In the months since Amy Winehouse’s passing on July 23, 2011, the music world has mourned the loss of one of its greatest vocalists. She left in her wake a void that no other can fill. Try though they may, no artist’s voice can match the unnaturally bright, cigarette-induced rasp of Winehouse. No artist can capture her never-the-same melodic phrasing, replicate her devil-may-care attitude, or pull off her signature beehive up-do. She was as unique a performer and personality as any generation can hope to call their own, but like so many before her, she’s gone too soon at just 27 years old. Winehouse leaves behind, however, a swan song – her third full-length album, Lioness: Hidden Treasures.
On December 6, 2011, Lioness: Hidden Treasures released featuring as its cover a demure photo of Winehouse taken by Canadian singer/songwriter Brian Adams. Island Records, Winehouse’s label, has been clear in stating that the album is not the intended follow-up to 2006′s Back to Black, but rather a compilation of previously un-released material spanning the late singer’s recording history with the company, prompting many to believe that another album may yet be released.
While that remains to be seen, those close to Winehouse maintain that the material for her intended third studio album was never laid down in a studio, which leaves her listening audience with only the 12 precious and varied songs that make up Lioness. That tracklisting is as follows (including producer, dates recorded, and other relevant information):
1. “Our Day Will Come” (produced by Salaam Remi. 2002)
2. “Between The Cheats” (produced by Salaam Remi. May 2008)
3. “Tears Dry” (produced by Salaam Remi. November 2005)
4. “Wake Up Alone” (produced by Paul O’Duffy. March 2006)
5. “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow” (Shirelles original. produced by Mark Ronson, featuring Dap Kings. September 2004)
6. “Valerie” (produced by Mark Ronson. December 2006)
7. “Like Smoke” with Nas (produced by Salaam Remi. May 2008)
8. “The Girl From Ipanema”(produced by Salaam Remi. May 2002)
9. “Halftime” (produced by Salaam Remi. August 2002)
10. “Best Friends” (produced by Salaam Remi. February 2003)
11. “Body & Soul” with Tony Bennett (produced by Phil Ramone. Recorded at Abbey Road Studios. March 2011. Amy’s final recording)
12. “A Song For You” (Leon Russell original. produced by Salaam Remi. Spring 2009)
The first single from the album, “Body & Soul” with Tony Bennett, was Winehouse’s last recording. Included on Bennett’s Duets II, the single was released on September 14, 2011, as a lead single for both Bennett’s and Winehouse’s albums. Proceeds from the single go to supporting The Amy Winehouse Foundation, which was created by Winehouse’s father, Mitch Winehouse, to raise awareness and provide support to “at risk” youth suffering from addiction. The song has been nominated in the Best Pop Duo/Group Performance category at this year’s Grammy awards, and it’s one of two collaborations on Lioness (the other being “Like Smoke” feat. Nas).
The follow-up single, released December 4, 2011, is “Our Day Will Come,” a song that capture’s Winehouse in her recording prime. Her first solo single since 2007′s “Love is a Losing Game,” “Our Day Will Come” is a cover of a 1963 single by Ruby and the Romantics – its arrangement inspired by the 1960′s Motown that gave Winehouse her signature sound and paved the way for a wave of British throw-back successors from Duffy to Adele. The song (track 1 on the album) sets the tone for the rest of the record, which includes among the previously unheard material some familiar Winehouse standards, including the original studio versions of “Tears Dry on Their Own,” “Wake Up Alone,” and the ’68 version of “Valerie.”
The album fills out nicely with an array of covers: “Girl from Ipanema,” “A Song For You,” and Lioness’s third single, a cover of the Shirelle’s “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow,” which is set to release in March 2012. Backed by the Dap Kings (Winehouse’s backing band on Back to Black), the song is perhaps the most chilling in its lingering question, like a posthumous inquiry to the living that only time can answer, but there’s little doubt in the collective consciousness of popular culture that while people still have ears with which to hear Winehouse’s genius recordings, the answer will be “Yes.”
Thank You Very Much for the nice review!