| Song Name - | "All I Wanna Do" |
| Artist - | Sheryl Crow |
|
Sheryl Crow's writing style harkens back to the polished song craft of Brill Building writers like Carole King and Cynthia Weil, but Crow's fresh, contemporary lyrics employ offbeat rhythms and irregular line lengths that convey a sense of spontaneity and uncompromised individuality. Crow came from musical family; both of her parents played in jazz bands and insisted their children learn to play an instrument. She majored in music at the University of Missouri and spent several years teaching music to autistic children. Meanwhile, she performed in rock band at night and wrote advertising jingles for local companies. She moved to Los Angeles in 1986 to try to make it as a singer. Her advertising experience came in handy; when she was unable to find a position with a band she earned her living singing jingles; she was eventually hired by Michael Jackson as backup singer. Even with this on her resume Crow found it difficult to land a recording contract; the major labels were looking for a certain kind of pop star, and singer/songwriters were not it. She had better luck as a session vocalist, and sang backup in the studio for artists like Stevie Wonder, Sting, Foreigner, and Don Henley. She focused on her song writing, and sold songs to a number of artists. The contacts she made during this period eventually led to a recording contract with A&M Records, but the company wanted to turn her into a slickly produced pop star, and the resulting album was judged unsatisfactory by all concerned. Crow fell in with a group of Los Angeles songwriters called the Tuesday Night Music Club, who met every week to improvise and work on new material. When she had an album's worth of songs, she returned to A&M, who were willing to give her another try. The first two singles from the resulting album, Tuesday Night Music Club, didn't do much on the charts, but the label decided to try one last time. "All I Wanna Do"—ironically, the lyrics weren't hers, but rather, were from a book of poetry she found in a used book store—quickly became a radio favorite and rose to number two on the pop charts during the summer of 1994. It also won the Grammy for Record of the Year and Best Female Vocal Performance, and Crow was named Best New Artist. Some members of the Tuesday Night crowd argued that Crow had contributed very little to the songs on her debut album, but her eponymous second release left no doubt of her talent as either a singer or a songwriter. The album went triple platinum and won Grammys for Album of the Year and Best Female Rock Vocal (for "If It Makes You Happy"). The disc also included "Every Day is a Winding Road," which enjoyed renewed popularity after its appearance under the credits of the movie Erin Brockovich. Crow has contributed songs to more than twenty films, including the James Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies, Leaving Las Vegas, K-Pax, Shallow Hal, and Murder by Numbers. |
 |
|
|
|
"Every Day is a Winding Road"
