Pandora.com has Moms Who Rock! Check out the new page for 4 mini webisodes with Ann and Nancy as they discuss being rock n roll mommas. Lots of cute, funny stories and Ann and Nancy are just as beautiful and sweet as can be. I absolutely loved these. ♥
"Turn It Up!" is a feature-length celebration of the electric guitar. Hosted by Kevin Bacon, the film explores mankind’s passion for the electric guitar, and its effect on artists, everyday players, pop culture, history, and even politics.
Turn it Up! is the STORY of the electric guitar, from the invention in the 1930s to its golden years, right through the phenomenon of the Guitar Hero video-game and the digital guitars of the future. But, it’s also a series of guitar STORIES, where we’ll meet all kinds of people from rock stars, to congressmen, CEOs, and teenage virtuosos, to try to understand their emotional connection to their guitars.
For over three decades, sisters Ann and Nancy Wilson have charted the course for Seattle-based, hard-rock band, Heart. In their first new album since 2004, Red Velvet Car is said to be their most personal and powerful work to date, returning to their hard rock roots with a largely acoustic-based sound. See them perform with Night Ranger this Friday, September 24th at the Sleep Country Amphitheater.
Arena rock legends, Ann and Nancy Wilson, were among the first female musicians taken seriously in a man’s world for their songwriting and instrument playing abilities when Heart debuted Dreamboat Annie in 1976. They were pioneers, creating a musical space where gender was not a part of the equation in performing heavy rock.
With most women in music performing folk, disco or singer/songwriter styles in the 70s and 80s, there were few women musicians to look up to as role models in the rock world. Since “no one told them they weren’t supposed to,” they looked to Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones, Elton John, and The Beatles for inspiration and found success as professional musicians. They were considered serious rockers with Ann having one of the most distinctive and masterful voices with a remarkable three octave range, and Nancy having real chops and becoming one of the first women to grace Guitar Player Magazine in December, 1979.
Die-hard Beatles fans, “We didn’t want to be the girlfriends of The Beatles, we wanted to BE the Beatles,” shared Nancy at a recent Grammy Museum Live event speaking about their influences and the revolution they believe is still underway for women in the rock world to be seen as equals to their male counterparts.
Considered one of the top 100 hard rock of artists of all time and having sold over 30 million records, their arena rock hits include “Magic Man,” “Crazy On You,” “Barracuda,” ”Dog and Butterfly,” and power ballads “What About Love,” “These Dreams,” and “Alone,” to name a few.
Throughout their career, Heart maintained creative control over the music they released, with the exception of the 80’s. Pressured by label management to perform more commercially accessible songs and blend in with the sounds and styles of the time, Heart succumbed to the pressure of MTV’s halcyon days. While the band experienced a commercial breakthrough in 1985 with the album Heart selling 5 million copies, for a band used to having their own voice, the success was somewhat hollow given they were performing songs written by other people.
“We were definitely making a devil’s bargain in the Eighties, and looking back I’m glad we did because it did allow us to transit over a period when we could have fallen into a black hole,” Ann Wilson explains on the band’s website. “But we wouldn’t want to go back there and make any more music we don’t feel totally connected to. And now with this album, we feel like we have something very solid to stand on.”
Heart is among the rock legend elite to have a career successfully spanning three decades and still be releasing new material. Their latest album, Red Velvet Car, is the first since 2004’s Jupiter’s Darling. Entering Billboard’s 200 Best Selling album charts at #10 on August 31st, this marks their seventh appearance in the Top 10 and the album is receiving high marks from die-hard fans (known as Heart Mongers), as well as music critics across the country who feel the band have found their way back to their roots.
The songs on Heart’s 13th studio album came about organically, “starting with a groove and easy to write,” inspired by the world around them and personal experiences. The acoustic arrangements highlight a wide variety of strings that include guitar, mandolin, dobro, banjo, fiddle, viola, cello and autoharp; all played by Nancy Wilson and the album’s producer, multiple Grammy nominee and long-time k.d. lang collaborator, Ben Mink.
WTF: “It started like a jam, like that song by Cream “SWLABR.” Later when I wrote the words, they were really angry and they just blasted out of me, like I might have just as well said, “What the fuck?” (ANN) Craig had that amazing guitar part, and then Ann came in with this scream of lyrics. I thought maybe the song was about someone else, but then the other day Ann mentioned it’s kind of the way you talk to yourself. Basically, it’s intense, and to me it’s about making mistakes and how hard it is to stay human.” – (NANCY) Ann refers to WTF as “Son of Barracuda.”
RED VELVET CAR: “When I first said those words, I knew it right away that it was a phrase worth using in a song. Sue Ennis – our friend and our co-writer from way back – was in town and really needed a rescue from the Hollywood hotel where she was attending a seminar. I said, “Are you kidding me? I’d come get you in a red velvet car. I wrote it down immediately. Ann took that title and ran it. – (NANCY) Nancy is like Ringo in that sense. She’s always been great at coming up with cool turns of phrase that don’t really need to be explained because they communicate something powerfully. Musically, I’ve got to give it to Ben Mink, because I wanted the song to have that R&B sensuality to it, but also something fresh, and I think together, we got it.” – (ANN)
The album’s closer, “Sand,” is a newly recorded version of a song originally written and recorded by the Lovemongers, Ann and Nancy’s 1990′s acoustic side project.
Other side projects for the sisters have included solo efforts, a recording studio in the 90’s called Bad Animals and movie scores. Nancy has played a role composing music for most of husband Cameron Crowe’s films including Jerry Maguire, Almost Famous, Vanilla Sky, and Elizabethtown. In addition, both have made the time to make family a priority and raise children.
Check out this great Ann and Nancy interview with Spinner! Gorgeous photos too! :D
Heart's Ann and Nancy Wilson came to musical prominence in the '70s, a decade in which muscle cars like the Camaro and Trans-Am were rock stars in their own right. The iconic sisters' new album, 'Red Velvet Car' -- their first studio effort in six years -- and the track 'Wheels' brings to mind that era with a recurring automobile motif.
When the Wilson sisters visited AOL's L.A. studios for a video chat about the new album, guitarist Nancy explained the origins of the title track. "We started working on the song, 'Red Velvet Car,' and we went, 'Wow, this album is about travel,'" she said. "There's something about the modern psyche and the heart of the modern culture that is on its way through. The good old image of home and heart has really altered lately. Everything is fast and moving, everyone's on a plane and that's the lonelier aspect of the modern world. 'Red Velvet Car,' it's another travel song with a lonely center, looking for a rescue, which is what a red velvet car is: A friend who comes, no matter what, with a red velvet car to get you."
Since we were on the subject, we asked the sisters about their most memorable rides. "When I went to college, my parents gave me a car that was a 1967 red Chevrolet Impala. That was at the height of my psychedelic time as a young person, so I called it the Astroplane and painted it all up inside," Ann recalled. "I was at art school, so I used acrylic paint. In Seattle it rains quite a bit, and acrylic paint is water soluble, so I had to keep repainting it again and again -- you know, gotta have that peace word on it." "The car was living art in progress," Nancy added, laughing.
For more from Heart about cars, Lady Gaga, Lilith Fair and why these songs take them back to their 'Dreamboat Annie' days, check out the exclusive video interview and gallery below.
You can now buy the entire SU2C show on iTunes! As well as a 5 track album featuring the closing song, "Stand Up to Cancer" with Ann and Nancy. Thank you to the Heartlinker for this info!
Here's 6 videos and 85 photos of Ann and Nancy at the event! Enjoy! :)
A few performance shots, backstage and lots of arrivals pics! :D
Nikayla's Pick: Lovemongers - Slow Down (Live at Parker's Lounge, Seattle, WA - Dec. 31, 1991)
Amy's Pick: Ann & Nancy Wilson - Love
*Just a warning. Slow Down is very quiet, Love is very loud.
Hello and welcome to Crazy On You in a Red Velvet Car, a fansite for all things Ann and Nancy Wilson of the rock band Heart. We hope to keep you informed on all the goings on in Heartland; reviews, articles, interviews, radio and TV appearances and more :D Check back often for the latest news and new site features. We currently have an MP3 of the Week, as well as a monthly Heart-themed calendar. Soon you will have access to lyrics from every studio album (transcribed by us, solo and LMs included) as well as lyrics to the more hard to find tracks, B-Sides, unreleased material and more! A very large photogallery is also in the works as well. I hope you enjoy this site :D
*Please note this site is in no way affiliated with Ann, Nancy or anyone in the Heart camp. This is a by fans for fans site :)
