Amy Winehouse-Lioness: Hidden Treasures

We all knew The Soul Queen of Camden had unreleased material, the question was when it would reach the rest of us. The question has been answered with the announcement of the December release of Lioness: Hidden Treasures, a collection of previously unreleased tracks spanning the course of her career. The 12 tunes are a mix of new, unheard material and alternative versions of her most familiar tracks as well as a few covers. American producer Salaam Remi, who had worked with Amy since she was signed to Island Records in 2002 says, “It’s not the album she would have made. But these are things I would like people to know that she did. It makes no sense them sitting on my hard drive wilting away.”


In classic Amy fashion, jazz standards are included in the mix with contemporary hip-hop tracks. Listeners will be glad to hear the inclusion of an original version of "The Girl From Ipanema" and Donny Hathaway's "Song for You" recorded in one of Remi's first sessions with Amy when she was 18.
For fans the release of this posthumous collection will bring mixed emotions. On the one hand, we can always be grateful for new or unreleased material from a beloved artist, but this collection presents only a shadow of what her 3rd album would have been and will most certainly leave us with a twinge of regret that we'll never hear the final product. 


One of the first tracks to leak features verses from her close friend and creative influence Nasir Jones, better known as the rapper Nas. Winehouse's tune Me and Mr. Jones was written about a boyfriend who she wouldn't let get between her and the Nas gig in Brixton. After her death Nas agreed to add lyrics to the previously recorded original. Listen to the track below.

Amy Winehouse- Like Smoke (ft. Nas)


Check back for more news on the full album set to be released on December 5th

-Hillary D.

Amy Winehouse: Rest in Peace

Amy Jade Winehouse was born on September 14th 1983 in Southgate, London. Her father Mitch recalls singing along to records with his daughter, leaving out the words for Amy to fill them in. 

Young Amy received training at the Susi Earnshaw Theatre School and then later instruction from the acclaimed Sylvia Young Theatre School. She began writing music when she was 13 and started a rap group called Sweet N' Sour with a school mate. She then began singing with a local London jazz band and when a former boyfriend sent one of her early demo tapes to an A&R man it led to a deal with EMI Records.

Since then she has been called the New Queen of Soul, an icon of our generation, she has won comparisons to Sarah Vaughn and Nina Simone among other talents. 

Amy's 2003 debut Frank was nominated for the Mercury Prize and won the Igor Novello songwriting prize for best contemporary song with "Stronger than Me". But it was with her second album Back to Black (2006) that she won international acclaim. The record won 5 Grammys including Best New Artist, Record of the Year and Song of the Year. She won a BRIT award in 2007 for Best British Female Artist. She then won 2 more Igor Novello songwriting awards, one for Best Song Musically and Lyrically with "Love is a Losing Game" and another for Best Contemporary Song with "Rehab". Most recently she was working on a project with Tony Bennett and working on a new album slated to come out in November of 2011. 

Amy's most beloved music was '60's soul and traditional jazz. She idolized singers like Sarah Vaughn, Billie Holiday and Etta James. Her sense of style which included what became her trademark beehive and Cleopatra eyes was borrowed from 1960's girl groups like the Ronnettes and the Pips. She said she didn't listen to much "new stuff". "I just like the old stuff, she told SPIN magazine,  "It's all quite dramatic and atmospheric. You'd have an entire story in a song. I never listen to, like, white music -- I couldn't sing you a Zeppelin or Floyd song." 

Amy's "Moody's Mood for Love"

In 1949 saxophonist James Moody played a solo to James McHugh's 1935 tune "I'm In the Mood for Love"...when lyrics were added this legendary sax solo came to be known as "Moody's Mood for Love"



Since then myriad artists including Quincy Jones, Van Morrison and Brian McKnight have covered this tune with varied success. Why varied success? Because it's damn hard to make a tune that was originally a sax solo sound right when its being sung rather than played.

That's where Amy Comes in.
Amy Winehouse not only effortlessly interprets the lyricsm of the original jazz solo, but brings a fullness to the song that only her voice (or Sarah Vaughn's) could bring.

If nothing else proves her genius, its her interpretation of "Moody's Mood for Love".

  Amy Winehouse - Moody's mood for love


Amy, Amy, Amy...