''Sportin’ Life'' is the sixth and final studio album by the

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

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 ...

, released in 1985. Since the band's third album, 1981's ''

Le Chat Bleu ''Le Chat Bleu'' is the third album by the rock band Mink DeVille, released in 1980. The album received critical acclaim and elevated lead singer and composer Willy DeVille to star status. The ''Rolling Stone'' critics' poll ranked ''Le Chat Bleu' ...

,'' when the original members of the band departed, lead singer and composer

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 ...

had been assembling musicians to record and tour under the name Mink DeVille. After ''Sportin’ Life,'' Willy DeVille began recording and touring under his own name. The album was recorded for

Polydor Polydor Records Ltd. is a German-British record label that operates as part of Universal Music Group. It has a close relationship with Universal's Interscope Geffen A&M Records label, which distributes Polydor's releases in the United States. ...

at the

Muscle Shoals Sound Studio Muscle Shoals Sound Studio is an American recording studio in Sheffield, Alabama, formed in 1969 by four session musicians known as The Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section. They had left nearby FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals to create their own recor ...

in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. As he had done on ''Le Chat Bleu,'' DeVille wrote some songs with the

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), sometimes simply referred to as the Rock Hall, is a museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and othe ...

member

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 ...

. Members of

the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section The Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section is a group of American session musicians based in the northern Alabama town of Muscle Shoals. One of the most prominent American studio house bands from the 1960s to the 1980s, these musicians, individually or as ...

— Roger Hawkins (drums),

David Hood David Hood (born September 21, 1943) is an American bassist from Muscle Shoals, Alabama. He also plays the trombone. He is a member of the Alabama Music Hall of Fame. Early life and education Hood was born in Sheffield, Alabama and attende ...

(bass), and Jimmy Johnson (guitar) — played on the album. Except for saxophonist Louis Cortelezzi, none of the musicians had played with Willy DeVille before. The song “Italian Shoes” was a hit in Europe.

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 ...

said about the album, “''Sportin' Life'' maintains (high) standards with a set of brand-new oldies that effortlessly evoke the bygone era of sweet

soul music Soul music is a popular music genre that originated in the African American community throughout the United States in the late 1950s and early 1960s. It has its roots in African-American gospel music and rhythm and blues. Soul music became po ...

. 'Something Beautiful Dying' (note

The Righteous Brothers The Righteous Brothers are an American musical duo originally formed by Bill Medley and Bobby Hatfield but now comprising Medley and Bucky Heard. Medley formed the group with Hatfield in 1963. They had first performed together in 1962 in the Los ...

reference) is tenderly melancholic; 'Little by Little' tries barrelhouse

rockabilly Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music. It dates back to the early 1950s in the United States, especially the Southern United States, South. As a genre it blends the sound of Western music (North America), Western music ...

; 'Italian Shoes' is classic bad dude strutting. Apt self-production and a sharp backing band make this first-rate.”

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 ...

thought that the album suffered from overproduction and a lack of verve: "''Sportin' Life'' is for the hardcore fan only, one who can appreciate DeVille’s canny and soulful songwriting that almost gets through this abortion of a production job.” However,

David Wild David Wild (born December 16, 1961) is an American writer and critic in the music and television industries and a contributing editor at ''Rolling Stone'' magazine. His published books include ''Friends: The Official Companion'' (1995), ''Seinf ...

of ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'' praised ''Sportin' Life,'' calling it "the most modern, polished sound of (Willy DeVille's) career." He added, "Pushed to center stage, DeVille delivers, singing with more passion and more personality than ever before... The songwriting is uniformly solid. 'In the Heart of the City' takes DeVille down a side street of Springsteen's musical neighborhood, and the album-closing 'Something Beautiful Is Dying' is a wonderfully overwrought ballad of heartbreaking elegance."Wild, David (March 27, 1986) "Sportin' Life: Mink DeVille." ''

'', p. 114-115.

Collaboration with Doc Pomus

In ''Lonely Avenue,'' a biography of Doc Pomus,

Alex Halberstadt Alex Halberstadt is an American nonfiction writer and journalist. He grew up in Moscow and in 1980 came to the United States, where he and his family settled in New York City. He attended Stuyvesant High School, Oberlin College and Columbia Univers ...

wrote about the DeVille-Pomus composition "Something Beautiful Dying":

Track listing

''Unless otherwise noted, all songs by Willy DeVille.'' # “In the Heart of the City“ - 3:19 # “I Must Be Dreaming“ - 4:21 # “Italian Shoes“ - 4:23 # “Slip Away“ - 4:06 # “When You Walk My Way“ - (

) - 3:24 # “A Woman's Touch“ - 3:18 # “Easy Street“ - 3:30 # “Little By Little“ - 2:28 # “There's No Living (Without Your Loving)“ - (Jerry Harris, Paul Kaufman) - 3:21 # “Something Beautiful Dying“ – (Willy DeVille, Doc Pomus) - 3:39

Charts

Personnel

*Ava Aldridge -

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 ...

*Albert Boekholt -

emulator In computing, an emulator is Computer hardware, hardware or software that enables one computer system (called the ''host'') to behave like another computer system (called the ''guest''). An emulator typically enables the host system to run so ...

*Mickey Buckins - percussion *Duncan Cameron - guitar,

cuatro Cuatro is Spanish language, Spanish (and other Romance languages) for the 4 (number), number four. Cuatro may also refer to: * Cuatro (instrument), name for two distinct Latin American instruments, one from Puerto Rico (see cuatro (Puerto Rico), ...

, background vocals *Louis Cortelezzi -

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 ...

- vocals, background vocals * Roger Hawkins -

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

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 ...

Jim Horn James Ronald Horn (born November 20, 1940) is an American saxophonist, woodwind player, and session musician. Biography Horn was born in Los Angeles, and after replacing saxophonist Steve Douglas in 1959, he toured with member Duane Eddy for f ...

- saxophone * Wayne Jackson - trumpet * Jimmy Johnson - guitar *Boris Kinberg - percussion *Micro Mini - background vocals *

Steve Nathan Steven Jay Nathan is an American keyboardist. He is known for his session work in Muscle Shoals and Nashville studios. Biography Nathan was born and raised in Buffalo, New York. In 1977, Nathan moved to Muscle Shoals, Alabama. After touring wit ...

- keyboards *Cindy Richardson - background vocals *Charles Rose -

trombone The trombone (german: Posaune, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the Brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's vibrating lips cause the Standing wave, air column ...

*Harvey Thompson - saxophone *Mink DeVille Band (Kenny Margolis, Ricky Borgia, Louis Cortelezzi, Boris Kinberg, Shawn Murray,

Bob Curiano Bob Curiano is an American musician, songwriter and producer, who performs primarily on guitar, bass and vocals. Since 2015 he performs with Rainbow using the name Bob Nouveau. During 2000 to 2006 he performed and recorded with Blackmore's Night ...

) *

Joe Elliott Joseph Thomas "Joe" Elliott (born 1 August 1959) is an English–Irish rock singer, best known as the lead singer and one of the founding members of the hard rock band Def Leppard. He has also been the lead singer of the David Bowie tribute ba ...

Steve Clark ''yes'Steve is a masculine given name, usually a short form (hypocorism) of Steven or Stephen Notable people with the name include: steve jops * Steve Abbott (disambiguation), several people * Steve Adams (disambiguation), several people * Steve ...

, &

Phil Collen Philip Kenneth Collen (born 8 December 1957) is an English musician who is best known as the co-lead guitarist for the rock band Def Leppard, joining the band in 1982 during the recording of the ''Pyromania'' album. Prior to joining Def Leppa ...

Def Leppard Def Leppard are an English rock band formed in 1976 in Sheffield. Since 1992, the band has consisted of Rick Savage (bass, backing vocals), Joe Elliott (lead vocals), Rick Allen (drums, backing vocals), Phil Collen (guitar, backing vocals), a ...

provided backing vocals for "Italian Shoes".

Production

* Michael Barnett -

executive producer Executive producer (EP) is one of the top positions in the making of a commercial entertainment product. Depending on the medium, the executive producer may be concerned with management accounting or associated with legal issues (like copyrights o ...

* Duncan Cameron -

co-producer A film producer is a person who oversees film production. Either employed by a production company or working Independent film, independently, producers plan and coordinate various aspects of film production, such as selecting the script, coordina ...

* Willy DeVille - producer * Ronald Prent -

recording engineer An audio engineer (also known as a sound engineer or recording engineer) helps to produce a recording or a live performance, balancing and adjusting sound sources using equalization, dynamics processing and audio effects, mixing, reproduction, ...

* Charles Rose -

arranger In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orches ...

* Greg Smith - arranger

References

{{Authority control 1985 albums Mink DeVille albums Polydor Records albums Albums recorded at Muscle Shoals Sound Studio