"Back in the High Life Again" is a song with music by English artist

Steve Winwood Stephen Lawrence Winwood (born 12 May 1948) is an English musician, singer, and songwriter whose genres include blue-eyed soul, rhythm and blues, blues rock, and pop rock. Though primarily a keyboard player and vocalist prominent for his disti ...

and lyrics by American songwriter

Will Jennings Wilbur H. "Will" Jennings (born June 27, 1944) is an American lyricist. He is popularly known for writing the lyrics for the songs "Tears in Heaven" and "My Heart Will Go On". He has been inducted into the Songwriter's Hall of Fame and has won s ...

. It was performed by Winwood, and included backing vocals by

James Taylor James Vernon Taylor (born March 12, 1948) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. A six-time Grammy Award winner, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000. He is one of the best-selling music artists of all time, havi ...

and a prominent

mandolin A mandolin ( it, mandolino ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of 8 ...

played by Winwood. The song was released in January 1987 as the fifth single from his fourth studio album ''

Back in the High Life ''Back in the High Life'' is the fourth solo album by English singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Steve Winwood, released on 30 June 1986. The album proved to be Winwood's biggest success to that date, certified Gold in the UK and 3� ...

''. The song was Winwood's second number-one single on the US

Adult Contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quie ...

chart, where it stayed for three weeks. It also reached number 13 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100. It was nominated for the

Grammy Award for Record of the Year The Grammy Award for Record of the Year is presented by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to "honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the recording industry, without reg ...

in 1988.

Track listing

7": Island / IS 303 United Kingdom # "Back in the High Life Again" - 4:20 # "Help Me Angel" - 5:06 7": Island / 7-28472 United States # "Back in the High Life Again" - 4:09 # "Night Train" (Instrumental) - 4:10 12": Island / 12 IS 303 United Kingdom # "Back in the High Life Again" - 4:20 # "Night Train" (Instrumental) - 4:08 # "Help Me Angel" - 5:06 12": Island / PRO-A-2620 United States # "Back in the High Life Again" - 4:20 # "Back in the High Life Again" - 5:33 * Promo

Personnel

– lead vocals, synth piano, synthesizer, drum machine programming,

Moog bass The Moog Taurus is a foot-operated analog synthesizer designed and manufactured by Moog Music, originally conceived as a part of the Constellation series of synthesizers. The initial Taurus I was manufactured from 1975 to 1981; a less popular re ...

* Jimmy Bralower – additional drum machine programmingJimmy Bralower: Web Exclusive , Modern Drummer Magazine
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Rob Mounsey Rob Mounsey (born December 2, 1952) is an American musician, composer, and arranger. Music career Mounsey was born in Berea, Ohio, and grew up in Seattle, Washington, spending a few years each in Findlay and Granville, Ohio. At the age of 17 ...

– additional synthesizer * John Robinson – drums *

– harmony vocals

Chart history

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

External links

* Steve Winwood songs 1986 songs 1987 singles Songs written by Steve Winwood Songs with lyrics by Will Jennings Song recordings produced by Russ Titelman Island Records singles {{1980s-rock-song-stub