https://www.quarto.com/bo...urple-rain

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Authoritatively written and including rare photography and memorabilia, this beautiful slipcased hardcover is the only illustrated gift book to examine Prince’s most iconic album and film, Purple Rain.

In 1984, Prince, along with his band, The Revolution, released what would become his best-selling album and a touchstone of 1980s pop culture. Purple Rain has gone on to sell 25 million copies and counting. In Prince and Purple Rain, Andrea Swensson, a Minneapolis-based journalist and host/co-producer of Prince | Official Podcast, takes a deep dive into the legendary musician’s most famous album on its 40th anniversary. Chapters cover:

• Prince’s youth and early music career in Minneapolis, as well as each of the five studio albums that preceded Purple Rain
• Prince’s backing band, The Revolution, and the backgrounds of each of its individual members, with an emphasis on the Purple Rain studio and touring members: drummer Bobby Z, bassist Brown Mark, guitarist Wendy Melvoin, keyboardist Lisa Coleman, and keyboardist Matt Fink
• Track-by-track analyses of each side
• A look at the groundbreaking film of the same name and its multiplatinum soundtrack
• Awards, accolades, and critical reception
• Prince’s legacy post–Purple Rain, up to his untimely death in 2016

Featuring a foreword by Prince superfan Maya Rudolph and iIlustrated with performance and off-stage photography as well as memorabilia from top collectors, Prince and Purple Rain is a definitive and beautifully produced tribute to a legendary album from a legendary performer and artist.

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Considering the scope of the book, its many photographs and its limited page count (176!), I don't expect there to be revelations in this book. Has anybody read it, and found previously unknown information?

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Previous thread (now locked): https://prince.org/msg/7/470237

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[Edited 5/16/24 0:16am]

SEE?!!

It's "de-elevator" not "the elevator"

nayroo2002 said:

There is a nice interview with Andrea here:

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https://www.spin.com/2024...rain-book/

PRNelson said:

nayroo2002 said:

SEE?!!

It's "de-elevator" not "the elevator"

Why does he say "punch a higher floor'?

Prince mentions this briefly in his Chris Rock interview. He says that early on in his career, he had to kinda tone down the Christianity -- so "de-elevator" (which is exactly how it's written in the lyrics) is his way of saying Satan. Punching a higher floor is of course, referencing God.

It's all a metaphor, and it works famously well. The song works just as well if you hear "de-elevator" or "the elevator", so I don't think it was ever really picked apart and analyzed.

And, of course with Prince dying in/near his elevator, people hear "the elevator" and it works with the legend . . .

The book is beautiful & it was wonderful seeing her last night @ the 40th Purple Rain Anniversary Screening Q&A soiree'.