Revolution: Prince, The Band, The Era by James Campion
Prince was undoubtedly the most singular musical artist to emerge from the final decades of the last century, and like almost every successful artist, he didn’t do it alone. That’s the main point of the latest book by veteran rock writer James Campion. Acknowledging that Prince has been understood as a “solitary entity,” capable of crafting albums with minimal input, Campion stresses the importance of The Revolution, the band that accompanied him from fringe disco to superstardom. The author hears out The Revolution’s members and sifts through Prince’s enigmatic statements. Seems that in the band (Campion italicizes for emphasis), Prince found a sense of community, albeit a community where he was chief. Prince didn’t do people well but needed them and drew from their energy. Perhaps a good analogy is Frank Zappa’s relationship to The Mothers of Invention or Duke Ellington to his orchestra. Revolution helps round out our understanding of Prince’s creative process.
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