Customer Reviews

Dance Music Sex Romance: Prince: The First Decade

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I read this book in about two days. As a fan for more than 20 years, I was excited to learn more of the back story of Prince's first decade in the music biz, which is the time period this books is supposed to cover. However, it focuses more on the first six years than the first ten. Overall, I found this book very informative in some ways, but far too opinionated in others.

There was interesting information about Prince's early tours, song history, side projects, encounters with various musicians, relationships with some girlfriends (of which there were many) and his charitable side, which usually takes a backseat in the press to more salacious, tabloid-friendly fare. So these were postive aspects of the book, which make it worth the price.

However, where the book fails is that though the information is culled from interviews with "friends" and associates as well as various press interviews that Prince gave during the time covered, the author, Per Nilsen, too often offers his opinion, which hurts the presentation of the information. Nilsen seems to favor the Revolution and appears to overinflate the influence of Wendy and Lisa on Prince's music. Several contradictions reveal themselves as a result of this. For example, Nilsen basically credits Wendy and Lisa for "introducing" Prince to rock music, which is absurd as his earliest albums show obvious rock influences. Nilsen also spends too much time painting the picture that Wendy's sister Susannah was the "love of Prince's life." Again, contradictions present themselves here. At one point the author states that Prince had gone farther with Susannah than any other woman and that she was "wearing his ring." Yet, in an earlier chapter it states that he had been engaged to Susan Moonsie of Vanity 6 sometime in the early 1980s. Nilsen's apparent love of Wendy, Lisa and the Revolution causes him to gloss over many of Prince's other important musical and personal relationships, especially during the Sign O' the Times and LoveSexy era. Finally, another negative is that there are times when Nilsen tries too much to put himself in Prince's head.

That said, it is an interesting read. However, as with any biography, it should be taken with a grain of salt as there is no input from the subject himself.

This book has alot of information about Prince.
About how he got his start, and things about his life, etc.
If you like to read about Prince and collect his facts.
than this is a good book to get.

this book is absolutely perfect for anyone, from the most die hard prince fans, like myself, or just someone who's interested. it has so much rare information. very detailed, very very well researched. so many comments from people who were, and some who still are, close to prince. it's also great to see such an informed prince fan write openly about prince. he doesn't hide anything, or try and make prince sound good and look good from every angle. he tells it like it is, and isn't afraid of being critical. still, in the end, this book is a fantastic tribute to a man who is a living legend. a man who has changed the face of music forever. simply amazing!

This is first rate book and is becoming more scarce by the minute. Per Nilsen is an internationally acclaimed authority of Prince. Per who I believe is Norwegian or Swedish, lives in Sweden has written about Prince all his life, he edited the fanzine "Uptown" for many years and hasd written the Documentary books in 1990, 1993 and 1998 I own a very battered copy of the 1993 edition) and the 2004 opus "The Vault" has recorded Prince's life in graphic detail but yet avoids the gushing praise that fan biographies usually pander too, as much as Nilsen admires Prince, he is not afarid to say if an album or song was lacking in some degree or what he really thought of the acting and wardrobe in Purple Rain. Its this frankness which has probably ensured Prince has never endorsed his works and probably has never even met Nilsen, yet Dez Dickerson and Lisa and Wendy are big contributors to this book along with Vanity. Per presents the facts with entertaining anecdotes with Prince's ex band members, family, girlfriends and many others. He also gives you all the details and examines the music. This book examines the period up to 1988 and all the juicy stuff is examined. He avoids gossip and speculation and concentrates on the man and his music. Great photo section and an exhaustive biography of musical output, shows and personnel.
Even if you don't like Prince, you should buy this book, its that good, and easily the best and most accurate book about Prince ever.

I'm a die hard Prince fanatic and this book is pretty much awesome. It has some information that I already knew. However, this book can educate even the biggest Prince fan. If you even kind of like His Royal Badness, then pick up this book.

I love Prince! And, I paid top dollar for this book. This is the very best most in-depth account... of Prince's life from the beginning until after the success of Purple Rain. One should read this first, before reading "Possessed: The rise & fall of Prince" by Alex Hahn

It was great to get this book finally and get an insight into the early years of one of my favourite artists, Prince. Per Nilsen does a great job in presenting the early years from the first song he wrote to his first tour. The interviews with many of those who were in the Revolution and previous managers and engineers such as Susan Rogers are revealing to say the least. The appendix of studio time that Prince used in his career is fascinating in itself.

From what is written in the book, Prince comes across as generally shy but also has a dark, sly sense of humor. But mainly he is a workaholic who is completely dedicated to his music and this results in his undeniable talent and genius. But the downside to this is that he seems to struggle socially with those he works with, making him a somewhat flawed individual. When he is in a relationship with one female, there seems to be another on the go. From what the book suggests just from reading it, only Sheila E, Jill Jones and Cat Glover seem to respect him despite his alleged treatment of women. This also extends to his relationship with The Time, which was strained to say the least because they had little involvement in their albums and this would extend into their support tours with him. Another alleged problem with Prince is that he tends to not give any credit to certain parts on a record done by others as consistently as he should. One such story is that on an album for one of his female artists, he gives Jesse Johnson credit for songs he actually didn't write but doesn't give him credit for the one he DID write.

But it's not all bad with Prince as there are some fascinating tales in terms of how he creates particular songs and what inspires him to make some changes to the tracks. The story of the way Prince bounces back after the problems of Parade is particularly heartening.

I have 3 criticisms. Firstly, a previous reviewer mentioned this but a huge flaw of this book is that I don't really care much for Per Nilsen's opinion. I'm not bothered if he prefered the earlier version of 'Baby I'm A Star' or 'Can't Stop This Feeling I Got.' Secondly, I also dislike the way he seems to glorify the Revolution and imply that Prince fell apart after he disbanded them- in particular Wendy and Lisa. While no doubt they are talented musicians and artists in their own right, they are not perfect. I don't think songs such as 'Sign O The Times', 'If I Was Your Girlfriend' or certainly 'The Ballard Of Dorothy Parker' would be enhanced in any way if they had their input on it. And thirdly, the book sometimes gives a dangerous impression of an anti-R&B/Funk stance. For example, the way Per Nilsen is overtly critical of Prince's 90's output suggests that we should not like anything he did with the New Power Generation. Like many people who have written about Jimi Hendrix, the consensus suggests that Prince wrote better music with the Revolution- a band who were mainly white, and this is not a good impression to set to any human being- white or black.

Any Prince fan looking for an insight into the great man himself should buy this. It is great reading and you can also make up your own mind on him.

Lots of details on Prince's released and unreleased recordings. It covers up to the mid 90s so I think Per should write a second one about the next decade of Prince's career. Very good biography but it doesn't paint Prince in the best light concerning relationships and especially of giving credit for songwriting when others contributed to his music.

I am utterly enraptured with this book!! I have learned so many interesting facts about Prince and his career. I would absolutely recommend this to any Prince fan.

even f you're a fan, this book will blow you away with loads of information about this artist who had a rollercoaster private life. you won't put this book away.