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June 24, 2009
Heart’s Wilson Sisters Broaden Their Horizons With Children’s Book
You may know them as the rocking sisters of the veteran rock act Heart, but sisters Ann and Nancy Wilson are set to make a name for themselves as authors as well. They are in the process of finishing up work on a children’s book that is based on their 1978 album Dog & Butterfly. Admittedly not one of my favorite Heart albums, but it does sound like a great inspiration for a children’s book.
Ann and Nancy Wilson may be writing a book, but that does not mean they have any career-changing plans. They are also in the process of working on a new album, although they are uncertain about its completion date.
“We’re recording with just a real woodshed, small acoustic element, people playing together at the same time and (in) the same room — like what they used to call a hootenanny,” Nancy Wilson says. “There’s no ProTools feel to it at all. We’re just sitting around playing guitars together and going for a performance that is on the spot.”
That’s the kind of talk I lake to hear coming from Heart, since I think that is the kind of environment where they really shine. Their 1976 album, Dreamboat Annie, which remains one of my favorite albums of all time, was recorded on a 16-track Ampex tape machine coupled with a used tube-driven console that was purchased from United Studios who was in the process of upgrading their own consoles to the newer solid-state versions at the time.
The sound they coaxed out of that old set-up over thirty years ago amazes me to this day. One of the best-sounding albums I have ever heard. That’s what makes Wilson’s comments about keeping the process of recording the new album simple so intriguing.
Returning to the present day and getting back to the new album, Nancy Wilson reports that they have about eight songs that they are really pleased with and that three basic tracks have been recorded so far. It’s interesting to note that in addition to recording in Los Angeles, some recording has been done in various hotel rooms during the course of the group’s tours. I’m very interested to find out what a new Heart album will sound like.
Some of the material from the new album may be debuted live this summer. Heart is scheduled for a number of dates into September, including nine shows they are opening for Journey.
Thanks to Billboard for the news.
April 24, 2009
Wilson Sisters To Share More Vocal Duties on Next Heart Album
For decades most fans have likely envisioned Ann Wilson as the vocal powerhouse behind the sound of Heart, and rightfully so. Ann has served as the lead vocalist since the beginning, and has made a name for herself as one of the best female rock vocalists of all time.
These days Ann and her sister Nancy — who is no vocal slouch herself and is also a fine guitarist – are planning
some changes for their next new album, which the group has already begun working on. This time, they are experimenting with more harmonies, a development that does not seem to bother Nancy at all.
“It’s just a way of reinventing, and having more fun, and taking some of the pressure off of Ann as a singer,” she told Reuters during a recent interview.
She also went on to say that she really enjoys the chance to use her vocal talents when the opportunity presents itself, but adds that the material has to be a perfect fit for her voice.
The new album is scheduled to be released next summer, but since they are said to be taking their time on it, it’s hard to think that fans can be certain of a 2010 summer release. As for how the release will be done, that’s something they are currently thinking about.
They do not sound terribly satisfied with the way the release of their last album was handled by Capitol back in 2004 when they released Jupiter’s Darling. Perhaps they will consider an exclusive deal with one of the big retailers – something we mentioned quite recently here, and seems to be working well for other veteran acts like the Eagles and AC/DC.
With eight tracks reportedly recorded so far, Heart returns to the studio in a few weeks to resume work. Also on their itinerary is a summer tour with fellow classic rockers Journey, which is probably keeping the group quite busy with rehearsals and other preparations. It’s clear that the Wilson sisters are not just sitting around and waiting to grow old, something their fan base is most likely very happy to see.
For the full story, visit Reuters.
March 8, 2008
Wilson Sisters, Annie Lennox & Bono To Appear on ‘Idol Gives Back’
This year American Idol adds Ann and Nancy Wilson of Heart to their lineup of performers for the program’s charitable event show known as “Idol Gives Back.”
Annie Lennox, whom I believe appeared on last year’s show is also scheduled to appear as well as Bono of U2 fame. I have not yet heard any additional classic rock names scheduled to appear on the program but there are expected to be additional announcements.
“Idol Gives Back” is described as “a music celebration raising awareness and benefiting various U.S. and international charities.”
Last year the show helped raised $76 Million dollars for various charities that operate both here in the U.S. and in Africa.
The program is scheduled to air on the Fox Network on April 9.
Thanks to Heartlinker for the heads up.
February 23, 2008
Roger Fisher Open To Heart Reunion
Original Heart guitarist Roger Fisher sounds these days like he would welcome a reunion with the Wilson sisters, as well as the other original members of the group.
Heart recently released a new live version of the group’s first album, Dreamboat Annie, which I reviewed here back in October. In that review, I reveal my disappointment that resulted from a performance from the group’s current drummer that fell far short of my expectations for a recreation of an album as brilliant as Dreamboat Annie.
Learning recently that original guitarist Roger Fisher appears to be open to the notion of playing with Ann and Nancy Wilson again and hearing him say that original bass player Steve Fossen original guitar, keyboard player and vocalist Howard Lesse and original drummer Michael DeRosier are still all "active players" makes the idea of a Heart reunion of all original players quite tantalizing.
I did discover, however, that researching the original players led to a somewhat complicated scenario when one considers original drummer, which was he point I was most critical about when talking about the version of Heart that is together today.
I discovered that there were at least three different drummers on the original album. According to Wikipedia, a drummer by the name of Dave Wilson played on "Magic Man," while another guy named Kat Hendrikse played on "Crazy on You," as well as a number of other songs. Then there’s Duris Maxwell who played drums on "How Deep It Goes." This leaves the drummer Heart settled on as their permanent drummer at that time, Michael DeRosier, playing on only two songs, "White Lightning & Wine" and "Sing Child."
It has been a while since I had heard some of those names. Probably as far back as the late 1970’s when I originally bought the album. I also began to wonder who true to the original recordings Michael DeRosier was after joining the band as their permanent drummer. This of course, led me to YouTube, where I discovered a bunch of Heart videos from the 1970’s featuring whom I presume is Michael DeRosier on drums.
Since both "Crazy on You" and "Magic Man" were two big hits from Dreamboat Annie and are also my favorite songs from the album, those were to two I was most critical of when I critiqued current drummer Ben Smith’s performance, and to him I have to offer a partial apology since it appears that DeRosier was not quite true to the original recordings of those songs either, and this may simply be attributable to each performer’s preference and what he thinks sounds best. Obviously, I am heavily biased in favor of the original recordings.
At any rate, what this all boils down to is that I much prefer the work that was laid down on the original tracks by Dave Wilson and and Kat Hendriske when compared to how both Michael DeRosier and Ben Smith approached them, although comparing the work that DeRosier did on subsequent albums with the group places me firmly in his corner if he is to be compared to how Smith currently performs Heart’s material today.
The best quality recording I was able to locate on YouTube was from a performance the group did for what appears to be a German TV program sometime during the late 70’s. All the instruments are obviously off the original recording as it is identical. There’s also the fact that the drums are not mic’d up and you can actually hear them a bit at the end of the performance as their sound bleeds though to the vocal mics or the mic being used by the host. Since there are some vocal "ad libs" by Ann Wilson during the performance, it suggests that the vocal mics (or at least hers) are live during the performance and mixed with the insturmental work from the original recording.
With all that said, I still think it would be great to see the original Heart form up for some kind of reunion. For me, it would be the only way to actually see "Heart" perform again. Call me a "Heart purist" if you must but when it comes to the work I respect as much as what was originally done on Dreamboat Annie, there is no compromising.
Since I’ve probably taken this to a level that far surpasses any interest that someone other than a die hard Heart fan would have in all this information, let me just say that you can check out the performance below if you want to know how a fussy old Heart fan like myself wants to hear "Magic Man" performed.
Thanks to Heartlinker for the pointer to Roger Fisher’s site.
