View source for Something Real (Phoebe Snow album)

{{Infobox album
| name       = Something Real
| type       = studio
| artist     = [[Phoebe Snow]]
| cover      = Phoebe Snow - Something Real.png
| alt        =
| released   = March 1989
| recorded   =
| venue      =
| studio     = [[The Hit Factory]] and [[Power Station (recording studio)|The Power Station]] (New York City, New York).
| genre      = [[pop music|Pop]]
| length     =
| label      = [[Elektra Records|Elektra]]<ref>{{cite news |last1=Jones IV |first1=James T. |title=Her new LP packs a wallop |work=USA Today |date=27 Mar 1989 |page=1D}}</ref>
| producer   =
* [[Rob Fraboni]]
* [[Ricky Fataar]]
* [[Russ Titelman]]
* [[Phil Ramone]]
| prev_title = [[Rock Away]]
| prev_year  = 1981
| next_title = [[The New York Rock and Soul Revue: Live at the Beacon]]
| next_year  = 1991
}}
'''''Something Real''''' is the seventh studio album by the American musician [[Phoebe Snow]], released in 1989 by [[Elektra Records]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/phoebe-snow-mn0000696015/biography|title=Phoebe Snow Biography, Songs, & Albums|website=AllMusic|access-date=2021-10-01|archive-date=2021-10-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211001122106/https://www.allmusic.com/artist/phoebe-snow-mn0000696015/biography|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/27/arts/music/phoebe-snow-bluesy-singer-songwriter-dies-at-58.html|title=Phoebe Snow, Bluesy Singer-Songwriter, Dies at 60|first=Stephen|last=Holden|date=April 26, 2011|work=The New York Times|access-date=October 1, 2021|archive-date=October 1, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211001122106/https://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/27/arts/music/phoebe-snow-bluesy-singer-songwriter-dies-at-58.html|url-status=live}}</ref> It was her first album in eight years.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/os-xpm-1989-03-26-8903260110-story.html|title=Phoebe Snow Returns with an Introspective 'Something Real'|work=Orlando Sentinel}}</ref> While caring for her disabled daughter, Snow spent five years making demo tapes and mailing them to labels.<ref name="PI">{{cite news |last1=Moon |first1=Tom |title=Phoebe Snow: The Voice Is Back with a New Gloss |work=The Philadelphia Inquirer |date=9 Apr 1989 |page=F1}}</ref>
The album peaked at No. 75 on the [[Billboard 200|''Billboard'' 200]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.billboard.com/artist/phoebe-snow/chart-history/tlp/|title=Phoebe Snow &#124; Billboard|access-date=2021-10-01|archive-date=2021-10-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211001122106/https://www.billboard.com/music/phoebe-snow/chart-history/TLP/song/310178|url-status=live}}</ref>
==Background==
According to music executive [[Charles Koppelman]], who had headed [[Columbia Records]] music publishing department at the time Snow was on the Columbia roster, his interest in Snow was captured after he recognized her voice singing the [[jingle]] for a [[Bloomingdale's]] television commercial. Koppelman attended Snow's [[The Bottom Line (venue)|Bottom Line]] gig in July 1986 and—deeming her performance a "knockout"—he began to champion Snow's return to recording. With Koppelman's support, Snow was signed to Elektra by the year's end:<ref>''New York Daily News'' June 25 1989 "Phoebe Snow: second time around" by Roger Friedman p.257</ref>
==Production==
The album was produced by [[Rob Fraboni]] and [[Ricky Fataar]]; [[Russ Titelman]] also worked on the album.<ref name=MH/><ref name=PI/> [[Mick Taylor]] played guitar on "Cardiac Arrest".<ref name="BG">{{cite news |last1=Morse |first1=Steve |title=Phoebe Snow's Comeback |work=The Boston Globe |date=7 Apr 1989 |department=Arts and Film |page=37}}</ref> [[Lou Marini]] and [[Tom Scott (saxophonist)|Tom Scott]] led the horn section.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Persall |first1=Steve |title=Phoebe Snow sings of survival and sadness in latest offering |work=St. Petersburg Times |date=2 Apr 1989 |page=2F}}</ref>
Snow shot a video, her first, for the album's first single, "If I Can Just Get Through the Night".<ref>{{cite news |last1=Takiff |first1=Jonathan |title=Acting Their Age |work=Philadelphia Daily News |date=10 Apr 1989 |department=Features |page=41}}</ref> The track "Something Real", which served as the second single and video, was hailed by ''[[Washington Post]]'' music critic Joe Brown as "'Poetry Man' revisited<span style=font-size:60%>...</span>[The earlier] song's ingenuously adulterous protagonist has wised up in a decade. This time around, she wants—quoting the lyrics of "Something Real"—''something real - something I don't have to steal."''<ref>''Washington Post'' August 18 1989 "Snow Flurries of True Power" by Joe Brown</ref> Snow would state her vision for the song was "not [as] a vulnerable fragile song<span style=font-size:70%>...</span>I thought it could be a more powerful R&B ballad like something [[Whitney Houston]] might sing But everybody who heard my homemade demo thought [that acoustic version] was too good to change."<ref name="Miami Herald">''Miami Herald'' August 25 1989 "New Power Charges Phoebe Snow's Welcome Return" by Doug Adrianson p.168</ref>
==Critical reception==
{{album ratings
|rev1= [[AllMusic]]
|rev1score = {{rating|3|5}}<ref name="auto">{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/something-real-mw0000199063|title=Something Real|website=AllMusic|access-date=2021-10-01|archive-date=2021-10-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211001122106/https://www.allmusic.com/album/something-real-mw0000199063|url-status=live}}</ref>
|rev2 = ''[[The Encyclopedia of Popular Music]]''
|rev2score = {{rating|3|5}}<ref name="CL">{{cite book |last1=Larkin |first1=Colin |title=The Encyclopedia of Popular Music |date=2006 |publisher=MUZE |volume=7 |page=585}}</ref>
|rev3 = ''[[Los Angeles Times]]''
|rev3score = {{rating|2.5|4}}<ref name="LA">{{cite news |last1=Johnson |first1=Connie |title=Phoebe Snow 'Something Real' |work=Los Angeles Times |date=23 Apr 1989 |department=Calendar |page=69}}</ref>
|rev4 = ''[[MusicHound|MusicHound R&B: The Essential Album Guide]]''
|rev4score = {{rating|3.5|5}}<ref name="MH">{{cite book |title=MusicHound R&B: The Essential Album Guide |date=1998 |publisher=Visible Ink Press |page=526}}</ref>
|rev5 = ''[[The Rolling Stone Album Guide]]''
|rev5score = {{rating|3|5}}<ref name="RS">{{cite book |title=The Rolling Stone Album Guide |date=1992 |publisher=Random House |page=652}}</ref>
|rev6 = ''[[Vancouver Sun]]''
|rev6score = {{rating|3|5}}<ref name="VS">{{cite news |last1=Todd |first1=Douglas |title=Recordings |work=Vancouver Sun |date=29 July 1989 |page=D2}}</ref>
}}
The ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'' thought that, "while this album is classy and polished, there isn't much that approaches classic Snow territory, aside from 'We Might Never Feel This Way Again', with its touching, grab-the-moment romanticism, and the softly tender 'I'm Your Girl', which Snow wrote for her late mother."<ref name=LA/> ''[[The Buffalo News]]'' wrote that the singer "still has trouble resisting instrumental sucrose in the background, but the sound of Phoebe Snow singing 'I'm Your Girl' or 'If I Can Just Get Through the Night' is the essence of pop authenticity."<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://buffalonews.com/news/in-the-nick-of-time-something-real-for-pop-music/article_4db09c64-7d0a-5d02-b7e8-499be9605c2f.html|title=In the Nick of Time, Something Real for Pop Music|first=Jeff|last=Simon|work=The Buffalo News|access-date=2021-10-01|archive-date=2021-10-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211001122106/https://buffalonews.com/news/in-the-nick-of-time-something-real-for-pop-music/article_4db09c64-7d0a-5d02-b7e8-499be9605c2f.html|url-status=live}}</ref> ''[[The Boston Globe]]'' concluded that ''Something Real'' "has a couple of slick, poorly chosen cover songs, but her four original songs on the album are sparkling."<ref name=BG/>
The ''[[Vancouver Sun]]'' opined that "the highly produced musical packaging feels too slick and hip for conveying truly honest emotions."<ref name=VS/> ''[[The Washington Post]]'' declared: "With a voice that's equally suited to pop, R&B and gospel, she has no difficulty reviving the old Emotions' hit 'Best of My Love' or emulating James Taylor's tuneful insouciance on 'Soothin'{{'}}, but other song choices don't pan out nearly as well."<ref>{{cite news |last1=Joyce |first1=Mike |title=Phoebe Snow: 'Something Real' |work=The Washington Post |date=26 Mar 1989 |page=G2}}</ref> ''[[The New York Times]]'' deemed ''Something Real'' Snow's "most coherent album," writing that her "excesses are reined in just enough to make her sound bighearted and benevolent rather than overwrought."<ref>{{cite news |last1=Pareles |first1=Jon |title=Lifted Voices from Women of a Certain Age |work=The New York Times |date=19 Mar 1989 |page=A28}}</ref>
[[AllMusic]] called the album "a sturdy, respectable set," writing that Snow "tends to de-emphasize the more unusual aspects of her voice, although not so much that you'd confuse it with anybody else's."<ref name="auto"/>
==Aftermath==
At the time of the album's release, Snow would say of ''Something Real'': “We’ve made our statement on this record: it's got the right amount of everything. But I want my next [album] to reduce the margin for error - [to have] strong powerful music<span style=font-size:60%>...</span>that expresses how I envision myself."<ref name="Miami Herald"/> Snow would abandon the recording of her second Elektra album after cutting six tracks which <small>(Phoebe Snow quote:)</small> "were just wrong. They weren't who I am. I was like the gal singer who phoned her part in." Snow asked for release from her contract, recording what would be her final two studio albums: ''[[I Can't Complain (Phoebe Snow album)|I Can't Complain]]'' (1998) and ''Natural Wonder'' (2003), for indie labels.<ref>''Star Tribune'' 23 August 1998 "Where is the Phoebe Snow of Yesteryear? She's back on track album and a 'turned-around life'" by Michael Anthony p.85</ref>
==Track listing==
{{Track listing
| all_writing =
| title1 = Something Real
| writer1 = Phoebe Snow
| length1 = 3:50
| title2 = Mr. Wondering
| writer2 = Don Yowell
| length2 = 3:21
| title3 = Touch Your Soul
| writer3 = Snow
| length3 = 4:36
| title4 = We Might Never Feel This Way Again
| writer4 = Rhonda Schuster
| length4 = 3:50
| title5 = I'm Your Girl
| writer5 = Snow
| length5 = 5:21
| title6 = If Can Just Get Through the Night
| writer6 = Peter Anders
| length6 = 4:09
| title7 = Stay Away
| writer7 = Sue Sheridan, Sue Shifrin
| length7 = 4:14
| title8 = Soothin'
| writer8 = Jae Mason
| length8 = 4:06
| title9 = [[Best of My Love (The Emotions song)|Best of My Love]]
| writer9 = [[Al McKay]], [[Maurice White]]
| length9 = 3:48
| title10 = Cardiac Arrest
| writer10 = Snow
| length10 = 3:34
| total_length =
}}
== Personnel ==
* Phoebe Snow – vocals, acoustic guitar (1, 3), backing vocals (2, 8), harmony vocals (2, 6, 10)
{{columns-start|num=2}}
'''Session players/ singers'''
* [[Robbie Kondor]] – keyboards (1, 6, 8), synth string arrangements (2)
* Joy Askew – keyboards (2, 6-8), acoustic piano (2)
* [[Jeff Bova]] – keyboards (3, 5)
* Robbie Kilgore – keyboards (3, 5)
* [[Rob Mounsey]] – keyboards (3, 5)
* Eric Rehl – keyboards (4), drums (4)
* [[Ivan Neville]] – keyboards (8), acoustic piano (10), [[Hammond B3 organ]] (10)
* [[David Frank (musician)|David Frank]] – keyboards (9), arrangements (9)
* [[Pat Thrall]] – guitars (2, 6-8)
* John McCurry – guitars (4)
* [[Mick Taylor]] – guitars (5, 7, 10)
* Larry DeBari – guitars (6)
* [[Shane Fontayne]] – guitars (10)
* [[Ricky Fataar]] – bass (1), percussion (1, 2, 7, 10), drums (2, 5-8, 10), additional drums (3), acoustic guitar (7), guitars (8), backing vocals (8)
* [[Anthony Jackson (musician)|Anthony Jackson]] – bass (2, 6-8)
* Jimmy Bralower – drum machine programming (3, 5)
* Errol "Crusher" Bennett – percussion (8)
* Carol Steele – percussion (9)
* Paul McGovern – saxophone (2)
* [[Tom Scott (saxophonist)|Tom Scott]] – alto saxophone (9)
* [[Lou Marini]] – saxophones (9)
* [[Bob Mintzer]] – saxophones (9)
* [[Dave Bargeron]] – trombone (9)
* [[Randy Brecker]] – trumpet (9)
* [[Jon Faddis]] – trumpet (9)
* Darryl Johnson – backing vocals (6, 7, 10), bass (10)
{{column}}
'''Session players/ singers (cont.)'''
* [[Blondie Chaplin]] – backing vocals (8)
* Lani Groves – backing vocals (9)
* Brenda King – backing vocals (9)
* [[Vaneese Thomas]] – backing vocals (9)
'''Production'''
* Phoebe Snow – pre-production
* Ricky Fataar – producer (1, 2, 6-8, 10)
* Rob Fraboni – producer (1, 2, 6-8, 10)
* Russ Titelman – producer (3, 5, 9)
* Phil Ramone – producer (4)
* Steve Boyer – recording (1, 2, 6-8, 10), mixing (1, 2, 6-8, 10)
* [[Steve Rinkoff]] – recording (3, 5, 9), mixing (3, 5, 9)
* Jay Healy – recording (4), mixing (4)
* Joe Pirrera – recording (4), mixing (4)
* Bruce Calder – additional engineer (1, 2, 6-8, 10), assistant engineer (1, 2, 6-8, 10)
* Dan Gellert – assistant engineer (3, 5, 9)
* [[Bob Ludwig]] – mastering at [[Masterdisk]] (New York City, New York)
* Karen Fine – production coordinator (1, 2, 6-8, 10)
* Jill Dell'Abate – production coordinator (3, 5, 9)
* Alexandra Saraspe-Conomos – production assistant (3, 5, 9)
* Carol Bobolts – art direction
* Michele Clement – photography
{{columns-end}}
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{Phoebe Snow}}
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:Phoebe Snow albums]]
[[Category:1989 albums]]
[[Category:Elektra Records albums]]
[[Category:Albums produced by Rob Fraboni]]
[[Category:Albums produced by Ricky Fataar]]