Shelby Lynne's 'Anyone Who Had A Heart' Debuts As Single

[scotsgreg]

Producer (and Bacharach engineer in the 1960s and 70s) Phil Ramone has produced Grammy-winning alternative country artist Shelby Lynne's new Dusty Springfield tribute, 'Just A Little Lovin',' out today. The CD is getting uniformly stellar reviews, including a ****1/2 star review at allmusic.com:

http://allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sq ... fyxzlhldte

Included on the album are Bacharach/David classics 'The Look of Love' and 'Anyone Who Had A Heart,' the gorgeously chilling lead single from the album. The video can be accessed through the link below:

http://www.shelbylynne.com/

I miss the explosive sweep of the final intervals from Warwick's and Springfield's versions and the video, unfortunately, has all of the drama of a 'Crate and Barrel' commercial, but the recording itself is a spare, haunting reinvention of the song that may just prove a hit in country and adult contemporary markets. Frankly, I think this is the most legitimate chance a Bacharach-penned single has had at hit status since his 1998 work with Elvis Costello. Below is Billboard's rave review of the single:

http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/content_ ... adf52b2b25

For those of you unfamiliar with her work, Shelby Lynne is a critic's darling who, like so many poised to break through after some initial commercial success, chose an independent musical path, attempting to reach the mainstream without sacrificing her integrity. This is an attempt to bridge those two objectives. I myself have always 'appreciated' her work more than truly enjoyed it; that is, until now. She is making the rounds promoting the CD and will sing 'Anyone Who Had A Heart' Thursday night on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno.

Let's keep our fingers crossed that Lynne's hopeful success helps demonstrate to record executives that there is indeed a broad market for new Bacharach recordings while he's still around to compose new material. Maybe then, on top of a new Bacharach/Costello reunion CD, we'll even get the Bacharach/David/Warwick reunion CD so many have thought at one time was a commercial inevitability. Fingers crossed.

[scotsgreg]

Rolling Stone Review-Shelby Lynne's New 'Just A Little Lovin'' CD

Now thirty-nine, country singer Shelby Lynne has made records for nearly twenty years, establishing herself as one of Nashville's bright lights and dropping the occasional stylistic screwball — namely, 2001's pop-rock Love, Shelby and '05's country-soul Suit Yourself. This collection of Dusty Springfield covers mostly stays slow, quiet and romantic. There's no "Son of a Preacher Man," no horn sections and not much groove, just bare-bones interpretations that are more light jazz than country, including a gorgeous "Anyone Who Had a Heart." Daring it's not, but it pays homage to a hero without getting indulgent or falling into rote imitation.

-CHRISTIAN HOARD, January 29, 2008

[pljms]

I like her version of 'The Look of Love' because it's so rare that you hear an arrangement of this song that adheres exactly, or near enough, to Bacharach's original chord sequence, particularly in the chorus, "I can hardly wait to hold you.....etc etc. A lot of praise has quite rightly been heaped on the 2nd Trijnte Oosterhuis Bacharach songbook album on this site, but even there liberties have been taken - every time I hear her version of 'This Girl's in Love with you' I wince when I hear the straight G major chord where the major 7th should be. Yes, being a Bacharach fan can make you an anorak!

[nymusicalsguy]

Best Buy is offering a bonus DVD with Shelby's album that contains a live performance of "Wishin' & Hopin'", a track not on the CD. To find it on CD, it will be available as a UK-only bonus track on their edition of the album.

[Toms1234]

Music Video for Anyone Who Had A Heart Shelby Lynne

youtube.com


search Shelby Lynne-Anyone who had a heart.

[blueonblue]

.................Beautiful !!!!!!!!!!



Enjoy !
"blue"

[pljms]

Yes, her version of Anyone Who Had a Heart is a good example of the old maxim that less is more.

[pljms]

I'm pleased to say that the UK version of the album includes her take on 'Wishin' and Hopin', which is very loose, very swamp rock - just think of Tony Joe White. I like it because it emphasizes the 4/4 - 2/4 time swtiches.

It amazes me that the PC brigade which has virtually condemned 'Wives and Lovers' to an instrumentals only future owing to its undeniably sexist lyrics has somehow overlooked 'Wishin' and Hopin', which offers virtually the same philosophy. The moment I decided that politcal correctness had gone too far in relation to music was a couple of weeks ago when I heard a BBC Radio 2 presenter saying that he wouldn't play Cole Porter's 'Down in the Depths on the 90th Floor', a song written in the 1930s, because it might make listeners think of 9/11!!!