#33 Amy Winehouse, 'Back to Black' (2006)
Previously #451
This album documents an incredibly tumultuous time in the life of ill-fated singer, Amy Winehouse. The 10 years following her death (indeed, July is 10 years, believe it or not), the extent of her influence has become incredibly apparent. For a start, Amy Winehouse would have a major influence on and open doors for Adele. Following the release of her debut, Winehouse would start dating Blake Fielder-Civil, and the couple would frequent The Hawley Arms pub in Camden (I once went there with friends purely because of its reputation as her local). It was there that Winehouse would spend most of her time playing pool and listening to ‘60s Girl Groups, Motown and Blues, all sounds which would have a major influence on her subsequent music. Around that time, however, she descended into heavy drinking and drug use, losing a significant amount of weight along the way. Fielder-Civil would leave Winehouse to return to his ex-girlfriend briefly, before reuniting with Winehouse in marriage. During their time apart, Winehouse would write the bulk of ‘Back To Black.’
With the help of producers, Mark Ronson and Salaam Remi, Winehouse would seamlessly bring together the sounds of the music she had obsessed over at the Hawley Arms with contemporary music such as Hip Hop. Imagine rapping in place of, or in amongst Winehouse’s sublime vocals, and you’ll hear what I mean. Ronson would write the title track the night after he met Winehouse for the first time. She had explained the music she’d been listening to and he promised to have something to her the next day. The song in itself is about the period in which her and Fielder-Civil were broken up and her going back to black aka depression and drinking. The tragic song, ‘Rehab’ emerged after Winehouse recounted to Ronson, while on a walk, how following a bout in hospital, her father, management and friends had been pressuring her to go to rehab as her drinking was getting out of hand. “You know they tried to make me go to rehab, and I told them, no, no, no.” “That's quite gimmicky,” Mark replied. “It sounds hooky. You should go back to the studio and we should turn that into a song," according to Winehouse’s father. ‘Me & Mr. Jones’ featured some of the best lyrics on the record; “What kind of/Fuckery is this?/You made me miss the/Slick Rick gig.” The song goes on to explain that while she missed the Slick Rick gig, she would never miss a gig of her close friend Nas, aka Nasir Jones (you might remember Nas from this very list at #44 with ‘Illmatic’). This album was the catalyst for the surge in female pop stars in the years following, artists like Adele, Florence and the Machine, Duffy, and in turn, Ellie Goulding, Anne-Marie, Jessie J, Halsey etc. According to Spin magazine, "Amy Winehouse was the Nirvana moment for all these women [...] They can all be traced back to her in terms of attitude, musical styles or fashion." The album went on to sell in excess of 16 million copies and won 5 Grammys. Winehouse sadly passed away at the cursed age of 27-years-old 5 years later.
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