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I remember being completely stupefied the day the news reported that she’d died. We had lost arguably the most talented singer of the 2000s; one of music’s iconic all-time greats whose last studio recording was a duet with the legendary Tony Bennett.
“Some people think that anyone could sing jazz, but they can’t,” said Bennett, speaking after the singer’s death in 2011. “It’s a gift of learning how to syncopate but it’s also a spirit that you’re either born with or you’re not. And Amy was born with that spirit.”
But Amy wasn’t just about jazz. Growing up on the outskirts of London, she was very much a product of the city’s melting pot of influences in the 90s and 2000s, taking the laid-back beats of hip-hop and slick R&B production techniques and melding them with traditional jazz instrumentation, soul-indebted vocals and quick-witted, no-nonsense lyrics.
From the opening track of the singer’s debut album (‘Stronger Than Me’, in which Winehouse decries her boyfriend’s inability to “man up”) it was clear we were dealing with a headstrong, confident woman who wasn’t afraid to tell it how it is.
Of course, it helped that the songwriter had paired up with an equally talented producer. Salaam Remi was most notable for his work with hip-hop legends such as Nas and the Fugees, two artists for whom he created infectious bass-heavy beats. As well as helming the Fugees’ acclaimed album The Source – which unleashed the classic hits ‘Ready or Not’ and ‘Killing Me Softly’ – Remi was the producer behind A Little Deeper, Ms. Dynamite’s Mercury Award-winning 2002 debut.
Applied to Amy’s blues- and jazz-influenced tales of heartbreak and shifting romantic dynamics, Remi’s unique touch created something original and truly special on Frank, Winehouse’s impeccable debut album. Tracks like ‘In My Bed’ used raw hip-hop beats to propel the more traditional jazz elements of her sound, including horns, flute, organ, and of course the singer’s unstoppable contralto voice.
Amy was once quoted as saying that “every bad situation is a blues song waiting to happen.” And she mined plenty of bad situations for inspiration on her second and final studio album, 2006’s now iconic Back to Black. The songwriting on singles like ‘Love Is A Losing Game’ and ‘Back to Black’ is unflinchingly honest, with Winehouse laying bare her infidelities, heartbreaks, addiction struggles and depression. Bolstered by Ronson and Remi’s perfect production, and backed by powerhouse soul band The Dap-Kings, the despair sounds disarmingly brilliant, drawing on classic 60s soul influences but adding a modern hip-hop flavour that places the album firmly in the new millennium.
There was a slew of copycat singers and success stories who emerged post Back to Black: Duffy, Adele, Estelle, even Florence & The Machine – all talented in their own right but heavily indebted to Amy Winehouse nonetheless. And nobody from that set could top her, not vocally, lyrically or musically. It was the universal appeal of Winehouse’s words that made her so beloved; her willingness to commit her feelings to record, her darkest struggles included.
For some readers, Amy’s music will have transported them back to the classic soul and jazz of the 50s and 60s, while for others her incorporation of traditional influences acted as a gateway to legendary artists of yesteryear: Ray Charles, Tony Bennett, The Ronettes, Billie Holiday, and more.
And in many ways, Amy is part of this musical lineage of classic singers. Her legacy lives on. We hear little bits of Amy in Lady Wray, Gregory Porter, Celeste, Billie Eilish and a whole host of other acts who follow in her footsteps, not just vocally but in their candid lyrics and inventive songwriting.
“Life’s short. Anything could happen, and it usually does, so there is no point sitting around thinking about all the ifs, ands and buts,” the singer once said.
So, I’ll stop there. And try not to contemplate the incredible music she could have gone on to create and collaborate on, especially given the UK’s currently thriving jazz and hip-hop scenes. Instead, let us just be grateful that the iconic voice and uncompromising music of Amy Winehouse exists at all.
The following pages feature 12 essential tracks for your collection…
1. Pumps (2004)
Taken from her Mercury-nominated debut album, Frank, this explicit take down of ‘fake girls’ sees Amy at her wittiest and most playful. “Never miss a night 'cause your dream in life / Is to be a footballer's wife,” she sings over a minimal hip-hop shuffle and tinkering electric piano. The next single Winehouse released was the hit song ‘Rehab’ [2006], whose lyrics were considerably darker. Blessed not only with an unbelievable voice but a great sense of humour too, ‘Pumps’ is a brilliant reminder of the singer’s cheeky side.
2. Heard It Through the Grapevine (Live On Jools Holland Hootenanny) [2006)
A stone-cold Marvin Gaye classic, but somehow she makes it her own in this flawless live version. As well as the effortless vocals and playful melisma, Amy occasionally drops into signature hip-hop inflections that remind us that, despite her retro style, she is a child of 90s R&B and rap. A classy Paul Weller is happy to take the backseat and let Winehouse lead the show while the band, guided by Jools Holland, provides a bedrock of smooth brass and stomping bass.
3. You Know I’m No Good [2007]
“You shrug and it's the worst / Who truly stuck the knife in first?” asks the singer in this quintessential Amy Winehouse track. Combining slick hip-hop production with Latin-style piano phrases and vintage horns, courtesy of Mark Ronson, ‘You Know I’m No Good’ sees Winehouse documenting infidelity and addiction as she watches her lover come crawling back despite her ‘no good’ behaviour. For a taste of this track’s true hip-hop pedigree, check out the version by Wu-Tang Clan’s Ghostface Killah.
4. Back To Black [2007]
The namesake of Amy’s critically acclaimed final studio album, ‘Back to Black’ proceeds like a funeral procession, Winehouse the widow mourning the death of a relationship she knew was doomed and her inevitable return to depression. There aren’t many songs in popular music where the destruction caused by drug addiction is described so accurately and heartbreakingly: “I love you much, it's not enough / You love blow and I love puff / And life is like a pipe / And I'm a tiny penny rollin' up the walls inside.” Of course, all this desolation and hopelessness sounds stunning, thanks to the ‘wall of sound’ production work by Ronson, who takes his cues and instrumentation from the classic soul and girl-group pop of the 1960s.
5. WHAT IS IT ABOUT MEN [2003]
One of the Frank album’s more sombre moments, this slow-paced track details the effects of Winehouse's father's infidelities on her and her family, and the resulting divorce between him and her mother. Infused with minor chords and shimmering wah-wah guitar riffs, the song is heartbreakingly candid and points to the lasting damage that the divorce had on the singer, who confessed to infidelities of her own on tracks like ‘You Know I'm No Good’ and ‘In My Bed’. “I can't help but demonstrate my Freudian fate / My alibi for taking your guy,” she sings. Raw, powerful and lyrically on point, it's Winehouse at her very best.
6. REHAB [2006]
“I ain’t got the time and if my daddy thinks I’m fine / He’s tried to make me go to rehab but I won’t go,” Amy sings on this Motown-indebted pop classic. Ironically, she checked into a rehab facility in 2008 and came out just in time for the 50th Annual Grammy Awards ceremony, where ‘Rehab’ picked up three Grammys. Reflecting on the song’s strangely dark pop appeal, Kate Solomon, writing for GQ magazine, called it a “party tune we spend our Saturday nights dancing to, but also immortalising a turning point.” Looking back to 2006, what originally came across as a statement of independence, delivered with sheer sass and dark humour, now appears to be a tragic foretelling of the singer’s crippling addiction and subsequent death. Whether you choose to dance or to cry, it’s a killer pop tune.
7. BODY AND SOUL [2011]
“Some people think that anyone could sing jazz, but they can’t,” said Bennett, speaking after the singer’s death in 2011. “It’s a gift of learning how to syncopate but it’s also a spirit that you’re either born with or you’re not. And Amy was born with that spirit.”
But Amy wasn’t just about jazz. Growing up on the outskirts of London, she was very much a product of the city’s melting pot of influences in the 90s and 2000s, taking the laid-back beats of hip-hop and slick R&B production techniques and melding them with traditional jazz instrumentation, soul-indebted vocals and quick-witted, no-nonsense lyrics.
From the opening track of the singer’s debut album (‘Stronger Than Me’, in which Winehouse decries her boyfriend’s inability to “man up”) it was clear we were dealing with a headstrong, confident woman who wasn’t afraid to tell it how it is.
Of course, it helped that the songwriter had paired up with an equally talented producer. Salaam Remi was most notable for his work with hip-hop legends such as Nas and the Fugees, two artists for whom he created infectious bass-heavy beats. As well as helming the Fugees’ acclaimed album The Source – which unleashed the classic hits ‘Ready or Not’ and ‘Killing Me Softly’ – Remi was the producer behind A Little Deeper, Ms. Dynamite’s Mercury Award-winning 2002 debut.
Applied to Amy’s blues- and jazz-influenced tales of heartbreak and shifting romantic dynamics, Remi’s unique touch created something original and truly special on Frank, Winehouse’s impeccable debut album. Tracks like ‘In My Bed’ used raw hip-hop beats to propel the more traditional jazz elements of her sound, including horns, flute, organ, and of course the singer’s unstoppable contralto voice.
Amy was once quoted as saying that “every bad situation is a blues song waiting to happen.” And she mined plenty of bad situations for inspiration on her second and final studio album, 2006’s now iconic Back to Black. The songwriting on singles like ‘Love Is A Losing Game’ and ‘Back to Black’ is unflinchingly honest, with Winehouse laying bare her infidelities, heartbreaks, addiction struggles and depression. Bolstered by Ronson and Remi’s perfect production, and backed by powerhouse soul band The Dap-Kings, the despair sounds disarmingly brilliant, drawing on classic 60s soul influences but adding a modern hip-hop flavour that places the album firmly in the new millennium.
There was a slew of copycat singers and success stories who emerged post Back to Black: Duffy, Adele, Estelle, even Florence & The Machine – all talented in their own right but heavily indebted to Amy Winehouse nonetheless. And nobody from that set could top her, not vocally, lyrically or musically. It was the universal appeal of Winehouse’s words that made her so beloved; her willingness to commit her feelings to record, her darkest struggles included.
For some readers, Amy’s music will have transported them back to the classic soul and jazz of the 50s and 60s, while for others her incorporation of traditional influences acted as a gateway to legendary artists of yesteryear: Ray Charles, Tony Bennett, The Ronettes, Billie Holiday, and more.
And in many ways, Amy is part of this musical lineage of classic singers. Her legacy lives on. We hear little bits of Amy in Lady Wray, Gregory Porter, Celeste, Billie Eilish and a whole host of other acts who follow in her footsteps, not just vocally but in their candid lyrics and inventive songwriting.
“Life’s short. Anything could happen, and it usually does, so there is no point sitting around thinking about all the ifs, ands and buts,” the singer once said.
So, I’ll stop there. And try not to contemplate the incredible music she could have gone on to create and collaborate on, especially given the UK’s currently thriving jazz and hip-hop scenes. Instead, let us just be grateful that the iconic voice and uncompromising music of Amy Winehouse exists at all.
The following pages feature 12 essential tracks for your collection…
1. Pumps (2004)
Taken from her Mercury-nominated debut album, Frank, this explicit take down of ‘fake girls’ sees Amy at her wittiest and most playful. “Never miss a night 'cause your dream in life / Is to be a footballer's wife,” she sings over a minimal hip-hop shuffle and tinkering electric piano. The next single Winehouse released was the hit song ‘Rehab’ [2006], whose lyrics were considerably darker. Blessed not only with an unbelievable voice but a great sense of humour too, ‘Pumps’ is a brilliant reminder of the singer’s cheeky side.
2. Heard It Through the Grapevine (Live On Jools Holland Hootenanny) [2006)
A stone-cold Marvin Gaye classic, but somehow she makes it her own in this flawless live version. As well as the effortless vocals and playful melisma, Amy occasionally drops into signature hip-hop inflections that remind us that, despite her retro style, she is a child of 90s R&B and rap. A classy Paul Weller is happy to take the backseat and let Winehouse lead the show while the band, guided by Jools Holland, provides a bedrock of smooth brass and stomping bass.
3. You Know I’m No Good [2007]
“You shrug and it's the worst / Who truly stuck the knife in first?” asks the singer in this quintessential Amy Winehouse track. Combining slick hip-hop production with Latin-style piano phrases and vintage horns, courtesy of Mark Ronson, ‘You Know I’m No Good’ sees Winehouse documenting infidelity and addiction as she watches her lover come crawling back despite her ‘no good’ behaviour. For a taste of this track’s true hip-hop pedigree, check out the version by Wu-Tang Clan’s Ghostface Killah.
4. Back To Black [2007]
The namesake of Amy’s critically acclaimed final studio album, ‘Back to Black’ proceeds like a funeral procession, Winehouse the widow mourning the death of a relationship she knew was doomed and her inevitable return to depression. There aren’t many songs in popular music where the destruction caused by drug addiction is described so accurately and heartbreakingly: “I love you much, it's not enough / You love blow and I love puff / And life is like a pipe / And I'm a tiny penny rollin' up the walls inside.” Of course, all this desolation and hopelessness sounds stunning, thanks to the ‘wall of sound’ production work by Ronson, who takes his cues and instrumentation from the classic soul and girl-group pop of the 1960s.
5. WHAT IS IT ABOUT MEN [2003]
One of the Frank album’s more sombre moments, this slow-paced track details the effects of Winehouse's father's infidelities on her and her family, and the resulting divorce between him and her mother. Infused with minor chords and shimmering wah-wah guitar riffs, the song is heartbreakingly candid and points to the lasting damage that the divorce had on the singer, who confessed to infidelities of her own on tracks like ‘You Know I'm No Good’ and ‘In My Bed’. “I can't help but demonstrate my Freudian fate / My alibi for taking your guy,” she sings. Raw, powerful and lyrically on point, it's Winehouse at her very best.
6. REHAB [2006]
“I ain’t got the time and if my daddy thinks I’m fine / He’s tried to make me go to rehab but I won’t go,” Amy sings on this Motown-indebted pop classic. Ironically, she checked into a rehab facility in 2008 and came out just in time for the 50th Annual Grammy Awards ceremony, where ‘Rehab’ picked up three Grammys. Reflecting on the song’s strangely dark pop appeal, Kate Solomon, writing for GQ magazine, called it a “party tune we spend our Saturday nights dancing to, but also immortalising a turning point.” Looking back to 2006, what originally came across as a statement of independence, delivered with sheer sass and dark humour, now appears to be a tragic foretelling of the singer’s crippling addiction and subsequent death. Whether you choose to dance or to cry, it’s a killer pop tune.
7. BODY AND SOUL [2011]
The full review can be found in Pro Mobile Issue 109, Pages 54-59.
