SPILL BOOK REVIEW: ANDREA SWENSSON – PRINCE AND PURPLE RAIN: 40 YEARS

ANDREA SWENSSON – PRINCE AND PURPLE RAIN: 40 YEARS

MOTORBOOKS

BOOK REVIEW BY GERROD HARRIS

Prince And Purple Rain: 40 Years is the first book to emerge from author Andrea Swensson. The Minneapolis-based journalist, and host and co-producer of the Official Prince Podcast, has released a stunning book that documents Prince’s career up to the release of his seminal breakthrough record, Purple Rain in 1984. Using an array of images, memorabilia, and interviews, Swensson celebrates the life and legacy of Prince and his most commercially significant release in a meaningful and stunning book.

Adorned in a purple velvet slipcase, Prince And Purple Rain: 40 Years immediately makes a strong first impression that is bound to draw doubletakes towards your bookshelf. The book starts by creating the necessary context to demonstrate the artistic and commercial leap that Purple Rain was in Prince’s career which, at the time, was still up and coming despite some success with Dirty Mind and 1999. Swensson also takes a moment to introduce The Revolution, further providing the contextual means to demonstrate how monumental this record was. In this sense, Prince And Purple Rain: 40 Years feels especially celebratory not only for the titular album, but for the legacy of Prince himself.

Prince And Purple Rain: 40 Years goes on to explore the record, track by track. In this, firsthand accounts from The Revolution and the engineering and studio teams carry the narrative forward. The use of primary evidence is extensive and further extends to the use of visuals – primarily concert and studio photos, but also including posters and other memorabilia – which lends the book slightly towards the feel of a coffee table book. All of this is done to great effect as a means of celebrating Purple Rain; ultimately providing a greater level of access to the reader than most other Prince biographies are able to.

Without breaking much new ground, Swensson’s Prince And Purple Rain: 40 Years is a succinct narrative that hones in on the period leading up to and following the release of Purple Rain, the album and film. In her focused approach, while making excellent use of a range of primary evidence, Swensson compiles the most essential aspects of the story in what is a celebratory revisit to one of Prince’s greatest records. In this, among the many biographies released since 2016, Prince And Purple Rain: 40 Years is essential.

ISBN-10: 0760386498
ISBN-13:‎ 978-0760386491

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