/19 21:34pm]

I got mine from K Mart on the Morning of 29th here in Australia...

read it in one sitting....

Dan is a wonderful writer....

overall a bitter sweet experience....

Hes gone, and there are things we will never know...

He did drop one huge Bombshell though...

Love you Pwince....

Is there going to be another thread where we can actually discuss content

and that one big bombshell ?

mantaray31 said:

I received my copy on the 28th, finished it the same evening and haven't been able to stop thinking about certain parts of it. Firstly, it feels weird that his memoir exists at all. It seemed unbelievable when he announced the project three years ago and it still seems that way to me now. I never thought that I would ever be privy to facsimiles of handwritten pages containing some of his life's most intimate memories. This is Prince--a man who seemed to delight in the myths we created about him; who gave few interviews if any at all during certain eras of his career; who told us that everything we needed to know about him could be unearthed in his music. So even after reading the book, I was left to ponder the impetus for him to share the narrative of his life with us and it made me sad and inspired at the same time. Sad because of the circumstances in which he left and seemed prepared to leave this plane of existence and inspired because he left us with the same exhuberance to create as he did when he was here. From Dan Piepenbring's account, he seemed so hyped to author many more books.

Perhaps the most salient theme that P writes about besides creative ownership is the power of imagination and "visualization" in his memoir. This book resides among a lifetime of examples that demonstrate his uncanny ability to conceptualize something and bring it to fruition. According to Piepenbring, the memoir germinated out of an idea for a lyric/photo book(!). The treatment for Purple Rain was initially entitled "Dreams" and despite all odds, became the cornerstone for his most commercially successful work. I think it was Steve Parke who wrote about part of P's creative process in his photo book in which they spent many hours just spitballing ideas of cool ways to promote or present his music to his audience and then saw those ideas come to life in real time. A former associate (I don't remember who it was now) said P told her he wanted to form an all female rock band and a few years later, 3rdeyegirl was born. It made me think of that interview he did in the 90's(?) in which he said half-jokingly that he "willed" his entire career into being. The mantra he had emblazoned on his bedroom wall, "Everything U Think Is True" has perhaps never been truer for anyone else, at least as far as music is concerned.

The part of the book that is most empowering to me is where he lets us know that we all have the ability to create the life that we want to live and create the communities that we want to live in. There is something very uplifting and gracious in the way that he decided to peel back the curtain of his life (the beginning of which was difficult, if not traumatic) in part, to tell us that we always have the power to chart our own destiny as well. (He mentions "free will" in the book. I have no idea how his interpretation of "free will" reconciles with the ideology of fate in the Bible, but that's another thread.)

By now, I've heard so many anecdotes by former associates about the human being P was that it has begun to tarnish my immaculate picture of who Prince the icon was, but in a healthy way. I've heard enough rehearsal bootlegs of him working on songs, I've seen rehearsal footage of him leading his various bands, and I've read enough testemonies of his work ethic to understand why he chafed at the word "magic" when it was used by white critics to describe him or his music. Once, I pictured Prince as the magical embodiement of effortless cool and preternatural virtuosity, but the beautiful ones "always smash the picture, always everytime".

Did anybody else read too much into the fact that his handwriting in cursive looks almost identical to his mother's?

blackmoondaughter said:

I received my copy on the 28th, finished it the same evening and haven't been able to stop thinking about certain parts of it. Firstly, it feels weird that his memoir exists at all. It seemed unbelievable when he announced the project three years ago and it still seems that way to me now. I never thought that I would ever be privy to facsimiles of handwritten pages containing some of his life's most intimate memories. This is Prince--a man who seemed to delight in the myths we created about him; who gave few interviews if any at all during certain eras of his career; who told us that everything we needed to know about him could be unearthed in his music. So even after reading the book, I was left to ponder the impetus for him to share the narrative of his life with us and it made me sad and inspired at the same time. Sad because of the circumstances in which he left and seemed prepared to leave this plane of existence and inspired because he left us with the same exhuberance to create as he did when he was here. From Dan Piepenbring's account, he seemed so hyped to author many more books.

Perhaps the most salient theme that P writes about besides creative ownership is the power of imagination and "visualization" in his memoir. This book resides among a lifetime of examples that demonstrate his uncanny ability to conceptualize something and bring it to fruition. According to Piepenbring, the memoir germinated out of an idea for a lyric/photo book(!). The treatment for Purple Rain was initially entitled "Dreams" and despite all odds, became the cornerstone for his most commercially successful work. I think it was Steve Parke who wrote about part of P's creative process in his photo book in which they spent many hours just spitballing ideas of cool ways to promote or present his music to his audience and then saw those ideas come to life in real time. A former associate (I don't remember who it was now) said P told her he wanted to form an all female rock band and a few years later, 3rdeyegirl was born. It made me think of that interview he did in the 90's(?) in which he said half-jokingly that he "willed" his entire career into being. The mantra he had emblazoned on his bedroom wall, "Everything U Think Is True" has perhaps never been truer for anyone else, at least as far as music is concerned.

The part of the book that is most empowering to me is where he lets us know that we all have the ability to create the life that we want to live and create the communities that we want to live in. There is something very uplifting and gracious in the way that he decided to peel back the curtain of his life (the beginning of which was difficult, if not traumatic) in part, to tell us that we always have the power to chart our own destiny as well. (He mentions "free will" in the book. I have no idea how his interpretation of "free will" reconciles with the ideology of fate in the Bible, but that's another thread.)

By now, I've heard so many anecdotes by former associates about the human being P was that it has begun to tarnish my immaculate picture of who Prince the icon was, but in a healthy way. I've heard enough rehearsal bootlegs of him working on songs, I've seen rehearsal footage of him leading his various bands, and I've read enough testemonies of his work ethic to understand why he chafed at the word "magic" when it was used by white critics to describe him or his music. Once, I pictured Prince as the magical embodiement of effortless cool and preternatural virtuosity, but the beautiful ones "always smash the picture, always everytime".

Did anybody else read too much into the fact that his handwriting in cursive looks almost identical to his mother's?

yessir!

PeggyO said:

I love the pictures of his mother as a young woman. I can see her in Prince.

My favorite part of the book too!

I haven't really read the book yet but just flipping through it. The mindgames/dickishness with the writer was my favorite part. Tried to get dude fired! 'I trust you, you have power now. Tell your bosses blah blah blah'

Slate review: https://slate.com/culture...-ones.html

.

EW (Entertainment Weekly) review: https://ew.com/book-revie...ew-review/

.

Vulture distills some stories from the book: https://www.vulture.com/2...takes.html

.

Europe1 item on the book (in French): https://www.europe1.fr/em...ce-3928505

.

Le Point review (in French): https://www.lepoint.fr/cu...4489_3.php

.

Article in Belgian newspaper Het Nieuwsblad on the making of the book (in Dutch): https://www.nieuwsblad.be...0_04693536

.

RTBF / Classic21 review (in French): https://www.rtbf.be/class...d=10355075

.

AFP (Agence France Presse) review: https://www.france24.com/...-own-words

.

France Culture review (in French): https://www.franceculture...tobre-2019

.

WebWire article on the making of the book (mainly a long quote by Chris Jackson): https://www.webwire.com/V...aId=249276

Why is anyone concerned with spoilers? When an album came out, we all wanted the reviews... we talked about it. We should freely discuss this book here.

Kirkus article on the book: https://www.kirkusreviews...takeaways/

.

Rock & Folk review in French: https://www.rocknfolk.com...-pop/39605

.

Crooner review (in French): https://www.crooner.fr/20...nd-prince/

.

blackmoondaughter said:

I received my copy on the 28th, finished it the same evening and haven't been able to stop thinking about certain parts of it. Firstly, it feels weird that his memoir exists at all. It seemed unbelievable when he announced the project three years ago and it still seems that way to me now. I never thought that I would ever be privy to facsimiles of handwritten pages containing some of his life's most intimate memories. This is Prince--a man who seemed to delight in the myths we created about him; who gave few interviews if any at all during certain eras of his career; who told us that everything we needed to know about him could be unearthed in his music. So even after reading the book, I was left to ponder the impetus for him to share the narrative of his life with us and it made me sad and inspired at the same time. Sad because of the circumstances in which he left and seemed prepared to leave this plane of existence and inspired because he left us with the same exhuberance to create as he did when he was here. From Dan Piepenbring's account, he seemed so hyped to author many more books.

Perhaps the most salient theme that P writes about besides creative ownership is the power of imagination and "visualization" in his memoir. This book resides among a lifetime of examples that demonstrate his uncanny ability to conceptualize something and bring it to fruition. According to Piepenbring, the memoir germinated out of an idea for a lyric/photo book(!). The treatment for Purple Rain was initially entitled "Dreams" and despite all odds, became the cornerstone for his most commercially successful work. I think it was Steve Parke who wrote about part of P's creative process in his photo book in which they spent many hours just spitballing ideas of cool ways to promote or present his music to his audience and then saw those ideas come to life in real time. A former associate (I don't remember who it was now) said P told her he wanted to form an all female rock band and a few years later, 3rdeyegirl was born. It made me think of that interview he did in the 90's(?) in which he said half-jokingly that he "willed" his entire career into being. The mantra he had emblazoned on his bedroom wall, "Everything U Think Is True" has perhaps never been truer for anyone else, at least as far as music is concerned.

The part of the book that is most empowering to me is where he lets us know that we all have the ability to create the life that we want to live and create the communities that we want to live in. There is something very uplifting and gracious in the way that he decided to peel back the curtain of his life (the beginning of which was difficult, if not traumatic) in part, to tell us that we always have the power to chart our own destiny as well. (He mentions "free will" in the book. I have no idea how his interpretation of "free will" reconciles with the ideology of fate in the Bible, but that's another thread.)

By now, I've heard so many anecdotes by former associates about the human being P was that it has begun to tarnish my immaculate picture of who Prince the icon was, but in a healthy way. I've heard enough rehearsal bootlegs of him working on songs, I've seen rehearsal footage of him leading his various bands, and I've read enough testemonies of his work ethic to understand why he chafed at the word "magic" when it was used by white critics to describe him or his music. Once, I pictured Prince as the magical embodiement of effortless cool and preternatural virtuosity, but the beautiful ones "always smash the picture, always everytime".

Did anybody else read too much into the fact that his handwriting in cursive looks almost identical to his mother's?

blackmoondaughter said:

I received my copy on the 28th, finished it the same evening and haven't been able to stop thinking about certain parts of it. Firstly, it feels weird that his memoir exists at all. It seemed unbelievable when he announced the project three years ago and it still seems that way to me now. I never thought that I would ever be privy to facsimiles of handwritten pages containing some of his life's most intimate memories. This is Prince--a man who seemed to delight in the myths we created about him; who gave few interviews if any at all during certain eras of his career; who told us that everything we needed to know about him could be unearthed in his music. So even after reading the book, I was left to ponder the impetus for him to share the narrative of his life with us and it made me sad and inspired at the same time. Sad because of the circumstances in which he left and seemed prepared to leave this plane of existence and inspired because he left us with the same exhuberance to create as he did when he was here. From Dan Piepenbring's account, he seemed so hyped to author many more books.

Perhaps the most salient theme that P writes about besides creative ownership is the power of imagination and "visualization" in his memoir. This book resides among a lifetime of examples that demonstrate his uncanny ability to conceptualize something and bring it to fruition. According to Piepenbring, the memoir germinated out of an idea for a lyric/photo book(!). The treatment for Purple Rain was initially entitled "Dreams" and despite all odds, became the cornerstone for his most commercially successful work. I think it was Steve Parke who wrote about part of P's creative process in his photo book in which they spent many hours just spitballing ideas of cool ways to promote or present his music to his audience and then saw those ideas come to life in real time. A former associate (I don't remember who it was now) said P told her he wanted to form an all female rock band and a few years later, 3rdeyegirl was born. It made me think of that interview he did in the 90's(?) in which he said half-jokingly that he "willed" his entire career into being. The mantra he had emblazoned on his bedroom wall, "Everything U Think Is True" has perhaps never been truer for anyone else, at least as far as music is concerned.

The part of the book that is most empowering to me is where he lets us know that we all have the ability to create the life that we want to live and create the communities that we want to live in. There is something very uplifting and gracious in the way that he decided to peel back the curtain of his life (the beginning of which was difficult, if not traumatic) in part, to tell us that we always have the power to chart our own destiny as well. (He mentions "free will" in the book. I have no idea how his interpretation of "free will" reconciles with the ideology of fate in the Bible, but that's another thread.)

By now, I've heard so many anecdotes by former associates about the human being P was that it has begun to tarnish my immaculate picture of who Prince the icon was, but in a healthy way. I've heard enough rehearsal bootlegs of him working on songs, I've seen rehearsal footage of him leading his various bands, and I've read enough testemonies of his work ethic to understand why he chafed at the word "magic" when it was used by white critics to describe him or his music. Once, I pictured Prince as the magical embodiement of effortless cool and preternatural virtuosity, but the beautiful ones "always smash the picture, always everytime".

Did anybody else read too much into the fact that his handwriting in cursive looks almost identical to his mother's?

Yes, he was a master 'manifestor.'

I have studied handwriting analysis for many years and there is a strong similarity between his cursive handwriting and his mother's. Both are artistic, rhythmic, very emotional, (strong rightward slant) and passionate. Check out Vanity's handwriting; it is very similar to both of them.

BartVanHemelen said:

Belgian magazine Humo has an interview with Dan Piepenbring (BEWARE: likely SPOILERISH): https://www.humo.be/humo-...ft-gegeven

.

Now, I've read this. And quite frankly, I doubt the veracity of large sections of this. Because a lot of this interview is completely unlike other Piepenbring interviews. I've regularly suspected Serge Simonart to enhance his interviews with quotes from other interviews and/or by adding a lot of stuff to his own questions that he never asked that way. Quite frankly I'd be amazed if the tape of this interview contained the same words as they are written down here, because I cannot imagine Piepenbring expressing some of these thoughts.

.

If you've read it, please do not use this thread to discuss the most salacious bits; start separate ones for those. I'm including the link here since this is an interview that is part of the publicity wave for the book, and Piepenbring does discuss the book and its contents.

.

But again: some parts of this interview sound wildly out of character for Dan when you compare them to the dozens of other interviews he's done or to the introduction of the book.

.

Some excerpts (in Dutch):

.

De bottomline is volgens mij wat hij tegen z’n tourmanager Alan Leeds zei: ‘Je hebt geen idee wat het met me doet als weer eens een pseudo-artiest die niet eens zijn eigen songs schrijft toch een hit scoort.’ Ik bespeurde ook competitie met Bruce Springsteen. Het irriteerde Prince dat hij met hem werd vergeleken. Prince liet duidelijk voelen dat hij zichzelf beter vond dan Bruce, en niet onterecht: Prince arrangeerde z’n eigen platen, Bruce niet; Prince kon dansen, Bruce niet; Prince lanceerde de carrière van een dozijn andere artiesten, Bruce niet; Prince was sexy, Bruce een stuk minder; Prince beheerste een dozijn instrumenten, Bruce slechts één of twee; Prince kon alle stijlen aan, Bruce enkel rock en blues. Morris Day vertelde me hoe Prince ooit Bruce op het podium riep en hem zijn gitaar in de handen duwde. Bruce improviseerde een riff, maar hij is geen sologitarist, dus dat klonk niet echt indrukwekkend. Waarop Prince zijn gitaar terugvroeg en er vervolgens zelf een stomende solo op speelde, suggererend: kijk, dit instrument komt wel tot leven wanneer het wordt bespeeld door een échte artiest. Competitief? You bet. Maar ik voelde goed aan dat Prince zou dichtklappen als ik al zo vroeg in het proces te opzichtig zou hengelen naar anekdotes.

.

[...]

.

Hij hintte er die eerste ontmoetingen ook op dat er een nog onverteld verhaal school achter het niet uitbrengen van ‘The Black Album’ en de rol van zangeres Ingrid Chavez daarin. Hij had het over ‘Blue Tuesday’, een dag waarop hij met Ingrid een soort mystieke ervaring had gehad, al dan niet onder de invloed van drugs, die hem had doen besluiten alles om te gooien. Hij sprak over ‘spooky electric’, een duistere energie.

.

[...]

.

HUMO: Welke kamer van Paisley Park maakte de grootste indruk op jou?

.

Piepenbring: Zijn slaapkamer: een grote ruimte waar bijna alles wit was, alsof er ooit een sneeuwstorm had gewoed en die sneeuw nooit was gesmolten. Alle muren waren kaal op één opschrift na: ‘Everything you think is true.’ Het leek een tempel, kitsch en puur en minimalistisch tegelijk. Daar stond ook een draaitafel met twee gigantische luidsprekers en een stapel vinylplaten. De laatste die hij gespeeld had was ‘I Want You’ van Marvin Gaye. Ook de aangrenzende grote badkamer was leeg, op een enorme stenen badkuip en een vracht kaarsen na. Na zijn dood ben ik zijn enorme kleedkamer binnengewandeld. Dat was bizar, omdat al die kleren geparfumeerd waren: toen ik binnenkwam, overspoelde die geur me, alsof hij nog in die kamer aanwezig was.

.

[...]

.

Wat me nu te binnen schiet is een notaboek uit de periode van ‘Purple Rain’, waarin hij naast zwaarwichtige songteksten ook heel wat grapjes had genoteerd: ‘Hij was zo oud dat het nummer van zijn verzekeringspolis 3 was.’ Had hij die oneliners bedoeld als dialogen voor personages zoals Christopher Tracy in de film ‘Under the Cherry Moon? Of waren het aanzetten tot bindteksten tijdens optredens? Ik stuitte ook op aantekeningen voor ‘The Dawn’, de werktitel voor wat ‘Graffiti Bridge’ zou worden. Hij had iets met de zonsopgang als metafoor, het aanbreken van een nieuw tijdperk. Ook later, in de jaren 90, zei hij tijdens optredens dingen als: ‘Welcome to the dawn.’

.

[...]

.

Hij is een aantal keer verraden. Door zijn vader, door zogenaamde vrienden en vertrouwelingen, door muzikanten, door medewerkers van Paisley Park, door advocaten… Zijn kapster Kim Berry, die nu haarlokken van hem verkoopt die ze stiekem heeft gehamsterd: dat zou Prince geháát hebben! Hij was trots en schermde zijn privacy zozeer af dat niemand te dicht mocht komen. En hij had zelf zo’n imago van onfeilbaarheid en ongenaakbaarheid geschapen dat hij misschien bang was dat iemand zou ontdekken dat hij ook maar een gewone, kwetsbare sterveling was.

.

[...]

.

Na de dood van Prince kreeg ik een rondleiding door The Vault, de kluis waar behalve duizenden tapes ook persoonlijke spullen rondslingerden. Er lag kinderspeelgoed, en een prachtig lederen fotoalbum waarin Prince en Mayte het opgroeien van hun kind wilden documenteren, maar het was leeg gebleven – een gruwelijk simpel beeld dat hun tragedie perfect vatte. Maar hij heeft het wél bewaard.

.

BartVanHemelen said:

BartVanHemelen said:

Belgian magazine Humo has an interview with Dan Piepenbring (BEWARE: likely SPOILERISH): https://www.humo.be/humo-...ft-gegeven

.

Now, I've read this. And quite frankly, I doubt the veracity of large sections of this. Because a lot of this interview is completely unlike other Piepenbring interviews. I've regularly suspected Serge Simonart to enhance his interviews with quotes from other interviews and/or by adding a lot of stuff to his own questions that he never asked that way. Quite frankly I'd be amazed if the tape of this interview contained the same words as they are written down here, because I cannot imagine Piepenbring expressing some of these thoughts.

.

If you've read it, please do not use this thread to discuss the most salacious bits; start separate ones for those. I'm including the link here since this is an interview that is part of the publicity wave for the book, and Piepenbring does discuss the book and its contents.

.

But again: some parts of this interview sound wildly out of character for Dan when you compare them to the dozens of other interviews he's done or to the introduction of the book.

.

Some excerpts (in Dutch):

.

De bottomline is volgens mij wat hij tegen z’n tourmanager Alan Leeds zei: ‘Je hebt geen idee wat het met me doet als weer eens een pseudo-artiest die niet eens zijn eigen songs schrijft toch een hit scoort.’ Ik bespeurde ook competitie met Bruce Springsteen. Het irriteerde Prince dat hij met hem werd vergeleken. Prince liet duidelijk voelen dat hij zichzelf beter vond dan Bruce, en niet onterecht: Prince arrangeerde z’n eigen platen, Bruce niet; Prince kon dansen, Bruce niet; Prince lanceerde de carrière van een dozijn andere artiesten, Bruce niet; Prince was sexy, Bruce een stuk minder; Prince beheerste een dozijn instrumenten, Bruce slechts één of twee; Prince kon alle stijlen aan, Bruce enkel rock en blues. Morris Day vertelde me hoe Prince ooit Bruce op het podium riep en hem zijn gitaar in de handen duwde. Bruce improviseerde een riff, maar hij is geen sologitarist, dus dat klonk niet echt indrukwekkend. Waarop Prince zijn gitaar terugvroeg en er vervolgens zelf een stomende solo op speelde, suggererend: kijk, dit instrument komt wel tot leven wanneer het wordt bespeeld door een échte artiest. Competitief? You bet. Maar ik voelde goed aan dat Prince zou dichtklappen als ik al zo vroeg in het proces te opzichtig zou hengelen naar anekdotes.

.

[...]

.

Hij hintte er die eerste ontmoetingen ook op dat er een nog onverteld verhaal school achter het niet uitbrengen van ‘The Black Album’ en de rol van zangeres Ingrid Chavez daarin. Hij had het over ‘Blue Tuesday’, een dag waarop hij met Ingrid een soort mystieke ervaring had gehad, al dan niet onder de invloed van drugs, die hem had doen besluiten alles om te gooien. Hij sprak over ‘spooky electric’, een duistere energie.

.

[...]

.

HUMO: Welke kamer van Paisley Park maakte de grootste indruk op jou?

.

Piepenbring: Zijn slaapkamer: een grote ruimte waar bijna alles wit was, alsof er ooit een sneeuwstorm had gewoed en die sneeuw nooit was gesmolten. Alle muren waren kaal op één opschrift na: ‘Everything you think is true.’ Het leek een tempel, kitsch en puur en minimalistisch tegelijk. Daar stond ook een draaitafel met twee gigantische luidsprekers en een stapel vinylplaten. De laatste die hij gespeeld had was ‘I Want You’ van Marvin Gaye. Ook de aangrenzende grote badkamer was leeg, op een enorme stenen badkuip en een vracht kaarsen na. Na zijn dood ben ik zijn enorme kleedkamer binnengewandeld. Dat was bizar, omdat al die kleren geparfumeerd waren: toen ik binnenkwam, overspoelde die geur me, alsof hij nog in die kamer aanwezig was.

.

[...]

.

Wat me nu te binnen schiet is een notaboek uit de periode van ‘Purple Rain’, waarin hij naast zwaarwichtige songteksten ook heel wat grapjes had genoteerd: ‘Hij was zo oud dat het nummer van zijn verzekeringspolis 3 was.’ Had hij die oneliners bedoeld als dialogen voor personages zoals Christopher Tracy in de film ‘Under the Cherry Moon? Of waren het aanzetten tot bindteksten tijdens optredens? Ik stuitte ook op aantekeningen voor ‘The Dawn’, de werktitel voor wat ‘Graffiti Bridge’ zou worden. Hij had iets met de zonsopgang als metafoor, het aanbreken van een nieuw tijdperk. Ook later, in de jaren 90, zei hij tijdens optredens dingen als: ‘Welcome to the dawn.’

.

[...]

.

Hij is een aantal keer verraden. Door zijn vader, door zogenaamde vrienden en vertrouwelingen, door muzikanten, door medewerkers van Paisley Park, door advocaten… Zijn kapster Kim Berry, die nu haarlokken van hem verkoopt die ze stiekem heeft gehamsterd: dat zou Prince geháát hebben! Hij was trots en schermde zijn privacy zozeer af dat niemand te dicht mocht komen. En hij had zelf zo’n imago van onfeilbaarheid en ongenaakbaarheid geschapen dat hij misschien bang was dat iemand zou ontdekken dat hij ook maar een gewone, kwetsbare sterveling was.

.

[...]

.

Na de dood van Prince kreeg ik een rondleiding door The Vault, de kluis waar behalve duizenden tapes ook persoonlijke spullen rondslingerden. Er lag kinderspeelgoed, en een prachtig lederen fotoalbum waarin Prince en Mayte het opgroeien van hun kind wilden documenteren, maar het was leeg gebleven – een gruwelijk simpel beeld dat hun tragedie perfect vatte. Maar hij heeft het wél bewaard.

.

Thank U Bart !..one of the best interviews ...Can U post the full interview?

yello1 said:

BartVanHemelen said:

.

Thank U Bart !..one of the best interviews ...Can U post the full interview?

Just a paragraph with a link. The org does not have written permission to post the interview in it's entirety.

A bit of Dutch to English:

There was also a turntable with two giant speakers and a stack of vinyl records. The last one he had played was "I Want You" by Marvin Gaye. 

Mine arrived today. Can't wait to dig in.

Do we post spoilers on this thread or not?

donnyenglish said:

Do we post spoilers on this thread or not?

I don't think so. I'd love a spoiler-zone thread, though. I don't get down with this modern day chicken little freak out over any tangential spoiler or fragment of a spoiler. It's out, let's go.

I finished reading the book and want to talk about a few things but want to wait a few days for others to read it so the conversation is fuller.

TheTruth123 said:

There no Book Discussion yet? Well, if this isn’t the place to talk about the book, I think we should have one too. This is The Org. If anyone should have one it should be us. The world is watching. Let’s go.

I have a lot to say...so go for it!

TheTruth123 said:

Princes a great author. His grandma is not always perfect but that doesn’t matter in this case..........

callimnate said:

darlingnikkkki said:

I do like the book, but yet again it's an Estate project they haven't properly thought through.

Due to the type of content the book should be bigger.

The vast majority of images should have been placed edge to edge to maximise their size.

There is no point is making hand written notes so small that they can't be read.

So good effort, but very poor in it's execution.

In contrast I find the digital version a much better experience when viewing the images.

Is everyone interested in a book discussion thread?

darkroman said:

PennyPurple said:

TheTruth123 said:

darlingnikkkki said:

Just got my copy and have to say that this book looks exquisite— from the texture of the gold book cover, the purple color hard bound cover, the thick, sturdy pages. I’ll be buying another mint copy to keep on my shelf as I know I’ll be riffling these pages quite a bit. Haven’t read the content yet but Prince would have been proud of the physical copy of this book. Excited to see them displayed at my local Barnes and Noble.

Did you notice how heavy the book is? They did good by us for $30. [Edited 11/1/19 3:26am]

and 20% off at Target $21.00

TheTruth123 said:

darkroman said:

TheTruth123 said:

darlingnikkkki said:

Just got my copy and have to say that this book looks exquisite— from the texture of the gold book cover, the purple color hard bound cover, the thick, sturdy pages. I’ll be buying another mint copy to keep on my shelf as I know I’ll be riffling these pages quite a bit. Haven’t read the content yet but Prince would have been proud of the physical copy of this book. Excited to see them displayed at my local Barnes and Noble.

Did you notice how heavy the book is? They did good by us for $30. [Edited 11/1/19 3:26am]

$30? I got mine for $18?????

[Edited 11/1/19 7:53am]

Okay, I'll start.

'Cellular Memory'

I liken this to being 50/middle age-ish and traits you saw in your parents, you find moments of startled realization you can dole out the same. Example, I texted a message to my college son and epiphany! this is the same tripe nonsense my mother writes all the time or, a stoic mathematical father that seemed your opposite later in life you find yourself also able to call up steely reserves...

That is the lighter, normal stuff of that train of thought.

The more negative might be: is drug or chemical dependency inherited? Or is it by settings?
I would think that with all of Princes working/interest with twins, he may have looked into these studies

😂 LOL

PennyPurple said:

darlingnikkkki said:

BartVanHemelen said:

Belgian magazine Humo has an interview with Dan Piepenbring (BEWARE: likely SPOILERISH): https://www.humo.be/humo-...ft-gegeven

.

Now, I've read this. And quite frankly, I doubt the veracity of large sections of this. Because a lot of this interview is completely unlike other Piepenbring interviews. I've regularly suspected Serge Simonart to enhance his interviews with quotes from other interviews and/or by adding a lot of stuff to his own questions that he never asked that way. Quite frankly I'd be amazed if the tape of this interview contained the same words as they are written down here, because I cannot imagine Piepenbring expressing some of these thoughts.

So you're not (ss)?! Well damn, that was always in the back of my mind reading your posts.

Should've known as you don't compliment yourself all the time.

benni said:

darlingnikkkki said:

Just got my copy and have to say that this book looks exquisite— from the texture of the gold book cover, the purple color hard bound cover, the thick, sturdy pages. I’ll be buying another mint copy to keep on my shelf as I know I’ll be riffling these pages quite a bit. Haven’t read the content yet but Prince would have been proud of the physical copy of this book. Excited to see them displayed at my local Barnes and Noble.

I hear ya!

darkroman said:

I do like the book, but yet again it's an Estate project they haven't properly thought through.

Due to the type of content the book should be bigger.

The vast majority of images should have been placed edge to edge to maximise their size.

There is no point is making hand written notes so small that they can't be read.

So good effort, but very poor in it's execution.

In contrast I find the digital version a much better experience when viewing the images.

They should make another one with your suggestions; I will Buy that one too!

Shockadelica9 said:

His Girlfriend Cari is mentioned in the song “schoolyard”

Wonder Where and What is Cari doing now?

Think she's still living in Minne., she got a family now? She thinks I was once the girlfriend of One of the Baddest Musicians to walk the Planet... hehe haha

[Edited 11/1/19 13:33pm]

Page 16 makes me laugh and laugh. SO TRUE.

(copying below)

He mentioned a writer who'd compared him to Bruce Springsteen.

"Why? No one has any of his albums here. No one listens to him. I don't. You might as well compare me to Billy Joel."

P.S. I am always scared of upsetting the Bruce S fans. When I look at Bruce, I like Bruce, don't get me wrong, but growing up on the rock side in Mpls in the 80's it was Rolling Stones, Zep, Aerosmith,

No Springsteen

[Edited 11/1/19 10:12am]

I've just been analysing Prince's original hand drawn cover for 1999 in the book.

Quite a few interesting nuggets in it:

Many song titles are hidden in the collage, much like the idea for the cover of ATWIAD.

Lennon, Bowie and Monroe all feature.

1st Avenue gets on there.

There is purple cloud with rain!

The Ladder concept goes into the purple cloud.

The gender symbols appear for the first time.

'Revelation' is on there.

Jill Jones 'lady garage' is depicted as a Rolls Royce!

I'm sure there are more interesting clues in there.

SquirrelMeat said:

soladeo1 said:

SquirrelMeat said:

I've just been analysing Prince's original hand drawn cover for 1999 in the book.

Quite a few interesting nuggets in it:

Many song titles are hidden in the collage, much like the idea for the cover of ATWIAD.

Lennon, Bowie and Monroe all feature.

1st Avenue gets on there.

There is purple cloud with rain!

The Ladder concept goes into the purple cloud.

The gender symbols appear for the first time.

'Revelation' is on there.

Jill Jones 'lady garage' is depicted as a Rolls Royce!

I'm sure there are more interesting clues in there.

I love Princes early 1999 album cover concept!!!!

I dig what you all have written...

violetcrush said:

The thing that I love most about this book - beside all of the new family pictures, drawings, and lyrics - is that much of the story of Prince’s early life that had been written both in Prince’s songs and in Biographies - was confirmed in this book - his early bond with his Mother that was broken when she married his stepfather; the intense verbal and sometimes physical fights between his parents (his Mother holding him in front of her to stop his Dad from hitting her, which he described in The Sacrifice of Victor); and his negative experience at a white school (also told in TSOV). * I think if he had been able to complete his story we would have found that certain of his songs told the same story. His songs are his autobiography.

Very well said!

bsprout said:

PennyPurple said:

Is everyone interested in a book discussion thread?

Hi Penny! I would love that. I hope you’ll moderate again. You were so good at it last time. But, no pressure:) and if Dan P. Would comment in the thread ((like the other authors did last time), that would be very cool...I loved his treatment of the book and he’s a great writer. I’m interested in seeing more from him.

That would be awesome, I wonder if he is a member here?

I've been enjoying searching out the songs he mentioned in his writing that inspired him. It's interesting to hear the influences in his own writing. Pack'd My Bags (after the piano intro) by Rufus definitely inspired the original version of 1000 Hugs & Kisses.

And the woman he mentions dancing in WATTSTAX reminds me a lot of Damaris' vibe in some of his later live shows.

https://youtu.be/QSxyU-AbF6M?t=142

mnfriend said:

Here's a truthful review, explaing why some people couldn't stand the hype about it. https://slate.com/culture...-ones.html

Not sure how to feel about this book. Would not recommend to someone who was not a fan.

Astasheiks said:

TheTruth123 said:

AaronReturn2005 said:

Here's a truthful review, explaing why some people couldn't stand the hype about it. https://slate.com/culture...-ones.html

This review seem pretty hypey to me. Anybody that read anything about it months ago already knew it was only the beginning stages.

PennyPurple said:

Is everyone interested in a book discussion thread?

Yes!

violetcrush said:

TheTruth123 said:

AaronReturn2005 said:

Here's a truthful review, explaing why some people couldn't stand the hype about it. https://slate.com/culture...-ones.html

.

Hype sells product. People believe hype, even if it is absurd sometimes. Of course most all marketing is bullsh*t.

He barely started the book, so of course there's no way it could be incredible autobiography.

FunkiestOne said:

AaronReturn2005 said:

Here's a truthful review, explaing why some people couldn't stand the hype about it. https://slate.com/culture...-ones.html

.

Hype sells product. People believe hype, even if it is absurd sometimes. Of course most all marketing is bullsh*t.

He barely started the book, so of course there's no way it could be incredible autobiography.

I just finished reading it. It is incredible. I love every.single.page in this book.

FunkiestOne said:

AaronReturn2005 said:

Here's a truthful review, explaing why some people couldn't stand the hype about it. https://slate.com/culture...-ones.html

.

Hype sells product. People believe hype, even if it is absurd sometimes. Of course most all marketing is bullsh*t.

He barely started the book, so of course there's no way it could be incredible autobiography.

quote from the wordy negative review from above:

"So it’s currently impossible to point to the rightful custodians of his work, and it’s wrenching, given what we know about Prince’s feelings about that."

Really? How are you so sure about Prince's wishes/feelings/ hopes for his material after he died?
Did he leave a will and testament explaining it to you?

No. He did not. So don't claim. The author did meet with Prince over the last 3 months of his life, did get handwritten pages from Prince in those last 3 months,

and did get full access to the vault to go through his stuff! He saw it all, and picked out all the handwritten lyrics that were carefully kept together in 1 place/ all clamped/secured together.

TheTruth123 said:

casi1 said:

When I read his comment about giving ones heart away, I interpretted it as if to say self preservation should be considered when falling in love. Keep your guard up so that you can save yourself in the end. Don’t lose yourself. Because if you do, you won’t come out of the situation the same as you entered it. You’ll be damaged. Forever. I don’t agree with that but I understand it. He had seen people lose themselves then never recover. Apparently his mother was never quite the same after his father left (despite remarrying). I think the experience of watching his parents compete with each other, use him in fights with each other, etc resulted in a bad first example of how adult relationships were supposed to be. It sounded like he was always trying to win his mother’s love despite the fact that she was irrational, headstrong, Wild, and stole money from him. He seemed caught between wanting her to have been a demure housewife (a role which he may or may not have tried to force on his own love interests later in life) and loving that beautiful mischievous uncontrollable wild side of her. But if she could have changed herself then his parents could have stayed together. Things would have been ideal then. If she could have calmed down, been more rational, been more supportive to the head of household. But since she couldn’t/wouldn’t change, his father had to leave. It’s almost like when a man loves a woman but can’t trust her enough to feel safe with her. My grandma used to say that if a boy can’t trust his mama, he will become a man who struggles to trust ANY woman. As intelligent as Prince was and as reflective as he was at the end of his life, I wouldn’t be surprised if he knew exactly why he struggled in his adult relationships... and that it might have been directly linked to his complicated childhood. Who knows. Wow. It’s fascinating how we can almost see his parents personalities in how he presented himself to the world. Like the two of them were fighting inside of him. I wonder how they felt about that. And don’t even get me started on his love of watching women get dressed up. Lol.

Interesting points. He never talked too much about his mom but I bet there will be many discussions here re: her impact on him. In fairness to her, she was very young, (she was 25, he was in his early 40's), had 2 very young children and sounded overwhelmed and lonely.

I wonder if she emotionally abandoned Prince at times, but at other times, overwhelmed him with her needs.

It would be interesting to know how it was for Prince between 7 and 12 with mom.

He clearly loved her.

and dont forget she also had an older son , Alfred . who i assume was living with his father ...and John had other children including Duane who also had a complicated beginning in life

AaronReturn2005 said:

Here's a truthful review, explaing why some people couldn't stand the hype about it. https://slate.com/culture...-ones.html

Good review, thank you for posting

Here's another review from german TV:

https://www.zdf.de/kultur/aspekte/prince-autobiografie-the-beautiful-ones-100.html

darkroman said:

I do like the book, but yet again it's an Estate project they haven't properly thought through.

Due to the type of content the book should be bigger.

The vast majority of images should have been placed edge to edge to maximise their size.

There is no point is making hand written notes so small that they can't be read.

So good effort, but very poor in it's execution.

In contrast I find the digital version a much better experience when viewing the images.

I see there's a Kindle version, so if viewed on a tablet it would be big!

Maybe there will be a PDF version out there of it someday.

casi1 said:

mnfriend said:

casi1 said:

violetcrush said:

I confess my fav part of the book is page 195 where Prince is quoted from Musician mag 1983

comparing Mpls. to NYC,

then going on to say a lot of warped people come out of Mpls

'I know a lot warped girls, okay? Warped to me means they see things differently than I do, I suppose'

PennyPurple said:

casi1 said:

I think it's a mature comment (keep part of yourself/heart to yourself)

Dare I say, I take it to mean

no human or thing or whatever you seek wholeheartedly outside yourself

will complete or fill or make whole

for anyone.

It is that part that you can only go to God with

like a dark night of the soul experience

I think there is a time in every person's life

when your face hits the asphalt

no-where left to turn

It is you and whomever whatever gets you through.

or maybe I'm a warped gal from Mpls.

But it is sage advice. You would tell it to your children. Keep yourself intact, true, etc.

LoveGalore said:

PurpleBlackmon said:

I don't know about this. Prince didn't even come close to completing this. As of matter of fact he passed just as he was starting. I bet this is just another Bio, made up mostly of compiled past and already published interviews.

You should know better. Though as someone who has the book already, I can certainly confirm its not what you said it is.

When he died they said he had only completed approx. 50 pages. So where did the rest of it come from?

CuddlyBear said:

When he died they said he had only completed approx. 50 pages. So where did the rest of it come from?

The rest is pictures and handwritten songs, with some interviews he had done. The Estate gave them access to PP to go in and see if there was anything they could use to complete the book. If you haven't gotten it yet, it would be a great think to have.

How many sang the songs in their head, while reading what he wrote?

PennyPurple said:

FunkiestOne said:

TheTruth123 said:

I loved Prince's rendition of his first? kiss with Petey. He was probably around 16 and seemed SOOO

grateful to this girl. I was happy for him but realized he was very tentative and seemed inexperienced.

It makes me question his 'entertaining' 12 y/o girls at his dad's apt. (which led to his eviction)...I think that is fan/Morris lore.

TheTruth123 said:

mnfriend said:

quote from the wordy negative review from above:

"So it’s currently impossible to point to the rightful custodians of his work, and it’s wrenching, given what we know about Prince’s feelings about that."

Really? How are you so sure about Prince's wishes/feelings/ hopes for his material after he died?
Did he leave a will and testament explaining it to you?

No. He did not. So don't claim. The author did meet with Prince over the last 3 months of his life, did get handwritten pages from Prince in those last 3 months,

and did get full access to the vault to go through his stuff! He saw it all, and picked out all the handwritten lyrics that were carefully kept together in 1 place/ all clamped/secured together.

I thought I read somewhere that the author only spent 12 face to face hours with Prince in total.

Honestly, being with Prince the last 3 months of his life, whether 12-1200 of purposeful speaking, plus Prince's handwritten own words, never seen before hw lyrics, description of vault after death

fresh fresh fresh and Thank You

PeggyO said:

Shockadelica9 said:

PeggyO said:

I loved Prince's rendition of his first? kiss with Petey. He was probably around 16 and seemed SOOO

grateful to this girl. I was happy for him but realized he was very tentative and seemed inexperienced.

It makes me question his 'entertaining' 12 y/o girls at his dad's apt. (which led to his eviction)...I think that is fan/Morris lore.

Petey wasn’t his first kiss or girlfriend. his first girlfriend was Debbie, petey was his crush

My mistake...

My point was that I don't think he was entertaining girls at his dad's apt. at age 12; he seemed shy and inexperienced (IMO).

PeggyO said:

PeggyO said:

I loved Prince's rendition of his first? kiss with Petey. He was probably around 16 and seemed SOOO

grateful to this girl. I was happy for him but realized he was very tentative and seemed inexperienced.

It makes me question his 'entertaining' 12 y/o girls at his dad's apt. (which led to his eviction)...I think that is fan/Morris lore.

.

Agree 100. This is why I always feined to hear Prince speak for himself. Prince didn't mention a damn thing about being kicked ot of his house because of a girl. I always felt in my heart like that was made up. Prince said his father called and ask his aunt Olivia if he could live with her. I believe him. Don't need no confirmation from no one else.

Is this the oficial book club now?

icecreamcastle777 said:

[FOLKS PLEASE NOTE: Copying/pasting of book paragraphs and/or pics is NOT allowed for copyright reasons - luv4u]


Friendly reminder Folks..........

As stated in the book:

violetcrush said:

icecreamcastle777 said:

.

Agree 100. This is why I always feined to hear Prince speak for himself. Prince didn't mention a damn thing about being kicked ot of his house because of a girl. I always felt in my heart like that was made up. Prince said his father called and ask his aunt Olivia if he could live with her. I believe him. Don't need no confirmation from no one else.

With the "lore," I think it's more like "associate's lore." They're the ones everybody gets this stuff from. like what happened to Kim Upsher or Susan Moonsie who the biographies and everyone and their mama was claiming was his High School sweetheart?? Only recently did the 'Susan was his High school sweetheart thing' die down after all em' years...

He told the story of his Dad kicking him out and calling him from a pay phone to apologize but his Father still would not rage him back in. He said he sat on the curb and cried for 2 hours, and it was the last time he cried like that. Look up the 1985 RS interview on princevault.com. One of his most open and honest interviews, because he was in such a good place.

Rolling Stone 1985 interview:

*

"Across the street from McDonald’s, Prince spies a smaller landmark. He points to a vacant corner phone booth and remembers a teenage fight with a strict and unforgiving father. “That’s where I called my dad and begged him to take me back after he kicked me out,” he begins softly. “He said no, so I called my sister and asked her to ask him. So she did, and afterward told me that all I had to do was call him back, tell him I was sorry, and he’s take me back. So I did, and he still said no. I sat crying at that phone booth for two hours. That’s the last time I cried.” "

Everything was more dramatic back then. And it was 'normal' to stay overnight at your friends house. We were young people with feet outside on the streets everyday, engaging in life, parties, music, friendships. Many of 'us' had no parents in the house, latch key households, no-one home parents not minding the store so to speak....

circa Mpls MN in the early 80's.

[Edited 11/2/19 18:17pm]

mnfriend said:

violetcrush said:

violetcrush said:

violetcrush said:

icecreamcastle777 said: He told the story of his Dad kicking him out and calling him from a pay phone to apologize but his Father still would not rage him back in. He said he sat on the curb and cried for 2 hours, and it was the last time he cried like that. Look up the 1985 RS interview on princevault.com. One of his most open and honest interviews, because he was in such a good place.

Rolling Stone 1985 interview:

*

"Across the street from McDonald’s, Prince spies a smaller landmark. He points to a vacant corner phone booth and remembers a teenage fight with a strict and unforgiving father. “That’s where I called my dad and begged him to take me back after he kicked me out,” he begins softly. “He said no, so I called my sister and asked her to ask him. So she did, and afterward told me that all I had to do was call him back, tell him I was sorry, and he’s take me back. So I did, and he still said no. I sat crying at that phone booth for two hours. That’s the last time I cried.” "

Yea, knew that already. He didn't mention anything about being kicked out of his house because of a girl like I said. Prince said in this here book that his father asked his Aunt Olivia if he could live with him because the apartment was too small. Nothing, nada, about being kicked out of the house becuase of a girl. You don't know the full details of why he was calling asking to go back home. Who knows, maybe he didn't wanna live with his aunt Olivia, but Prince never mentioned being kicked out of the house over any girl in this book. That info came from all the associates.
.

[Edited 11/2/19 19:13pm]

mnfriend said:

mnfriend said:

I always knew this, but what really jumped out at me was that the struggles he had in his relationships were clearly tied to the struggles he had with his mother. He even made the contrast to it in his handwritten script for Dreams when he mentioned that Vanity reminded him much like his mother and it sets him off into schizophrenia. Weird as hell that Vanity actually died the same day his mother died. Both on Feburary 15th. His mother was definitely a big factor in the reason he felt more comfortable dating the demure quiet girls who was content to stay at home and didn't give him too much trouble.

.

[Edited 11/2/19 19:48pm]

One of my favorite things about the book was just the way Prince wrote. I could read his shit all day...

RJP1205 said:

violetcrush said:

icecreamcastle777 said:

I always knew this, but what really jumped out at me was that the struggles he had in his relationships were clearly tied to the struggles he had with his mother. He even made the contrast to it in his handwritten script for Dreams when he mentioned that Vanity reminded him much like his mother and it sets him off into schizophrenia. Weird as hell that Vanity actually died the same day his mother died. Both on Feburary 15th. His mother was definitely a big factor in the reason he felt more comfortable dating the demure quiet girls who was content to stay at home and didn't give him too much trouble.

.

[Edited 11/2/19 19:48pm]

That is weird about the dates, but then again with Prince it's not.

And who wouldn't prefer calmer, less antagonizing women in their life? LOL.

CuddlyBear said:

I dont want the book to end.

[Edited 11/3/19 5:52am]

violetcrush said:

There is a lot that I relate to in here about Prince's childhood and how he coped with it. Witnessing the physical altercations between his parents (and it is soul crushing). The visualizations of how he wanted things to be, I would do that at night as I was trying to go to sleep, I called it "imagining my world". His superhero power of flying, that was how I would imagine getting away from the monsters in my life, I'd fly away from them, because anything that bad, that mean, that heavy would not be able to be light enough to fly. Being sent away to live with an aunt in which he wasn't happy in her home - I moved in with an aunt when I was 8. The separation of his parents (the feeling of loss he felt) at age 7, my mom died when I was 7.

He kept saying that he wanted to write about his mom, and that's why so much of it focused on her. At those ages, it all had a huge impact on him, his ability to trust others, his ability to open up to others, his wanting love so much that he fell in love frequently back then. It's really interesting to read this as it relates to psychology. But it's strange to read it and relate to it on so many different levels.

I really wish he had been able to finish this book himself. I'm glad we got what we did, but I really think he planned to take the book in a totally different direction as he went on.

CuddlyBear said:

LoveGalore said:

PurpleBlackmon said: You should know better. Though as someone who has the book already, I can certainly confirm its not what you said it is.

When he died they said he had only completed approx. 50 pages. So where did the rest of it come from?

30, 50 or 80 pages. Not sure which statement is accurate all I know from read twitter, this book is already creating an intense dialog, and much like the music, the "easter egg" theme is all over the pages (i.e. the 1999 original album cover).

TheTruth123 said:

mnfriend said:

Everything was more dramatic back then. And it was 'normal' to stay overnight at your friends house. We were young people with feet outside on the streets everyday, engaging in life, parties, music, friendships. Many of 'us' had no parents in the house, latch key households, no-one home parents not minding the store so to speak....

circa Mpls MN in the early 80's.

Circa everywhere in the 1970s & 80s. Especially any American city.

Agree - ditto suburbs, towns, and in the country. Actual timeline is that Prince turned 20 years old in 1979.

[Edited 11/3/19 7:59am]

Hamad said:

CuddlyBear said:

When he died they said he had only completed approx. 50 pages. So where did the rest of it come from?

30, 50 or 80 pages. Not sure which statement is accurate all I know from read twitter, this book is already creating an intense dialog, and much like the music, the "easter egg" theme is all over the pages (i.e. the 1999 original album cover).

About 30 pages is accurate. It's in the New Yorker article when they were written and when Pipenbring read them. There were discussions too, but no more pages.

benni said:

poppys said:

Hamad said:

CuddlyBear said:

When he died they said he had only completed approx. 50 pages. So where did the rest of it come from?

30, 50 or 80 pages. Not sure which statement is accurate all I know from read twitter, this book is already creating an intense dialog, and much like the music, the "easter egg" theme is all over the pages (i.e. the 1999 original album cover).

I don't have a twitter account/not my thing but I went to look after your post

the close up too short albeit the most spectacular'Sweet Thing' clip with Chaka,

the little clip of Prince making Bryant Gumbolt howl with laughter.....

thanks

[Edited 11/3/19 6:22am]

Hamad said:

poppys said:

About 30 pages is accurate. It's in the New Yorker article when they were written and when Pipenbring read them. There were discussions too, but no more pages.

Thank you

Good place to start because Pipenbring actually wrote that himself. Not an interview or a rehash.

[Edited 11/3/19 8:09am]

mnfriend said:

benni said:

icecreamcastle777 said:

I always knew this, but what really jumped out at me was that the struggles he had in his relationships were clearly tied to the struggles he had with his mother. He even made the contrast to it in his handwritten script for Dreams when he mentioned that Vanity reminded him much like his mother and it sets him off into schizophrenia. Weird as hell that Vanity actually died the same day his mother died. Both on Feburary 15th. His mother was definitely a big factor in the reason he felt more comfortable dating the demure quiet girls who was content to stay at home and didn't give him too much trouble.

.

[Edited 11/2/19 19:48pm]

I think it is admirable that he mentioned his mother, whom he clearly loved. I don't get the sense he wanted to talk too much about that relationship in the past, but was willing to 'open it up' in his book.

There was likely some wounding of some kind.

Yes, classy Prince, so respectful of his parents, also done eloquently on Larry King live.

Something else in the book, on his wall, 'You Are What You Think'

(I would cite a page number and more detail, but I think those posts are getting deleted, can't copy out of book)

You are what you think.
I see this as tying into his belief of moral movie viewing, not having negative or maybe violent scenes and images put into his thoughts (I am the same way, refuse horror movie of any kind)

mnfriend said:

RJP1205 said:

mnfriend said:

Yes, classy Prince, so respectful of his parents, also done eloquently on Larry King live.

Something else in the book, on his wall, 'You Are What You Think'

(I would cite a page number and more detail, but I think those posts are getting deleted, can't copy out of book)

You are what you think.
I see this as tying into his belief of moral movie viewing, not having negative or maybe violent scenes and images put into his thoughts (I am the same way, refuse horror movie of any kind)

I loved this too and I would say it before I even knew it was an expression. I love that he believed and lived this...what we feed our physical bodies affects our physical health; what we feed our minds affects our spirit.

You put it much better than I did

I was saying classy Prince respectful to his Father, provided for him I think when he became financially successful, but in this book, or what I will always love about Prince, is his honesty. I think that's why he was so private, because he was also honest. And of course sensitive.
This hw sentence in the book, I'd never seen it before:

'He quoted Bible scripture while blooding a woman's face.'

But of course, isn't this all captured on the film 'Purple Rain' ?

I watched a clip of MTV Hollywood red carpet screening Purple Rain release 1984 (?) Eddie Murphy in the house,

Prince walked that red carpet green faced. He looked stricken.

mnfriend said:

But of course, isn't this all captured on the film 'Purple Rain' ?

I watched a clip of MTV Hollywood red carpet screening Purple Rain release 1984 (?) Eddie Murphy in the house,

Prince walked that red carpet green faced. He looked stricken.

He was nervous about the film's success - it could've derailed his career if not a hit. Alan Leeds has told a great story about the limo ride with Prince, and Prince grabbling his hand and in a shaky, high-pitched voice saying, "what d-d-did he say?" after Big Chick said they were having trouble controlling the crowds in front of the theatre.

*

A little bit of his parents' relationship was part of the film - the fighting, and his Mother wanting to go out and have fun, but his Dad didn't drink or own a gun, and obviously did not kill himself.

violetcrush said:

mnfriend said:

But of course, isn't this all captured on the film 'Purple Rain' ?

I watched a clip of MTV Hollywood red carpet screening Purple Rain release 1984 (?) Eddie Murphy in the house,

Prince walked that red carpet green faced. He looked stricken.

He was nervous about the film's success - it could've derailed his career if not a hit. Alan Leeds has told a great story about the limo ride with Prince, and Prince grabbling his hand and in a shaky, high-pitched voice saying, "what d-d-did he say?" after Big Chick said they were having trouble controlling the crowds in front of the theatre.

*

A little bit of his parents' relationship was part of the film - the fighting, and his Mother wanting to go out and have fun, but his Dad didn't drink or own a gun, and obviously did not kill himself.

Thanks. I don't remember all the details, don't see movies more than a few times, last time 'Purple Rain' was on TV after he passed and I cried like a baby. So I am not watching it again

It's a trip to look back on it so young so naturally private and shy and here is him starring in a movie about himself (mostly) everyone now knowing your business, the fame.

anyway, thanks all for the company everyone I truly enjoyed the book ---

mnfriend said:

But of course, isn't this all captured on the film 'Purple Rain' ?

I watched a clip of MTV Hollywood red carpet screening Purple Rain release 1984 (?) Eddie Murphy in the house,

Prince walked that red carpet green faced. He looked stricken.

The family dynamics are covered in the film "Purple Rain", but it's interesting that he addressed it through the lense of a young adult man in the film. In reality, the dynamics that he experienced happened as a child. In the film, he also addressed the fact that he was conflicted on who he was. Was he like his father (in which he hit Apples), or was he more like his mother. He addressed that dichotomy in his book, too. If it was difficult, as a young man, to go through those experiences, and the impact it had on him, imagine just how much more difficult it was as a child to go through those experiences and try to make sense of the world around him. It's hard enough to deal with as an adult, but as a child, it's extremely confusing, because you love both parents, and at the same time, you aren't sure how you should feel about those parents and their actions. It makes "love" all the more confusing after you grow up, because you were definitely given mixed messages as a child as to what "love" meant. But Prince seemed to figure it out very well.

Edited it to add: It's interesting the characters that he developed for the film too. I see Morris Day almost like his mother - carefree, wanting to go out and have fun, not concerned about the responsibility. And the Kid, like his dad, centered on the spiritual, more responsible. The "fighting" between the two characters (the altercations between his parents). It's almost like he is showing the two sides of who he believed he might be based upon the personalities and dynamics of his parents and their relationship.

[Edited 11/3/19 16:03pm]

benni said:

Found a gem in the book! The first car he bought with some of his record deal was a 1977 Datsun 200SX. (Later the company rebranded itself as Nissan) I had a brand new 200SX in 1979, blue as well. Dont you think it is ironic that the model was a SX? Just add a letter...

Well, anyhow, really enjoyed all the pics I had never seen before, and I loved the weight of the paper they printed it on, and so many other things. I really feel they did a pretty good job on it, considering there was so little completed by P when he left us. I know that some day I will pull it off my bookshelves and it will be a celebration of a life, but right now it tugs on my heart, and I am putting it up 4 now. Have a great new week everyone.

Found this on the internet as being part of the original Purple Rain script

80tomato said:

80tomato said:

Found this on the internet as being part of the original Purple Rain script

Provide an actual source - sounds like (really terrible) fan fiction. Man, this thread's gone downhill fast.

[Edited 11/4/19 6:05am]

Two questions:

1. Why do you think all the pictures of Owen Husney are missing from Prince's 1977 photo book?

2. Do You think it was the Sometimes it snows in April we know today, that was already supposed to be on For You (as mentioned on p. 267)? Or maybe it was only a line Prince was fond of that evolved into a whole different song in 1985? (See the two unrelated songs called "The Max", and I'm sure there are other incidents like this in Prince's catalogue, but can't name them right now.) Are there any interviews by Wendy & Lisa about the creation of the 1985 version they supposedly co-authored?

kindofblue said:

Two questions:

1. Why do you think all the pictures of Owen Husney are missing from Prince's 1977 photo book?

2. Do You think it was the Sometimes it snows in April we know today, that was already supposed to be on For You (as mentioned on p. 267)? Or maybe it was only a line Prince was fond of that evolved into a whole different song in 1985? (See the two unrelated songs called "The Max", and I'm sure there are other incidents like this in Prince's catalogue, but can't name them right now.) Are there any interviews by Wendy & Lisa about the creation of the 1985 version they supposedly co-authored?

well, a couple of notes later, it says that there is an early version of 'sometimes it snows'
in the lyrics notebook for "for you" (circa 1976-1977) so it's probably at least in part one
of those songs he had knocking about for a decade or so before revisiting it.

TheTruth123 said:

I think it’s great that Prince kept all this stuff. Shows he cared about himself and knew who he was.

A lot of times keeping stuff can mean, you want to see what you were like when you were younger, how much you changed, stayed the same. Or a reminder of what the times were like.

.
It is interesting looking at things I have still from my pre teen/teen years. I have a drawing-journal of things. I draw his symbol back in the 90s when he announced it. I designed my own.

OldFriends4Sale said:

OldFriends4Sale said:

kindofblue said:

TheTruth123 said:

violetcrush said:

poppys said:

80tomato said:

Found this on the internet as being part of the original Purple Rain script

Provide an actual source - sounds like (really terrible) fan fiction. Man, this thread's gone downhill fast.

[Edited 11/4/19 6:05am]

H Poppy...I agree it reads like fan fiction ...It is from a post on LSA from May 2016 ....I checked back to see if there was a source cited but there was none .I did feel it was significant because it mentions the stroking of his cheek and the earrng scenario which he mentions in his book published 3 years later

80tomato said:

poppys said:

Provide an actual source - sounds like (really terrible) fan fiction. Man, this thread's gone downhill fast.

H Poppy...I agree it reads like fan fiction ...It is from a post on LSA from May 2016 ....I checked back to see if there was a source cited but there was none .I did feel it was significant because it mentions the stroking of his cheek and the earrng scenario which he mentions in his book published 3 years later

It's fan fiction. You can tell by the writing. Prince didn't write that for Purple Rain, lmao That's also why you have no source except Lipstick Alley.

It is not significant to anything except someone took something Prince wrote and riffed off of it. Nothing to do with The Beautiful Ones book either.

TheTruth123 said:

TheTruth123 said:

TheTruth123 said:

Prince was writing this memoir to help us. One lesson he was trying to give us was to “Respect Yourself”.

And create your life. There is a quote that i love, I'll repost it

TheTruth123 said:

I was thinking this morning about why it is that so many of us felt a huge loss when Prince passed, even though we did not follow him in recent years. I think there are several reasons, but a big one is that he never blamed anyone. Yes, during his life he had relationship problems as we all do, but in essence, he never blamed anyone for the state of his life today. That is a remarkable quality, and I think deep in our hearts most of us want that and admire it. [Edited 11/4/19 6:19am]

I followed him right up to the end.

But he did blame WB for some hefty things of his career.
He did put some 'blame' in the wrong places here in there, why certain movies flopped and some other things.

violetcrush said:

OldFriends4Sale said:

A lot of times keeping stuff can mean, you want to see what you were like when you were younger, how much you changed, stayed the same. Or a reminder of what the times were like.

.
It is interesting looking at things I have still from my pre teen/teen years. I have a drawing-journal of things. I draw his symbol back in the 90s when he announced it. I designed my own.

I think he was sentimental and nostalgic about his life even though he claimed mot to be. The whole “what’s in the past is past and I never look back” spiel was a facade. He looked back in his music and by keeping all of his mementos. I’m sure it was also to gauge where he was at certain times and how he’d changed. In that way like most people - holding on to memories and items to mark periods in time.

Yes

Even when it comes down the 'the Vault' music.
Even if he never listened to the majority of it, he sure did keep it.

And if he didn't want anyone to hear it, he would have destroyed it.

OldFriends4Sale said:

Yes

Even when it comes down the 'the Vault' music.
Even if he never listened to the majority of it, he sure did keep it.

And if he didn't want anyone to hear it, he would have destroyed it.

This is what I say to anyone who says he didn't want anyone to hear the vault stuff. It's so damn obvious though, I'm not sure why anyone who's been around should have to be told this. He even said in an interview that he wouldn't release it but somebody would....that says to me it was his plan for it to play out that way.

Mumio said:

Mumio said:

OldFriends4Sale said:

Yes

Even when it comes down the 'the Vault' music.
Even if he never listened to the majority of it, he sure did keep it.

And if he didn't want anyone to hear it, he would have destroyed it.

This is what I say to anyone who says he didn't want anyone to hear the vault stuff. It's so damn obvious though, I'm not sure why anyone who's been around should have to be told this. He even said in an interview that he wouldn't release it but somebody would....that says to me it was his plan for it to play out that way.

Yep. And let's not forget this quote:


"Are there full unreleased albums?

Yeah, I like time capsule stuff. I have a couple Revolution albums in the vault and two Time albums, one Vanity 6 album … and tons of stuff recorded in different periods. But so much gets recorded that you don’t have time to compile everything. In the future you could put all the best stuff from one particular time period together and then you can release it. It’d just be like if we found a Sly and the Family Stone album and they saved their best stuff. If that’s even possible!"

Not only did he want it heard, he left an instruction on how he would like it released.


https://www.rollingstone....ne-227347/

SchlomoThaHomo said:

Mumio said:

This is what I say to anyone who says he didn't want anyone to hear the vault stuff. It's so damn obvious though, I'm not sure why anyone who's been around should have to be told this. He even said in an interview that he wouldn't release it but somebody would....that says to me it was his plan for it to play out that way.

Yep. And let's not forget this quote:


"Are there full unreleased albums?

Yeah, I like time capsule stuff. I have a couple Revolution albums in the vault and two Time albums, one Vanity 6 album … and tons of stuff recorded in different periods. But so much gets recorded that you don’t have time to compile everything. In the future you could put all the best stuff from one particular time period together and then you can release it. It’d just be like if we found a Sly and the Family Stone album and they saved their best stuff. If that’s even possible!"

Not only did he want it heard, he left an instruction on how he would like it released.


https://www.rollingstone....ne-227347/

Thanks so much for that! I'd seen it before but could not remember where it was....now I can add that too

Are there people who don't think what's in the vault should be released since he passed? Before he died was a different situation. It was his material to do what he wanted with when he was alive.

I went to the book release party at Paisley Park Friday. They had tables set up in the soundstage. Andrea Swensson from the Current interviewed Dan on the stage. She covered various topics throughout the book. It lasted about a 1/2 hour. After that was the dance party. Some people hung out in the soundstage and others in the L4OA/NPGMC room to dance. They gave us different colored wrist bands when we first got there. Throughout the rest of the night they called the different groups to go to Studio B control room, where we were met by Bobby Z. They played 2 tracks from the forthcoming 1999 release and Bobby gaved us a short talk about each song before they played it. Our group heard Do Me, Baby live and Possessed. All the groups took a photo with Bobby. Tyka and Sharon were there.

darkroman said:

daingermouz2020 said:

motherfunka said:

motherfunka said:

TheTruth123 said:

I have always noticed that prince had very strong forearms and wide wrists for his size. Did anybody notice that his mother also has larger wrists? This is noticeable in the photo of her standing by his crib. Yes, I notice details!

I need some clarification please, re: Prince's High School?

Does anyone know when Prince transferred to the Southside High School? Ninth grade?

It was likely so that he could live with his Aunt Olivia?

-Did he stay and graduate from that school?

I thought Kim Upsher was a big crush; was she a Northside student?

Trying to get a more accurate sense of his whereabouts during that time.

Thanks for any help!

motherfunka said:

I went to the book release party at Paisley Park Friday. They had tables set up in the soundstage. Andrea Swensson from the Current interviewed Dan on the stage. She covered various topics throughout the book. It lasted about a 1/2 hour. After that was the dance party. Some people hung out in the soundstage and others in the L4OA/NPGMC room to dance. They gave us different colored wrist bands when we first got there.

Throughout the rest of the night they called the different groups to go to Studio B control room, where we were met by Bobby Z. They played 2 tracks from the forthcoming 1999 release and Bobby gaved us a short talk about each song before they played it. Our group heard Do Me, Baby live and Possessed. All the groups took a photo with Bobby. Tyka and Sharon were there.

Many thanks for posting about the book release party. Breath of fresh air!

[Edited 11/5/19 7:02am]

motherfunka said:

I went to the book release party at Paisley Park Friday. They had tables set up in the soundstage. Andrea Swensson from the Current interviewed Dan on the stage. She covered various topics throughout the book. It lasted about a 1/2 hour. After that was the dance party. Some people hung out in the soundstage and others in the L4OA/NPGMC room to dance. They gave us different colored wrist bands when we first got there. Throughout the rest of the night they called the different groups to go to Studio B control room, where we were met by Bobby Z. They played 2 tracks from the forthcoming 1999 release and Bobby gaved us a short talk about each song before they played it. Our group heard Do Me, Baby live and Possessed. All the groups took a photo with Bobby. Tyka and Sharon were there.

Awesome you were able to attend a once in a lifetime experience.
What did Bobby tell you about each song?

TheTruth123 said:

PeggyO said:

I need some clarification please, re: Prince's High School?

Does anyone know when Prince transferred to the Southside High School? Ninth grade?

It was likely so that he could live with his Aunt Olivia?

-Did he stay and graduate from that school?

I thought Kim Upsher was a big crush; was she a Northside student?

Trying to get a more accurate sense of his whereabouts during that time.

Thanks for any help!

I read an historical document provided by the State of Minnesota. It's from the National Register of Historic Places Multiple Property Documentation Form: http://www.minneapolismn.gov/www/groups/public/@cped/documents/webcontent/wcmsp-216260.pdf

These showed dates and addresses and with whom he lived; schools are included. Interesting note: when his dad purchased a home on Newton Ave., post-divorce, Prince moved in with him at age 14 and stayed till 1973/74 (age 15/16).

Mumio said:

OldFriends4Sale said:

Yes

Even when it comes down the 'the Vault' music.
Even if he never listened to the majority of it, he sure did keep it.

And if he didn't want anyone to hear it, he would have destroyed it.

This is what I say to anyone who says he didn't want anyone to hear the vault stuff. It's so damn obvious though, I'm not sure why anyone who's been around should have to be told this. He even said in an interview that he wouldn't release it but somebody would....that says to me it was his plan for it to play out that way.

Maybe he saw those recordings as blueprints that he could use or re-use, that's why he kept them, so he could mine those ideas in the future. That's pretty comon practice for most musicians.

JorisE73 said:

Mumio said:

This is what I say to anyone who says he didn't want anyone to hear the vault stuff. It's so damn obvious though, I'm not sure why anyone who's been around should have to be told this. He even said in an interview that he wouldn't release it but somebody would....that says to me it was his plan for it to play out that way.

Maybe he saw those recordings as blueprints that he could use or re-use, that's why he kept them, so he could mine those ideas in the future. That's pretty comon practice for most musicians.

Good point. The same way visual artists keep their sketches and studies.

Something has been bothering me about this thread and as I am going to be away for a few days, I would like to express my feelngs now.

I am hoping that we all can have a voice and feel fairly free to discuss our thoughts and opinions re: this book. We have all been waiting for this book.

IMO, there are a couple of very strong voices who have annointed themselves as the protectors of Prince's privacy and dignity etc. and this has hindered the free flow of discussion. If someone is feeling offended by what they think is too much 'prying' into Prince's life, perhaps gentle 're-orienting' or a mild question would be in order instead of a judgemental put-down.

I think most of love Prince and do not want to harm his legacy.

PeggyO said:

Something has been bothering me about this thread and as I am going to be away for a few days, I would like to express my feelngs now.

I am hoping that we all can have a voice and feel fairly free to discuss our thoughts and opinions re: this book. We have all been waiting for this book.

IMO, there are a couple of very strong voices who have annointed themselves as the protectors of Prince's privacy and dignity etc. and this has hindered the free flow of discussion. If someone is feeling offended by what they think is too much 'prying' into Prince's life, perhaps gentle 're-orienting' or a mild question would be in order instead of a judgemental put-down.

I think most of love Prince and do not want to harm his legacy.

As long as the free flow of discussion about the book doesn't involve posting random internet copy from 2016 attributed to the original script of Purple Rain. Involving Prince's mother's panties, stirring loins and moistened lips, his look connecting with her groin, and her telling him he was pretty and coulda been a girl...

Neither person is alive to defend that kind of bizarro.

PeggyO said:

ISaidLifeIsJustAGame said:

motherfunka said:

I went to the book release party at Paisley Park Friday. They had tables set up in the soundstage. Andrea Swensson from the Current interviewed Dan on the stage. She covered various topics throughout the book. It lasted about a 1/2 hour. After that was the dance party. Some people hung out in the soundstage and others in the L4OA/NPGMC room to dance. They gave us different colored wrist bands when we first got there. Throughout the rest of the night they called the different groups to go to Studio B control room, where we were met by Bobby Z. They played 2 tracks from the forthcoming 1999 release and Bobby gaved us a short talk about each song before they played it. Our group heard Do Me, Baby live and Possessed. All the groups took a photo with Bobby. Tyka and Sharon were there.

Awesome you were able to attend a once in a lifetime experience.
What did Bobby tell you about each song?

From what I can remember, for Do Me, Baby he talked about how Prince mentioned the song in the book and that Prince was the greatest screamer in rock-n-roll. For Possessed he talked about how the song went through many incarnations and the Syracuse show version being on another level. He also talked about how Prince calls him (Bobby) out at the beginning of the song.

.

Dan was great too. He was a little overwhemed when he finished the talk with Andrea and people were wanting him to sign the book. He didn't want to take anything away from Prince, if you know what I mean. When he signed mine we talked a little bit about the night he met Prince at the Judith Hill/The Time show at Paisley Park in Jan 2016. I told him I was half watching Prince and half watching the Time because Prince was being so animated by playing "air" bass and keyboards throughout the show. He said he thought he might have dreamed that and was glad I confirmed that it really did happen.

TheTruth123 said:

PeggyO said:

Something has been bothering me about this thread and as I am going to be away for a few days, I would like to express my feelngs now.

I am hoping that we all can have a voice and feel fairly free to discuss our thoughts and opinions re: this book. We have all been waiting for this book.

IMO, there are a couple of very strong voices who have annointed themselves as the protectors of Prince's privacy and dignity etc. and this has hindered the free flow of discussion. If someone is feeling offended by what they think is too much 'prying' into Prince's life, perhaps gentle 're-orienting' or a mild question would be in order instead of a judgemental put-down.

I think most of love Prince and do not want to harm his legacy.

It sounds like they’re not the only ones who consider themselves to be a “protector”... [Edited 11/5/19 13:52pm]

I am not privy to who is behind screen names, nor who anybody is referring to 1/2 the time, but if on the slight off chance you are referring to me (I feel like I posted a lot here since the book)

I do not consider nor claim any game concerning Prince. Just a fan and admirer, and as such, pointing out positives I see and liked.

Thank you for letting me be myself, again.

I think the part where Prince mentioned how he liked to see his parents get dressed up to go out on the town, and how his mother would come home walking funny, was probably because she was tipsy.

Did anyone else notice that sometimes Prince would use Jr. after name?

mnfriend said:

TheTruth123 said:

PeggyO said: It sounds like they’re not the only ones who consider themselves to be a “protector”... [Edited 11/5/19 13:52pm]

I am not privy to who is behind screen names, nor who anybody is referring to 1/2 the time, but if on the slight off chance you are referring to me (I feel like I posted a lot here since the book)

I do not consider nor claim any game concerning Prince. Just a fan and admirer, and as such, pointing out positives I see and liked.

Thank you for letting me be myself, again.

you are not who i am referring to, however, that is not my point. i just wish that we would allow the thread to 'breathe' without a few orgers dictating what is ok to speak about. IMO Prince really opened up and I do not think we need to shut down some discussions that may threaten certain orgers who need to 'protect' Prince. We are adults and we would not be here if we did not respect him and his work.

motherfunka said:

ISaidLifeIsJustAGame said:

Awesome you were able to attend a once in a lifetime experience.
What did Bobby tell you about each song?

From what I can remember, for Do Me, Baby he talked about how Prince mentioned the song in the book and that Prince was the greatest screamer in rock-n-roll. For Possessed he talked about how the song went through many incarnations and the Syracuse show version being on another level. He also talked about how Prince calls him (Bobby) out at the beginning of the song.

.

Dan was great too. He was a little overwhemed when he finished the talk with Andrea and people were wanting him to sign the book. He didn't want to take anything away from Prince, if you know what I mean. When he signed mine we talked a little bit about the night he met Prince at the Judith Hill/The Time show at Paisley Park in Jan 2016. I told him I was half watching Prince and half watching the Time because Prince was being so animated by playing "air" bass and keyboards throughout the show. He said he thought he might have dreamed that and was glad I confirmed that it really did happen.

Thanks for sharing your memories!

kindofblue said:

2. Do You think it was the Sometimes it snows in April we know today, that was already supposed to be on For You (as mentioned on p. 267)? Or maybe it was only a line Prince was fond of that evolved into a whole different song in 1985? (See the two unrelated songs called "The Max", and I'm sure there are other incidents like this in Prince's catalogue, but can't name them right now.) Are there any interviews by Wendy & Lisa about the creation of the 1985 version they supposedly co-authored?

.

A list of homonym songs I found (yeah, I was bored...): "17" (and "17 (Penetration)"), "Girl", "Good Life" (and "The Good Life"), "Grace", "I Am", "Lisa", "Love And Sex", "The Max", "Nine", "Paisley Park", "Venus De Milo", "Soulpsychodelicide", "Sticky Wicked", "Wow".

.

PeggyO said:

mnfriend said:

I am not privy to who is behind screen names, nor who anybody is referring to 1/2 the time, but if on the slight off chance you are referring to me (I feel like I posted a lot here since the book)

I do not consider nor claim any game concerning Prince. Just a fan and admirer, and as such, pointing out positives I see and liked.

Thank you for letting me be myself, again.

you are not who i am referring to, however, that is not my point. i just wish that we would allow the thread to 'breathe' without a few orgers dictating what is ok to speak about. IMO Prince really opened up and I do not think we need to shut down some discussions that may threaten certain orgers who need to 'protect' Prince. We are adults and we would not be here if we did not respect him and his work.

This thread topic is about the book. Whoever you think the few orgers dictating are, why not reply to them in the thread one on one (or org notes)? That is the format here. If you want to discuss what you think is being shut down, say it. You can also start a thread on any Prince topic you want and still utilize your thoughts from the book.

ISaidLifeIsJustAGame said:

motherfunka said:

From what I can remember, for Do Me, Baby he talked about how Prince mentioned the song in the book and that Prince was the greatest screamer in rock-n-roll. For Possessed he talked about how the song went through many incarnations and the Syracuse show version being on another level. He also talked about how Prince calls him (Bobby) out at the beginning of the song.

.

Dan was great too. He was a little overwhemed when he finished the talk with Andrea and people were wanting him to sign the book. He didn't want to take anything away from Prince, if you know what I mean. When he signed mine we talked a little bit about the night he met Prince at the Judith Hill/The Time show at Paisley Park in Jan 2016. I told him I was half watching Prince and half watching the Time because Prince was being so animated by playing "air" bass and keyboards throughout the show. He said he thought he might have dreamed that and was glad I confirmed that it really did happen.

Thanks for sharing your memories!

Yes, all good stuff. Dan sounds like a sweetheart.

-

The book is absolutely great by the way.

Love it !

-

But I'm also sure this is the first of many/others to come.

-

Considdering the fact that there is still a lot of info

and interviews he gave throughout his life, poeple he invited over to

tell stories to, etc.

All this fnew to be organised and found information that needs to be distilled for another book (or more like an essay) on the rest of his life.

Just saying.

I'm very much convinced there is still a lot to be documented of what will be found and sorted from the Paisley shelves.

And not to foget the direct information there still is available

from Tyka and other family members. They still can bring in a lot more insight info.

Not to forget the bandmembers... etc.

-

PennyPurple said:

I think the part where Prince mentioned how he liked to see his parents get dressed up to go out on the town, and how his mother would come home walking funny, was probably because she was tipsy.

Did anyone else notice that sometimes Prince would use Jr. after name?

I liked this part as well, since I have spent a lot of time re-creating his outfits to wear (still working on more).

My take on his mother coming home and walking funny was because of high heeled (stiletto) shoes and partying (i.e. dancing) all night. However, it certainly could be from her being tipsy.

motherfunka said:

From what I can remember, for Do Me, Baby he talked about how Prince mentioned the song in the book and that Prince was the greatest screamer in rock-n-roll. For Possessed he talked about how the song went through many incarnations and the Syracuse show version being on another level. He also talked about how Prince calls him (Bobby) out at the beginning of the song.

.

Dan was great too. He was a little overwhemed when he finished the talk with Andrea and people were wanting him to sign the book. He didn't want to take anything away from Prince, if you know what I mean. When he signed mine we talked a little bit about the night he met Prince at the Judith Hill/The Time show at Paisley Park in Jan 2016. I told him I was half watching Prince and half watching the Time because Prince was being so animated by playing "air" bass and keyboards throughout the show. He said he thought he might have dreamed that and was glad I confirmed that it really did happen.

Thank you, I always look forward to your posts

Vannormal said:

-

All this fnew to be organised and found information that needs to be distilled for another book (or more like an essay) on the rest of his life.

Just saying.

-

.

Only if this book sells well and a publisher is willing to put up a lot of money. Other than the Warners releases there is fairly little activity coming from the estate, and the few things they put out (e.g. the couple of books with guitars etc.) aren't even available worldwide. This book happened in a large part because there was an existing contract (and because there was that buncdle of initial notes); but the next book won't have access to handwritten notes that were supposed to be the start of a memoir.

PennyPurple said:

I need to find a version of this book with the purple pages. Aaaargh!!!! Help!

mantaray31 said:

MarcelS67 said:

Looks like I'll just have to wait for a couple of days, the book is not yet available neither in the store or online yet here.

Anyway, does anybody know whats up with the two versions (different publisher?) first one is:

• 9780399589652

Second one is:

• 9781780899176

Book covers look slightly different too.

[Edited 10/30/19 10:46am]

They are for Random House US and Random House UK respectively. I happened to order the UK version from a Swedish site and now it says "delivery date unknown" while the US version can be delivered in a few days...

I hope the UK version is not cancelled...

It's funny you should mention two versions. My friend in the UK purchased a version where the pages are purple.

Mumio said:

motherfunka said:

From what I can remember, for Do Me, Baby he talked about how Prince mentioned the song in the book and that Prince was the greatest screamer in rock-n-roll. For Possessed he talked about how the song went through many incarnations and the Syracuse show version being on another level. He also talked about how Prince calls him (Bobby) out at the beginning of the song.

.

Dan was great too. He was a little overwhemed when he finished the talk with Andrea and people were wanting him to sign the book. He didn't want to take anything away from Prince, if you know what I mean. When he signed mine we talked a little bit about the night he met Prince at the Judith Hill/The Time show at Paisley Park in Jan 2016. I told him I was half watching Prince and half watching the Time because Prince was being so animated by playing "air" bass and keyboards throughout the show. He said he thought he might have dreamed that and was glad I confirmed that it really did happen.

Thank you, I always look forward to your posts

The existing contract was null and void.

P could no longer deliver on the contract after his death.

The contract was re-negotiated.

BartVanHemelen said:

Vannormal said:

-

All this fnew to be organised and found information that needs to be distilled for another book (or more like an essay) on the rest of his life.

Just saying.

-

.

Only if this book sells well and a publisher is willing to put up a lot of money. Other than the Warners releases there is fairly little activity coming from the estate, and the few things they put out (e.g. the couple of books with guitars etc.) aren't even available worldwide. This book happened in a large part because there was an existing contract (and because there was that buncdle of initial notes); but the next book won't have access to handwritten notes that were supposed to be the start of a memoir.

ISaidLifeIsJustAGame said:

The existing contract was null and void.

P could no longer deliver on the contract after his death.

The contract was re-negotiated.

BartVanHemelen said:

.

Only if this book sells well and a publisher is willing to put up a lot of money. Other than the Warners releases there is fairly little activity coming from the estate, and the few things they put out (e.g. the couple of books with guitars etc.) aren't even available worldwide. This book happened in a large part because there was an existing contract (and because there was that buncdle of initial notes); but the next book won't have access to handwritten notes that were supposed to be the start of a memoir.

.

1. The publisher had 20/30 handwritten pages.

.

2. Money had been paid.

.

Both the publisher and the estate had an interest in producing something of value.

bsprout said:

The book is #1 on the New York Times hardcover nonfiction bestseller list for the week of Nov 16th

Yay, that's great news!!

PennyPurple said:

BartVanHemelen said:

Vannormal said:

-

The book is absolutely great by the way.

Love it !

-

But I'm also sure this is the first of many/others to come.

-

Considdering the fact that there is still a lot of info

and interviews he gave throughout his life, poeple he invited over to

tell stories to, etc.

All this fnew to be organised and found information that needs to be distilled for another book (or more like an essay) on the rest of his life.

Just saying.

I'm very much convinced there is still a lot to be documented of what will be found and sorted from the Paisley shelves.

And not to foget the direct information there still is available

from Tyka and other family members. They still can bring in a lot more insight info.

Not to forget the bandmembers... etc.

-

.

Only if this book sells well and a publisher is willing to put up a lot of money. Other than the Warners releases there is fairly little activity coming from the estate, and the few things they put out (e.g. the couple of books with guitars etc.) aren't even available worldwide. This book happened in a large part because there was an existing contract (and because there was that buncdle of initial notes); but the next book won't have access to handwritten notes that were supposed to be the start of a memoir.

BartVanHemelen said:

ISaidLifeIsJustAGame said:

The existing contract was null and void.

P could no longer deliver on the contract after his death.

The contract was re-negotiated.

.

1. The publisher had 20/30 handwritten pages.

.

2. Money had been paid.

.

Both the publisher and the estate had an interest in producing something of value.

bsprout said:

The book is #1 on the New York Times hardcover nonfiction bestseller list for the week of Nov 16th

After Prince died they could have quashed the book. With no valid contract, pages and money can be returned. Now that the book is doing so well, they might be interested in continuing with more of the material in some format as Van said.

TheTruth123 said:

darlingnikkkki said:

Just got my copy and have to say that this book looks exquisite— from the texture of the gold book cover, the purple color hard bound cover, the thick, sturdy pages. I’ll be buying another mint copy to keep on my shelf as I know I’ll be riffling these pages quite a bit. Haven’t read the content yet but Prince would have been proud of the physical copy of this book. Excited to see them displayed at my local Barnes and Noble.

Did you notice how heavy the book is? They did good by us for $30. [Edited 11/1/19 3:26am]

Heavy? Sure. But I read it in a few hours.

I like it, but I've spent more time reading magazines devoted to Prince.

Just sayin'...

djThunderfunk said:

TheTruth123 said:

darlingnikkkki said: Did you notice how heavy the book is? They did good by us for $30. [Edited 11/1/19 3:26am]

Heavy? Sure. But I read it in a few hours.

I like it, but I've spent more time reading magazines devoted to Prince.

Just sayin'...

same here. i like it, don't get me wrong and the pictures alone are worth the price.

but what i would really want at some point in the future is a real extensive book on
his life and work, at least 800 pages, piecing together all the interviews, recorded
facts and tidbits and all strung together by interviewing all the people he was close
to either in personal relationships or in bands/collaborations.

to put everyone's information together in one place, combining stuff like The Vault
book and a biography.

another book, or a sort of companion book to the 'bio' could be a coffeetable
book, also at least 600 pages, filled with pictures. all the stuff he collected in
his personal collection (a bit of which we see in The Beautiful Ones) and lots
of other stuff, including alternate album artwork, session outtakes, tour stubs
special editions, handwritten lyrics, poetry, letters etc.

fuck it, it would probably have to be 3 books because the ones the estate
has printed (guitars, clothes etc), all those pictures, and more should also be
represented. ALL his studio gear, from the consoles to the synths and stuff he
had in storage. all the outfits, you name it. extensive Paisley Park shots.

good lord, just like with his album reissues, we'd ideally get a boxed set of not
1 but 3 or 4 books

with prince it's never enough, there's always more to explore. and since i have
a library of about 2100 books now, i'd love nothing more than to add a few very
extensive, well layed out and executed prince books to it, combining my two
favourite hobby's: prince and books.

IstenSzek said:

another book, or a sort of companion book to the 'bio' could be a coffeetable
book, also at least 600 pages, filled with pictures. all the stuff he collected in
his personal collection (a bit of which we see in The Beautiful Ones) and lots
of other stuff, including alternate album artwork, session outtakes, tour stubs
special editions, handwritten lyrics, poetry, letters etc.

I like BOTH your ideas, I'll buy 'em both!!


Here's my coffee table book idea: compile ALL the tour books into one large over-sized coffee table book.

djThunderfunk said:

IstenSzek said:

another book, or a sort of companion book to the 'bio' could be a coffeetable
book, also at least 600 pages, filled with pictures. all the stuff he collected in
his personal collection (a bit of which we see in The Beautiful Ones) and lots
of other stuff, including alternate album artwork, session outtakes, tour stubs
special editions, handwritten lyrics, poetry, letters etc.

I like BOTH your ideas, I'll buy 'em both!!


Here's my coffee table book idea: compile ALL the tour books into one large over-sized coffee table book.

also include Neo Manifesto etc and i'm going to throw bags of money at this

djThunderfunk said:

TheTruth123 said:

darlingnikkkki said: Did you notice how heavy the book is? They did good by us for $30. [Edited 11/1/19 3:26am]

Heavy? Sure. But I read it in a few hours.

I like it, but I've spent more time reading magazines devoted to Prince.

Just sayin'...

True. It's the best 1/4 of a book I have ever read. And if you want a more enjoyable read, Morris Day's book is excellent. The Morriss uses Prince in the book makes you feel like he is still with us. But in the Beautiful Ones, it's more of a vibe like you are reading about a dead guy.

3rdeyedude said:

djThunderfunk said:

Heavy? Sure. But I read it in a few hours.

I like it, but I've spent more time reading magazines devoted to Prince.

Just sayin'...

True. It's the best 1/4 of a book I have ever read. And if you want a more enjoyable read, Morris Day's book is excellent. The Morriss uses Prince in the book makes you feel like he is still with us. But in the Beautiful Ones, it's more of a vibe like you are reading about a dead guy.

Agreed! The 2 books back to back make for a great (and more satisfying) experience. Excellent timing on the releases.

[Edited 11/7/19 9:27am]

IstenSzek said:

djThunderfunk said:

I like BOTH your ideas, I'll buy 'em both!!


Here's my coffee table book idea: compile ALL the tour books into one large over-sized coffee table book.

also include Neo Manifesto etc and i'm going to throw bags of money at this

You just made it perfect!

I also want a nice hard-back book reprinting the 2 DC comics, including some essays telling the story about it's creation, maybe some extra artwork, maybe Prince's notes.

A guy from Marvel just expressed enterest in working on a Prince comic, maybe they get him to do a whole new story to add to the reprints?

Sorry to get off-topic on other book ideas... guess that should be a separate thread.

Back on topic. Although I found the book to be a short experience, it was a fantastic one.
I highly recommend everyone check it out. It's an essential addition to any fan's bookshelf.

[Off topic, wrong forum snip - luv4u]

I have been saying this since he's gone. The world needs some sort of history book or whatever you want to call it...all emcompassing. Having all life asepcts in it.....Like you said multi-volumes

The people alive today, these primary sources, who knew him I hope realize how fortunate they were to work/assosciae with a musicinan ilke this. We are luck to haVe lived during it. They need to share it all and not take it to the grave.

IstenSzek said:

fuck it, it would probably have to be 3 books because the ones the estate
has printed (guitars, clothes etc), all those pictures, and more should also be
represented. ALL his studio gear, from the consoles to the synths and stuff he
had in storage. all the outfits, you name it. extensive Paisley Park shots.

good lord, just like with his album reissues, we'd ideally get a boxed set of not
1 but 3 or 4 books

with prince it's never enough, there's always more to explore. and since i have
a library of about 2100 books now, i'd love nothing more than to add a few very
extensive, well layed out and executed prince books to it, combining my two
favourite hobby's: prince and books.

BartVanHemelen said:

Vannormal said:

-

All this fnew to be organised and found information that needs to be distilled for another book (or more like an essay) on the rest of his life.

Just saying.

-

.

Only if this book sells well and a publisher is willing to put up a lot of money. Other than the Warners releases there is fairly little activity coming from the estate, and the few things they put out (e.g. the couple of books with guitars etc.) aren't even available worldwide. This book happened in a large part because there was an existing contract (and because there was that buncdle of initial notes); but the next book won't have access to handwritten notes that were supposed to be the start of a memoir.

-

Exactly.

It was the Bremer Trust that asked Random House to finish the book, and as you say, there was a contract.

But it was the Estate or Bremer Trust (I don't think the Estate as such excited already) that gave the permission to go to Paisley Park (as a first mission) to go through all his stuff to see what they could use (and later on the Comerica Bank).

-

It seems that he documented everything pretty well (for someone saying he didn't live in the past).

They found loads of stuff basically everywhere.

(..even found loads of information concerning the Puprle Rain movie - boxes full of...)

Dan Piepenbring stated (in the book) that there is an 'immensity' of information; 5200 objects, thousands of papers... etc.

-

Thing is, indeed, who's williinng to pay for all this to assemble to make (an)other book(s) ?

Or is it Mr. Howe's plan to use it (mostly) for future releases ? If the Estate gives permission ?

-

I like Dan Piepenbring's writing. It's a good read.

The only thing missing for me is extra interviews with the people he worked with at the time.

Why not having Tonny Vicary for a few words, or Lisa, etc.. Money of course i guess, and other official problems..

-

Vannormal said:

-

Exactly.

It was the Bremer Trust that asked Random House to finish the book, and as you say, there was a contract.

But it was the Estate or Bremer Trust (I don't think the Estate as such excited already) that gave the permission to go to Paisley Park (as a first mission) to go through all his stuff to see what they could use (and later on the Comerica Bank).

-

It seems that he documented everything pretty well (for someone saying he didn't live in the past).

They found loads of stuff basically everywhere.

(..even found loads of information concerning the Puprle Rain movie - boxes full of...)

Dan Piepenbring stated (in the book) that there is an 'immensity' of information; 5200 objects, thousands of papers... etc.

-

Thing is, indeed, who's williinng to pay for all this to assemble to make (an)other book(s) ?

Or is it Mr. Howe's plan to use it (mostly) for future releases ? If the Estate gives permission ?

-

I like Dan Piepenbring's writing. It's a good read.

The only thing missing for me is extra interviews with the people he worked with at the time.

Why not having Tonny Vicary for a few words, or Lisa, etc.. Money of course i guess, and other official problems..

-

Because Dan wanted it to be in Prince's own words, not those of the associates. They are always free to put out their own books.

I for one, am thankful Dan did the book in this way.

Agree with you Penny. Adding associates to this book would change it completely.

As ISLIJAG already said, the contract for the book became void when he died. And an estate "exists" as soon as you die.

Just finished this beautiful book. One can definitely feel Prince's humor but more importantly his genuine kindness. Well done Dan. Thank you.

Ugh, I ordered the book in August but it won't arrive before December 3rd

Keep talking pls

Roby78 said:

Ugh, I ordered the book in August but it won't arrive before December 3rd

Keep talking pls

Where did you order from? 1-800-NEW-FUNK?