''It's Like This'' is an album by the
American
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, p ...
singer/songwriter
A singer-songwriter is a musician who writes, composes, and performs their own musical material, including lyrics and melodies. In the United States, the category is built on the folk- acoustic tradition with a guitar, although this role has ...
Rickie Lee Jones
Rickie Lee Jones (born November 8, 1954) is an American singer, musician, and songwriter. Over the course of a career that spans five decades and 15 studio albums, she has recorded in various musical styles including rock, R&B, pop, soul, an ...
, released in 2000. Like her 1991 album ''
Pop Pop
''Pop Pop'' is an album by the American musician Rickie Lee Jones, released in September 1991.
The album contains cover versions, ranging from jazz and blues standards to Tin Pan Alley to Jimi Hendrix's "Up from the Skies". It reached No. 8 ...
'', it is a covers record.
The album was nominated for a 2001 Best Pop Traditional Record
Grammy Award
The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...
.
Critical reception
''
The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...
'' wrote that "the album's most successful track is Jones's sinewy reading of Steely Dan's edgy missive, 'Show Biz Kids',
hich
Ij () is a village in Golabar Rural District of the Central District in Ijrud County, Zanjan province, Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq ...
kicks off with just terse triangle and Richard Davis's snaky bass, with Jones tapping into the caustic detachment and cool cynicism the song's writers always intended."
[
]
Track listing
#"Show Biz Kids
"Show Biz Kids" is a song composed by Walter Becker and Donald Fagen and performed by Steely Dan with Rick Derringer on slide guitar. It was the first single from Steely Dan's 1973 album '' Countdown to Ecstasy'', and reached number 61 on the B ...
" (Donald Fagen
Donald Jay Fagen (born January 10, 1948) is an American singer-songwriter and musician who is the co-founder, lead singer, co-songwriter, and keyboardist of the rock band Steely Dan, formed in the early 1970s with musical partner Walter Becker ...
, Walter Becker
Walter Carl Becker (February 20, 1950 – September 3, 2017) was an American musician, songwriter, and record producer. He was the co-founder, guitarist, bassist, and co-songwriter of the jazz rock band Steely Dan.Russonello, Giovanni,Listen to ...
) – 4:35
#" Trouble Man" (Marvin Gaye
Marvin Pentz Gaye Jr. (; April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984) was an American Rhythm and blues, R&B and soul singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. He helped shape the sound of Motown in the 1960s, first as an in-house session player an ...
) – 5:12
#"For No One
"For No One" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their 1966 album ''Revolver''. It was written by Paul McCartney, and credited to Lennon–McCartney. An early example of baroque pop drawing on both baroque music and nineteenth- ...
" (John Lennon
John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer-songwriter, musician and activist. He gained global fame as the founder, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the Beatles. Lennon's ...
, Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained global fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and the piano, and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John ...
) – 2:32
#"Smile
A smile is a facial expression formed primarily by flexing the muscles at the sides of the mouth. Some smiles include a contraction of the muscles at the corner of the eyes, an action known as a Duchenne smile.
Among humans, a smile expresses d ...
" (Charlie Chaplin
Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin (16 April 188925 December 1977) was an English comic actor, filmmaker, and composer who rose to fame in the era of silent film. He became a worldwide icon through his screen persona, the Tramp, and is considered o ...
, Geoffrey Parsons, John Turner
John Napier Wyndham Turner (June 7, 1929September 19, 2020) was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 17th prime minister of Canada from June to September 1984. He served as leader of the Liberal Party and leader of the Opposit ...
) – 1:49
#"The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys
''The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys'' is the fifth studio album by English rock band Traffic, released in 1971. The album was Traffic's most successful in the United States, reaching number 7 on the ''Billboard'' Top LPs chart and becoming the ...
" (Jim Capaldi
Nicola James Capaldi (2 August 1944 – 28 January 2005) was an English singer-songwriter and drummer. His musical career spanned more than four decades. He co-founded the progressive rock band Traffic in 1967 with Steve Winwood with whom he c ...
, Steve Winwood
Stephen Lawrence Winwood (born 12 May 1948) is an English musician and songwriter whose genres include blue-eyed soul, rhythm and blues, blues rock, and pop rock. Though primarily a guitarist, keyboard player, and vocalist prominent for his dis ...
) – 5:13
#"On the Street Where You Live
"On the Street Where You Live" is a song with music by Frederick Loewe and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner from the 1956 Broadway musical ''My Fair Lady''. It is sung in the musical by the character Freddy Eynsford-Hill, who was portrayed by John M ...
" (Alan Jay Lerner
Alan Jay Lerner (August 31, 1918 – June 14, 1986) was an American lyricist and librettist. In collaboration with Frederick Loewe, and later Burton Lane, he created some of the world's most popular and enduring works of musical theatre bot ...
, Frederick Loewe
Frederick Loewe ( ; born Friedrich "Fritz" Löwe, ; June 10, 1901 – February 14, 1988 ) – 3:26
#"I Can't Get Started
"I Can't Get Started", also known as "I Can't Get Started with You" or "I Can't Get Started (With You)", is a popular song. It was written in 1936 by Vernon Duke (music) and Ira Gershwin (lyrics) and introduced that year in the revue ''Ziegfeld Fo ...
" (Vernon Duke
Vernon Duke ( 16 January 1969) was a Russian-born American composer and songwriter who also wrote under his birth name, Vladimir Dukelsky. He is best known for " Taking a Chance on Love," with lyrics by Ted Fetter and John Latouche (1940), "I ...
, Ira Gershwin
Ira Gershwin (born Israel Gershovitz; December 6, 1896 – August 17, 1983) was an American lyricist who collaborated with his younger brother, composer George Gershwin, to create some of the most memorable songs in the English language of the ...
) – 4:30
#"Up a Lazy River
"(Up A) Lazy River" is a popular tune and song by Hoagy Carmichael and Sidney Arodin, published in 1930. The melody is by Arodin, arranged and with words modified by Carmichael. It is considered a jazz standard and pop standard, and has been ...
" (Hoagy Carmichael
Hoagland Howard "Hoagy" Carmichael (November 22, 1899 – December 27, 1981) was an American musician, composer, songwriter, actor, author and lawyer. Carmichael was one of the most successful Tin Pan Alley songwriters of the 1930s and 1940s, a ...
, Sidney Arodin
Sidney Arnandan or Arnondrin or Arnondin, better known as Sidney Arodin (March 29, 1901, Westwego, Louisiana - February 6, 1948, New Orleans) was an American jazz clarinetist and songwriter, best known for co-writing the pop standard "Lazy River" ...
) – 2:50
#" Someone to Watch Over Me" (George Gershwin
George Gershwin (; born Jacob Gershwine; September 26, 1898 – July 11, 1937) was an American composer and pianist whose compositions spanned jazz, popular music, popular and classical music. Among his best-known works are the songs "Swan ...
, Ira Gershwin) – 2:03
#"Cycles" (Gayle Caldwell) – 3:16
#"One Hand, One Heart
"One Hand, One Heart" is a song from the musical ''West Side Story'' by Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim. It is a duet sung between Maria and Tony while they have a make-believe wedding, as seen in the stage version and 1961 film, while in t ...
" (Leonard Bernstein
Leonard Bernstein ( ; born Louis Bernstein; August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, pianist, music educator, author, and humanitarian. Considered to be one of the most important conductors of his time, he was th ...
) – 1:58
Personnel
*Rickie Lee Jones – vocals, guitar, organ
*Bruce Brody
''Easter'' is the third studio album by American musician Patti Smith, and the second release where her backing band Patti Smith Group is billed. It was released in March 1978 by Arista Records. Produced by Jimmy Iovine, the album is regarded as ...
– organ
*John Pizzarelli
John Paul Pizzarelli Jr. (born April 6, 1960) is an American jazz guitarist and vocalist. He has recorded over twenty solo albums and has appeared on more than forty albums by other recording artists, including Paul McCartney, James Taylor, Ros ...
– acoustic guitar
* Alex Foster – saxophone
*Jeff Dellisanti – bass clarinet
*Conrad Herwig
Lee Conrad Herwig III (born November 1, 1959) is an American jazz trombonist from New York City.
Biography
Herwig began his career in Clark Terry's band in the early 1980s and has been a featured member in the Joe Henderson Sextet, Tom Harrell's ...
– trombone
* Richard Davis – acoustic bass
*Paul Nowinski – acoustic bass
*Mike Elizondo
Michael A. Elizondo Jr. (born October 22, 1972) is an American producer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. A protégé of Dr. Dre, Elizondo has worked with 50 Cent, Eminem, Linkin Park, Carrie Underwood, Fiona Apple, Mastodon, Ry Cooder ...
– acoustic bass
*Peter Erskine
Peter Clark Erskine (born June 5, 1954) is an American jazz drummer who was a member of the jazz fusion groups Weather Report and Steps Ahead.
Early life and education
Erskine was born in Somers Point, New Jersey, U.S. He began playing the d ...
– drums
* Carl Allen – drums
*Rick Marotta
Richard Thomas Marotta (born January 7, 1948) is an American drummer and percussionist. He has appeared on recordings by leading artists such as Aretha Franklin, Carly Simon, Steely Dan, James Taylor, Paul Simon, John Lennon, Hall & Oates, Ste ...
– drums
*Bashiri Johnson
Bashiri Johnson (born May 12, 1955) is an American percussionist, whose work has appeared on many records, as well as in commercials, films, television, video games, and concert performances. He is known to be one of the most recorded percussio ...
– percussion
* Joe Jackson – piano, backing vocals on "Show Biz Kids", and "For No One"
*Ben Folds
Benjamin Scott Folds (born September 12, 1966) is an American singer-songwriter from Winston-Salem, North Carolina. After playing in several small independent bands throughout the late 80s and into the early 90s, Folds came to prominence as the f ...
– piano on "Low Spark of High Heeled Boys", duet vocal "One Hand, One Heart"
*Ben Folds, Dan Hicks, Taj Mahal
The Taj Mahal ( ; ; ) is an ivory-white marble mausoleum on the right bank of the river Yamuna in Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India. It was commissioned in 1631 by the fifth Mughal Empire, Mughal emperor, Shah Jahan () to house the tomb of his belo ...
– backing vocals on "Up a Lazy River"
;Technical
*Ben Sidran
Ben Hirsh Sidran (born August 14, 1943) is an American jazz and rock keyboardist, producer, label owner, and music writer. Early in his career he was a member of the Steve Miller Band and is the father of Grammy-nominated musician, composer and ...
– co-producer (tracks: 1, 6–8, 10)
*Barry Goldberg, James Farber, Larry Alexander, Rob Smith – engineer
*Lee Cantelon – art direction, photography
Chart positions
References
External links
Discography at Rickie Lee Jones official web site.
{{Authority control
2000 albums
Rickie Lee Jones albums
Artemis Records albums
2000s covers albums