On Time: A Princely Life in Funk

Description

To tell the story of Morris Day is to tell the story of Prince. Not because they were inseparable or because their paths never diverged, but because, even when their paths did diverge, they always intersected again. Each artist lifted the other up, pushing one another to be something bigger and better than they thought themselves capable of. There was plenty of one-upmanship and some (un)healthy competition, but the respect Day and Prince had for one another never wavered, from the time they met in junior high until His Royal Badness's untimely death in 2016. In telling his own story and writing about Prince, Day turns Prince into the narrative's Greek chorus. Prince is there to protect his legacy, argue with Morris's interpretation of events, and continue the dialogue that started when both musicians were in their early teens. Because of their lifelong friendship emotional intimacy, the founder and still current leader of The Time is the one man who can pull this off, and in so doing shed a new light on Prince and the culture from which the Minneapolis funk scene was born. On Time recounts Day's fight to overcome cocaine addiction, his search for meaning in both music and romance, and his subsequent second-act success by once again leading The Time, whose music is his lifeblood and soul. Day's book is a comprehensive, free-wheeling extension of his music--the ride is wild and the funk unfiltered.

Morris Day is a legendary multi-platinum recording artist, musician, composer, arranger, and singer who is best known as the lead singer of The Time. He has enjoyed a highly successful solo career as well. He co-starred with Prince with a breakout acting performance in the blockbuster, Purple Rain. Day resides in Orange County, California. David Ritz is a Grammy Award winner and the only four-time winner of the Gleason Music Book Award. He won the 2013 ASCAP Award for outstanding musical bio for When I Left Home, written with Buddy Guy. He has collaborated with Ray Charles, Marvin Gaye, B.B. King, Etta James, Janet Jackson, and Smokey Robinson, and is the co-composer of 'Sexual Healing.' Ritz lives in Los Angeles, California.

[An] entertaining memoir... fans of Prince - and The Time - will be thrilled with this insider view.--Publishers Weekly [Day]'s quite a vivid storyteller and the Day/Prince interplay not only works, but it keeps things moving forward. At times, it's a challenge to put On Time down.--Twin Cities Pioneer Press A breezy, hard-to-put-down book.--Minneapolis Star-Tribune A vital, illuminating and wildly entertaining autobiography.--Billboard An enticing read... argely a memoir but also, in part, an entertaining commentary.--Soul Tracks Fortunately, Morris Day's memoir arrives in the same month as his old friend's. Day grew up a few blocks from Prince and played drums in his first band. The two remained close for decades...Day's book has him in conversation with Prince's ghost, arguing about how to tell the story, and gives us details about Prince that he never got to tell his memoirist...Day has a front-row seat for the life of one of the greatest musicians of all time and his book is a worshipful telling of what Prince's rise looked like from his vantage.--New York Times Book Review Great book! Great storytelling!--Lenny Kravitz What if Prince came back and he and Morris got down to settling old scores and giving away secrets? Morris makes it happen, and I devoured this great book!--Paul Shaffer, author of We'll Be Here for the Rest of Our Lives What time is it? It's time for everyone to read Morris Day's memoir. Lean, slick, cooler than Santa Claus, and surprisingly tender, the book not only traces Day's history in Minneapolis funk, but doubles as an intimate recollections of his time with Prince.--Ben Greenman, author of Dig If You Will The Picture: Funk, Sex, God and Genius in the Music of Prince