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Miracle (Willy DeVille album)
Encyclopedia
Miracle is an album by Willy DeVille
. Recorded in 1987, it was the first album that Willy DeVille
recorded under his own name. Prior to Miracle, DeVille recorded six albums with the band Mink DeVille
, 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
and produced by Dire Straits
guitarist Mark Knopfler
, who also co-wrote the song “Spanish Jack” with DeVille. Dire Straits keyboardist Guy Fletcher
, like Knopfler, played on all songs. Two highly regarded session musicians, guitarist Chet Atkins
and drummer Jeff Porcaro
, also played on the album.
DeVille told Leap in the Dark:
and was nominated for an Academy Award in 1987. DeVille performed it at that year’s Academy Award ceremony.
Trouser Press
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
's 'Could You Would You?' in the album's plus column.”
Thom Jurek of Allmusic 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
generation, and 'Could You Would You,' written by Van Morrison, is one of DeVille's finest cover songs
."
is heard.
About Miracle, DeVille told Sounds
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
'... 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
, 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
CD re-issue of Miracle includes three Jack Nitzsche
-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
'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
(1992).
Mark Knopfler
was a champion of DeVille's music and said of him upon hearing of his being diagnosed with cancer, "Ive 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 and John Lee Hooker and New Orleans music to Latin, folk-rock, doo-wop, Ben E. King 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"
Willy DeVille
Willy DeVille was an American singer and songwriter. During his thirty-five year career, first with his band Mink DeVille and later on his own, Deville created original songs rooted in traditional American musical styles. He worked with collaborators from across the spectrum of contemporary...
. Recorded in 1987, it was the first album that Willy DeVille
Willy DeVille
Willy DeVille was an American singer and songwriter. During his thirty-five year career, first with his band Mink DeVille and later on his own, Deville created original songs rooted in traditional American musical styles. He worked with collaborators from across the spectrum of contemporary...
recorded under his own name. Prior to Miracle, DeVille recorded six albums with the band Mink DeVille
Mink DeVille
Mink DeVille was a rock band 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. Except for frontman Willy DeVille, the original members of the band played...
, 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
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
and produced by Dire Straits
Dire Straits
Dire Straits were a British rock band active from 1977 to 1995, composed of Mark Knopfler , his younger brother David Knopfler , John Illsley , and Pick Withers .Dire Straits' sound drew from a variety of musical influences, including jazz, folk, blues, and came closest...
guitarist Mark Knopfler
Mark Knopfler
Mark Freuder Knopfler, OBE is a Scottish-born British guitarist, singer, songwriter, record producer and film score composer. He is best known as the lead guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter for the British rock band Dire Straits, which he co-founded in 1977...
, who also co-wrote the song “Spanish Jack” with DeVille. Dire Straits keyboardist Guy Fletcher
Guy Fletcher
Guy Wilson Fletcher is an English multi-instrumentalist, best known for his position as the keyboardist in the British rock band Dire Straits from 1984 until the group's dissolution, and his involvement in nearly every part of Mark Knopfler's solo work to date.-Biography:Fletcher was born into a...
, like Knopfler, played on all songs. Two highly regarded session musicians, guitarist Chet Atkins
Chet Atkins
Chester Burton Atkins , known as Chet Atkins, was an American guitarist and record producer who, along with Owen Bradley, created the smoother country music style known as the Nashville sound, which expanded country's appeal to adult pop music fans as well.Atkins's picking style, inspired by Merle...
and drummer Jeff Porcaro
Jeff Porcaro
Jeffrey Thomas "Jeff" Porcaro was an American session drummer and a founding member of the Grammy Award winning band Toto. Porcaro was one of the most recorded drummers in history, working on hundreds of albums and thousands of sessions...
, 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 BrideThe Princess Bride (film)
The Princess Bride is a 1987 American film based on the 1973 novel of the same name by William Goldman, combining comedy, adventure, romance, and fantasy. The film was directed by Rob Reiner from a screenplay by Goldman...
and was nominated for an Academy Award 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 ReinerRob ReinerRobert "Rob" Reiner is an American actor, director, producer, writer, and political activist.As an actor, Reiner first came to national prominence as Archie and Edith Bunker's son-in-law, Michael "Meathead" Stivic, on All in the Family. That role earned him two Emmy Awards during the 1970s...
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 SciencesAcademy of Motion Picture Arts and SciencesThe Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is a professional honorary organization dedicated to the advancement of the arts and sciences of motion pictures...
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 GrammysGrammy AwardA Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
— it's the Academy Awards, which is different for a musician. Before I knew it, I was performing on the awards show with Little RichardLittle RichardRichard Wayne Penniman , known by the stage name Little Richard, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, recording artist, and actor, considered key in the transition from rhythm and blues to rock and roll in the 1950s. He was also the first artist to put the funk in the rock and roll beat and...
. It was the year of Dirty DancingDirty DancingDirty Dancing is a 1987 American romantic film. Written by Eleanor Bergstein and directed by Emile Ardolino, the film features Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey in the lead roles, as well as Cynthia Rhodes and Jerry Orbach...
, 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 Who fan Dave Schulps and Karen Rose under the name "Trans-Oceanic Trouser Press" ...
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
Van Morrison
Van Morrison, OBE is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and musician. His live performances at their best are regarded as transcendental and inspired; while some of his recordings, such as the studio albums Astral Weeks and Moondance, and the live album It's Too Late to Stop Now, are widely...
's 'Could You Would You?' in the album's plus column.”
Thom Jurek of Allmusic 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
Doc Pomus
Jerome Solon Felder, better known as Doc Pomus , was a twentieth-century American blues singer and songwriter. He is best known as the lyricist of many rock and roll hits. Pomus was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in the category of non-performer in 1992. He was also inducted into...
generation, and 'Could You Would You,' written by Van Morrison, is one of DeVille's finest cover songs
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
."
Other information
Miracle was the first Willy DeVille record in which no saxophoneSaxophone
The saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
is heard.
About Miracle, DeVille told Sounds
Sounds (magazine)
Sounds was a long-term British music paper, published weekly from 10 October 1970 – 6 April 1991. It was produced by Spotlight Publications , which was set up by Jack Hutton and Peter Wilkinson, who left "Melody Maker" to start their own company...
magazine, "This is the first album where I had left-overs
Leftovers
Leftovers are the uneaten edible remains of a meal after the meal is over, and everyone has finished eating. Food scraps that are not considered edible are not regarded as leftovers, but rather as waste material; any remaining edible portions constitute the leftovers.The ultimate fate of leftovers...
. 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
Machismo, or machoism, is a word of Spanish and Portuguese origin that describes prominently exhibited or excessive masculinity. As an attitude, machismo ranges from a personal sense of virility to a more extreme male chauvinism...
'... 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
The Rachel Papers is a 1989 British film based on the novel of the same name by Martin Amis. It stars Dexter Fletcher and Ione Skye as the two main characters, and a number of famous names in supporting roles such as Jonathan Pryce, Bill Paterson, James Spader, Jared Harris, Claire Skinner, and...
, 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
Raven Records is an Australian record label that specializes 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
Jack Nitzsche
Bernard Alfred "Jack" Nitzsche was an arranger, producer, songwriter, and film score composer. He first came to prominence in the late 1950s as the right-hand-man of producer Phil Spector, and went on to work with the Rolling Stones, Neil Young and others...
-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
Cruising (film)
Cruising is a 1980 film directed by William Friedkin and starring Al Pacino. The film is loosely based on the novel of the same name, by New York Times reporter Gerald Walker, about a serial killer targeting gay men, in particular those associated with the S&M scene.Poorly reviewed by critics,...
. "It's So Easy" is also on the soundtrack of Quentin Tarantino
Quentin Tarantino
Quentin Jerome Tarantino is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, cinematographer and actor. In the early 1990s, he began his career as an independent filmmaker with films employing nonlinear storylines and the aestheticization of violence...
'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
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...
(1992).
Mark Knopfler
Mark Knopfler
Mark Freuder Knopfler, OBE is a Scottish-born British guitarist, singer, songwriter, record producer and film score composer. He is best known as the lead guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter for the British rock band Dire Straits, which he co-founded in 1977...
was a champion of DeVille's music and said of him upon hearing of his being diagnosed with cancer, "Ive 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 and John Lee Hooker and New Orleans music to Latin, folk-rock, doo-wop, Ben E. King 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"
Track listing
Unless otherwise noted, all songs by Willy DeVille.- (Due to) Gun Control – 5:54
- Willy DeVille on vocals, Mark KnopflerMark KnopflerMark Freuder Knopfler, OBE is a Scottish-born British guitarist, singer, songwriter, record producer and film score composer. He is best known as the lead guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter for the British rock band Dire Straits, which he co-founded in 1977...
on guitar, Guy FletcherGuy FletcherGuy Wilson Fletcher is an English multi-instrumentalist, best known for his position as the keyboardist in the British rock band Dire Straits from 1984 until the group's dissolution, and his involvement in nearly every part of Mark Knopfler's solo work to date.-Biography:Fletcher was born into a...
on keyboards, Jamie Lane on drums, Margot Buchanan and Vicki BrownVicki Brown (singer)Vicki Brown was an English pop, rock and contemporary classical singer. She is best known for her membership of both The Vernons Girls and The Breakaways, and as one of the UK's most enduring backing vocalists...
on background vocals
- Willy DeVille on vocals, Mark Knopfler
- Could You Would You? (Van MorrisonVan MorrisonVan Morrison, OBE is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and musician. His live performances at their best are regarded as transcendental and inspired; while some of his recordings, such as the studio albums Astral Weeks and Moondance, and the live album It's Too Late to Stop Now, are widely...
) – 3:31- Willy DeVille on vocals, Mark Knopfler on guitar, Guy Fletcher on keyboards, Mickey Feat on bass, Errol Bennett on percussion, Jeff PorcaroJeff PorcaroJeffrey Thomas "Jeff" Porcaro was an American session drummer and a founding member of the Grammy Award winning band Toto. Porcaro was one of the most recorded drummers in history, working on hundreds of albums and thousands of sessions...
on drums
- Willy DeVille on vocals, Mark Knopfler on guitar, Guy Fletcher on keyboards, Mickey Feat on bass, Errol Bennett on percussion, Jeff Porcaro
- Heart and Soul – 4:06
- Willy DeVille on vocals, Mark Knopfler on guitar, Chet AtkinsChet AtkinsChester Burton Atkins , known as Chet Atkins, was an American guitarist and record producer who, along with Owen Bradley, created the smoother country music style known as the Nashville sound, which expanded country's appeal to adult pop music fans as well.Atkins's picking style, inspired by Merle...
on guitar, Guy Fletcher on keyboards, Mickey Feat on bass, Margot Buchanan and Vicki Brown on background vocals, Errol Bennett on percussion
- Willy DeVille on vocals, Mark Knopfler on guitar, Chet Atkins
- 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 (Willy DeVilleWilly DeVilleWilly DeVille was an American singer and songwriter. During his thirty-five year career, first with his band Mink DeVille and later on his own, Deville created original songs rooted in traditional American musical styles. He worked with collaborators from across the spectrum of contemporary...
, Mark KnopflerMark KnopflerMark Freuder Knopfler, OBE is a Scottish-born British guitarist, singer, songwriter, record producer and film score composer. He is best known as the lead guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter for the British rock band Dire Straits, which he co-founded in 1977...
) – 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
Personnel
- Chet AtkinsChet AtkinsChester Burton Atkins , known as Chet Atkins, was an American guitarist and record producer who, along with Owen Bradley, created the smoother country music style known as the Nashville sound, which expanded country's appeal to adult pop music fans as well.Atkins's picking style, inspired by Merle...
- guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
("Heart and Soul") - Errol "Crusher" Bennett - percussion
- Vicki BrownVicki Brown (singer)Vicki Brown was an English pop, rock and contemporary classical singer. She is best known for her membership of both The Vernons Girls and The Breakaways, and as one of the UK's most enduring backing vocalists...
- background vocalsBacking vocalistA backing vocalist or backing singer is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists... - Margot Buchanan - background vocals
- Willy DeVilleWilly DeVilleWilly DeVille was an American singer and songwriter. During his thirty-five year career, first with his band Mink DeVille and later on his own, Deville created original songs rooted in traditional American musical styles. He worked with collaborators from across the spectrum of contemporary...
- vocals, background vocals - Mickey Feat - bassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, background vocals - Guy FletcherGuy FletcherGuy Wilson Fletcher is an English multi-instrumentalist, best known for his position as the keyboardist in the British rock band Dire Straits from 1984 until the group's dissolution, and his involvement in nearly every part of Mark Knopfler's solo work to date.-Biography:Fletcher was born into a...
- keyboardsKeyboard instrumentA keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
, background vocals - Mark KnopflerMark KnopflerMark Freuder Knopfler, OBE is a Scottish-born British guitarist, singer, songwriter, record producer and film score composer. He is best known as the lead guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter for the British rock band Dire Straits, which he co-founded in 1977...
- guitar - Jamie Lane - drums
- Jeff PorcaroJeff PorcaroJeffrey Thomas "Jeff" Porcaro was an American session drummer and a founding member of the Grammy Award winning band Toto. Porcaro was one of the most recorded drummers in history, working on hundreds of albums and thousands of sessions...
- drums ("Could You Would You?," "Miracle")
Production
- Bob ClearmountainBob ClearmountainBob Clearmountain is an award-winning American music engineer, mixer and producer. He has worked with many prominent names in music including Bruce Springsteen , The Rolling Stones , Bryan Adams , Robbie Williams Bob Clearmountain is an award-winning American music engineer, mixer and producer. He...
– mixingAudio mixing (recorded music)In audio recording, audio mixing is the process by which multiple recorded sounds are combined into one or more channels, most commonly two-channel stereo. In the process, the source signals' level, frequency content, dynamics, and panoramic position are manipulated and effects such as reverb may... - Jay Healy - mixing assistant
- Steve Jackson – engineerEngineerAn engineer is a professional practitioner of engineering, concerned with applying scientific knowledge, mathematics and ingenuity to develop solutions for technical problems. Engineers design materials, structures, machines and systems while considering the limitations imposed by practicality,...
- Mark KnopflerMark KnopflerMark Freuder Knopfler, OBE is a Scottish-born British guitarist, singer, songwriter, record producer and film score composer. He is best known as the lead guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter for the British rock band Dire Straits, which he co-founded in 1977...
– producerRecord producerA record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music... - Karl Lever – assistant engineer
- Melanie Nissen – art directionArt directorThe art director is a person who supervise the creative process of a design.The term 'art director' is a blanket title for a variety of similar job functions in advertising, publishing, film and television, the Internet, and video games....
and design - Rocky Schenk – photographyPhotographyPhotography is the art, science and practice of creating durable images by recording light or other electromagnetic radiation, either electronically by means of an image sensor or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film...