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December 3, 2009
Back To The Future With The Women of Heart
Classic rock powerhouse Heart is embracing their roots. In this case, that means plans for their next album are taking them back to the days before all-things-digital became the norm.
Although the group has been touring for a while, they have also been logging some studio time in between dates to work on a new album, which is being produced by Ben Mink. Mink also worked with lead singer Ann Wilson on her solo album Hope & Glory.
Little is known about the new album beyond what Nancy Wilson recently revealed to Spinner. There are said to be ten songs pretty well finished up, with a couple more to work out before the album is completed. The group hopes to release it in the spring, but what’s most interesting is Wilson’s statement revealing that “We’ve been approaching it on a really human level. There’s not a digital construct anywhere.”
In addition, the recording is a return to a more old school methodology where all of the musicians are playing at the same time in the same space. “We are putting up baffles and playing together at the same time: drums, bass and guitars, all at once, in the same room, looking at each other and jiving off each other, so that it’s really a conversation in process,” Wilson adds.
Hearing this news can really raise expectations for fans like myself who consider Heart’s debut album, Dreamboat Annie one of the greatest rock albums of all time. That’s due, in part, to the quality of the recording, which, needless to say was 100% analog back on the mid-1970’s. It was recorded on an old Ampex MM1000 16-track tape machine (for the engineering geeks out there), which the technical crew somehow coaxed an astoundingly beautiful mix from.
For my money, it’s one of the best recordings I have ever heard, and I’m hoping that the folks in the control room can at least come close to the exemplary work done by Patrick Collins and Rofl Henneman, who are credited for the mastering and engineering on Dreamboat Annie.
If I may borrow some terminology from the world of sports, I envision my Heart “fantasy band” in the studio with some or all of the original musicians from the early days, with the result being something that really sounds like material from the 1970’s version of the group.
That may be the sound they are shooting for with this new album, and I’d love for them to hit the bull’s-eye, but as other enduring groups have discovered, the old magic can be very elusive. That is especially true when only two original members remain in the group.
I don’t want to come across as a wet blanket, but even though this analog-only thing sounds like a cool idea, for this fan, Heart will always be that group that blew my mind with Dreamboat Annie; not the band I’ve seen and heard more recently which the enormously talented Wilson sisters have been fronting.
I’m content to leave it at that. I know there are still legions of loyal fans out there who still love the group in its current form, so I will give them the benefit of the doubt and wrap this up by saying I will let the new album speak for itself when it is released.
February 2, 2009
New Interview With Heart’s Nancy Wilson
A recent interview with Nancy Wilson of Heart began with the topic of politics. Probably something that a lot of us have heard enough of for a while, but Wilson seemed willing to talk about the well-publicized flap regarding the McCain campaign’s use of Heart’s hit song “Barracuda” when asked.
Although at the time there seemed to be some uncertainly about whether they had the right to use the song at a campaign event, Wilson admits that “…it’s in the rule books they’re allowed to do that. We just thought we’d have our say because it’s America and we can do that here.”
She also makes the point that they (not sure if she meant herself and sister Ann or the entire group) are well-read and keep abreast of important issues that relate to the country. “…we’re not your average doofus entertainers,” she adds.
There is also talk of the group’s evolution through the years, and how they have embraced different styles and 
eventually realized that what they really needed to do was to “get back to the basics and remember why we wanted to pay music in the first place after the ’80s.”
One of the more interesting things Wilson mentioned was that they are now working on a new album of all original material which, she says, they plan to take their time on and do some touring as well. No word on whether they’ll go down the Wal-Mart route, although that would seem an unlikely choice for the Wilson sisters. She did add that they will be trying to figure out how to market the new album digitally.
When asked why Led Zeppelin has not been in touch with sister Ann Wilson as a possible stand-in for Robert Plant, Wilson replies, “It might be too challenging for the boys’ club. There’s a sailor scene, the old-fashioned idea that the women are bad luck for the ship.”
Heart is well-known for their fondness for covering Led Zeppelin tunes and Wilson admits that it’s the Led Zeppelin covers that remain stuck in her head after a performance.
The good news for Heart fans is that there seems to be no sign that they are thinking about calling it quits, and are instead continuing to make plans for the future.
Read the entire interview at AZCentral.com.
September 5, 2008
Here We Go Again: Heart Unhappy With Use of ‘Barracuda’ By McCain Camp
Following Republican Vice Presidential Nominee Sarah Palin’s introduction to the world, some have taken to calling her Sarah "Barracuda" Palin, which apparently presented an opportunity that the McCain/Palin Campaign could not pass up. At some point during the course of the Republican National Committee’s big to-do in St. Paul that ended last night, someone made the decision to play Heart’s hit track "Barracuda."
This was no doubt a tribute to the tough-as-nails reputation that Sarah Palin seems to be inspiring among her supporters, but Heart’s Nancy Wilson surely cannot be counted among them. In a statement from the fair-haired half of rock’s enduring sisters, Wilson said, "The Republican campaign did not ask for permission to use the song, nor would they have been granted that permission. We have asked the Republican campaign publicly not to use our 
music. We hope our wishes will be honored."
This is strikingly familiar to the reaction of fellow rockers Van Halen when they learned that one of their songs, "Right Now" was also used during a recent McCain campaign event.
It’s not clear exactly which members of the group were offended by the use of their material, although former frontman Sammy Hagar, a well known Republican supporter, said he had no problem with it at all.
Apparently, the protest from Nancy Wilson fell upon deaf ears at the RNC, and "Barracuda" was used yet again during the finale of the event when Palin joined McCain onstage after his acceptance speech. This, as one might expect, did not sit particularly well with either of the Wilson sisters.
In a statement crafted by both Wilson sisters following the second use of their song, they said "Sarah Palin’s views and values in NO WAY represent us as American women. We ask that our song ‘Barracuda’ no longer be used to promote her image. The song ‘Barracuda’ was written in the late 70s as a scathing rant against the soulless, corporate nature of the music business, particularly for women. (The ‘barracuda’ represented the business.) While Heart did not and would not authorize the use of their song at the RNC, there’s irony in Republican strategists’ choice to make use of it there."
I must confess that I did not expect the Presidential campaign to provide so much fodder for those of us who follow the classic rock scene. Although I admit it is a bit selfish on my part, I am rather enjoying all these squabbles over the use of various songs from some very well known classic rock artists.
So far, I have yet to hear word of any complaints from right-leaning rockers out there about any use of their material by the Obama campaign. I suppose there are a number of possible explanations for this. Maybe I just didn’t hear about it. Perhaps the Obama campaign did not use any material that originated with conservative artists or perhaps conservative artists don’t make as big a fuss over the use of their material.
In fact, there was a similar incident a while back when the Obama campaign used a track from country superstars Brooks & Dunn after the conclusion of his acceptance speech at the DNC. The track, entitled "Only In America," has been used repeatedly by Republicans in the past, including when Brooks & Dunn played it at the inauguration of George W. Bush in 2000.
At the 2004 GOP convention, Vice President Dick Cheney used it as his exit music following his speech. In addition, President Bush often used it while on the campaign trail four years ago, even asking Brooks & Dunn to play it live at rallies during the final week of the race.
When asked recently about the use of their material by the Obama campaign, Kix Brooks said, "Seems ironic that the same song Bush used at The Republican Convention last election would be used by Obama and the Democrats now. Very flattering to know our song crossed parties and potentially inspires all Americans."
It seems that Kix Brooks is a bit more open-minded about such matters than the Wilson sisters, Van Halen or Jackson Browne.
Frankly, I find all this bickering about the use of songs by politicians somewhat amusing. When you consider all the other things being done in Washington that are of questionable value to the average American, it seems to me that the use of a song or two by the political party you happen to oppose isn’t what well-paid artists should be laying in bed at night worrying about.
For more on this story, check out Entertainment Weekly.
