Amy winehouse - valerie
Around the same time, she rediscovered the s music she loved as a girl, stating in a Rolling Stone interview: "When I fell in love with Blake, there was Sixties music around us a lot. Around the same year, she went through a period of drinking, heavy drug use, and weight loss. During their break, she would write the bulk of the album on the state of her "relationship at the time with Blake [Fielder-Civil]" through themes of "grief, guilt, and heartache".
Her vocals were quick. She'd give a couple takes that were effortless and honest, and we'd [the Instrumental Zoo personnel] have it. People think of studio sessions as all-nighters, but we'd get there at 10 a. By 8 or 9 at night, we were done and we'd be back up in the morning getting it done in the daylight. Most of the songs on Back to Black were solely written by Winehouse, [ 20 ] as her primary focus of the album's sound shifted more towards the style of the girl groups from the s and s.
Winehouse worked with New York singer Sharon Jones 's longtime band, the Dap-Kings , to back her up in the studio and on tour. She would also put out what she had sung on a CD and play it in his taxi outside to know how most people would hear her music. They conversed in March in Ronson's New York studio that he used to have. Ronson wrote "Back to Black" the night after he met Winehouse, explaining in a Mojo interview:.
I just thought, 'Let's talk about music, see what she likes. So she played me some of those records I told her that I had nothing to play her right now but if she [lets] me work on something overnight she could come back tomorrow. So I came up with this little piano riff, which became the verse chords to 'Back to Black. Amy was so serious about her words.
My producer instinct went off and I said, "Hey, sorry, it's got to rhyme. That's weird. Can you fix that? That's what came out. One day [Ronson and Winehouse] decided to take a quick stroll around the neighborhood because Amy wanted to buy [her then-boyfriend] Alex Clare a present She told him about the time at my house after she'd been in hospital when everyone had been going on at her about her drinking: 'You know they tried to make me go to rehab, and I told them, no, no, no.
You should go back to the studio and we should turn that into a song. Ronson recorded the trio to create the "'60s-sounding metallics" on the album. The drums, piano, guitar, and bass were all done together in one room, with the drums being recorded with one microphone. There was also much spill between the instruments. These were some of the first new songs played on the radio after the release of "Pumps" and both were slated to appear on her second album.
The track album, completed in five months, [ 22 ] was produced entirely by Remi and Ronson, with the production credits being split between them. He first received Ronson's original mix, which he described as being "radical in terms of panning, kind of Beatlesque ". He continued, "The drums, for instance, were all panned to one side". He attempted to mix "Love Is a Losing Game" in the same manner he did with "Rehab", but felt it was not right to do so.
Elmhirst mixed "Rehab", but when he first received the multitrack of the song, many tracks remained unused.
Amy winehouse back to black album lyrics: Back to Black is the second and final studio album by English singer-songwriter Amy Winehouse, released on 27 October by Island Records. Winehouse predominantly based the album on her tumultuous relationship with then-ex-boyfriend and future husband Blake Fielder-Civil, who temporarily left her to pursue his previous ex-girlfriend.
Therefore, Ronson went to London to record strings, brass and percussion in one of Metropolis' tracking rooms. Elmhirst added a contemporary sound to the song as well, while Ronson wanted to keep the mix sparse and not overproduced. Club emphasized on "the record's status as the pinnacle of the Brit neo-soul wave it ushered in".
The album's first song and single, "Rehab", is an upbeat, [ 44 ] contemporary, [ 34 ] and autobiographical song about Winehouse's past refusal to attend an alcohol rehabilitation centre after a conversation she had with her father, Mitch Winehouse. Previously, her management team prodded her to go to one. The song also contains "spring reverbs" on the lead vocals and drums to obtain a "retro feel", live "handclaps", timpanis , bells, and "slight vintage effects" on the piano and bass.
Hathaway", in reference to Ray Charles and Donny Hathaway. However, for some time during live performances, she replaced "Ray" with "Blake", referring to her ex-husband, Blake Fielder-Civil, who served time in prison for charges relating to grievous bodily harm. The lyrics also entail Winehouse as being "helpless" while trying to understand and resist her own self-destructive compulsions.
In the jazz and reggae-influenced "Me and Mr Jones" song, Winehouse sings about accepting that she never made it to a Slick Rick concert, but yet refuses to skip a Nas show as they were both close friends Nas' last name is Jones. Jones " by Billy Paul. In a XXL interview, Nas recollects: "I don't really remember if Salaam, who was really close to her [Winehouse], who introduced us, if he told me about it ["Mr Jones" being based on Nas] or not [ The fourth song on the album, "Just Friends", is about "[a woman] trying to pull away from an illicit affair", with lyrics indicating, "The guilt will kill you if she don't first".
It is a "ska-soul" song [ 50 ] with a "pulsing reggae groove" throughout the track. The title track "Back to Black" explores elements of old-school soul music. The breakup left her going to "black", which to the listener may appear to refer to drinking and depression. The song's lyrical content consists of a sad goodbye to a relationship with the lyrics being frank.
Alexis Petridis of The Guardian further explains, "Over a solitary electric guitar and subtle drums, [Winehouse's] voice takes centre stage to [set] out her resigned viewpoint that, as with gambling, you can only love for so long before ending up the loser".
Amy winehouse back to black album
The HelloBeautiful staff views "Wake Up Alone", written by Winehouse and Paul O'Duffy , as another sentimental ballad that "chronicles [the] time right after a breakup [and] when you're trying not to think of the person by keeping busy. A "one-take" demo of the song recorded in March by O'Duffy later appeared on Winehouse's posthumous album, Lioness: Hidden Treasures.
Nick Shymansky, Winehouse's first manager, revealed that the inspiration of "Some Unholy War", a mid-tempo soul song, [ 63 ] came into fruition after Winehouse heard a radio broadcast on the War in Afghanistan. As she heard the term " holy war ", a war being primarily caused or justified by differences in religion, Winehouse immediately thought of an idea to spin the religious conflict into her own personal issues with Fielder-Civil.
The idea is further bolstered with the song's opening lines, "If my man was fighting some unholy war, I would be behind him". Usually in live performances, she would start with the slower version of the song before proceeding into a more uptempo version. Joshua Klein of Pitchfork describes Winehouse in the song as "an objective observer, [and] able to see her personal issues for what they are".
The chorus goes, "So he tries to pacify her, 'cause what's inside her never dies". He then played the song for Winehouse and, when she expressed interest, made a backing track for her. Harrison was not originally given a writing credit on Back to Black , so he sued Winehouse for infringement. They had a settlement over the song, and eventually, his name was added to the track.
Back to Black was released on 27 October The reissue features the original studio album remastered as well as a bonus disc containing various B-sides and live tracks, including Winehouse's solo rendition of the single " Valerie " on BBC Radio 1 's Live Lounge ; the song was originally available in studio form on Ronson's Version album.
It includes a live set recorded at London's Shepherd's Bush Empire and a minute documentary chronicling the singer's career over the previous four years.
Amy winehouse back to black album songs
The first single released from the album on 23 October was "Rehab". On 22 October , based solely on download sales , it entered the UK Singles Chart at number 19, [ 72 ] and when the physical single was released the following week, it climbed to number seven. Having previously peaked at number 25 on the UK chart, the track climbed to number eight in late July , following Winehouse's death.
Winehouse promoted the release of Back to Black with headline performances in late , including a Little Noise Sessions charity concert at the Union Chapel in Islington , London. She also performed Toots and the Maytals ' " Monkey Man ". In November , the opening night of a date tour was marred by booing and walkouts at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham.
A critic for the Birmingham Mail said it was "one of the saddest nights of my life [ A statement issued by concert promoter Live Nation blamed "the rigours involved in touring and the intense emotional strain that Amy has been under in recent weeks" for the decision. Back to Black was universally cherished by critics. At Metacritic , which assigns a normalised rating out of to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 81, based on 26 reviews.
Club , was impressed by "the incongruity between Winehouse's trifling lyrical concerns and Back To Black ' s wall-of-sound richness". Some reviewers were more critical of the album. But the best ones are impossible to dislike. Back to Black was named one of the 10 best albums of and by several publications on their year-end albums lists, including Time number one , [ ] Entertainment Weekly number two , Billboard number three , The New York Times number three , The Austin Chronicle number four , Slant Magazine number four , and Blender number eight.
Back to Black debuted at number three on the UK Albums Chart on 5 November with first-week sales of 43, copies. Back to Black debuted at number seven on the Billboard in the United States with first-week sales of 51, copies, [ ] becoming the highest debut entry for an album by a British female solo artist at the time—a record that would be broken by Joss Stone 's Introducing Joss Stone , which debuted at number two on the Billboard the following week.
Back to Black topped the European Top Albums chart for 13 non-consecutive weeks, [ ] while reaching number one in several European countries such as Austria, Belgium, Germany, Greece, Ireland, and Switzerland. Following Winehouse's death on 23 July , [ ] sales of Back to Black drastically increased across the world.
The album rose to number one on several iTunes charts worldwide. Back to Black held the top spot for two additional weeks. After the release of Back to Black , record companies sought out more experimental female artists. Spin magazine music editor Charles Aaron was quoted as saying, "Amy Winehouse was the Nirvana moment for all these women [ The Sam Taylor-Johnson -directed biographical film Back to Black , based on Winehouse's life, was named after the album.
The movie delves into the creation and background of the album of the same name. All tracks are written by Amy Winehouse , except where noted. Credits adapted from the liner notes of Back to Black. Contents move to sidebar hide. Article Talk. Read Edit View history. Tools Tools. Download as PDF Printable version. In other projects.
Wikidata item. This article is about the Amy Winehouse album. For other uses, see Back to Black disambiguation.
Amy winehouse back to black album cover
Standard edition cover [ a ]. Amy Winehouse. Background [ edit ]. Recording and production [ edit ]. Post-production [ edit ]. Music and lyrics [ edit ]. Composition and sound [ edit ].
Songs 1—6 [ edit ]. Songs 7—11 [ edit ]. Problems playing this file? See media help. Release and promotion [ edit ]. Touring [ edit ]. Critical reception [ edit ]. Accolades [ edit ].
Back to black album lyrics
Commercial performance [ edit ]. Impact and legacy [ edit ]. Back to Black ' s success helped popularise the female British soul wave in the mid-late s, paving the way for prominent artists such as Adele , Duffy , and Estelle. Films [ edit ]. Track listing [ edit ]. All tracks are written by Amy Winehouse , except where noted No. Title Writer s Producer s Length 1.
Jones" Salaam Remi 4. Winehouse Nickolas Ashford Valerie Simpson. Winehouse Paul O'Duffy. US edition [ ] [ ] No. Title Writer s Producer s Length Ronson Hot Chip [a]. Japanese edition bonus tracks [ ] No. Ronson The Rumble Strips [a]. German limited edition bonus tracks [ ] No. Title Writer s Length Essential Album: Back to Black.
Video Extras. More By Amy Winehouse. Lioness: Hidden Treasures. Amy Original Motion Picture Soundtrack. Best Friend Acoustic - Single. At The BBC. Featured On. Sing the Hits. Cleaning the House. Amy Winehouse Essentials. Dinner Party Essentials. Apple Music Hip-Hop. Alicia Keys. Lauryn Hill. Mark Ronson. Fiona Apple. Alabama Shakes. Home New Radio Search.
Open in Music. Back to Black Amy Winehouse. Other Versions. Back to Black. Oh, she'll talk, but there's no guarantee what she'll say. And she'll sing about her problems, but she won't give a shit what you think of them. If this makes Winehouse read a little like Lily Allen, that's not far off the mark. Both are larger-than-life singers who've found perfect vehicles for their outsized personalities.
In Allen's case, it's a cocktail of pop, reggae, and hip-hop, with a cigarette in hand; for Winehouse, it's soul, jazz, and blues with a bottle of booze. After all, soul and jazz music are typically considered the province of grownups, and while Winehouse could be accused of slipping on these styles like costumes, she imbues her music with a surprisingly genuine soulfulness.
Jones" is especially winking against couplets like "What kind of fuckery is this? You made me miss the Slick Rick gig. Songs like "Love Is a Losing Game" are full of regret, even if Winehouse refuses to wallow entirely in self-pity.