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Stories   >   Steve Tyrell's 'A Song for You,' bridges the American Songbook gap / the audio beatnik

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Steve Tyrell's 'A Song for You,' bridges the American Songbook gap / the audio beatnik

Posted: February 13, 2018

Steve Tyrell's 12th album, A Song for You, was released a few days ago on the New Direction/East West label, and I downloaded it last week. I don't buy many albums for myself, but I own every one that Tyrell has released, and most of them, I purchased as soon as they were available. After listening to the new album several times now, it doesn't disappoint.

A Song for You bridges the gap between The Great American Songbook standards like the 1930's "Them There Eyes" and the more contemporary "You Are So Beautiful" ballad by Joe Cocker. Although the album wasn't recorded as a live performance, he featured these songs in his set list at The Cafe Carlyle during the 2017 holiday season. With his soulful crooner's voice and a twinkle in his eye that makes one think he could be a bad boy if he tried, I'm sure this album is going to be a big favorite with his fans. In addition to these two songs and the title track written by Leon Russell, the album also includes Van Morrison's "Someone Like You," the Otis Redding favorite "Try a Little Tenderness, and the country music standard, "Always on My Mind." Other songs on this album include composers like Jackie Wilson, Victor Young, Edward Heyman, Harold Arlen, Johnny Mercer, to name a few.  Here's a link to the complete track list. Notably, the album also features some of the final work of longtime Tyrell collaborator Paul Buckmaster, the Grammy Award-winning arranger who passed away in 2017.

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