Prince - The Glory Years (documentary)

If your interest in the musical heritage of Prince, or your interest in him extends beyond an unavoidable pop flirtation with his well over thirty hits (excluding those he wrote for others and tossed away only for them to find success with, the Bangles Manic Monday and of course Sinead O'Connor's Nothing Compares 2 U) into his much larger canon of music this documentary may appeal. 

(*note you may have to suffer through more than one painful lyrical and cultural analysis by the squinty faced dingbat above but if you do you'll find some other choice Prince intimates)

This documentary doesn't exactly blaze any new ground in terms of gaining an appreciation for Prince's galvanizing impact on popular music.  It's highly doubtful given the ultra-high level of control he's maintained over his own backstory that any truly salacious or bracing insights are likely to come out anywhere frankly.  It may be that he has some fairly iron clad confidentiality agreements in place, it may also be that in all likelihood very few people have been allowed past the purple mantle enough that they could have much insight of their own.  That said throughout this fairly functional and thankfully short documentary the listener is introduced to a handful of Prince acolytes who do have a handful of strong insights into Prince's artistry.  As with the bulk of material that makes up various other slapdash unauthorized bios the key contributors are characters such as Dez Dickerson (former Revolution guitarist) and Alan Leeds (former tour manager, Paisley Park Records President), as well as Rolling Stone's Anthony DeCurtis, who provide the bulk of inside material related to Prince's creative process.  Where this little doc shines a little bit over the countless articles, issues and books written is giving a voice to a handful of the recording engineers that worked closely with him at various points, as well as various session musicians brought in on one off basis'.  The doc deals particularly well with Prince's collaborative relationship with arranger Clare Fischer whom Prince has worked with extensively over the years but due to superstition has refused to ever meet the man.  There relationship is the classic 'exchanging tapes in the mail' collaboration and just one of the wonderful quirks that makes up His creative process.

If you're a real died in the wool member of the New Power Generation it's worth seeking out the above issue of Wax Poetics (10th Anniversary Edition, Winter 2012).  This issue with interviews with bassist Larry Graham (Graham Central Station, Sly and The Family Stone), Morris Day, Jesse Johnson and noted reeds player Eric Leeds (who collaborated frequently as a member of Prince's group and side project Madhouse).  The issue even contains a wonderful article by drummer and musical director Amir Questlove Thompson (The Roots) on 33 Reasons Why Prince Is Hip Hop.  The Questlove article, and the issue on the whole, are one of the few big steps forward in Prince scholarship in the last ten years.  The Artist himself seems to only now be slowly coming around to showing a bit more of what he has on under the purple frock.  Or as this issue attests it's more that the diverse voices that have contributed to his tapestry are finding an outlet beyond fan fodder.