Jim Colyer
Any Man Of Mine http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8N2k-gv6xNE
Still The One http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-w5bqr7aq9Q
Honey I'm Home http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7D3U1M4o57c
That Don't Impress Me Much http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqFLXayD6e8
Man! I Feel Like A Woman! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJL4UGSbeFg
Shania official http://www.shaniatwain.com
Shania's real name is Eilleen Edwards. She was born on August 28, 1965, and grew up in Timmins, Ontario, Canada. Timmins is 500 miles north of Toronto. Shania's parents divorced when she was two, and she never knew her father. Her mother married an Indian named Jerry Twain. Their family struggled for necessities, and Shania remembered growing up hungry. She hunted rabbits and cut trees in the wilderness. From the age of 8, she played guitar and wrote songs. Her mother encouraged her. She woke Shania from her sleep to perform in bars around Timmins after alcohol quit being served. Shania learned to feel comfortable in front of an audience. Mary Bailey, a Canadian singer, took her under her wing and became her manager. For a while Shania honed her skills at an Ontario resort called Deerhurst. It was there that she was dubbed "Shania," meaning "on my way." A tragedy occurred when Shania was 21. Her mother and stepfather were hit head on and killed by a logging truck. It was hard work and sacrifice as Shania's "family" became her responsibility.
Finally, Mary and a Nashville attorney engineered a deal with Mercury Records. Shania's first CD was run-of-the-mill, produced by long-time Music Row guy Norro Wilson. Norro was old school, and it showed. The Nashville method was for a producer and his artist to collect songs from publishers and to record them in one of a handful of studios using the same musicians who played for everybody. It was a stale system and the reason country music all sounded alike. There was nothing about Shania's first album to recommend it, and Mercury was going to drop her.
Enter Robert John "Mutt" Lange! Mutt was a rock producer from South Africa. He had money; he had connections. By chance he saw one of Shania's videos on television. He saw and heard something no one else did. It was Shania's body, her movements, her grace. He heard the sensuality in her voice. He attempted to reach her by phone and finally connected. Conversations began. Mutt wanted to produce Shania and wanted her to record her own songs. That did it! Romance bloomed, and the couple married in December, 1993.
Work began on The Woman In Me. Mutt spent a million dollars, and they recorded in Nashville. There had never been a country album like it. It was country infused with a pop and rock spirit. Shania and Mutt co-wrote. Their songs were instant classics. Any Man Of Mine became Shania's signature. (If You're Not In It For Love) I'm Outta Here! rocked! Country radio reluctantly played Whose Bed Have Your Boots Been Under? This was risque stuff for Nashville. So was Shania's belly button. She was Elvis reborn as a woman. She was sexy and not afraid to flaunt it.
Shania held off touring. She declined to open for established Nashville acts, which was the accepted way. Mutt Lange knew what he had. He wanted to build a catalog of songs that would fill a two-hour concert. Shania had superstar potential.
Mutt was 16 years older than Shania. He remembered the golden era and the great songs of Elvis, The Beatles and ABBA. He and Shania penned 16 gems for their second album, Come On Over. It was released in November, 1997, and went on to become the biggest selling record ever by a female artist, selling 40 million. It dominated the airwaves 1998-2000. Single after single went number one: Love Gets Me Everytime, Don't Be Stupid, Honey I'm Home, That Don't Impress Me Much, Man! I Feel Like A Woman! Girls around the country sang Shania nightly in karaoke bars. 1998 was to her what 1956 was to Elvis.
When Shania did tour, she was ready. The concerts consisted of wall-to-wall hits. Her band showed cultural diversity, musicians who deferred to her stardom. They played the Nashville Arena in September, 1998, and I was there with my son Michael. It was an orgy of music and energy. In her prime, Shania was carried aloft through the crowd as if she were Cleopatra. Fans reached, hoping to touch. It was Bill Clinton's presidency at its hedonistic zenith.
Nashville was jealous of Shania's success. Ultimately, common sense prevailed, and the Country Music Association voted her Entertainer of the Year for 1999. It is their most prestigious award. She had done it: books, magazines, endorsements. It was all there. The girl who ate rabbits was wealthy beyond her wildest dreams. But her anonymity and privacy were gone. She and Mutt sold their property in upstate New York and moved to Switzerland. The economy sagged in 2000, and Shania disappeared. New songs had to be written.
Motherhood was next. Mutt and Shania took time out from their fairytale careers to become parents. Their son Eja was born, August 12, 2001. Mutt was married before but had no kids. He vowed never to marry again. Shania gave him reason to.
The Chicago concert in July, 2003, kicked off a second world tour. Up Close & Personal, taped in Nashville, simulated Elvis' 1968 Comeback Special. Shania was making an effort with the powers in country music even while they resisted the Up! CD. Radio did not want to play it, and there were no #1s. Forever And For Always peaked at #4. The video had Shania on a beach. She was still beautiful. Up! did one thing that Come On Over did not. It reached #1 on Billboard's pop album chart.
Up! was a progression. The couple had evolved musically. There were good songs on Up! even if Nashville considered it too artsy. C'est La Vie proved conclusively that Shania and Mutt descended from ABBA. Notes in the chorus are identical to notes in the chorus of Dancing Queen. The CD had a disco feel with classical riffs. Politics had changed drastically from Clinton to George W. Bush as 9/11 put America on a conservative course. Still, Shania partied into the 21st century, becoming the only woman with three consecutive albums topping the 10 million mark. On the strength of three records, she stood with Elvis, The Beatles and ABBA as the Big Four.
Shania's catalog is thematic. Her lyrics are female. She is the consummate libber, dealing with the concerns of women: men, looks, money, clothes, work, bosses, fun, hair, weight, food and cars. Shania is Everywoman. In one respect, she differed. She broke loose from men her own age and married a father figure, a man who could elevate her career to the level she deserved.
It came out in 2008 that Shania caught Mutt in an affair with his secretary. They divorced. Once again, Shania followed the path of Elvis, The Beatles and ABBA.
Shania signed a two-year deal with Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas. She will do 60 shows beginning in December, 2012.
SHANIA'S AUTOBIOGRAPHY - MY THOUGHTS
Truth comes out. Shania Twain's autobiography, titled "From This Moment On," has little in common with the promotional bios that came out in the late 90s. The fairytale is over. I was impressed that Shania wrote this book by herself, without help from a seasoned author. She is articulate. Wordy. It is almost as if she is writing to and for no one, just putting down her life as it happened. To begin with, her real name is Eileen Edwards. Not Shania Twain. Her mother married an Indian named Jerry Twain after she and Eileen's father divorced. One thing that irked me was how Shania (Eileen) kept referring to Jerry as her dad. She beat it like a drum as if trying to convince herself. "My dad. My dad. My dad." "My father, My father. My father." I felt like throwing the book across the room and screaming, "He's not your father!" I found myself talking to the picture on the cover. She does not look like that, but it is a beautiful image. Shania paints a different picture of family life from the ones in previous bios. Her "family" was dysfunctional. There was not enough money to pay bills. There was never enough food, and Shania was jealous of kids who were well fed. Jerry and Shania's mother argued. They fought. And the fights got physical. Jerry was abusive both to Shania and her mother. He would drag her mother out of bed by her arm while she was in the throes of depression. At age 14, Shania insisted that they leave Jerry. Shania and her mother fled to Toronto without letting Jerry know where they were. Shania met her first love and went on the pill. She matured early, performing in bars and living in an adult world. Sex, alcohol and drugs were everywhere. Finally, she and her mother went home to Timmins.
Shania writes about the frustration with her first album for Mercury. The songs were no good, and she knew it. The fairytale began when Mutt Lange showed up. The Woman In Me, Come On Over & Up! were a phenomenon. Their success exceeded her dreams. It was also hectic. A blur! Shania got what she wanted but attests to the loneliness and isolation of fame. Shania and Mutt ran out of songs after Up! and since their marriage was based on music, it had to end.
Shania knew she and Mutt were drifting apart. He made the first move. If he had not, she would have. Of course it hurt her pride, something she has plenty of. Shania did not blame Mutt. She blamed Marie-Anne. Traitor! Backstabber! Truth be told, Shania and Mutt left each other. Their era ended in an affair for him and in hatred and confusion for Shania. There was only one road ahead for her. She had to rework her catalog of classic hits and head for Las Vegas in a 90s revival. Shania was the female Elvis and had to re-assume that role. She had to marry Fred, Marie-Anne's jilted husband. The two were cemented by fate and mutual pain. Shania, Mutt, Fred and Marie-Anne switched partners! It was bizarre!
Still The One http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-w5bqr7aq9Q
Honey I'm Home http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7D3U1M4o57c
That Don't Impress Me Much http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqFLXayD6e8
Man! I Feel Like A Woman! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJL4UGSbeFg
Shania official http://www.shaniatwain.com
Shania's real name is Eilleen Edwards. She was born on August 28, 1965, and grew up in Timmins, Ontario, Canada. Timmins is 500 miles north of Toronto. Shania's parents divorced when she was two, and she never knew her father. Her mother married an Indian named Jerry Twain. Their family struggled for necessities, and Shania remembered growing up hungry. She hunted rabbits and cut trees in the wilderness. From the age of 8, she played guitar and wrote songs. Her mother encouraged her. She woke Shania from her sleep to perform in bars around Timmins after alcohol quit being served. Shania learned to feel comfortable in front of an audience. Mary Bailey, a Canadian singer, took her under her wing and became her manager. For a while Shania honed her skills at an Ontario resort called Deerhurst. It was there that she was dubbed "Shania," meaning "on my way." A tragedy occurred when Shania was 21. Her mother and stepfather were hit head on and killed by a logging truck. It was hard work and sacrifice as Shania's "family" became her responsibility.
Finally, Mary and a Nashville attorney engineered a deal with Mercury Records. Shania's first CD was run-of-the-mill, produced by long-time Music Row guy Norro Wilson. Norro was old school, and it showed. The Nashville method was for a producer and his artist to collect songs from publishers and to record them in one of a handful of studios using the same musicians who played for everybody. It was a stale system and the reason country music all sounded alike. There was nothing about Shania's first album to recommend it, and Mercury was going to drop her.
Enter Robert John "Mutt" Lange! Mutt was a rock producer from South Africa. He had money; he had connections. By chance he saw one of Shania's videos on television. He saw and heard something no one else did. It was Shania's body, her movements, her grace. He heard the sensuality in her voice. He attempted to reach her by phone and finally connected. Conversations began. Mutt wanted to produce Shania and wanted her to record her own songs. That did it! Romance bloomed, and the couple married in December, 1993.
Work began on The Woman In Me. Mutt spent a million dollars, and they recorded in Nashville. There had never been a country album like it. It was country infused with a pop and rock spirit. Shania and Mutt co-wrote. Their songs were instant classics. Any Man Of Mine became Shania's signature. (If You're Not In It For Love) I'm Outta Here! rocked! Country radio reluctantly played Whose Bed Have Your Boots Been Under? This was risque stuff for Nashville. So was Shania's belly button. She was Elvis reborn as a woman. She was sexy and not afraid to flaunt it.
Shania held off touring. She declined to open for established Nashville acts, which was the accepted way. Mutt Lange knew what he had. He wanted to build a catalog of songs that would fill a two-hour concert. Shania had superstar potential.
Mutt was 16 years older than Shania. He remembered the golden era and the great songs of Elvis, The Beatles and ABBA. He and Shania penned 16 gems for their second album, Come On Over. It was released in November, 1997, and went on to become the biggest selling record ever by a female artist, selling 40 million. It dominated the airwaves 1998-2000. Single after single went number one: Love Gets Me Everytime, Don't Be Stupid, Honey I'm Home, That Don't Impress Me Much, Man! I Feel Like A Woman! Girls around the country sang Shania nightly in karaoke bars. 1998 was to her what 1956 was to Elvis.
When Shania did tour, she was ready. The concerts consisted of wall-to-wall hits. Her band showed cultural diversity, musicians who deferred to her stardom. They played the Nashville Arena in September, 1998, and I was there with my son Michael. It was an orgy of music and energy. In her prime, Shania was carried aloft through the crowd as if she were Cleopatra. Fans reached, hoping to touch. It was Bill Clinton's presidency at its hedonistic zenith.
Nashville was jealous of Shania's success. Ultimately, common sense prevailed, and the Country Music Association voted her Entertainer of the Year for 1999. It is their most prestigious award. She had done it: books, magazines, endorsements. It was all there. The girl who ate rabbits was wealthy beyond her wildest dreams. But her anonymity and privacy were gone. She and Mutt sold their property in upstate New York and moved to Switzerland. The economy sagged in 2000, and Shania disappeared. New songs had to be written.
Motherhood was next. Mutt and Shania took time out from their fairytale careers to become parents. Their son Eja was born, August 12, 2001. Mutt was married before but had no kids. He vowed never to marry again. Shania gave him reason to.
The Chicago concert in July, 2003, kicked off a second world tour. Up Close & Personal, taped in Nashville, simulated Elvis' 1968 Comeback Special. Shania was making an effort with the powers in country music even while they resisted the Up! CD. Radio did not want to play it, and there were no #1s. Forever And For Always peaked at #4. The video had Shania on a beach. She was still beautiful. Up! did one thing that Come On Over did not. It reached #1 on Billboard's pop album chart.
Up! was a progression. The couple had evolved musically. There were good songs on Up! even if Nashville considered it too artsy. C'est La Vie proved conclusively that Shania and Mutt descended from ABBA. Notes in the chorus are identical to notes in the chorus of Dancing Queen. The CD had a disco feel with classical riffs. Politics had changed drastically from Clinton to George W. Bush as 9/11 put America on a conservative course. Still, Shania partied into the 21st century, becoming the only woman with three consecutive albums topping the 10 million mark. On the strength of three records, she stood with Elvis, The Beatles and ABBA as the Big Four.
Shania's catalog is thematic. Her lyrics are female. She is the consummate libber, dealing with the concerns of women: men, looks, money, clothes, work, bosses, fun, hair, weight, food and cars. Shania is Everywoman. In one respect, she differed. She broke loose from men her own age and married a father figure, a man who could elevate her career to the level she deserved.
It came out in 2008 that Shania caught Mutt in an affair with his secretary. They divorced. Once again, Shania followed the path of Elvis, The Beatles and ABBA.
Shania signed a two-year deal with Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas. She will do 60 shows beginning in December, 2012.
SHANIA'S AUTOBIOGRAPHY - MY THOUGHTS
Truth comes out. Shania Twain's autobiography, titled "From This Moment On," has little in common with the promotional bios that came out in the late 90s. The fairytale is over. I was impressed that Shania wrote this book by herself, without help from a seasoned author. She is articulate. Wordy. It is almost as if she is writing to and for no one, just putting down her life as it happened. To begin with, her real name is Eileen Edwards. Not Shania Twain. Her mother married an Indian named Jerry Twain after she and Eileen's father divorced. One thing that irked me was how Shania (Eileen) kept referring to Jerry as her dad. She beat it like a drum as if trying to convince herself. "My dad. My dad. My dad." "My father, My father. My father." I felt like throwing the book across the room and screaming, "He's not your father!" I found myself talking to the picture on the cover. She does not look like that, but it is a beautiful image. Shania paints a different picture of family life from the ones in previous bios. Her "family" was dysfunctional. There was not enough money to pay bills. There was never enough food, and Shania was jealous of kids who were well fed. Jerry and Shania's mother argued. They fought. And the fights got physical. Jerry was abusive both to Shania and her mother. He would drag her mother out of bed by her arm while she was in the throes of depression. At age 14, Shania insisted that they leave Jerry. Shania and her mother fled to Toronto without letting Jerry know where they were. Shania met her first love and went on the pill. She matured early, performing in bars and living in an adult world. Sex, alcohol and drugs were everywhere. Finally, she and her mother went home to Timmins.
Shania writes about the frustration with her first album for Mercury. The songs were no good, and she knew it. The fairytale began when Mutt Lange showed up. The Woman In Me, Come On Over & Up! were a phenomenon. Their success exceeded her dreams. It was also hectic. A blur! Shania got what she wanted but attests to the loneliness and isolation of fame. Shania and Mutt ran out of songs after Up! and since their marriage was based on music, it had to end.
Shania knew she and Mutt were drifting apart. He made the first move. If he had not, she would have. Of course it hurt her pride, something she has plenty of. Shania did not blame Mutt. She blamed Marie-Anne. Traitor! Backstabber! Truth be told, Shania and Mutt left each other. Their era ended in an affair for him and in hatred and confusion for Shania. There was only one road ahead for her. She had to rework her catalog of classic hits and head for Las Vegas in a 90s revival. Shania was the female Elvis and had to re-assume that role. She had to marry Fred, Marie-Anne's jilted husband. The two were cemented by fate and mutual pain. Shania, Mutt, Fred and Marie-Anne switched partners! It was bizarre!