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Pop
Hot Ticket
By GINA VIVINETTO, Times Pop Music Critic
© St. Petersburg Times
published April 24, 2003
Perseverance pays off in a big way
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Pop princess and perennial Grammy favorite Sheryl Crow has been churning out hits since 1993's breakthrough smash All I Wanna Do.
Most of Crow's hits -- A Change Would Do You Good, Everyday Is A Winding Road, Soak Up The Sun -- have had a similar summery feel-good vibe, but the 41-year-old tackled tougher terrain on If It Makes You Happy and My Favorite Mistake, which may or may not be about her brief, ill-fated affair with guitar god Eric Clapton.
Crow got her start writing songs at 13. Growing up in a musical family -- dad was a trumpeter, mom a singer -- Crow majored in music in college and later taught music to autistic kids before finding work writing advertising jingles.
Crow, however, had her sights set on the big time, so she packed up her gear and hauled bootie to Los Angeles, where she found work as a backing singer on Michael Jackson's Bad tour. Ms. Persistence kept writing material, selling tunes to big names Wynonna Judd, Celine Dion and future paramour Clapton. Finally, the girl got a recording deal, released the surprise smash Tuesday Night Music Club and has ever since been in the hearts and minds of the pop mainstream.
Sheryl Crow performs at 8 p.m. Tuesday at Ruth Eckerd Hall, 1111 McMullen-Booth Rd., Clearwater. Sold out. (727) 791-7400.
-- GINA VIVINETTO, Times pop music critic
It all starts with jazz
Coachman Park in Clearwater this weekend hosts a wide variety of music. On Friday and Saturday smooth jazz enthusiasts can sit outdoors enjoying the Smooth Jazz Fest featuring fusion trumpeter Rick Braun, South African guitarist Jonathan Butler and St. Petersburg native Mindi Abair, above, among others.
On Sunday the park celebrates its "Fun N Sun Anniversary" with a lineup so diverse, it's kooky! But, hey, doesn't that only improve the odds that more than one member of your family will be entertained? The roster: rock crooner Eddie Money, whose hits include Take Me Home Tonight, Two Tickets to Paradise and Shakin', teen pop hunks O-Town, Motown legends the Four Tops and crunchy classic rockers Bachman Turner Overdrive (BTO), who most certainly will be Takin' Care of Business. Plus, there's an appearance by Disco Inferno. See? Right there, half my family would be satisfied.
The Smooth Jazz Fest kicks off at 2 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Tickets are $27-$42. "Fun N Sun" begins at noon Sunday. Tickets are $8. (813) 287-8844.
-- GINA VIVINETTO, Times pop music critic
A timeless trio
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Crosby, Stills and Nash are three-fourths of the legendary 1960s acoustic folk group, that fourth cat being Neil Young, who brings his act to our neck of the woods in June.
For three decades, the trio has been delighting fans with superfine, delicate harmonies on classics such as Teach Your Children, Wooden Ships, Suite: Judy Blue Eyes and Marrakesh Express. Its roots are in some of the most influential rock acts of the 1960s; Stephen Stills got his start in the legendary Buffalo Springfield, David Crosby in the Byrds and Graham Nash in the Hollies. All three, musically and personally, have seen their share of ups and downs over the years; Crosby's bouts with drug and alcohol abuse were tabloid fodder for years. Happily, Crosby has been sober for a long time, but three years ago he got his name in the papers again when we learned that he was the proud papa, via sperm donation, of the children of Melissa Etheridge and Julie Cypher.
Anyway, CSN's tunes remain timeless. The trio has written tenderly of love and powerfully of the importance of all of us being decent human beings. Can you find a pop song more grateful for love and simple joys than the sweet, elegant Our House?
- Our house is a very, very fine house
- with two cats in the yard
- life used to be so hard
- now everything is easy 'cause of you.
Crosby, Stills and Nash perform at 8 p.m. Wednesday at Ruth Eckerd Hall, 1111 McMullen-Booth Road, Clearwater. $65-$75. (727) 791-7400.
-- GINA VIVINETTO, Times pop music critic
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