Prince had this big bodyguard, this guy Big Chick who you might remember had a big Santa Claus beard and was with him everywhere. And the first time he heard them play that in rehearsal, he ran in I think to Alan Leeds' office and said, "You gotta hear the song the boss wrote last night. Isn't this song so good? Willie Nelson's gonna cover it." So the fact that it came from that very American place, almost a sort of a country and western song... And Prince, what inspired him to write "Purple Rain" was that when they were touring on the 1999 tour, he was following Bob Seger into a lot of arenas, and was really interested in why was Bob Seger such a big star, especially in the Midwest. And Matt Fink, the keyboard player, remembers that he was talking to Prince and said, "Well, it's these big ballads that Bob Seger writes. It's these songs like 'We've Got Tonight' and 'Turn The Page.' And that's what people love." And Prince went out to try to write that kind of arena-rock power ballad that resulted in "Purple Rain."
Sunday, December 7, 2014
WE'RE GONNA SHOOT IN MINNEAPOLIS IN THE WINTER: NPR interviews journalist Alan Light about his new book on the making of Purple Rain, including this tidbit:
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Man, do I want a Bob Seger quote on that.
ReplyDeleteIt's worth reading this interview with When The Doves Cry playing in the background. I Love the part about hearing it months before the movie came out and these weird lyrics not making sense out of context.
That these kind of books come out now, these in-depth accounts of things relevant to my childhood that aren't fan-books, is why I don't hate being 40.
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