Heart and Soul: New Songs from Ally McBeal Featuring Vonda Shepard

by Vonda Shepard

Overview

Vonda Shepard's curious ascension into pop prominence on the heels of the Ally McBeal television series offers evidence that, if you just hang around Los Angeles long enough, you may finally get recognized. After years of laboring as a lower echelon L.A. rock singer/songwriter and backup singer (a second-rate Bonnie Raitt, one might say), Shepard hit paydirt of a sort playing a club singer on TV, and the quasi-soundtrack album Songs from Ally McBeal, which includes oldies covers from the '60s and '70s, was a million-selling Top Ten hit in 1998. The inevitable follow-up is more of the same, though this time around Shepard gets to pen five of the 14 tracks. On her own, Shepard is not untalented: "Read Your Mind," the lead-off track, is a tentative acceptance of love that might as easily be directed to Shepard's unexpected (and no doubt temporary) new audience as to a new boyfriend; "Confetti" is a '60s-style rocker that seems to be attacking the kind of kids who look to Ally McBeal for fashion and dating tips; and "Baby, Don't You Break My Heart Slow" is a good romantic ballad in the currently popular Diane Warren/adult contemporary style. Such material demonstrates that Shepard is worthy of a major-label release of her own songs, and not just in relation to Ally McBeal. ~ William Ruhlmann

Product Details

Release Date:	11/09/1999
Label:	550 Music
UPC:	0074646391525
Rank:	84237

Tracks

1. Read Your Mind
2. 100 Tears Away
3. Someday We'll Be Together
4. To Sir, With Love
5. Sweet Inspiration
6. Crying
7. Vincent (Starry Starry Night)
8. What Becomes of the Broken Hearted
9. World Without Love
10. Confetti
11. Baby, Don't You Break My Heart Slow
12. This Is Crazy Now
13. This Old Heart of Mine (Is Weak For You)
14. I Know Him by Heart

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Vonda Shepard   Primary Artist,Vocals,Vocals (Background)
Al Green   Primary Artist
Emily Saliers   Primary Artist
Suzie Katayama   Cello
Charlie Bisharat   Violin
Martin Tillman   Cello
Matthew Funes   Viola
Val McCallum   Guitar
Davey Faragher   Bass
Lynn Davis   Vocals (Background)
Joel Derouin   Violin
Leland Sklar   Bass

Technical Credits

David Boucher   Assistant,Mixing
Harvey Fuqua   Composer
Dan Penn   Composer
William Weatherspoon   Composer
Sebastian Haimerl   Engineer
Paul Riser   Composer
Vonda Shepard   Composer,Producer,Liner Notes
John Paterno   Engineer
Johnny Bristol   Composer
Rob Brill   Engineer,Assistant Engineer
Roy Orbison   Composer
Alan Sanderson   Engineer
Coco Shinomiya   Design
Carol Farhat   Music Coordinator
Lior Goldenberg   Engineer
Pamela Springsteen   Photography
Paul Gordon   Composer
James Dean   Composer
Paul Williams   Composer
Tony Flores   Engineer
Al Green   Performer
Brian Holland   Composer
Mitchell Froom   Composer
Paul Dieter   Engineer
Paul McCartney   Composer
Sylvia Moy   Composer
Bob Ludwig   Mastering
Lamont Dozier   Composer
Jackey Beavers   Composer
Spooner Oldham   Composer
Emily Saliers   Performer
Eddie Holland   Composer
Don Black   Composer
Joe Melson   Composer
Don McLean   Composer
Greg Collins   Engineer
Jeff Burns   Engineer
John Tyree   Engineer
John Lennon   Composer
Mark London   Composer
Jon Vezner   Composer