Sheryl Crow C’mon America 2003 DVD Concert Review

Sheryl Crow
“C’Mon America 2003”
A&M Records and W Management
A Parallel 28 Equipe Production
Directed by Martyn Atkins

This is my first in a series of many Concert DVD reviews. I will be finishing this review soon and will begin another one shortly! Stay Tuned!

1. Sheryl opens the concert with the track “Steve McQueen” from her fourth studio album, C’mon C’mon, released in 2002, playing the bass guitar dressed in sexy tight blue pants with white stars and red and white stripes, very American. Sporting a leather racing Nascar-inspired jacket, images of speeding cars flying over steep San Francisco streets is an homage to the namesake of the song, Steve McQueen.
“Like Steve…McQueen…. all we need’s a fast machine and we’re gonna make it, alright…”
Peter Stroud, tall and proud, produces the chorus guitar riffs while Sheryl and her drummer provide the kick ass beat. Great warm up to what will be an incredible concert.

2. The up-tempo continues on with “There Goes the Neighborhood” from The Globe Sessions, released in 1998. Sheryl switches bass guitars, and is much more focused on singing her song and rocking that bass. Sheryl did win a Grammy award for Best Female Rock Vocals for this song when it was recorded for her live album, Sheryl Crow and Friends Live In Central Park. Crow struts her stuff around the stage during the bridge, and is in full glory as the song builds up to its big finishing chorus. Crow and her band are totally in synch and its clear they love playing on stage together.

3. The concert switches to clips of the arena before anyone has arrived. Images of the stage, roadies fixing the instruments, Sheryl playing with her dog, Scout fill the screen while the studio version of the song “Riverwide” plays. Clips of early rehearsals and Crow on stage with her dog are cinematically juxtaposed brilliantly with the rest of her band and crew preparing. The song is interrupted/overdubbed by a quick snippet of what I believe is an interview with Crow regarding tour across the heartland of America.

4. Sheryl slows it down a bit by playing her hit song “My Favorite Mistake.” Sheryl’s sultry voice memorizes the crowd. After the song ends, Tim Smith, one of her guitarists, sips a glass of wine, spilling some… it’s a great candid moment, and Tim knows it, which makes him laugh.

5. The title track to C’mon C’mon is next. “C’mon C’mon C’mon, break my heart again, for old-time sake…” sings Sheryl, with Peter Stroud now on an acoustic guitar, changing the tone from the last four songs to a more country, bluegrass like feel. Fitting for Dayton, Ohio. The accordion makes its debut on stage.

6. Sheryl takes her jacket off, needing help from a crew member to rip the tight leather top off. Sheryl then runs to the mic and amusingly says “you can see how hard it is to get me out of my clothes!” The following performance is “The First Cut is the Deepest.” The tempo of the concert is taking a slowdown; but the song is amazing and Sheryl and her band’s live performance has everyone singing and on their feet.

7. Not surprisingly after this song, “Strong Enough” begins. Sheryl trades in the bass for a 6 string acoustic. Peter Stroud adds the electric, sliding his fingers down the chords to provide that almost ‘bending of a saw’ like sound.
Sheryl is beautiful singing softly, “Are you strong enough…to be my man? Are you strong enough, my man?… Liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiie to me, I promise, I’ll believe, oh liiiiie to me, but please don’t leave….”

8. What happens now is pure music gold. “Redemption Day,” a song from her second album, is up next. The performance is played in front of the backdrop on the big screens of famous peace quotes from historical figures. The song has a soft but fast tempo at first, then the chorus blasts in with the drummer hitting the bass drum, “There is a train, thats headed straight, for heaven’s gate, to heavens gate, and on the way, child and man, and woman wait, for Redemption Day.” The song goes back to the next verse… and with a shiver sent up my spine the chorus comes back and the drum and bass kick back in. It’s hauntingly beautiful. The song was written in regards to war and especially the struggle in Bosnia back in the mid 1990s.
*On a side note, Sheryl Crow traveled with Hillary Clinton to Bosnia (when this song was inspired). This trip to Bosnia was the same trip Hillary Clinton said she landed under heavy gunfire.

9. The crowd pleaser, “If It Makes You Happy,” is next. After the first chorus, Sheryl improvise, “are you sad Dayton?” and they cheer…for some reason. Perhaps they didn’t understand her question. As the next verse ends, “Well, alright, I still get stoned,” the crowd applauds and cheers, expectedly.

10. “A Change Would Do You Good”
11. “Home” Sheryl picks up the acoustic guitar and the first notes of “Home” are played. It’s a chilling, beautiful version. Sheryl sings with purpose and emotion; its clear this is a personal, heartfelt composition. At other various concert performances, she will play the piano for this song; I love it when she plays it this way. Peter Stroud on the electric guitar, sounding like Eric Clapton. At the third chorus, Stroud plays his solo and it sounds fantastic. The wind has picked up at the outdoor arena and Sheryls hair moves seemingly to the music. Mike Rowe plays the keyboard so well, and Sean Pellton equally as good on drums. The song is ending and the music breaks down. Sheryl is screaming the final lyrics, the drummer beats frantically, Stroud and his guitar play side by side with Sheryl on acoustic. She is swaying her head up and down with the beat. Now the music is soft, its quieting, slowing down. “This is home… and this is home….” Indeed, this is home.

12. “Weather Channel” Sheryl wrote this song and it deals with depression.

13. “Lets go all the way back,” Sheryl speaks into the mic as “Leaving Las Vegas” begins to play. This performance, in my opinion, is the best track on the concert DVD. Mostly it is due to Sheryl’s ad libbed soliloquy/monologue to the audience during the middle of the song when they slow it down a bit. Perhaps, most likely, its been rehearsed, but it still kicks ass. To paraphrase:
“Do we have any gamblers here tonight, on this fine Dayton, Ohio evening…?… Do we have any drinkers here? Oh my Lordy the bar is very open I can tell already. I can confess I don’t like losing money, but there was time I’d get in my Chevrolet, and drive all the way, to las vegas. Where I’d meet up with my friend Jack, Jack Daniels that is. Jack and I like to belly up to the bar…make friends with black jack dealerrrs… “

 

“Love Is A Good Thing” or How WalMart Banned Sheryl Crow’s Record

In 1996, Sheryl Crow released her self titled sophomore album. The LP “Sheryl Crow” was released on September 25, 1996, and with the first hit single “If It Makes You Happy,” the album was set to sell millions and become a Grammy award-winning hit. Sheryl Crow produced the album in New Orleans and California. However, the album wasn’t released without its overwhelming share of drama.

Sheryl Crow LP album cover

In the mid 1990s, Wal-Mart Discount Stores, headquartered in Arkansas, faced multiple lawsuits claiming the fact they sold guns and ammunition led to the accidental shootings of a few people, some by the hands of children. Sheryl Crow knew of this, and while in a Wal-Mart store, was shocked that the guns and ammo were being sold right next to the children’s toy section. Wal-Mart has sinced changed its policy to sell firearms in catalogs only, but at the time, it was fodder for Sheryl Crow, who would take a jab at Wal-Mart.

The Track “Love Is A Good Thing” contained the following opening lyrics:

Watch out sister/Watch out brother/Watch our children while they kill each other/With a gun they bought at Wal-Mart Discount stores”

 

When advanced copies of the CD were released, Wal-Mart got a hold of it and demanded Crow and her record label, A&M, change the lyric or drop the song entirely off the album. Sheryl refused. Al Cafaro, chairman of A&M, backed her up and her right to free speech. Wal-Mart, of course, did not see it this way and thought the lyric was untrue and unfair.

After Crow and A&M stood behind the song and lyric, Wal-Mart refused to stock it in its stores. This was the first time Wal-Mart refused to sell a piece of music due to a negative comment about the store itself. It’s estimated that almost a half a million album sales were lost because of this. And unfortunately, this big discount store had gobbled up all the small ‘mom and pop’ stores in Kennett, Missouri, where Sheryl is from. This meant her family and friends would have no outlet to buy her album (pre-internet days people!).

Regardless, the album has sold over 3 million albums to date and the controversy put the spotlight on Sheryl as a political activist and an important musician with substantive positions she would not back down from.

 

Sheryl Crow Summer 2011 Concert Tour

Image via Wikipedia

I’m quite ecstatic that Sheryl Crow has added dates to her 2011 Spring Tour and extended the run into the summer, adding east coast dates.  I was wondering what I wanted to do for my birthday, and Sheryl has decided to make my wishes come true and play some dates on out in the northeast/mid-Atlantic (for me, of course!). I have seen Sheryl Crow Live numerous times, majority of them occurred in the summer, once even on my actual Birthday in 2003.

My dilemma is which date to choose.  There is no NYC date, but the surrounding areas.  The dates in question include:

JUL 7 2011

7/7/2011

Comcast Theater Hartford, CT

 

JUL 92011

7/9/2011

Comcast Center Boston, MA

 

JUL 102011

7/10/2011

Hershey Pavillion Hershey, PA

 

 

JUL 122011

7/12/2011

PNC Bank Arts Center Holmdel, NJ

 

If I had my way, I would go to each concert. But, as the Philosopher Jagger said, “You Can’t Always Get What You Want.” (credit Hugh Laurie, House, M.D.)

I did attend her concert tour last year at the Borgata in Atlantic City, NJ, but it was the opening leg and Sheryl and the band were still were out some kinks (no one seemed to notice, but i was aware of them–I’m not complaining, I find it interesting how the tour progresses.) Now I want to see the “100 Miles From Memphis Tour” all polished and practiced. Is that too much to ask?!

http://www.sherylcrow.com/events/

 

“All I Wanna Do: An American Existentialist Record” Part 1

All I Wanna Do is have a little fun before I die, says the man next to me out of nowhere. Apropos of Nothin’, he says his name is William, but I’m sure he’s Bill, or Billy, or Mack or Buddy; and he’s plain ugly to me and I wonder if he’s ever had a day of fun in his whole life…”

 

Cover of Tuesday Night Music Club

 

These lyrics open up the record “All I Wanna Do.” Released as the third single from the LP Tuesday Night Music Club, it made Sheryl Crow into a musical sensation overnight. This track almost never made it on the record–luckily it did; as it propelled Sheryl into international stardom and gave her proper footing to continue recording and producing music.

It’s part drinking song, part pop-rock fun, but mainly its existentialist lyrics and theme is what I believe makes this record timeless and philosophical. It reminds me of French Philosopher and Existential Philosophy icon Jean Paul Sartre’s novel, “Nausea” where the main character Antoine Roquentin is sitting in a cafe, watching and analyzing everything around him. He feels a sense of “Nausea”, a sense of meaningless and purposeless to his life and to life around him.

The lyric “apropos of nothing” itself can be found in Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s existential classic “Notes From the Underground” various times.

….otherwise the bar is ours, the day and the night and the car wash too, the matches and the buds and the clean and dirty cars, the sun and the moon! But All I Wanna, is have some fun….

However, unlike French and Russian Existential philosophy, this song takes a uniquely American twist. Yes, we note the daily minutia of life, but as Americans, we are always looking for an escape. Sheryl and the other writers of this track juxtapose the dreadfullness of existentialism with just wanting to have fun, ‘drinkin beer at noon on Tuesday,’ until the day is done (the sun coming up over Santa Monica Boulevard) and the next day begins; where it is assumed this behaviour will repeat itself.

This track lays down a great framework of ‘escapism’ which the balance of the album conveys to the listener. I will discuss this theme more in-depth in my next post.

Credits: Baerwald, David Francis (Songwriter); Bottrell, Bill (Songwriter); Cooper Ii, William W. (Songwriter); Crow, Sheryl Suzanne (Songwriter); Gilbert, Kevin M. (Songwriter); ALMO MUSIC CORP (Publisher); IGNORANT MUSIC (Publisher); SONY/ATV TUNES LLC (Publisher); ZEN OF INIQUITY (Publisher)

 

Apropos of Nothin’

This is the Tuesday Night Music Blog, an ever so clever take on Sheryl’s first (well, second, depending on how big of a fan you are) album by the title “Tuesday Night Music Club.” I of course give all credit for this title to Sheryl Crow and the entire Tuesday Night Music Club. So please no lawsuits, unless you want to get my blog more attention!

 

Welcome

Welcome to the Sheryl Crow Blog where I’ll be postin’ blogs about the greatest artist, musician, singer, song-writer and performer of our generation. Sheryl has worked her ass off to get where she is now; regardless of how you feel about her political activism, leadership on environmental issues, or music, she’s a kick ass rock star in the true, genuine sense of the term. They don’t make artists like this anymore. So “lay back, enjoy the show…!”