Let’s Go Crazy

Prince and the Making of Purple Rain

By: Alan Light

Narrated by: Fred Berman

From the former senior editor of Rolling Stone and author of The Holy or the Broken, called "thoughtful and illuminating" by The New York Times, a new book on the unlikely coming to be of Prince's now legendary album.

Purple Rain is a song, an album, and a film - each one a commercial success and cultural milestone. How did this semiautobiographical musical masterpiece that blurred R&B, pop, dance, and rock sounds come to alter the recording landscape and become an enduring touchstone for successive generations of fans?

Purple Rain is widely considered to be among the most important albums in music history and is often named the best soundtrack of all time. It sold over a million copies in its first week and blasted to number one on the charts, where it would remain for a full six months and eventually sell over 20 million copies worldwide. It spun off three huge hit singles, won Grammys and an Oscar, and took Prince from pop star to legend.

Coinciding with the 30th anniversary year of Purple Rain's release, acclaimed music journalist Alan Light takes a timely look at the making and incredible popularizing of this once seemingly impossible project. With impeccable research and in-depth interviews with people who witnessed Prince's audacious vision becoming a reality, Light reveals how a rising but not yet established artist from the Midwest was able not only to get Purple Rain made but deliver on his promise to conquer the world.

©2014 Alan Light (P)2015 Audible, Inc.

an incredible look into the Life of a Legend

couldn't stop listening. it's a very funny, well researched, and safe and keep your attention the entire time.

What a wild and crazy ride!

The story of how Purple Rain came to be, how it impacted not only Prince himself, but his family, his band mates, producers, directors, record execs, rock culture, society at large, and individuals like you and me, is a fantastic story.

I’m also blown away that the writer was traveling around with Prince, a full member of the entourage, and he was only 17 years old. As an intern writer at Rolling Stone magazine, this kid was in the middle of it all. The book recounts his experience, it takes us back to the 80’s and 90’s MTV phenomenon, and in doing so, it becomes a commentary on the platitudes and vicissitudes of race relations, of the sexual revolution, of American politics, and how we all traversed through the landscapes of that time. For a high school senior, just on the verge of entering college, this writer did an amazing job documenting it all, to the point that when it wrote this book as an adult, the story seems
to live and breathe on its own.

This book is such a loving tribute to Prince, the movie, the music, and the times. Expertly narrated as well. I highly recommend.

A must for the Prince fanatic.

Great book. Based on lots of interviews with those who were close to Prince during the Purple Rain Era. I want to listen again.

Enjoyable and informative

Great Piece of musical history especially for anyone who is a true blue Prince fan

Amazing story of an incredible era

Simply put, this is the real story as told by people who were there on this unbelievable journey with Prince. Couldn't stop listening.