Back To Black (Explicit Version) CD

MUSIC

R&B / SOUL

SOUL

Song Listing

Disc 1

Song Title

1. Rehab ~ Amy Winehouse

2. You Know I'm No Good ~ Amy Winehouse

3. Me & Mr. Jones ~ Amy Winehouse

4. Just Friends ~ Amy Winehouse

5. Back To Black ~ Amy Winehouse

6. Love Is A Losing Game ~ Amy Winehouse

7. Tears Dry On Their Own ~ Amy Winehouse

8. Wake Up Alone ~ Amy Winehouse

9. Some Unholy War ~ Amy Winehouse

10. He Can Only Hold Her ~ Amy Winehouse

11. You Know I'm No Good - (Remix) ~ Amy Winehouse

It doesn't take much listening to Amy Winehouse's 1960s pop period piece to realize that this is a tribute with an edge--nice girls back then didn't sing about boozing and rehab. Since her 2003 debut album, FRANK, Winehouse has been a frequent presence on the gossip pages of the U.K. tabloids, and her songwriting here candidly reflects her experiences with drinking, sex, and drugs.
BACK TO BLACK's production is an artful blend of sophisticated '60s R&B and 21st-century stylistic poaching, with "Tears Dry on Their Own" incorporating elements of Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell's "Ain't No Mountain High Enough," and Winehouse sounding like Billie Holiday fronting a reggae band on the old-fashioned cheating song "Just Friends." Densely packed with musical history and often conjuring a dark, Portishead-esque atmosphere, BACK TO BLACK is a sumptuous-sounding collection freighted with blunt confessionals of a lush life.

Album Notes and Credits

Notes & Personnel Info
	Personnel: Amy Winehouse (guitar, background vocals); Vincent Henry (guitar, flute, clarinet, bass clarinet, saxophone, alto saxophone, tenor saxophone, baritone saxophone, piano, celesta); Salaam Remi (guitar, piano, upright bass, bass guitar, drums); Binky Griptite, Thomas Brenneck (guitar); Steve Sidwell (harp, trumpet); Helen Tunstall (harp); Perry Mason, Chris Tombling, Pigott Smith, Tom, Warren Zielinski, Liz Edwards, Mark Berrow, Peter Hanson , Peter G. Hanson, Boguslaw Kostecki, Everton Nelson, Johnathan Rees (violin); Jon Thorne, Kate Wilkinson, Rachel Bolt, Bruce White (viola); John Heley, Joely Koos, Anthony Pleeth (cello); Andrew MacKintosh, Chris Davies (alto saxophone); Jamie Talbot, Mike Smith , Neal Sugarman (tenor saxophone); Ian Hendrickson-Smith, Cochemea Gastelum, Dave Bishop (baritone saxophone); Bruce Purse (trumpet, bass trumpet, flugelhorn); Dave Guy (trumpet); Richard Edwards (tenor trombone); Victor Axelrod (piano, Wurlitzer organ, hand claps); John Adams (Fender Rhodes piano); Nick Movshon (bass guitar); Troy Auxilly-Wilson, Homer Steinweiss (drums); Mark Ronson (tambourine, hand claps); Vaughan Merrick (hand claps); Sam Koppelman, Frank Ricotti (percussion).
	Audio Mixer: Tom Elmhirst.
	Recording information: Allido Studios; Chung King Studios; Daptone Studios; Instrument Zoo, Miami, FL; metropolis Studios, London, England; Rapking Studios.
	Photographer: Harry "Rockbarry" Benson.
	Arrangers: Mark Ronson; Gabriel Roth.
	It doesn't take much listening to Amy Winehouse's 1960s pop period piece to realize that this is a tribute with an edge--nice girls back then didn't sing about boozing and rehab. Since her 2003 debut album, FRANK, Winehouse has been a frequent presence on the gossip pages of the U.K. tabloids, and her songwriting here candidly reflects her experiences with drinking, sex, and drugs.
	BACK TO BLACK's production is an artful blend of sophisticated '60s R&B and 21st-century stylistic poaching, with "Tears Dry on Their Own" incorporating elements of Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell's "Ain't No Mountain High Enough," and Winehouse sounding like Billie Holiday fronting a reggae band on the old-fashioned cheating song "Just Friends." Densely packed with musical history and often conjuring a dark, Portishead-esque atmosphere, BACK TO BLACK is a sumptuous-sounding collection freighted with blunt confessionals of a lush life.
Producer: Mark Ronson; Salaam Remi; Mark Ronson; Salaam Remi
Engineer: Mark Ronson; Vaughan Merrick; Matt Paul; Dominic Morley; Gabriel Roth; Derek Pacuk

Artist Overview

London singer Amy Winehouse was initially marked as a neo-jazz diva. Although the tag may have been beneficial in terms of press coverage, it was misleading; unlike the inoffensive Katie Melua and Joss Stone, Winehouse had no fear of displaying the seamier side of her life. Her debut album, the aptly titled FRANK, was a solid collection of jazz-inflected pop, but it was the 2006 follow-up, BACK TO BLACK, that really set her apart. Displaying the marked influence of 1960s soul music, girl groups, and Motown, the album also boasted clever, sexually explicit lyrics and punchy pop arrangements, all pulled together by Winehouse's powerful vocals. Her hit "Rehab" became something of a personal theme song, as the singer became a permanent fixture in the tabloids, due to her wild behavior and infamous live shows.

Artist Followers
Lulu James

Entertainment Reviews

Amy Winehouse - Back to Black - CD

By: Aspi Blogcritics.org Reviews

Published on: 3/5/2007 7:55 AM

What is remarkable about Winehouse is how mature and diverse her vocal talents are. Her voice morphs so much on songs, it feels like a vocal multiple personality disorder. Back to Black is produced by Mark Ronson (Robbie Williams, Christina Aguilera) and Salaam Remi (Fugees, Toni Braxton, Ini Kamoze) who smartly put the focus on Winehouse’s pipes, allowing them to play out her personality....read the full review

	Amy Winehouse - Back to Black - CD By: Patrick Blogcritics.org Reviews Published on: 3/6/2007 6:27 PM
Amy Winehouse is a big in Britain, not quite there yet in the States, singer-songwriter, and Back to Black is her second album. Sonically, it draws on 60's girl group and classic R&B sounds, and without major revamping makes them sound relevant for today. ...read the full review

Amy Winehouse - Back To Black - CD

By: Sterfish Blogcritics.org Reviews

Published on: 4/12/2007 9:16 AM

Is it great, a gimmick, or possibly both? Amy Winehouse has gained a lot of critical acclaim for her second album (and first U.S. release) Back To Black. It's features the style of 1960's pop/soul updated ever so slightly for the 2000s. This is certainly a fun album to listen to and in the current music landscape, it feels fresh. However, as I listened to this album, cynicism came creeping in....read the full review

	Amy Winehouse - Back to Black - CD By: Janine Macdonald Blogcritics.org Reviews Published on: 5/18/2007 5:07 PM
Back to Black is Amy Winehouse's second album, and the soul singer gives it her all. The whole album is a highlight and a music lover’s delight in not just the vocals but the chimes, sax, bass drums, piano and harmonies. The talented singer also had a hand in writing her songs and the style of her writing is fresh and refreshingly honest. ...read the full review

Compilation Appearances

	Version
	Sex And The City Vol 2
	The Best Of NOW That's What I Call Music - 10th Anniversary Edition
	Life As We Know It (Ost)
	Duets II
	Valentine's Day (Original Soundtrack)
	2012 Grammy Nominees

Associated Artists and Works

	Houston, Whitney
	Ronson, Mark

Technical Info

	Release Date : 03/13/2007
	Original Release Date : 2006
	Catalog ID : B-000842802
	Label : Universal Republic
	Number of Discs : 1
	Studio/Live : Studio
	Mono/Stereo : Stereo
	SPAR Code : n/a
	UPC : 00602517229679

Professional Reviews

Rolling Stone (p.76)
- 3 stars out of 5 -- "Winehouse is a nervy, witty songstress whom indie rockers, pop fans and hip-hoppers can dig."

Rolling Stone (p.115)
- Included in Rolling Stone's "50 Top Albums of the Year 2007" -- "[W]ith a brassy, intensely personal sorrow that is true blues, not nouveau soul."

Spin (p.79)
- "[A] breakthrough, producers Salaam Remi and Mark Ronson surround her with brass sections, string sections, harp, Wurlitzer, the works."

Entertainment Weekly (p.67)
- "It's precisely Winehouse's lyrics...aching, flirty, and often straight-up nasty -- that raise this expertly crafted set into the realm of true, of-the-minute originality." -- Grade: A-

Q (Magazine)
(p.134)
- 4 stars out of 5 -- "Winehouse is one of the best things to have happened to British pop recently."

Rolling Stone 6 of 10
"Rehab," the must-hear song that opens the second album from British soul singer Amy Winehouse, is a Motown-style winner with a banging beat and a lovesick bad girl testifying like Etta James about how she won't clean up her act. It's followed by the excellently funky "You Know I'm No Good" and "Me & Mr. Jones (Fuckery)," the latter of which begins, "What kind of fuckery is this?/You made me miss the Slick Rick gig." Winehouse is a nervy, witty songstress whom indie rockers, pop fans and hip-hoppers can dig. On Black, she gets help from producers Salaam Remi and Mark Ronson, who turn classic soul sounds into something big, bright and punchy. The tunes don't always hold up. But the best ones are impossible to dislike: Witness "Addicted," a wistful gem in which Winehouse chooses weed over a lover. - Christian Hoard