My Life in the Purple Kingdom

By: BrownMark, Cynthia M. Uhrich, Questlove

Narrated by: BrownMark

Length: 5 hrs and 3 mins

Publisher's summary

In the summer of 1981, Mark Brown was a teenager working at a 7-11 store when he wasn't rehearsing with his high school band, Phantasy. Come fall, Brown, now called BrownMark, was onstage with Prince at the Los Angeles Coliseum, opening for the Rolling Stones in front of 90,000 people. Raw, wry, real, this book takes us from his musical awakening as a boy in Minneapolis to the cold call from Prince at 19, from touring the world with The Revolution and performing in Purple Rain to inking his own contract with Motown.

BrownMark's story is that of a hometown kid, living for sunny days when his transistor would pick up KUXL, a solar-powered, shut-down-at-sundown station that was the only one that played R&B music in Minneapolis in 1968. But once he took up the bass guitar - and never looked back - he entered a whole new realm, and, literally at the right hand of Twin Cities musical royalty, he joined the funk revolution that integrated the Minneapolis music scene and catapulted him onto the international stage. He takes us behind the scenes as few can, into the confusing emotional and professional life among the denizens of Paisley Park, and offers a rare, intimate look into music at the heady heights that his childhood self could never have imagined.

©2020 BrownMark (P)2021 Tantor

Loved it!

Wonderful story of a successful musical journey with interesting insights of life on the road and the highs and lows of life on the road.

I wish more books were a bit more honest like this

As I listen to Mark Brown's experience with Prince, I am not surprised that any of this went down. I Hope and wish that more come out and others are a bit more honest about their experiences with Prince on a more personal level. he was a creative genius but a bit of an ass at the same time.

The pursuit of equality - how real today?

Have been wanting to read this for a while. Mr. Brown is a talented speaker with an engaging voice as well as a talented musician. The book is a bit like Chris Frantz’s recent book and even Mick Karn’s book in that it’s a warts-and-all glimpse into the life of a hardworking talent who deserves more credit. Prince and Davids Byrne and Sylvian are interestingly similar. These bands were made up magician musicians. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll be left in shock, awe and hope reading ‘My Life in the Purple Kingdom.’

Not Boring

This book kept me interested throughout. Funny at times. I like that Prince is spoke of like the human he was even if he wasn’t nice at times.

Interesting story

The more books I read by people who worked with Prince, the more I realize he just wasn’t a nice person. It will never change how I feel about him as an artist but multiple people having the same interactions…
Thank you Brown Mark, I was one of those crushing on you back in the day.

Amazing story

I initially thought this book was going to be a tell all book about PRINCE. How refreshing it was to hear your story about growing up in Minneapolis and learning the music game. Bravo to you BROWNMark look forward to your next book.

Fantastic!

Absolutely loved the the book just wished it was longer, Brown Mark should right another one.

interesting being the scenes stories

loved it but hoped to hear more Prince stories. Great reading. Learned more about Prince.

I loved this story.

I loved this story. BrownMark is one of my favorite artists in the prince camp.

Excellent Honest and Captivating

Brown Mark’s Life in the Purple Kingdom was refreshingly very good. Detailing the various eras of his life portrays himself quite differently than one would assume. His life was filled with incidents and stories that shaped his life. He was definitely another awesome musician destined for greatness. He was determined to fulfill his musical destiny. He openly described the racism and his experiences with white supremacy in Minnesota. Lastly, he spoke of the not so great dealings with Prince as well as his once in a life time rock star life as Brown Mark; bass player of for the phenomenal super star Prince and the Revolution. What a life. His brutal honesty was much appreciated.