''Miracle'' is an album by

Willy DeVille Willy DeVille (born William Paul Borsey Jr.; August 25, 1950 – August 6, 2009) was an American singer and songwriter. During his thirty-five-year career, first with his band Mink DeVille (1974–1986) and later on his own, DeVille created orig ...

. Recorded in 1987, it was the first album that

recorded under his own name. Prior to ''Miracle'', DeVille recorded six albums with the band

Mink DeVille Mink DeVille was a rock band founded in 1974, known for its association with early punk rock bands at New York's CBGB nightclub and for being a showcase for the music of Willy DeVille. The band recorded six albums in the years 1977 to 1985, after ...

, the last four of which were really solo albums by Willy DeVille in that no members of the original band played on the four albums. ''Miracle'' was recorded in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

and produced by

Dire Straits Dire Straits were a British rock band formed in London in 1977 by Mark Knopfler (lead vocals and lead guitar), David Knopfler (rhythm guitar and backing vocals), John Illsley (bass guitar and backing vocals) and Pick Withers (drums and percuss ...

guitarist

Mark Knopfler Mark Freuder Knopfler (born 12 August 1949) is a British singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer. Born in Scotland and raised in England, he was the lead guitarist, singer and songwriter of the rock band Dire Straits. He pursued a s ...

, who also co-wrote the song “Spanish Jack” with DeVille. Dire Straits keyboardist

Guy Fletcher Guy Edward Fletcher (born 24 May 1960) is an English multi-instrumentalist, best known for his position as one of the two Keyboard instrument, keyboard players in the rock band Dire Straits from 1984 until the group's dissolution, and his subs ...

, like Knopfler, played on all songs. Two highly regarded session musicians, guitarist

Chet Atkins Chester Burton Atkins (June 20, 1924 – June 30, 2001), known as "Mr. Guitar" and "The Country Gentleman", was an American musician who, along with Owen Bradley and Bob Ferguson, helped create the Nashville sound, the country music s ...

and drummer

Jeff Porcaro Jeffrey Thomas Porcaro (; April 1, 1954 – August 5, 1992) was an American drummer, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known for his work with the rock band Toto but is one of the most recorded session musicians in history, working on ...

, also played on the album. DeVille told ''Leap in the Dark:'' : It was Mark (Knopfler’s) wife Lourdes who came up with the idea (to record ''Miracle''). She said to him that you don't sing like Willy and he doesn't play guitar like you, but you really like his stuff so why don't you do an album together? So I went over to London to do this album. It wasn't easy because we didn't want it to sound like a Dire Straits album, and his guitar playing is so unique that it was hard to do. But nothing good is going to be easy. I know that I spent the whole time really trying to impress Mark, I wanted it to be good.

The Academy Awards: "Storybook Love"

The album includes what is probably the best known Willy DeVille song — “Storybook Love.” The song was the theme of the movie ''

The Princess Bride The Princess Bride may refer to: * ''The Princess Bride'' (novel), 1973 fantasy romance novel by American writer William Goldman William Goldman (August 12, 1931 – November 16, 2018) was an American novelist, playwright, and screenwriter. He ...

'' and was nominated for an

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

in 1987. DeVille performed it at that year's Academy Award ceremony. :Knopfler heard ("Storybook Love") and asked if I knew about this movie he was doing. It was a

Rob Reiner Robert Norman Reiner (born March 6, 1947) is an American actor and filmmaker. As an actor, Reiner first came to national prominence with the role of Michael "Meathead" Stivic on the CBS sitcom ''All in the Family'' (1971–1979), a performanc ...

film about a princess and a prince. The song was about the same subject matter as the film, so we submitted it to Reiner and he loved it. About six or seven months later, I was half asleep when the phone rang. It was the Academy of Arts and Sciences with the whole spiel. I hung up on them! They called back and Lisa (his wife) answered the phone. She came in to tell me that I was nominated for "Storybook Love." It's pretty wild. It's not the

Grammys The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

— it's the Academy Awards, which is different for a musician. Before I knew it, I was performing on the awards show with

Little Richard Richard Wayne Penniman (December 5, 1932 – May 9, 2020), known professionally as Little Richard, was an American musician, singer, and songwriter. He was an influential figure in popular music and culture for seven decades. Described as the " ...

. It was the year of ''

Dirty Dancing ''Dirty Dancing'' is a 1987 American romantic drama dance film written by Eleanor Bergstein, produced by Linda Gottlieb, and directed by Emile Ardolino. Starring Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey, it tells the story of Frances "Baby" Houseman ...

,'' and they won.

Critical Reviews

Trouser Press ''Trouser Press'' was a rock and roll magazine started in New York in 1974 as a mimeographed fanzine by editor/publisher Ira Robbins, fellow fan of the Who Dave Schulps and Karen Rose under the name "Trans-Oceanic Trouser Press" (a reference to ...

called the album's production “bland and gimmicky,” but added, “DeVille's seasoned voice is as strong and colorful as ever, putting the snappy 'Angel Eyes,' romantic 'Nightfalls' and

Van Morrison Sir George Ivan Morrison (born 31 August 1945), known professionally as Van Morrison, is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist whose recording career spans seven decades. He has won two Grammy Awards. As a teenager in t ...

's 'Could You Would You?' in the album's plus column.” Thom Jurek of

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

wrote, "There is a notable difference in production style thanks to Dire Strait Mark Knopfler at the helm, softening the edges a bit and changing the focus to DeVille as a singer of fine pop ballads. The set yielded a surprise sideways hit in the tune 'Storybook Love,' which Knopfler borrowed for his soundtrack to ''The Princess Bride'', but the album received little promotion or airplay. Too bad. The title track and the gorgeous 'Angel Eyes' offer great evidence for DeVille as a unique vocal stylist whose roots lay in the rock & roll of the

Doc Pomus Jerome Solon Felder (June 27, 1925 – March 14, 1991), known professionally as Doc Pomus, was an American blues singer and songwriter. He is best known as the co-writer of many rock and roll hits. Pomus was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall ...

generation, and 'Could You Would You,' written by Van Morrison, is one of DeVille's finest

cover songs In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or Sound recording and reproduction, recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referr ...

Other information

''Miracle'' was the first Willy DeVille record in which no

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to pr ...

is heard. About ''Miracle,'' DeVille told ''

Sounds In physics, sound is a vibration that propagates as an acoustic wave, through a transmission medium such as a gas, liquid or solid. In human physiology and psychology, sound is the ''reception'' of such waves and their ''perception'' by the ...

'' magazine, "This is the first album where I had left-overs. The doggy bag! I got good stuff on the record. I got good stuff off the record — 22 songs! I wrote and I wrote...it was a cakewalk. It was so easy. Of course we had some problems. It was so powerful, nothing could get in the way. We worked on the album for four or five months." DeVille said about the song "Heart and Soul": "It's a song about a couple who is very in love. They have no money, but someday they wanna get married in a big church and have a gold earring and new boots. And you wanna look so pretty for that girl... I think men always try to be so '

macho Machismo (; ; ; ) is the sense of being " manly" and self-reliant, a concept associated with "a strong sense of masculine pride: an exaggerated masculinity". Machismo is a term originating in the early 1930s and 1940s best defined as hav ...

'... I think that's very stupid. There's nothing wrong with being a pretty man. In fact, I can't wait until tomorrow, I'm getting better-looking everyday." The song "Assassin of Love" was used in the British film version of ''

The Rachel Papers ''The Rachel Papers'' is a 1989 British film written and directed by Damian Harris, and based on the 1973 novel of the same name by Martin Amis. It stars Dexter Fletcher and Ione Skye with Jonathan Pryce, James Spader, Bill Paterson, Jared ...

,'' which helped make Willy DeVille better known in the UK. It was also played extensively as the "sound check" song before most of the concerts during the band U2's 360° North American tour in 2009. The

Raven Records Raven Records was an Australian record label that specialised in retrospectives and reissues or recordings by American, British and Australian artists. Raven Records was established in 1979 by Glenn A. Baker, Kevin Mueller and Peter Shillito ...

CD re-issue of ''Miracle'' includes three

Jack Nitzsche Bernard Alfred "Jack" Nitzsche ( '; April 22, 1937 – August 25, 2000) was an American musician, arranger, songwriter, composer, and record producer. He first came to prominence in the early 1960s as the right-hand-man of producer Phil Spec ...

-produced songs recorded in 1980: "Heat Of The Moment," "Pullin' My String," and "It's So Easy." These songs were recorded for the soundtrack of the movie '' Cruising''. "It's So Easy" is also on the soundtrack of

Quentin Tarantino Quentin Jerome Tarantino (; born March 27, 1963) is an American film director, writer, producer, and actor. His films are characterized by stylized violence, extended dialogue, profanity, Black comedy, dark humor, Nonlinear narrative, non-lin ...

's movie '' Grindhouse: Death Proof.'' . DeVille made the original recording of "I Call Your Name" for this album. It appeared on a CD single with the song "Miracle" (Polyldor POCD 891). DeVille recorded a second, lusher, string-arranged version of "I Call Your Name" for his album ''

Backstreets of Desire ''Backstreets of Desire'' is an album by Willy DeVille. It was recorded in various Los Angeles recording studios in 1992. To make the album, DeVille was joined by many prominent musicians, including Dr. John, David Hidalgo of Los Lobos, Zachary Ri ...

'' (1992).

, a champion of DeVille's music, said of DeVille after learning he had been diagnosed with cancer, "I've been an admirer of Willy's since hearing his stunning voice on the radio for the first time. He has an enormous range, with influences from all corners of the country, from

Muddy Waters McKinley Morganfield (April 4, 1913 April 30, 1983), known professionally as Muddy Waters, was an American blues singer and musician who was an important figure in the post-war blues scene, and is often cited as the "father of modern Chicago b ...

and

John Lee Hooker John Lee Hooker (August 22, 1912 or 1917 – June 21, 2001) was an American blues singer, songwriter, and guitarist. The son of a sharecropper, he rose to prominence performing an electric guitar-style adaptation of Delta blues. Hooker often ...

and New Orleans music to Latin, folk-rock, doo-wop,

Ben E. King Benjamin Earl King (né Nelson; September 28, 1938 – April 30, 2015) was an American soul and R&B singer and record producer. He is best known as the singer and co-composer of " Stand by Me"—a US Top 10 hit, both in 1961 and later i ...

-style soul and R&B — all part of the New York mix. The songs he writes are original, often romantic and always straight from the heart. He can paint a character in a few words. When we worked on his ''Miracle'' album I enjoyed the occasional opportunity to offer a chord or two to go with his great lyrics."Marcus, Richard (August 7, 2009
"Willy DeVille: Rest in Peace."
(Retrieved 7-29-2014.)

Track listing

''Unless otherwise noted, all songs by Willy DeVille.'' # (Due to) Gun Control – 5:54 #* ''Willy DeVille on vocals,

on guitar,

on keyboards, Jamie Lane on drums, Margot Buchanan and

Vicki Brown Vicki Brown (23 August 1940 – 16 June 1991) was an English pop, rock and contemporary classical singer. She was a member of both The Vernons Girls and The Breakaways and was the first wife of fellow singer and musician Joe Brown and mother o ...

on background vocals'' # Could You Would You? (

) – 3:31 #* '' Willy DeVille on vocals, Mark Knopfler on guitar, Guy Fletcher on keyboards, Mickey Feat on bass, Errol Bennett on percussion,

on drums'' # Heart and Soul – 4:06 #* '' Willy DeVille on vocals, Mark Knopfler on guitar,

on guitar, Guy Fletcher on keyboards, Mickey Feat on bass, Margot Buchanan and Vicki Brown on background vocals, Errol Bennett on percussion'' # Assassin of Love – 4:09 #* '' Willy DeVille on vocals, Mark Knopfler on guitar, Guy Fletcher on keyboards, Jamie Lane on drums, Mickey Feat on bass, Margot Buchanan and Vicki Brown on background vocals, Errol Bennett on percussion'' # Spanish Jack (

) – 3:49 #* '' Willy DeVille on vocals, Mark Knopfler on guitar, Guy Fletcher on keyboards, Jamie Lane on drums, Mickey Feat on bass'' # Miracle – 4:51 #* '' Willy DeVille on vocals, Mark Knopfler on guitar, Guy Fletcher on keyboards, Mickey Feat on bass, Margot Buchanan and Vicki Brown on background vocals, Jeff Porcaro on drums'' # Angel Eyes – 4:48 #* '' Willy DeVille on vocals, Mark Knopfler on guitar, Guy Fletcher on keyboards, Jamie Lane on drums, Mickey Feat on bass, Errol Bennett on percussion'' # Nightfalls – 4:48 #* '' Willy DeVille on vocals, Mark Knopfler on guitar, Guy Fletcher on keyboards, Mickey Feat on bass'' # Southern Politician – 6:32 #* '' Willy DeVille on vocals, Mark Knopfler on guitar, Guy Fletcher on keyboards, Jamie Lane on drums, Mickey Feat on bass, Errol Bennett on percussion'' # Storybook Love – 4:26 #* '' Willy DeVille on vocals, Mark Knopfler on guitar, Guy Fletcher on keyboards, Jamie Lane on drums, Mickey Feat on bass''

Charts

Personnel

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

("Heart and Soul") * Errol "Crusher" Bennett -

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

background vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are used ...

* Margot Buchanan - background vocals *

- vocals, background vocals * Mickey Feat -

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

, background vocals *

keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

, background vocals *

- guitar * Jamie Lane - drums *

- drums ("Could You Would You?," "Miracle")

Production

Bob Clearmountain Bob Clearmountain (born January 15, 1953) is an American recording engineer, mixer and record producer. He has worked with many major acts, including Bruce Springsteen, the Rolling Stones, Toto, Bon Jovi and Bryan Adams, with whom he has a very ...

– mixing * Jay Healy - mixing assistant * Steve Jackson –

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...

–

producer Producer or producers may refer to: Occupations *Producer (agriculture), a farm operator *A stakeholder of economic production *Film producer, supervises the making of films **Executive producer, contributes to a film's budget and usually does not ...

* Karl Lever – assistant engineer * Melanie Nissen –

art direction Art director is the title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supervise and unify the visi ...

and design * Rocky Schenk –

photography Photography is the art, application, and practice of creating durable images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is employed ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Miracle (Willy Deville Album) 1987 albums Willy DeVille albums Albums produced by Mark Knopfler A&M Records albums