Amy Winehouse | Back to Black

Amy Winehouse was
born September 14, 1983 in the suburb of Southgate, North London. At around age
10, Winehouse founded a short-lived amateur rap group called Sweet ‘n’ Sour. At
the tender age of 16 Amy started singing professionally and received her first
guitar at age 13. Amy grew up listening to a diverse range of music from “Salt
and Pepa to Sarah Vaughn.”

Amy’s first debut cd “Frank” was produced by Saleem Remi
and was critically acclaimed with compliments that brought comparisons amongst others
like”Sarah Vaughn and Macy Gray. Her sophomore cd “Back to Black” is exactly
what the title says “Back to Black”. This 50’s and 60’s style music with a
touch of modern beats has a refreshing sound and only Amy could pull this sound
off. When I listened to this cd I envisioned a person with the respect and
passion of the fifties and sixties, and with some of the songs having a
undertone of fifties and sixties music from something you would hear from the
Stax collection, and one song sounding quite like a Motown song would sound.
The song “You know I’m No Good” which is getting regular airplay on B.E.T., the
baseline is so reminiscent of Tribe Called Quests “I left my wallet in El
Sungundo”, she follows the groove with a very light and airy melody, that’s
catches you ear.

This is a refreshing cd to listen to, it kind of takes
you back in time for the moment that your listening to this cd. This cd was not
just thrown together like most cd’s, this was well researched for the musical
content and to achieve the sound that she is displaying in this cd.

~ Marvin Dickey

The Urban Music Scene

Please visit, Amy Winehouse’s web site for more info.