UMC/ISLAND PRESENT AMY WINEHOUSE AT THE BBC

I first witnessed an Amy Winehouse on TV well before she became widely known. She performed with a guitar and after the performance I reckoned she should ditch the guitar and concentrate on that special voice that grew even more interesting as time passed and with the release of her first LP. It also became apparent that, with help, an excellent song-writer with songs that reflected her life and loves. She was a distinctive singer with a voice eminently  suited to jazz and traditional standards. However, with its richness and range she could perform virtually anything. Here’s what others thought about her:

Amy Winehouse - The Voice

According to AllMusic’s Cyril Cordor, she was one of the UK’s premier singers during the 2000s; “fans and critics alike embraced her rugged charm, brash sense of humour, and distinctively soulful and jazzy vocals.” In The Guardian, Caroline Sullivan later wrote that “her idolisation of Dinah Washington and the Ronettes distinguished her from almost all newly minted pop singers of the early 2000s; her exceptionally-susceptible-to-heartbreak voice did the rest.” Soon after Winehouse’s death, a number of prominent critics assessed the singer’s legacy: Maura Johnston from The Village Voice said, “When she was on, Winehouse had few peers—she wasn’t an octave-jumper like other big divas of the moment, but her contralto had a snap to it that enriched even the simplest syllables with a full spectrum of emotion“; Sasha Frere-Jones of The New Yorker proclaimed, “Nobody can match Winehouse’s unique transitions or her utterly weird phrasings. She sounded like an original sixties soul star, developed when the landscape had no rules. But now untrammeled traditionalism is in the lead and her beautiful footnote has been cut short. American soul—through visionaries like Erykah Badu and Janelle Monae and Jill Scott—had moved on. But Winehouse was a fine shepherd of the past.”

Bob Dylan said he was enjoying listening to Winehouse’s last record (BACK TO BLACK), and called her “the last real individualist around.”

AMY WINEHOUSE AT THE BBC, a 3xLP/ 3xCD collection chronicling the many remarkable performances by arguably the greatest and most genuine talent to emerge in British music in decades, will be released on May 7th 2021 through UMC/Island. For the very first time this updated release offers audio-only versions of the songs featured on A Tribute To Amy Winehouse by Jools Holland and the BBC One Sessions Live at Porchester Hall, and so a high proportion of these tracks will be completely new to DSPs. ‘Stronger Than Me’, ‘Tears Dry On Their Own’ and ‘You Know I’m No Good’ will be available on streaming services from March 24th while the video for ‘Stronger Than Me’ being available on YouTube. This comprehensive collection captures the strong and enduring relationship that Amy enjoyed with the BBC and is further proof of quite what an extraordinarily talented, completely original, and truly engaging performer Amy was.

AMY WINEHOUSE AT THE BBC includes Amy’s earliest BBC Radio sessions, music from her first ever TV performances, as well as unheard gems, rarities, unique covers and live versions of classic songs from FRANK and BACK TO BLACK. The set also includes a beautifully illustrated 20-page booklet featuring rare photographs.

Disc 1 is a selection of recordings chosen by Later presenter, songwriter and musician Jools Holland, Disc 2 is a 14-song audio selection dating from 2004 to 2009, while Disc 3 features the performances from Amy’s memorable Porchester Hall sessions.

Like Amy’s three previous albums, this collection will prove, once more, a fitting tribute to her artistry, great talent, and strong powers as a songwriter, a singer and an interpreter of classics.

AMY WINEHOUSE AT THE BBC is available to pre-order now: https://amywinehouse.lnk.to/AtTheBBC