But it's the comments elicited from former bandmates in the Revolution, including Matt Fink, Brown Mark, Bobby Z, Wendy Melvoin and Lisa Coleman, that are the book's most telling about Purple Rain, the man who created most of it and what happened afterward.
Oddly, Light never mentions that the phrase "purple rain" first appeared in the song "Ventura Highway" by America. A known Joni Mitchell fan, did Prince slip some other '70s soft-rock discs among his Sly Stone, Parliament/Funkadelic and Hendrix records?
Today, Purple Rain the sound track stands the test of time, and the movie is best remembered (correctly) for its exciting concert sequences and snapshot of the Minneapolis music scene at the time and not for any story line or stellar acting by anyone save Clarence Williams III as Prince's troubled father.
(Unfortunately, we can't include a link to video from any of the movie's stellar songs. Prince and his people are tireless policers of YouTube and unauthorized clips appearing on the Internet.)
Light's book takes us all back to a time when we could purify ourselves in the world of Prince and the waters of Lake Minnetonka. And be sure we have the right lake this time.
