Let's Go Crazy: Prince and the Making of Purple Rain

Marc Notes: 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 semi-autobiographical 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 often named the best soundtrack of all time. It sold over a million copies in its first week and blasted to #1 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 thirtieth 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--; Provided by publisher. Publisher Marketing: Alan Light, former writer for "Rolling Stone, "editor-in-chief of "Vibe" and "Spin" magazines, and author of "The Holy or the Broken," "gets inside Prince's mind palace in" Let's Go Crazy"--a history of the making of his historic, semi-autobiographical musical masterwork, "Purple Rain"" ("Vanity Fair"). "Purple Rain" is a song, an album, and a film--widely considered to be among the most important albums in music history and often named the best soundtrack of all time. It sold over a million copies in its first week of release in 1984 and blasted to #1 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--the first artist ever simultaneously to have the #1 album, single, and movie in the country. In "Let's Go Crazy," 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 and participated in 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. "A must-read for the Prince die-hards who have remained devoted through the musical meanderings of the last three decades" ("Kirkus Reviews"), "Let's Go Crazy "examines how the masterpiece that blurred R&B, pop, dance, and rock sounds altered the recording landscape and became an enduring touchstone for successive generations of fans. Review Citations:

Booklist 12/15/2014 pg. 8 (EAN 9781476776774, Open Ebook)

Library Journal Prepub Alert 07/01/2014 pg. 56 (EAN 9781476776729, Hardcover)

Kirkus Reviews 10/15/2014 (EAN 9781476776729, Hardcover)

Publishers Weekly 11/10/2014 (EAN 9781476776729, Hardcover)

Library Journal 12/01/2014 pg. 105 (EAN 9781476776729, Hardcover)

Booklist 12/15/2014 pg. 8 (EAN 9781476776729, Hardcover)

Contributor Bio:  Light, Alan Alan Light has been one of America's leading music journalists for the past twenty years. He was a writer at "Rolling Stone", founding music editor and editor-in-chief of "Vibe", and editor-in-chief of "Spin "magazine. He has been a contributor to "The New Yorker", "GQ", "Entertainment Weekly", "Elle", and "Mother Jones". He is the author of "The Skills to Pay the Bills", an oral history of the Beastie Boys; "The Holy or the Broken: Leonard Cohen, Jeff Buckley, and the Unlikely Ascent of "Hallelujah""; and cowriter of the "New York Times" bestselling memoir by Gregg Allman, "My Cross to Bear".