In 1991 Sheryl Crow meeting with Grammy-winning British producer Hugh Padgham in Hollywood and gave him a tape that he had recorded featuring demos of synth-pop-cum-gospel songs that she'd written with a different collaborators. Padgham immediately realized he had a future rock star. The only thing that didn't seem so good to him was her last name, he wasn't very convinced that "Crow" was a suitable name for an artist. Perhaps we would have to find a stage name for it, but over time it was something that was overcome.
Sheryl was signed to a
two-album deal in the spring of 1991 with A&M.The sessions was scheduled to start in september at the
old AIR Studios Monserrat.She would sing as well as play piano and Hammond
organ with several studio musicians and
she'd also co-produce her debut alongside the producer Padgham. With a budget
of around a quarter of a million dollars, the basic idea was to save time and
money by using the demos that had secured Sheryl her deal with A&M and
simply replacing the parts that weren't quite up to the mark.
She was
handling much of the production herself, and the dynamic in the studio between
her and Hugh was working out apparently well. But
Sheryl began to be dissatisfied with Hugh's results. Unfortunately, the camaraderie didn't last. They went wrong was trying to keep the same songs and replace everything
with real instruments to make them work. That was a mistake, the wrong move.
They tried to take something and turn it into something else, and by the time
it became something else it was so watered down that it had not only lost the
integrity of the original demos, but it was also just plain confusing. There
was no focus in any way."
The major source of discontent for Sheryl was the album's intended focal point: her own voice. it lacked punch and emotion:yet she couldn't convince Hugh of this. When Padgham began mixing the album, tensions arose between him and Sheryl. Sheryl's insecurities surfaced. Sheryl was very frustrated because she believed that her voice was not good enough and she was out of tune, that brought problems in the studio and the first ideas to leave the album. Sheryl ended up fighting with the producer and although the album was finished and a cassette copy was sent to A&R chief David Anderle eventually sanctioned Crow's request to give her musician boyfriend Kevin Gilbert the chance to remix the record at Andora Studios in Los Angeles. However, the sound was imprinted on the tapes and not a lot could be done to effect the desired change.bit.ly/S-Cr Thus, despite a budget that had mushroomed to $441,000 and a tentative release date of September 22, 1992, the painful decision was taken by a frustrated record company and humiliated artist to shelve a project that they both agreed would be an unmarketable, dead-end debut at a time when grunge was king.
Entitled Sheryl Crow (A&M 75021 5393 4), it was only
manufactured as a promotional test pressing cassette, not meant for DJ
distribution (note: the "4" at the end of the catalogue number means
tape cassette, while "2"s mean cd. There was never a legitimate CD of
this album).
This tape consisted of the following tracks:
Side A: "All Kinds Of People" / Father, Sun" / "What Does It Matter" / "Indian Summer" / "I Will Walk With You" / “Love You Blind". Side B: “Near Me" / "When Love Is Over" / "You Want It All" / "Hundreds Of Tears" / "The Last Time" / "Borrowed Time".
As we all know, the record was not released on September 22. The
reasons were twofold. Firstly, the label itself felt that Sheryl could produce
a much more accessable LP, given the right surroundings. Secondly, Sheryl was
intensely unhappy with the feel and production of the work. Thus, it was
mutually agreed that the LP would be shelved, and a less "produced"
and more informal LP would be made for issue in its stead. That LP was Tuesday
Night Music Club, released about a year later, and becoming an international
success.
Here you have the original album with a sound like you had heard before because it comes from 2nd generation copies in two versions, one destined to be published on CD or cassette and the other edited for LP
I also include an extra disk. The first three songs are discards from this lost album. The fourth "Hundreds of tears" is from the soundtrack: of "Point Break " and the remaining tunes were recorded by Sheryl Crow in collaboration with Todd Wolfe in late 1990 or early 1991 and Sheryl Crow's first professionally recorded live appearance.
Side One: 25:49
1 All kinds of people. 4:11 / 2 Father´s sun. 4:11 / 3 What does it matter. 3:23 / 4 Indian summer. 4:21 / 5 I will walk with you. 5:36 / 6 Love you blind. 4:04
Side Two: 26:35
1 Near Me. 3:58 / 2 When love is over. 4:07 / 3 You want it all. 4:07 / 4 Hundreds of tears #1. 5:56 / 5 The last time. 3:41 / 6 Borrowed Time. 4:39
Additional material: #1
1 Welcome to real life. 4:16 (outtake from this lost album) / 2 Borrowed time (edit). 3:20 / 3 Love you blind (edit). 2:57 / 4 Hundreds of tears #2. 6:26. (from “Point Break” soundtrack).
Additional material: #2 (with Todd Wolfe)
1 California. 4:35 / 2 Mercy. 4:44 / 3 Last laugh. 4:03 / 4 Sway (live edit). 3:43. (Unknown Venue, Denver, Co. USA - March 23.1993).
Ok guys.., and girls too!, see you soon, with more and better.
