Duane Tudahl once again has put out a must-read Bible for anyone interested in Prince's day-to-day recording sessions right off of the Purple Rain tour. With enough information to please even the most die-hard of fans, it's a must-have for anyone who enjoys the work of Prince and a peek into his creation process.

Thank you NetGalley for this eARC. Anything about Prince is a thumbs up in my book and this was no different

I went into this title by Duane Tudahl with some prior experience with his style and format of studio session books about Prince. As a fan of the artist, I enjoy learning about the anecdotes and facts behind the many recordings I have heard. This book is like the Encyclopedia Brittanica of Prince's recording process. While much of the information tends to be speculative, I found this was more than made up for by the many quotes, stories and various commentaries made about sessions with Prince by many associates ranging from engineers to band members and friends. This is a riveting read from top to bottom. To be fair, I would not recommend it for the fan of Prince with only a passive or cursory understanding of his work. This is for those looking to deep dive. There's plenty of material on the market for the "kiddie pool' variety. Here, with "Prince and the Parade and Sign O' the Times Era Studio Sessions you will find yourself in the deep end for certain -- and there's plenty to swim through. It's a long book, but fast reading. Much of the source material is comprised of studio paperwork and documentation which is sometimes vague, but many times quite detailed. You are guaranteed to learn a lot about Prince you probably never knew even if you thought you knew it all. Sadly, we no longer have this great artist providing us with new material, but fortunately he's left us with a wellspring of work in his vault, and we have studious researchers like Duane Tudahl to put in the work conveying, compiling and presenting volumes of information about it.

This is the second book In this series about “ The Purple One”. Just as the first book concentrated on the recording of Purple Rain, this book is centered on the “Parade and Sign O’ the Times recordings. Very informative. It gives you insight on a true genius at work. It may be too much for some, but a true Prince fan will relish this book. Full of information of recording sessions, concerts and a true testimony of this gifted author. Do get this book. Get your favorite eve rage, have everything done and settle in for a hell of a ride!!! I hope their is more from this talented author on this icon. Thanks to Netgalley, the author and the publisher for the arc of this book in return for my honest review. Receiving the book in this manner had no bearing on this review.

I chose this book because I am a big fan of Prince. I went to a concert on the 1999 tour. Also, Prince and I share a birthday - June 7

This book is the second book by Duane Tudahl on the work of Prince. This does not read as a storybook, rather a series of interviews, quotes, and other pieces that develop a great deal of information on the life and work of Prince after the Purple Rain era. Fans of Prince and other artists of his era will enjoy seeing behind the curtain.

Prince and the Parade & Sign “O” The Times Era Studio Sessions 1985 and 1986 is the second book in author Duane Tudahl’s superb series titled The Prince Studio Sessions. Coming June 7, 2021, the 728-page hardcover picks up right where the previous volume left off. A day-by-day, chronological record of Prince’s recordings and performances during the years 1985 and 1986, this book covers recording sessions that resulted in not only Prince’s Parade and Sign “O” The Times albums, but also tracks that would go on to be released on Jill Jones’ debut album, Sheila E’s second album, the debut album by BrownMark’s group Mazarati, the first Madhouse album, The Black Album, and many tracks that would not see the light of day until the 2020 release of the Sign “O” The Times deluxe box set. Many of the songs, including songs from Prince’s jazz project known to fans as The Flesh Sessions, remain unreleased.

As he did with his first book in this series, author Tudahl crafted a pleasantly exhaustive and authoritative labor of love in the same manner that one might go about assembling a puzzle. He researched recording studio session logs, interviewed band members, recording engineers, and other Prince associates, and includes pieces of previously published interviews as well as brand new interviews and assembles all of these pieces of the puzzle to provide the reader with the closest thing that we will ever get to a being a fly on the wall during the creation of Prince’s music. The interview segments often correspond specifically to the time period or song that is being discussed, incorporating all of the interview commentary into the chronological format that documents the two years covered in the book.

As with the first volume, the book avoids gossip and sensationalism. Tudahl only discusses Prince’s personal life when doing so will provide direct insight as to Prince’s frame of mind at the time that he recorded certain songs. In addition to the interviews with others, Tudahl provides many quotes from Prince himself taken from the time periods covered in the book. By adding Prince’s own words to the story in a context and chronological manner that complements the recording studio log session dates, Tudahl provides a balanced collection of quotations from Prince and those who worked with him at the time to provide as comprehensive an examination as possible of the recording sessions and Prince’s life during these two years.

With the experience of the first book behind him, and happily due to the success of the first book, Tudahl was able to interview even more Prince associates this time around than with the initial book. All of the additional interviews provide even more in-depth insight here than with the first book, which itself was a masterwork. Now that Tudahl has proven his intent with these first two books to be honorable, as historically accurate as possible, and with the genuine purpose of further understanding Prince’s musical legacy, the floodgates should open in regards to accessibility to interview others who worked with Prince, and hopefully we will see even more books in this series covering additional studio sessions from other eras of Prince’s recording career.

If you love Prince’s music, this book is an absolute must-have. I can’t wait for the next volumes in the series.

Duane Tudahl’s excellent books about Prince are essential reading for Prince fans and music lovers alike.
His latest, takes us into the world and works of Prince 1985/1986. Duane’s detailed research includes The Family, Parade, The Flesh, Sheila E’s 2nd and 3rd album, Jill Jones, Under the Cherry Moon, the final leg of the Purple Rain tour, the Parade tour, and the break-up of The Revolution and The Family (just to name a few). The pages are filled with recollections of musicians, studio engineers and singers that spent time in the studio with Prince as well as close friends. His accomplishments in this period were numerous. His creative processes were ever expanding reflecting his mood, his vision and his life. There were successes and failures but he continued to write, sing, produce and in doing so became a renaissance man.
Extensively researched, readable and extremely enjoyable, Duane writes with ease and a personal flair that made me feel as if I were behind the scenes watching the mystery and magic unfold.
I highly recommend this book and would like to thank NetGalley, Duane Tudahl and Rodman and Littlefield Publishers for an ARC in exchange for an honest book review.

I read Tudahl’s previous volume on Prince and the Purple Rain Sessions, and was very excited to see that this volume was available. Like the previous volume, this book looks at the recording sessions for the Sign of the Times album, sometimes going into deep detail about seemingly little things. The overall effect gives a clear picture of Prince’s work ethic and devotion to his art. This book won’t appeal to everyone, some may feel bogged down by the exhaustive detail. Others, however, will love the insight into the processes of a genius.

As a veteran Prince fan, I found this book full of new information, just like the Purple Rain sessions book by the same author, Duane Tudahl focuses almost exclusively on music and new information from Prince associates, instead of recycled gossip, and gives new insight into Prince's studio process during his peak creative era.

What interested me most is Duane's detailed description of Prince's favorite instruments such as the Fairlight and Prophet keyboards, his collaborative vs solo approaches, and his craft in assembling albums together, from Parade to Dream Factory to Camille to Crystal Ball to Sign Of The Times to the Black Album.

This book also debunks the myth that Prince is a 'one-take' artist, as clearly he spent many hours on single takes, and days, sometimes weeks even, finessing single songs. This book reads like a diary of how many hours Prince spent in the studio, and when you take into account his other activities such as concerts, the book makes it clear that Prince did not sleep for years.

I enjoyed this book a lot and was sad to finish it. I am looking forward to a third volume covering the Lovesexy era!