Be Myself

by Sheryl Crow

Overview

Sheryl Crow's country makeover Feels Like Home didn't click commercially in 2013, so she decided to radically shift directions for this 2017 successor, Be Myself. The title alone is a tacit admission that she's returning to her roots, reuniting with producers Jeff Trott and Tchad Blake, the pair who helmed 1996's Sheryl Crow and 1998's The Globe Sessions. Crow last worked with Trott on 2002's C'mon, C'mon, and Be Myself deliberately mirrors that album's sunny vibe while also nodding at specific songs from Crow's past. "Roller Skate" grooves to a beat that echoes "All I Want to Do" and "Strangers Again" struts like "If It Makes You Happy" -- sly winks that acknowledge Crow is happy to embrace her past. Perhaps this retro move would seem desperate if Crow didn't seem so enthusiastic reviving this collaboration. With Trott and Blake in tow, she's happy to embrace her eccentricity in addition to her fondness for big pop hooks -- a combination that fuels Be Myself as surely as it did Sheryl Crow or The Globe Sessions. Compared to those two '90s records, this 2017 album isn't quite as daring -- a revival is by definition a safe bet, plus Crow's long since reined in her purple prose -- but one of the charms of Be Myself is what lies along the fringe. Most of the record's 11 songs are graced by provocative sounds lurking at the margins of the mix -- something that sounds like a music box on "Halfway There," a saloon piano on "Rest of Me," all the compressed guitars as percussion -- that help elevate this set of strong, sophisticated pop into something special. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Product Details

Release Date:	04/21/2017
Label:	Warner Bros.
UPC:	0093624913382
Rank:	7496

Tracks

1. Alone in the Dark
2. Halfway There
3. Long Way Back
4. Be Myself
5. Roller Skate
6. Love Will Save the Day
7. Strangers Again
8. Rest of Me
9. Heartbeat Away
10. Grow Up
11. Woo Woo

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Sheryl Crow   Primary Artist,Bass,Piano,Vocals,Celeste,Soloist,Keyboards,Toy Piano,Wurlitzer,Tambourine,Fender Rhodes,Piano (Grand),Vocal Harmony,Wah Wah Guitar,Piano (Upright),Guitar (Acoustic)
Andrew Petroff   Noise,Shaker,Brushes,Strings,Drum Loop,Keyboards,Wurlitzer,Percussion,Tambourine,Synthesizer,Handclapping,Guitar (Acoustic),Bells,Drums,Loops
Audley Freed   Guitar,Soloist,Guitar (Acoustic)
Davide Rossi   Strings
Jeff Trott   Wah Wah Guitar,Moog Synthesizer,Guitar (Acoustic),Guitar (Baritone),Guitar (Electric),Vocals (Background),Guitar (Electroacoustic),Bass,Drums,Organ,Sitar,Guitar,Soloist,Tom-Tom,Synthaxe,Wurlitzer,Pump Organ,Synthesizer,Slide Guitar,Vocal Harmony
Toby Gad   Bass,Moog Synthesizer
Robert Kearns   Bass
Barry Green   Trombone
Doyle Bramhall II   Guitar,Soloist,Vocal Harmony
Mark Douthit   Saxophone
Doug Moffet   Sax (Baritone)
Steve Patrick   Trumpet
Fred Eltringham   Drums,Percussion,Tambourine,Handclapping
Gary Clark, Jr.   Guitar,Soloist
The McCrary Sisters   Vocal Harmony,Vocals (Background)
Rick Purcell   Handclapping
Tim Smith   Vocal Harmony,Vocals (Background)
Adam Minkoff   Keyboards
Josh Grange   Flute,Piano,Guitar,Mellotron,Pedal Steel,Lap Steel Guitar,Guitar (Baritone),Guitar (Electric)

Technical Credits

Tchad Blake   Mixing,Engineer
Bob Ludwig   Mastering
Davide Rossi   String Arrangements
Sheryl Crow   Composer,Producer
Toby Gad   Composer
Andrew Petroff   Engineer
Alberto Vaz   Engineer
Drew Bollman   Engineer
Jeff Trott   Composer,Producer
Rick Purcell   Technician
Matt Rausch   Engineer