McInnis will absolutely not like that title, because he’ll point out that the histories aren’t secret. It’s out there for anyone looking and interested. But he sometimes forgets he’s a Prince expert. So what’s common Prince knowledge to him isn’t so with a lot, no, most, of us.
But another reason I call it “secret” is because McInnis often passes along casual tidbits about Prince in personal correspondence or just in conversation. You’ll mention a point, “Oh, I liked that movie last week.” McInnis will go, “Me too. And I’m glad that Prince provided Jane Doe with private lessons on playing guitar, which she then used to develop a band, which included John Doe piano, whose first cousin produced that movie based on inspiration from that band.” Seriously, it’ll be like that.
I’ll have to remember to tell my students and junior colleagues about how someone like McInnis demonstrates the power of specializing in a major figure and then following that person’s career for years, decades, and, in this case, following the band members, influences, and disciples of that person. All of that is important in African American literary studies, where we’re constantly trying to figure out whether it’s better to focus on a major figure or devote time to various less well-known writers.
McInnis has me going back and forth on that. On the one hand, it seems more democratic to focus on several less prominent figures, right? But then, how would so much knowledge about Prince and others have flowed forth if McInnis hadn’t been as laser-focused as he’s been? Would I have been the beneficiary of so many secret histories?
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