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My Life in the
Purple Kingdom
by BrownMark with Cynthia M. Uhrich, foreword by Questlove
c.2020, University of Minnesota Press
$22.95 / $31.99 Canada
159 pages
By Terri Schlichenmeyer
The Truth Contributor
You had every intention to
stand still that night.
Nice try. Your shoulders
were shimmying ten seconds after you stepped to a beat, left
foot, right foot, through a wall of thump that came
from speakers taller than you. You stopped, and it was as if
your behind had its own mind. In those days, you couldn't
stop dancing, and in My Life In the Purple Kingdom
by BrownMark with Cynthia M. Uhrich, one man couldn't
stop guitaring. |
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Before he was even old
enough for school, Mark Brown decided that he wanted to be a
guitar player some day. Growing up in Minneapolis, he
remembers listening to the radio because the family didn't
have a TV, but he was thrilled to hear music by "people who
looked like me..." When television finally came to the Brown
household, seeing musicians on the small screen solidified
his dream.
By then, Brown was eight
years old, and because his mother didn't have money to buy
him a guitar, he figured he'd have to earn the money
himself. Ultimately, that led to a well-earned instrument
and work-for-lessons from a proprietor of a local music
store but Brown struggled with school and patience. Once
transferred to a new area school for his own good, he found
a way to play and it helped his self-confidence.
Success, though, was an
uphill road. Racism was a problem with local bars and clubs
then, and getting a toe on-stage took effort, which Brown
was willing to put forth to make himself a rock star. He was
still in high school, still held down outside jobs and
interests, and yet he found time to rehearse with the series
of bands with which he performed.
It was at one such
rehearsal that someone said there was a phone call for him.
That was unusual so, intrigued, he took the call and
answered curtly.
Prince was on the other
end of the line...
Reading My Life in the
Purple Kingdom feels somewhat like attending your high
school class reunion: there's always that one guy there who
made it big but rather than quietly accepting kudos, he
feels the need to humble-brag instead. His story is
interesting and you can't resist it, but you really could do
without the faux bashfulness.
Indeed, according to his
own book, author BrownMark (who changed his name while with
Prince), worked himself ragged to be a professional
musician, and that perseverance should be lauded. Despite
storytelling irritations and cutesy-purposeful misspellings,
this memoir could be a real inspiration to someone with
dreams.
While the story (with
Cynthia Uhrich) is mostly about BrownMark's life,
there's enough Prince here to attract Prince fans. Just
beware that although there's a happy-ish ending to this
book, its author isn't generally complimentary to his former
boss and for that, and because Prince isn't alive to offer
contradictions, My Life in the Purple Kingdom could
be somewhat controversial. Still, if you're a concert-goer,
nostalgic, clubber, or you need motivation, you should have
every intention to read it.
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