Phoebe Snow

Phoebe Snow - "I Can't Complain" - 1998 - House Of Blues

Since her self-titled debut album in 1974, Phoebe Snow has remained one of the most distinctive voices in popular music. Her 1974 self titled album has become one of the most acclaimed debut albums of all time. It produced the great hit single, "Poetry Man," winning her a Grammy nomination for Best New Artist and established her as a great singer/songwriter. "I Can't Complain" is a wonderful 12-song collection that pays tribute to some of her greatest influences. Her rich, soulful contralto--with Michael McDonald joining her on two tracks--gives a whole new meaning to the great songs of Joni Mitchell, Janis Joplin, Van Morrison, Jerry Butler and Jackie Wilson, among others. This is am outstanding mix of blues, folk, jazz, and soul, and should be heard by ever lover of great music. Buy this album for your collection, and check out her terrific "Second Childhood" album, and also the outstanding "New York Rock And Soul Revue Live At The Beacon Theater In New York City" album, which was a live concert organized by Donald Fagen in 1992, and features Phoebe Snow, and many other musical legends.

TRACKS / COMPOSERS

1.Brand New Me - Jerry Butler, Kenneth Gamble, Theresa Bell
2.Right to the End - (featuring Michael McDonald) - Gerard Thomas McMahon
3.Madame George - Van Morrison
4.Piece of My Heart - Jerry Ragovoy, Bert Russell
5.Baby, Work Out - Alonzo Tucker, Jackie Wilson
6.Rockin' Pneumonia and the Boogie Woogie Flu - Huey "Piano" Smith
7.Case of You, A - Joni Mitchell
8.Big Leg Blues - John S. Hurt
9.It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry - (featuring Michael McDonald) - Bob Dylan
10.Share Your Love With Me - Alfred Braggs, Deadric Malone
11.Lord, I Just Can't Keep From Crying - Blind Willie Johnson
12.Never, Never Land - Jule Stine, Adolf Green, Betty Comden

Recorded at The Hit Factory, New York, New York and Quad Studios, Nashville, Tennessee.

MUSICIANS

Phoebe Snow (vocals, guitar)
Michael McDonald (vocals, Wurlitzer piano)
Clucky The Chicken (vocals)
Steve Burgh (guitar, mandolin)
Jimmy Vivino (guitar, background vocals)
Larry Packer (fiddle)
Scott Healy (accordion, piano, Wurlitzer piano)
Al Kooper, Reese B. Wynans (Hammond B-3 organ)
Glenn Worf, Michael Merritt (bass)
Louie Appel, John Gardner (drums)
Scott Frankfurt (percussion, loops)
Cyro Babtista (percussion)
Joel Moss (background vocals)

REVIEW

The record business being, if possible, even harder on women over 30 than the movie business is, I Can't Complain was 45-year-old Phoebe Snow's first album in nine years and only her second in 17 years. It was also her first to present her solely as an interpretive singer, not including any of her own compositions. Maybe for these reasons, producers Joel Moss and Jimmy Vivino had her swing for the fences: It took a lot of confidence to cover songs associated with such vocal powerhouses as Van Morrison ("Madame George"), Janis Joplin ("Piece of My Heart"), and Mary Martin ("Never Never Land") among others. Of course, Snow's own voice was so distinctive that she had no trouble making such material her own. In truth, the challenge with Snow is not so much finding songs as excluding them; it's hard to think of a song to which she couldn't bring a new and valuable interpretation. Her "Piece of My Heart" is just as impassioned as Joplin's, but comes from a different universe of feeling. She fully understands Bob Dylan's "It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry" (one of two duets with Michael McDonald) and suggests a few other meanings. Her "Baby, Work Out" is just as joyous as Jackie Wilson's, with some added emotions as well. Her "A Case of You" is just a vulnerable as Joni Mitchell's, and somewhat more knowing. And so on. The only thing wrong with this album is that it is such a rarity. A singer of Snow's quality should have been documented much more extensively over the last two decades. © William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide

SHORT BIO

Born Phoebe Laub on July 17, 1952 in New York City, Phoebe borrowed her stage name from the Lackawanna Railroad's passenger train called Phoebe Snow which ran from Hoboken, NJ to Buffalo, NY. She recorded for Shelter, Columbia and Atlantic records prior to an eight year layoff which ended with the release of "Something Real" in 1989. In June 1997, Phoebe told me, "I feel better than I ever have in my life and ready to resume making music." She added, "I love a lot of what's happening in contemporary music today, and although radio formats seem to confound some people, I love where they're going. CHR in the New York-New Jersey area are a great mixed bag of alternative-urban-dance-folk music." Phoebe is hard to categorize. She sings jazz, pop, rock, soul, gospel--she can do it all. She credits Aretha Franklin as an early influence. Phoebe said, "I've enjoyed performing over the years with such luminaries as Linda Ronstadt, Billy Joel, Dave Mason, Cheap Trick, Jewel, Buddy Miles, Al Green, Bonnie Raitt, Jackson Browne, and all the performers at the 1979 "No Nukes " Benefit at Madison Square Garden." © 1996-2007. All Rights Reserved. www.vdebolt.com/phoebehome/phoebetext/bio.html

BIO (Wikipedia)

Phoebe Snow (born Phoebe Ann Laub on July 17, 1952) is a singer, songwriter, and guitarist, best known for her 1975 hit "Poetry Man". Born in New York City, Snow was raised in a household where Delta blues, Broadway show tunes, Dixieland jazz, classical music and folk music recordings were played around the clock. Her father, Merrill Laub, was an exterminator by trade and her mother, Lili, was a dance teacher who died of bone cancer.[1] She grew up in Teaneck, New Jersey and graduated from Teaneck High School.[2] As a teenager, she carried her prized Martin 00018 acoustic guitar from club to club around Greenwich Village, playing and singing on amateur nights. Her stage name is the same as a fictional advertising character created in the early 1900s for the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad, a young woman named Phoebe Snow, that appeared on boxcars traveling near her hometown of Teaneck. She changed her name from Phoebe Laub to Phoebe Snow. She was briefly married to Phil Kearns, and, in December 1975, gave birth to a severely brain-injured daughter, Valerie.Snow resolved not to institutionalize her but instead care for her at home, which she did until Valerie died on March 18, 2007 at the age of 31. Snow's efforts to care for Valerie greatly and negatively affected her professional career, nearly ending it; it also adversely affected her personal life. Snow continues to take voice lessons and studies opera informally. She resides in New Jersey. It was at the Bitter End Club in 1972 that a promotions executive Denny Cordell for Shelter Records was so taken by the singer that he signed her to the label and produced her first recording. She released an eponymous album, Phoebe Snow, in 1974. Featuring guest performances by The Persuasions, Zoot Sims, Teddy Wilson, David Bromberg and Dave Mason, Snow's album became one of the most acclaimed debut recordings of the era. It spawned the Billboard Hot 100 Top 5 hit single, "Poetry Man," reached number 4 on the Billboard 200 album chart, won Snow a nomination for the Grammy Award for Best New Artist, and established her as a formidable singer/songwriter. The cover of Rolling Stone magazine followed, while she performed as the opening act for tours by Jackson Browne and Paul Simon (with whom she recorded the hit single "Gone at Last" in 1975). Legal battles took place between Snow and Shelter Records, and Snow ended up signed to Columbia Records. Her second album, Second Childhood, appeared in 1976, produced by Phil Ramone. It was jazzier and more introspective, and suffered disappointing sales. Snow moved to a harder sound for It Looks Like Snow, released later in 1976 with David Rubinson producing. 1977 saw Never Letting Go, again with Ramone, while 1978's Against the Grain was helmed by Barry Beckett. After that Snow parted ways with Columbia; she would later say that the stress of her parental obligations degraded her ability to make music effectively. In 1981, Snow, now signed with Mirage Records, released Rock Away, recorded with members of Billy Joel's band; it spun off the Top 50 hit "Games". The 1983 Rolling Stone Record Guide summed up Snow's career so far by saying: "One of the most gifted voices of her generation, Phoebe Snow can do just about anything stylistically as well as technically ... The question that's still unanswered is how best to channel such talent." However, Snow would now spend long periods away from recording, often singing commercial jingles for AT&T and others in order to support herself and her daughter. During the 1980s she also battled her own life-threatening illness. Snow returned to recording with Something Real in 1989 and gathered a few more hits on the Adult Contemporary charts. Also, Snow composed the Detroit's WDIV-TV Go 4 It! campaign in 1980. In 1990 she contributed a cover version of the Delaney & Bonnie song "Get ourselves together" to the Elektra compilation Rubáiyát. In 1992, she toured with Donald Fagen's popular New York Rock and Soul Revue and was featured on the group's album recorded live at the Beacon Theater in New York City. Even when she wasn't recording her own works, Phoebe continued to tour extensively as a solo artist throughout North America, Great Britain, Germany, and the Far East. Throughout the '90s she made numerous appearances on the Howard Stern radio show. She sang live for specials and birthday shows. In 1997, she sang the Roseanne theme song a cappella during the closing moments of the final episode. Snow has performed with a Who's Who of prolific artists including Lou Rawls, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Dave Grusin, Avenue Blue with Jeff Golub, Garland Jeffreys, Jewel, Donald Fagen, Paul Simon, Billy Joel, Queen, Hiroshi Fujiwara, Jackson Browne, Dave Mason, Linda Ronstadt, Bonnie Raitt, Michael McDonald, Boz Scaggs, Cyndi Lauper, Roger Daltrey, Chaka Khan, CeCe Peniston, Take 6, Michael Bolton, Thelma Houston, Mavis Staples, Laurie Anderson, Tracy Nelson, and The Sisters of Glory (with whom she performed at the second Woodstock festival), among many, many others. She also sings the title track on the 1997 Laura Nyro tribute album, Time and Love, and recently Snow joined the pop group, Zap Mama, who recorded its own version of "Poetry Man," in an impromptu duet on the PBS series, "Sessions At West 54th." Hawaiian girl group Na Leo also had a hit on the Adult Contemporary chart in 1999 with their cover version of "Poetry Man." Decorating an already vibrant career, in May of 1998, Snow received the Cultural Achievement Award by New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani. She is also the recipient of a Don Kirschner Rock Award, several Playboy Music Poll Awards, New York Music Awards and the Clio Award. One of President Bill Clinton's favorite vocalists, she performed for the President, the First Lady, and his cabinet at Camp David in 1999. In 2003, Snow released her album Natural Wonder on Eagle Records, containing ten original tracks, her first original material in fourteen years.