Remembering Prince and Celebrating the 40th Anniversary of Purple Rain.
Prince’s music and legacy live on!
This memorable album (soundtrack) was released on June 25, 1984.
This is the cover art for the album "Purple Rain" by Prince and the Revolution.
Prince Rogers Nelson (1958 - 2016)
Prince performs at the Orange Bowl during his Purple Rain tour in Miami, Fla., April 7, 1985.
Copyright Phil Sandlin
Many people agree that Prince was one of the greatest musicians of his generation. His talents were unmatched. Not only was he a musician, he was a singer, songwriter, record producer, dancer, and actor. Like the legends Stevie Wonder and Paul McCartney, Prince was a gifted multi-instrumentalist. He was a guitar virtuoso who could also play 27 instruments with ease. Candidly, I believe he was the most influential musician and entertainer of our time.
I first saw the late Prince, like many of us did, on MTV. The videos for “1999” and “Little Red Corvette” regularly appeared on my television, and gave us all a glimpse of what was coming; a “purple reign”. Arguably, 1984 was a truly watershed year in regards to all things entertainment, the cultural output of which would have a lasting impact on me. 1984 was when I became a lover of “all things music”, especially its performance, including the related visual aspects. What I didn’t know then, is that it is the performance, the show, those mostly visual aspects, perhaps even more than the aural aspects, that transform a musician into a “star”. 1984’s “Purple Rain”, both the album and the movie, created so many great memories for me and was the main topic of conversation surrounding music and entertainment for all of us sixth-graders and for millions of others, during the second half of that exciting year.
The Music
Purple Rain became Prince's first album to reach number one on the Billboard 200. The album spent 24 consecutive weeks atop on the Billboard 200 and was present on the chart for a total of 167 weeks. "When Doves Cry" and "Let's Go Crazy" reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100, while "Purple Rain" peaked at number two and "I Would Die 4 U" peaked at number eight. In May 1996, the album was certified 13× Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
It is Prince's commercial peak, with total sales standing at 25 million copies worldwide, making it one of the best-selling albums of all time. Prince and the Revolution won Grammy Awards for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal and Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media, while Prince also won the Academy Award for Best Original Song Score for the film Purple Rain. In 1984, Prince joined Elvis Presley and the Beatles in being the only artists to have the number-one album, single and film in the US all at the same time.
Purple Rain is regularly ranked among the greatest albums of all time. Rolling Stone ranked the album number 8 on its 2020 list of the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time". It was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame and added to the Library of Congress' National Recording Registry list of sound recordings that are "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
Source: Wikipedia.org
January 28, 1985: Prince and the Revolution accepting another statuette at the American Music Awards.
Photo Credit: AP Photo/Doug Pizac; Source: People.com
The album’s first track “Let’s Go Crazy” was notable for opening with a funeral-like organ solo with Prince giving the "eulogy" for "this thing called life." The song is also known for its two guitar solos both performed by Prince.
Source: Wikipedia.org
[Virtuoso… My friends and I played the song’s epic outro guitar solo on our cassette decks over and over again.]
"Take Me with U" was written for the Apollonia 6 album Apollonia 6 (1984), but later enlisted for Purple Rain.
Source: Wikipedia.org
[Prince and the Revolution used an Oberheim OB-Xa analog polyphonic synthesizer on this great tune.]
[Decisions, decisions, decisions… 1984 was a year defined by important debates and decisions. Coke or Pepsi. Reagan or Mondale. Lakers or Celtics. Apollonia or Vanity (or both…).]
Patricia Apollonia Kotero
Vanity (Denise Matthews) 1959 - 2016
"The Beautiful Ones" is the third track. It was one of three songs produced, arranged, composed, and performed by Prince, the other two being "When Doves Cry" and "Darling Nikki". In a 2015 interview with Ebony magazine, Prince finally identified who “the beautiful one” really was: the late Denise Matthews a/k/a Vanity, his one-time protégé and girlfriend.
Source: Wikipedia.org
[Epic… The song’s crescendo, especially Prince’s vocals, are filled with raw emotion; “Do you want him? Or do you want me? 'Cause I want you!”]
The song “Computer Blue” was composed by Prince with credit to his father, John L. Nelson, for the guitar solo based on a piano instrumental written by Nelson and Prince. He titled the instrumental piece "Father's Song" and recorded it on piano for the film, though onscreen it was portrayed as being played by Prince's character's father, played by Clarence Williams III.
Source: Wikipedia.org
["Father's Song" is a beautiful piece of music. It was the perfect aural backdrop for one of the movie’s most emotional scenes; the basement conversation between “the Kid” and his father.]
The risqué lyrics of "Darling Nikki" contributed to the use of Parental Advisory stickers and imprints on album covers that were the record label's answer to complaints from Tipper Gore, then wife of Senator and future Vice President Al Gore, and the Parents Music Resource Center (PMRC).
Source: Wikipedia.org
[Controversy… I still recall a few of us sixth graders huddled around a shoebox tape player after lunch, laughing and listening to "Darling Nikki", all while watching the classroom door for our teacher. Several hundred miles away, Tipper Gore reportedly witnessed her daughter Karenna, who like us, was 11 years old at the time, listening to "Darling Nikki"; and after much pearl-clutching, the rest is history…]
Prince wrote and composed the album's lead single "When Doves Cry" after all the other tracks were complete on Purple Rain. In addition to providing vocals, he played all instruments on the track. With there being no bass line, the song's production is noted for being unconventionally bare in comparison to 1980s pop hits. Prince said there originally was a bass line but, after a conversation with singer Jill Jones, he decided the song was too conventional with it included.
Source: Wikipedia.org
[If there was ever one song… I still remember when this iconic song first appeared on our radios and on our televisions; one of my all-time favorites. This song was also one of my parents’ favorites from the ‘80s!]
The last three songs on the album ("I Would Die 4 U", "Baby I'm A Star" and the title track "Purple Rain") were recorded live at the First Avenue show in Minneapolis on August 3, 1983, although overdubs and edits took place on all three in September 1983; this marked Prince's first album to include live recordings.
Source: Wikipedia.org
[Ultimately, it is the star (no matter the variety) that leaves the indelible mark on our consciousness.]
The title track was originally written as a country song and intended to be a collaboration with Stevie Nicks. According to Nicks, she received a 10-minute instrumental version of the song from Prince with a request to write the lyrics, but felt overwhelmed. She said: "I listened to it and I just got scared. I called him back and said, 'I can't do it. I wish I could. It's too much for me.'" According to the Revolution member Lisa Coleman, Prince then changed the song after the Revolution's Wendy Melvoin started playing guitar chords to accompany the song: “He was excited to hear it voiced differently. It took it out of that country feeling. Then we all started playing it a bit harder and taking it more seriously. We played it for six hours straight and by the end of that day we had it mostly written and arranged."
Source: Wikipedia.org
[Purple Rain Forever… Like “The Beautiful Ones”, “Purple Rain” brings with it intense emotions, both musically and lyrically. The scenes from the movie when this iconic song was featured, still chokes me up. Billy’s (the club owner’s) nods of acknowledgment during “the Kid’s” epic guitar solo and outro chorus, reflected the gravity of the moment; it was the beginning of Prince’s “purple reign”.]
Prince became the center of the music universe that memorable Summer. His sound and style were everywhere… He would directly (and indirectly) impact many of the legendary songs, artists, and producers that soon followed.
Morris Day and the Time
Morris Day and Prince attended the same high school in Minneapolis and in 1974, as teenagers, became bandmates in the band “Grand Central”. The band was managed by Morris' mother. The Time was later assembled under a clause in Prince's contract with Warner Bros. that allowed him to recruit and produce other artists for the label. Inspired by the musical film “The Idolmaker” (1980), about a rock promoter, Prince decided to put together a pop-funk group that would serve as an outlet for material in the vein of his own early albums, while he explored other genres and styles in his own career.
By 1981, Prince had built “The Time” out of an existing Minneapolis funk/R&B unit, “Flyte Tyme”, which featured Cynthia Johnson on lead vocals and sax, Anton (Tony) Johnson on guitar, David Eiland on saxophone, Jellybean Johnson on drums, Jimmy Jam and Monte Moir on keyboards, and Terry Lewis on bass. To the last four were added Jesse Johnson on guitar and a lead singer (Morris Day), as well as Jerome Benton, who was a promoter drawn from another local band called "Enterprise", who became Day's comic foil. Morris, Jerome, and the Time had major acting roles in Purple Rain. [The Time’s featured performances of “Jungle Love” and “The Bird” were legendary and still move audiences today.]
Source: Wikipedia.org
Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis
James Samuel "Jimmy Jam" Harris III is the son of Cornbread Harris, a Minneapolis blues and jazz musician. Jimmy Jam met Terry Lewis while attending an Upward Bound program on the University of Minnesota campus. Prince met Jimmy Jam in 1973 who impressed Jam with his musical talent, early mastery of a wide range of instruments, and work ethic. Jimmy Jam later formed the band “Flyte Tyme”, which evolved into “The Time”. In 1981, they were joined by Morris Day and toured with Prince as his opening act.
In 1982, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis were introduced to the music executive Dina R. Andrews, who was then an employee of Dick Griffey's SOLAR Records, where they would be mentored by record producer Leon Sylvers III. The pair asked Andrews to manage them, and through her relationships Andrews first introduced Jam and Lewis to Music Executive Clarence Avant. They produced their first masters for Avant. Andrews set-up Jam and Lewis's company Flyte Tyme Productions as a business entity, and continued shopping them to her other record executive colleagues. The producers went on to produce several other masters for Avant under Dina Andrews Management for the S.O.S. Band, Cherrelle, Alexander O'Neal and Change. Additionally, Andrews shopped the duo to many of the executives and artists who used their services, such as “Klymaxx”, Cheryl Lynn ("Encore"), and John McClain (Janet Jackson).
After working with Cherrelle and Alexander O'Neal, Jam and Lewis were introduced to the iconic Janet Jackson and produced her breakthrough album “Control” in 1986, for which the duo won a Grammy Award. Their collaboration on her next album, 1989's “Rhythm Nation 1814”, proved even more successful as the album became one of the top-selling albums in history with four Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 hits. Their collaboration continued and remained highly successful, especially on the Billboard 200 No.1 albums “janet.”, “The Velvet Rope”, “All For You”, and “Unbreakable”.
Source: Wikipedia.org
Sheila E.
Sheila Escovedo, known under the stage name Sheila E., is an American singer, percussionist, and drummer. She is also known as the "Queen of Percussion". Sheila came from a musical family and made her recording debut with jazz bassist Alphonso Johnson on “Yesterday's Dream” in 1976. By her early 20s, she had already played with George Duke, Lionel Richie, Marvin Gaye, Herbie Hancock, and Diana Ross. In 1977, she and her father released the album “Solo Two”. That same year, she joined The George Duke Band. Prince met Sheila E. at a concert in 1977, when she was performing with her father. After the show he met her and told her that he and his bassist Andre Cymone "were just fighting about which one of us would be the first to be your husband." He also vowed that one day she would join his band.
She appeared on several of Duke's albums, including “Don't Let Go” (1978), “Follow the Rainbow” (1979), “Master of the Game” (1979), and “A Brazilian Love Affair” (1980). Along with appearing on Duke's Don't Let Go in 1978, Sheila and her father released “Happy Together” that year on Fantasy Records, sharing billing as Pete and Sheila Escovedo. In 1980, she appeared on the pivotal Herbie Hancock album “Monster”. In 1983, she joined Marvin Gaye's final tour (“Midnight Love Tour”) as one of his percussionists.
In 1983, Sheila began collaborating with Prince and launched a solo career. The two would eventually join forces during the Purple Rain recording sessions. In June 1984, her debut album “The Glamorous Life” was released on Warner Bros. Records. The album's title-song peaked at number 7 on the US Hot 100 and also topped the dance charts for two weeks in August 1984. The memorable video for the song would bring three MTV Award nominations for Best Female Video, Best New Artist, and Best Choreography. She also received two Grammy Award nominations for Best New Artist and Best Pop Vocal Performance Female. [The Glamorous Life is one of my all-time favorite Pop/Funk songs. A classmate showed a few of us how to play the main melody on the keyboard a couple years later; awesome!]
Sheila E. also toured as the opening act for Prince's Purple Rain Tour and the two began a romantic relationship. In 1985, her second album, titled “Romance 1600”, was released. The album's second single, "A Love Bizarre", peaked at number 11 on the U.S. Hot 100 […and also appeared on my wife and I’s wedding reception playlist over two decades later!] The non-album track "Holly Rock" made its way to live shows and into the film “Krush Groove”. The two would later become briefly engaged in the late 1980s, during Prince's “Lovesexy” Tour.
Source: Wikipedia.org
Andre Cymone
After a brief period of living with his father, who bought him his first guitar, Prince moved into the basement of his neighbors, the Anderson family, after his father threw him out. He befriended the Andersons' son, Andre, who later collaborated with Prince and became known as André Cymone. André Cymone is an accomplished bassist, songwriter and record producer. Cymone's stage name comes from a variation of his middle name, Simon. With his futurist Minneapolis vision, Cymone has been credited with creating some of the most innovative music in between the late 1970s and 1980s, and is regarded as an unsung architect of Minneapolis' identity as a music capital.
In 1979, Prince created a band with André on bass, Dez Dickerson on guitar, Gayle Chapman and Doctor Fink on keyboards, and Bobby Z. on drums. Their first show was at the Capri Theater on January 5, 1979. Warner Bros. executives attended the show but decided that Prince and the band needed more time to develop his music. In October 1979, Prince released the album “Prince”, which was No. 4 on the Billboard Top R&B/Black Albums charts and No. 22 on the Billboard 200, and went platinum.
In 1981, Cymone broke from Prince's band and began a solo career. As a solo artist, he released “Livin' in the New Wave”, “Survivin' in the '80s” and “A.C.”, all of which were well-received studio albums. The visionary fusion of new wave and funk explored on these albums spawned half a dozen hit R&B singles. His song, "The Dance Electric", was written by Prince and reached #10 on the R&B charts in 1985. Andre later co-wrote, performed, and produced hit songs for other acts, including "Looking for a New Love" with his then wife Jody Watley. Jody’s 1987 eponymous album won a Grammy Award in 1988.
Source: Wikipedia.org
Chaka Khan
In October 1984, the “Queen of Funk”, Chaka Khan, released her legendary cover of Prince’s 1979 song “I Feel For You”. Her version featured Grandmaster Melle Mel on the classic "Ch-ch-ch-chaka-chaka-chaka Khan" rap intro and Stevie Wonder on chromatic harmonica (and also a sample from one of his first hits, "Fingertips"). The song reached No. 1 on both the U.S. Dance and R&B charts in late 1984, remaining atop both for three weeks each. I Feel for You won two Grammys, one for “Best R&B Song” (with Prince as its songwriter) and the other for “Best R&B Vocal Performance, Female”, at the 27th Annual Grammy Awards in 1985.
Source: Wikipedia.org
Prince would later mentor some of today’s well-known artists.
“…Prince continued to reach out to young musicians and bring them into his orbit…”
- Light, Alan, Esquire Magazine; Hearst Magazine Media, Inc. “In His Final Years, Prince Secured His Legacy As Music's Greatest Mentor”. April 21, 2021
Getty; Source: esquire.com
July 2018: Kandace Springs covering another classic.
Video courtesy of Anthony Woodard
The Movie
Prince the actor… Poster for the movie “Purple Rain” which was released to theaters on July 27, 1984
Source: imdb.com
A victim of his own anger, the Kid (Prince) is a Minneapolis musician on the rise with his band, the Revolution, escaping a tumultuous home life through music. While trying to avoid making the same mistakes as his truculent father (Clarence Williams III), the Kid navigates the club scene and a rocky relationship with a captivating singer, Apollonia (Apollonia Kotero). But another musician, Morris (Morris Day), looks to steal the Kid's spotlight -- and his girl.
- Film synopsis
Even though the movie’s plot was semi-autobiographical and otherwise fictional, the inclusion of the artists themselves, along with famous landmarks, created unmatched authenticity. The plot became real and we took it all in, memorizing and reenacting many of the iconic scenes. In additional to the beautiful Apollonia, Purple Rain also introduced me to mischievous Morris Day and his right-hand man, Jerome Benton; “Let's Have Some Action!”
Jerome and Morris were up to no good…
After the success of his album 1999, Prince confronted his then-manager Robert Cavallo and told him he would not renew his contract with him unless he got to star in a studio film. Every studio they had met with rejected the premise of a musician-led film, leading Cavallo to produce the film himself. Prince spent months writing down the basic plot points of the film. Excluding Prince and his onscreen parents, almost every character in the movie is named after the actor who plays them. Prince intended to cast Vanity, leader of the girl group Vanity 6, but she left the group before filming began. Her role was initially offered to Jennifer Beals (who turned it down because she wanted to concentrate on college) before going to Apollonia Kotero.
Source: Wikipedia.org
"Purple Rain" Hollywood Premiere
Apollonia Kotero attends the "Purple Rain" Hollywood Premiere on July 26, 1984 at Mann's Chinese Theatre.
Photo by Ron Galella, Ltd/Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images. Source: vogue.com
Principal photography began on October 31, 1983, in Minneapolis, Minnesota and spanned 42 days. The film features many local landmarks, including the Crystal Court of the IDS Center (also shown in segments of the opening credits to The Mary Tyler Moore Show) and the First Avenue nightclub, which was paid $100,000 for usage during filming and was closed for 25 days. During production, director Albert Magnoli asked Prince to write one more song that touched on the themes of the film. The following day, Prince already had the song, "When Doves Cry", fully produced.
Source: Wikipedia.org
Creator: Eric Mortenson | Credit: Minnesota Historical Society
Prince famously said after the movie opened that he had a nightmare that Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel hated the movie and tore it apart on their TV show; in fact, both critics loved Purple Rain and put it on their Top 10 lists of the best films in 1984. Roger Ebert would go on to call it "one of the greatest rock movies of all time". The film was commercially successful, grossing $68,392,977 in the United States. It won an Academy Award for Best Original Song Score. Publications and critics have regarded Purple Rain as one of the greatest musical films. In 2019, the film was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the United States National Film Registry for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". Warner Home Video released Purple Rain on video in 1984 while the film was still in theaters. At the time, it was one of the first major releases to be sold at the lower listed price of $29.95 in the United States.
Source: Wikipedia.org
And, while the artists and the landmarks were important, it was the music that took center stage. Music arguably created the movie’s most memorable scenes, including the basement conversation between “the Kid” and his father and Prince’s epic guitar solo and outro chorus to Purple Rain.
“Time flows in a continuous stream — yet our memories are divided into separate episodes, all of which become part of our personal narrative. How emotions shape this memory formation process is a mystery that science has only recently begun to unravel. The latest clue comes from UCLA psychologists, who have discovered that fluctuating emotions elicited by music helps form separate and durable memories… ‘Changes in emotion evoked by music created boundaries between episodes that made it easier for people to remember what they had seen and when they had seen it,’ said lead author Mason McClay, a doctoral student in psychology at UCLA.”
- Ober, Holly, University of California - Los Angeles. “Why emotions stirred by music create such powerful memories”. November 20, 2023
The Memories
Prince was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2004. While his acceptance speech was brief (excerpt below), his message was one of both humility and wisdom. Later in the ceremony, his near three-minute outro guitar solo to the Beatles' “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” in honor of the late George Harrison, was absolutely transcendent.
Tragically, on April 21, 2016, Prince died after accidentally overdosing on fentanyl at his Paisley Park home and recording studio. He was 57. The fentanyl that led to his overdose was contained in counterfeit pills made to look like a generic version of the painkiller hydrocodone/paracetamol. Prince Rogers Nelson and his music will not be forgotten; we remember. Rest in peace.
“…I embarked on a journey more fascinating than I could have ever imagined. But a word to the wise: Without real spiritual mentoring, too much freedom can lead to the soul’s decay. And a word to the young artists: A real friend or mentor is not on your payroll. A real friend and mentor cares for your soul as much as they do their own. This world and its wicked system will become harder and harder to deal with without a real friend or mentor. And I wish all of you the best on this fascinating journey.”
- Prince
Purple Rain 4 Ever!
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