After a sunny June with the Doobie Brothers and Willie Nelson July kicks off with Sheryl Crow July 6 at the popular Les Schwab Amphitheater followed by Death Cab for Cutie, Lyle Lovett, Phish and Pink Martini.
In August Sheryl Crow will release her newest album, The Sting, a live recording from 1994 show. During 1987-89 Crow was engaged as a backing singer on Michael Jackson’s huge ‘Bad’ world tour and worked in a similar capacity for other major artists including George Harrison, Stevie Wonder, Rod Stewart, Bonnie Raitt and Don Henley.
Sheryl’s own recording career faltered slightly, right at the outset. She secured a recording contract with A&M, but at the last minute her proposed 1992 debut was deemed by the label to not fully represent the woman’s talents and the release was cancelled after just a handful of promotional cassettes had been issued – which in turn led to the illegitimate distribution of some highly sought-after bootleg CDs.
Finally released in August 1993, Sheryl’s official debut album, Tuesday Night Music Club was an absolute barnstormer which sold more than six million copies in its first year of release. The album spawned two Billboard Top 5 singles in All I Wanna Do and Strong Enough.
Live versions of both songs appear on her newest recording. Other highlights are a third single, Run Baby Run (which didn’t chart but was a radio hit in several countries), Leaving Las Vegas and the funky The Na Na Song. The sole cover version is Led Zeppelin’s idiosyncratic cod-reggae number D’Yer Maker, a version of which Sheryl later contributed to the Atlantic Records’ Zep tribute album Encomium (1995).
The Les Schwab Line-Up:
July 6 Sheryl Crow
July 9 Death Cab for Cutie with Built to Spill
July 12 Lyle Lovett & His Large Band
July 21-22 Phish
July 25 Pink Martini
August 8 Wilco
September 4 Weird Al Yankovic
September 6 Bend Harper & Innocent Criminals