FEATURE:
Groovelines
Sheryl Crow – All I Wanna Do
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THERE are a few reasons…
why I want to spotlight one of the best song of the 1990s. Even though it does not turn thirty until 12th July, its voice, Sheryl Crow, celebrates her birthday on 11th February. The fourth single from Crow’s debut album, Tuesday Night Music Club, All I Wanna Do is perhaps her best-known song. The second single from Tuesday Night Music Club, What Can I Do for You, is thirty on 7th February. I really admire and vibe to Sheryl Crow’s debut album. I gladly marked its thirtieth anniversary last year. I have not come to its standout track yet. Before going on and exploring the song in depth, I am glad there is an HD version of the All I Wanna Do video. Until about a year ago or so, the video that was online was pretty blurry and bad. It looks nice and sharp now – thus, bringing the song to the focus of new listeners. Recorded at the brilliantly-named Toad Hall in Pasadena, California – the perfect blend of stuffy British aristocracy and the sunshine and perfection of the Los Angeles sun! -, All I Wanna Do was produced by Bill Bottrell and written by Sheryl Crow, Kevin Gilbert, Bill Bottrell, Wyn Cooper and David Baerwald. The recipient id the 1995 Grammy for Record of the Year, and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance, it was also nominated for Song of the Year. It is no wonder the song was an award-winning success and chart hit around the world. The video for All I Wanna Do was directed by David Hogan and Roman Coppola. It is full of charm and great moments! Crow has performed All I Wanna Do quite bit through the years. Another reason why I wanted to highlight All I Wanna Do is that Sheryl Crow unexpectedly announced the release of her twelfth studio album, Evolution. Out next month, many thought that her previous album, 2019’s Threads, was her last.
This iconic and beloved artist is going to get a wave of new fans as she is bringing out new material. People will look back at her previous albums. Tuesday Night Music Club is a brilliant debut. I was eleven when All I Wanna Do arrived. I was about to start high school and I was instantly intoxicated by this remarkable and insanely catchy song! I had not heard a load of Country Pop by 1994. I would be exposed to artists like Shania Twain eventually, though I think Sheryl Crow was among the first to reach my ears. I have always had a soft spot for All I Wanna Do. Maybe there will be a thirtieth anniversary release of the single of vinyl with B-sides like Solidify and I'm Gonna Be a Wheel Someday. Whilst I would place There Goes the Neighborhood and My Favourite Mistake (from 1998’s The Globe Sessions) and Everyday Is a Winding Road (from 1996’s Sheryl Crow) in the top five Sheryl Crow songs, I will still put All I Wanna Do top. Last year, marking thirty years of Tuesday Night Music Club, The Guardian placed All I Wanna Do at five in their top-twenty Sheryl Crow songs ranking. Also last year, this article crowned All I Wanna Do as her best song. Smooth Radio placed it top too. Before getting into the song, Sheryl Crow revealed in a 2021 interview how there was a time she got tired or playing All I Wanna Do. She came around to the joy and popularity of the hit single:
“All I Wanna Do, Sheryl’s megahit of 1993, also gets an airing, though she jokes that without her manager’s plea ‘it would not have seen the light of day’.
She explains: ‘I have to say that for a long time I didn’t enjoy playing All I Wanna Do every night, but what happens when you get older is that dissatisfaction with life sometimes gets replaced with gratitude. Although that sounds really hokey, it’s what’s happened with me.
‘I’ve gone through transitions in my life that were really public and I’ve come out the other side just being really grateful that I had a song that took me to Russia, Asia and all over South America and that people who didn’t have English even as a second language were trying to sing along with it”.
I am going to round off with some personal thoughts and memories of All I Wanna Do. Medium took a look inside a 1990s classic for a feature in 2018. I can imagine the writing process as being quite laidback. Crow, with her co-writers trading lines and noodling. Those distinct and immersive scenes, together with Crow’s distinct and character-filled vocal performance, makes All I Wanna Do such a winner. It is a song widely played to this day. One cannot help but fall under the spell of this song from the moment it starts:
“Writing credits for “All I Wanna Do” go to Sheryl Crow, Wyn Cooper, Dave Baerwald, Kevin Gilbert and Bill Bottrell.
Baerwald, Gilbert and Bottrell were founder members of an informal songwriting group which called itself the Tuesday Night Music Club. Sheryl Crow joined the collective whilst dating Kevin Gilbert — and “Tuesday Night Music Club” would go on to become the title of Sheryl Crow’s multi-platinum breakthrough album in homage to those gatherings.
At one of those casual songwriting events…literally on a Tuesday night after a few beers during the afternoon…Bill Bottrell brought along the words to a poem called “Fun” by Wyn Cooper.
You’ll recognise the opening verse from “Fun” as “All I Wanna Do” pretty much used this lock, stock and barrel…
“All I want to do is have a little fun before I die,”
Says the man next to me
Out of nowhere, apropos of nothing
He says his name’s William
But I’m sure it’s Bill or Billy, Mac or Buddy
He’s plain ugly to me
And I wonder if he’s ever had fun in his life
That pretty much set the pattern for “All I Wanna Do”. Wyn Cooper’s poem, with a few relatively minor adjustments along the way, formed the verses and, depending on whose version of events you choose to believe, either Sheryl Crow on her own or the entire Tuesday Night Music Club came up with the chorus…
All I wanna do is have some fun
I’ve got a feeling I’m not the only one
All I wanna do is have some fun
I’ve got a feeling I’m not the only one
All I wanna do is have some fun
Until the sun comes up over Santa Monica Boulevard
I say Wyn Cooper’s poem was the basis for the verses in “All I Wanna Do” — that’s only true for the first three verses, and a couple of lines from the fourth verse. The other verse-and-a-bit don’t make the cut.
Which may be part of the charm of “All I Wanna Do”. In Wyn Cooper’s poem, he brings the story to a close in the “missing” verses. Without them, the song never reaches a conclusion and just goes on into the indefinite distance, ambling towards the horizon but never quite disappearing over it.
“All I Wanna Do” is one of those intriguing songs which asks more questions than it answers. And Sheryl Crow’s delivery really makes the difference.
She conveys the sense that not only isn’t she going to explore any hidden layers, or answer any further questions, she has no interest in even contemplating the possibility that she might.
Whether that’s because she already knows the answer, or can’t find herself bothered enough to care, adds another layer of intrigue to an already intriguing set of lyrics.
As does Sheryl Crow’s delightfully idiosyncratic vocal delivery, especially on the verses, which she delivers half-sung, half-spoken with a heavy overtone of ennui, paying little attention to the insistent drum track propelling the song along, or the normal rules of music performance.
Sheryl Crow captures the mood of someone sitting in a bar all day watching a guy peel the labels off beer bottles for fun perfectly.
As always, creating a “one off” is difficult. It takes a lot more skill than just doing something broadly similar to whatever everyone else is doing.
IN THIS PHOTO: Sheryl Crow in 1994/PHOTO CREDIT: Gie Knaeps/Getty Images
Thankfully Sheryl Crow has a degree in classical music and spent some time teaching music before fame and fortune came her way, so we can take it she has a thorough enough knowledge of the rules to know how to break them successfully.
Bill Bottrell worked as a producer for some of the biggest acts in popular music — Michael Jackson, Madonna and Elton John among them. David Baerwald and Keving Gilbert were both accomplished, and critically-acclaimed, record-makers themselves. And Wyn Cooper was a great poet…if largely undiscovered until “All I Wanna Do” came along.
Somehow, the heady mix of people and talents at the Tuesday Night Music Club, after a few beers, I’m sure, pulled together the song that would become “All I Wanna Do””.
As a child just about to go to high school, I was nervous and unsure what I was in for. Whether I would settle in quickly. Music was a big help and source of comfort. A wonderful musical revelation that was played at a lot in my first year of high school in 1994, this iconic track is thirty on 12th July. Tuesday Night Music Club’s fabulous fourth single, I will end with Wikipedia’s critical reaction round-up of one of Sheryl Crow’s biggest single releases:
“Larry Flick from Billboard wrote, "Critical darling is poised for a long-deserved top 40 breakthrough with this breezy hand-clapper. Crow has a friendly demeanor that adds extra bounce to a sweet instrumental setting of jangly guitars and toe-tapping beats. Live-sounding jam is a fitting soundtrack to a day at the beach or speeding down the highway with the top down." Troy J. Augusto from Cash Box felt it should have been the first single from Tuesday Night Music Club. "Devil-may-care lyrics ("I like a good beer-buzz, early in the morning"), a cool country twang and Sheryl's friendly vocal style should all spell hit for this feelin'-good number. Rock, country, adult and, particularly, hits radio should all find lots to love about this low-key frolic. Don't miss the live show." In a second single review, he noted, "Seriously infectious hook, simple yet clever instrumentation and Crow's likable personality all spell a winner here. A perfect summertime track, "All I Wanna Do" could well be the song that kicks off Sheryl's run at the big leagues." In his weekly UK chart commentary, James Masterton commented, that "All I Wanna Do" "certainly has potential to go further, not least with Lisa Loeb as a role model but my one overwhelming confession is that I honestly cannot see what all the fuss is about. It's a good record, but no more." Alan Jones from Music Week said "this cheery pop/rock smash is a wordy, but expertly delivered and invigorating confection with a catchy chorus." He added, "Brits may not smile as much as US rock buyers, but they'll grin enough to get this into the chart".
A song that has lost none its cool and brilliance almost thirty years since it was released, Sheryl Crow’s All I Wanna Do is one that I would urge everyone to play now. It will lift the mood and get you singing along! Insatiable and a fusion of sunshine and beer-stained brilliance, it is a track that means a lot to me. With Sheryl Crow releasing a new album soon, she will tour again. I hope that All I Wanna Do makes a setlist soon enough. This mighty and timeless song is one of the…
VERY best of the 1990s.