Take on Amy
Posted by: Wolf2 on 17 February 2008
I'm not really current in the music scene with all the new females especially. Can't keep them straight as none stand out to me. I watched the Grammys and it was lots of bling and pyrotechnics with little musical originality to me. Then they finally put on Amy Winehouse from a small club. WOW! Knocked me over flat. What a sound. Just looking at her I realized she wasn't the normal singer and the 50s girl band jazz R&B influence was soooo enthralling. I bought her CD the next day. Gutsy and edgy, it's a bit raw and can't go thru it more than once a day.
I realize that she has personal problems and hope she gets beyond that. The news paper the next day had an article about all her problems in bullet points and not one word about where she comes from or how she got that sound. There have certainly been lots of performers in the past that have gotten over drug use. On the evening news just after broadcast the cam was following Ringo as he was walking out and he just said about the grammys "Yeah it was great fun, GO AMY!"
What is your take on her from over the pond? I'm surprised there isn't a thread on her already.
Posted on: 21 February 2008 by Huwge
I have seen her live twice and have to say that whilst she may have been out of her box most of the time, there were a couple of occasions where the hair on the back of my neck was quite literally standing up. When she gets it right it is phenomenal. There are so few artists where you can experience this and it saddens me that she may not be able to prolong her career. She has an incredibly tight band and in many respects they have justified the price of admission on their own.
The recorded stuff is OK, but live when she gets it right she can blow you away. I appreciate she may not be everyone's cup of tea and she does herself no favours with her behaviour but she does have the pipes.
I put this in the context of Cecilia Bartoli who can sound sublime on disc but can be quite average in a large auditorium. I have really felt like asking for my money back when seeing her, whereas with Amy there was a sense that however broken things were you were witnessing something special. Nigel Kennedy is the only other performing artist I have seen that can move so quickly from the sublime to the ridiculous.
Huw
Posted on: 21 February 2008 by {OdS}
munch: I'll need to consider this in my future purchases
Huwge: what do you think of her live performance at the Grammy stuff, compared to your live experiences? I just watched it on youtube. Horrible quality of course, but damn... this sounded so right, music, voice, what a voice... I felt like singing was the most natural thing she could do.
Posted on: 21 February 2008 by Huwge
I didn't see the Grammy performance, so can't say.
For those people who think it's all down to Ronson, maybe for the recorded material, but he isn't the one on the stage nor ever is he likely to be.
Posted on: 22 February 2008 by Diccus62
fair point
Posted on: 04 March 2008 by Wolf2
It is interesting to see performers live and what's in the studio. At the Grammys I was not impressed with the acts that had the pyrotechnics and large dance forces and choreography. It was nice to see Amy on a small cabaret stage.
Performers have off nights and startling recoveries. One friend I go to the opera with has seen every big act since the 40s, he's 86 now. He said there's no correlation between recordings and stage. Stage work is very special, that's why so many movie actors love to get on the boards to make themselves better. Hepburn did it during a down turn in her career, she admitted she had a lot to learn and nothing like a live audience to get immediate feedback.
Billie Holiday is certainly someone to consider. The drugs and booze got the better of her, but she sang her heart out till the end.
Posted on: 04 March 2008 by fidelio
glenn, i started an amy thread a few months ago, but very few takers (rotf did sign in to say he hated her). all the personal stuff has to be put in perspective, that fact is she has musicianship and a voice, and more - a classic old school r&b sense. i ordered the vinyl too. best, artie
Posted on: 05 March 2008 by Guido Fawkes
quote:
rotf did sign in to say he hated her
Hi Artie
Did I say that -- oh well, I don't hate anybody really (excluding whoever burgled my house in 1989)
Still it is not my kind of music, but then I don't like
Tony Orlando that much so I guess there's no hope for me.
Rotf
Posted on: 05 March 2008 by fidelio
hey rotf, no you didn't say "hate," that was my shorthand for what appeared to be a strong aversion on your part! i would have said that i liked all music, but now that you present the tony olando parallax, i may have to retreat from that blanket statement ... and then there's certain "heavy polka" (you know, the kind w/ a lot of reverb and really badly recorded) .... best, artie
Posted on: 08 March 2008 by Wolf2
Late night on public TV one night I saw a coming of age story in late 50s or early 60s, the guy was in love with an exotic "Polish" girl. He was invited to a family party where it was major polka time. Of course it gets nightmarish with old aunts snearing or tweeking his cheeks and the disco lights and reverbed music and her brother wanting to beat him up. It was too funny, but the music made it a major hallucination with the lights.
Posted on: 08 March 2008 by Wolf2
In college I went to Denver with my roommate and with his girlfriend went to a polka event at night outside. It was great fun but I never could get my feet and body going in the right direction. You have to have a lot of beer to enjoy that stuff.
Posted on: 09 March 2008 by 110dB
I saw her live at Glastonbury in 2007.
We were standing just in front of the mixing tower, it was raining very lightly the sun was shining and I had a cup half full of wine; she was fantastic.
She appeared quiet drunk, though you could only tell between songs when she was trying to stand still and talk. When she started again she was amazing.
The LP sounds like MP3! - I've not heard the CD.
Good luck to her, I'm sure there's a lot more to come.
.
Posted on: 10 March 2008 by fidelio
quote:
The LP sounds like MP3! - I've not heard the CD.
... that ain't right!!
if the lp is mp3, whew, the cd must be really nasty.
Posted on: 10 March 2008 by 555
I'm am offended by your formatist statement fidelio.
No doubt the UK CD of Black to Black (which I assume you were referring to 110dB) isn't going to win any awards for audiophile excellence.
I've recently ordered the Japanese release in the hope it's better, because I love Amy!
Posted on: 10 March 2008 by 110dB
quote:
Originally posted by 555:
I'm am offended by your formatist statement fidelio.
No doubt the UK CD of Black to Black (which I assume you were referring to 110dB) isn't going to win any awards for audiophile excellence.
I've recently ordered the Japanese release in the hope it's better, because I love Amy!
.....555, please let us all know what it's like.
Posted on: 18 March 2008 by 555
Sadly the JPN version I bought of 'Back to Black' sounds the same as my UK copy.
However I hedged my punt by getting the
Deluxe Edition which comes with a bonus disc. This has some cracking tracks on it, so I'm happy with my purchase.
There's an interesting preview of an interview with Mitch Winehouse (Amys' dad),
which is part of the BBCs
ONE Life: Rock Star Parents.
The TV prog' transmits today - Tuesday 18 March at 2235 BST on BBC One.
Posted on: 18 March 2008 by 110dB
Hey 555, thanks for letting us know about the Japanese CD and for the Mitch Winehouse info.
Posted on: 19 March 2008 by 555
Posted on: 06 May 2008 by 555
Posted on: 17 May 2008 by Wolf2
A friend said there are other groups doing the same type groove and sent me a list. I forgot where I put it on the computer.
Sade tapped into the cool stylings of the early 60s 20 some years ago, but has never evolved and became boring. This may happen with others and yet some jump to new levels. Consider the Beatles, their early stuff was covers, but they put out lots more that was great fun and led the charge in the 60s.
Posted on: 18 May 2008 by 555
Posted on: 18 May 2008 by Diccus62
Heroin me thinks, A & P very very relaxed. A has pretty small pupils,though harder to see due to visual effects.
Very very hard to stop using Heroin as the pure effects (not the crap that goes with it) are apparently so nice. With her money she can afford to buy whatever she wants. As she appears to like 'uppers' such as Crack (Cocaine) aswell she risks overdose most of the time particularly if she is using with alcohol and Benzo's (sleeping tablets).
Shame she didn't complete the next Bond theme - it would have made Air's Moon Safari seem like death metal.
Posted on: 18 May 2008 by 555
Posted on: 15 June 2008 by KeanoKing
Posted on: 25 June 2008 by fidelio
just listened to vinyl of "back to black." love that record! amy is the real thing.
the recording isn't stellar, but it's not bad for what it is. aretha and wilson pickett didn't do audiophile recordings either ...
just hope she stays around. it would be a great loss if she od'd or something. think of lady day.
Posted on: 25 June 2008 by fidelio
yes, i believe that's the one i got.
