Me Myself I is an album by Joan Armatrading. Released in 1980, the album was Armatrading's highest ever chart placing both in the UK (no.5) and in the US (no.28). It was certified "Gold" in the UK by the BPI in July 1980.

The title track also became one of her most successful singles, peaking at no.21 in the UK. It was also used in the soundtrack of an Australian movie of the same title made in 1999.

Personnel

*Joan Armatrading – acoustic guitar, vocals

*Chris Spedding – guitar

*Hiram Bullock – guitar

*Ricky Hirsh – guitar

*Danny Federici – organ

*Paul Shaffer – piano

*Clifford Carter – piano

*Phillip St John – piano

*Clarence Clemons – saxophone

*Will Lee – bass

*Marcus Miller – bass

*Anton Fig – drums

*George Kerr, Sammy Turner - background vocals on "Turn Out The Light"

*Thom Panunzio - engineer

Category:1980 albums

Category:Joan Armatrading albums

Category:Albums produced by Richard Gottehrer

Category:A&M Records albums

Artist/Band Information

Joan Anita Barbara Armatrading, MBE (born 9 December 1950) is a British singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Armatrading is a three-time Grammy Award-nominee and has been nominated twice for BRIT Awards as Best Female Artist. She also received an Ivor Novello award for Outstanding Contemporary Song Collection in 1996.

Early life

Joan Armatrading was born in Basseterre, Saint Kitts in 1950, and moved with her family to Birmingham, England, in 1958. She began writing lyrics and music at the age of 14. Her first job was at Rabone Chesterman, an engineering tool manufacturer in Hockley, Birmingham. She was released from this job because of her insistence on bringing her guitar to work and playing it during tea breaks.BBC Radio 1 interview with Janice Long

Career

In the early 1970s, Armatrading moved to London to perform in a repertory production of the stage musical Hair. There she met the lyricist Pam Nestor, and they worked together on Armatrading's debut album Whatever's for Us, released by Cube Records in 1972. Armatrading wrote the lyrics, performed all of the vocals, wrote all of the music and played an array of instruments on the album. Nestor was credited as co-lyricist, however Cube considered Armatrading to be the more likely star material. These events produced a tension which broke up the partnership. A period of inactivity for Armatrading followed, while she extricated herself from her contract with Cube Records.

In 1975, Armatrading was free to sign with A&M Records, and issued the album Back to the Night, which was promoted on tour with a six-piece jazz-pop group called The Movies. Armatrading credited English singer Elkie Brooks on the sleeve notes as she had cooked for Armatrading and the band in the studio while making the album, which was produced by Brooks' then-husband Pete Gage. A major publicity relaunch in 1976 and the involvement of producer Glyn Johns propelled her next album, Joan Armatrading, into the Top 20 and spawned the Top 10 hit single "Love and Affection". The album mixed acoustic work with jazz-influenced material, and this style was retained for the 1977 follow-up Show Some Emotion, also produced by Glyn Johns, as was 1978's To the Limit. These albums included songs which continue to be staples of Armatrading's live shows, including "Willow", "Down To Zero", "Tall in the Saddle", and "Kissin' and a Huggin". Also at this time, Armatrading wrote and performed "The Flight of the Wild Geese", which was used during the opening and end titles for the 1978 war film The Wild Geese. A live album entitled Steppin' Out was released in 1979.

Joan armatrading.jpgthumb230pxrightArmatrading in concert in the late 1970s- early 1980s

In 1980, Armatrading radically revised her playing style and released Me Myself I, a harder pop-oriented album produced by Richard Gottehrer, who had previously produced albums for Blondie. The album became Armatrading's highest ever charting album both in the UK and the US, while the title track became her second UK Top 40 hit single. The same pop style, now coupled with synthesisers, was also evident on the 1981 album Walk Under Ladders and 1983's The Key. All three of these albums were Top 10 successes in the UK, with The Key also producing the hit single "Drop the Pilot", Armatrading's third UK Top 40 hit single. To capitalise on her success, A&M released the best of compilation album, Track Record in 1983.

Armatrading's next studio album was 1985's Secret Secrets. The album was a top 20 hit but failed to yield any hit singles, cementing Armatrading's status as an "album artist". Taking over production responsibilities herself, she continued to record the albums Sleight of Hand (1986), The Shouting Stage (1988) and Hearts and Flowers (1990) for A&M Records, which all made the UK Top 40 but failed to achieve the level of success of her earlier works despite successful national tours (a show from her 1988 "Shouting Stage" tour was also filmed for television).

In 1991, A&M released the compilation The Very Best of Joan Armatrading which returned her to the Top 10. However, her following studio album for A&M, 1992's Square The Circle did not replicate this success and would be her final recording for the label. Following her departure from A&M, a label she had been with for almost 20 years, Armatrading signed with RCA for her 1995 album What's Inside. Despite various television appearances and a full tour (which included a string quartet in addition to her stage band), the album was not a commercial success, becoming her lowest charting studio album in 20 years.

In 2001, Armatrading performed with fellow artist Melky Sedeck "Mood Indigo" for the Red Hot Organization's compilation album Red Hot + Indigo, a tribute to Duke Ellington, which raised money for various charities devoted to increasing AIDS awareness and fighting the disease. By 2003, and no longer attached to a major label, she released the album Lovers Speak. Though it was her first album in eight years, it met with little commercial success.

Armatrading's music is considered to be mostly pop with forays into rock, folk, jazz, blues, soul and even reggae. Her 2007 album Into the Blues debuted at #1 on the US Billboard Blues Chart, making Armatrading the first UK female artist to earn that distinction. Into the Blues, which Armatrading calls "the CD I’ve been promising myself to write for a long time," was nominated for a Grammy Award, also making her the first female UK artist to be nominated in the Grammy Blues category.

Armatrading has been nominated twice for a Brit Award as best female vocalist and has received an Ivor Novello Award for Outstanding Contemporary Song Collection in 1996.

Armatrading received an honorary degree from Aston University, Birmingham in 2006

Armatrading was part of Cyndi Lauper's True Colors Tour 2008.

Armatrading appeared in Episode 4 of Live from Abbey Road performing "Tall In The Saddle" from her 1976 self-titled album, and "Woman In Love" from the album Into The Blues. She also appeared on Later... with Jools Holland where she performed "Love and Affection", as well as "Woman In Love" and "My Baby's Gone" both from her 2007 Into The Blues album.

On 29 March 2010, she released her latest album, This Charming Life, widely viewed as a return to her guitar-based singer-songwriter pop-rock. The album debuted atop the Amazon.com mp3 download charts. She has embarked on an international tour to promote the album. On November 30, 2010, "This Charming Life" was played on the season finale of Sons of Anarchy, a hit television show on FX.

Personal life

Armatrading lives in the town of Haslemere in Surrey, England.

In addition to her music career, Armatrading studied and gained a BA (Hons) degree in History from the Open University, of which she is now a trustee.

Collaborations

Armatrading performed as a guest vocalist on the 1986 Queen album A Kind of Magic on the song "Don't Lose Your Head".

Discography

Albums

Compilations

Singles

Footnotes

Reference bibliography

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Further reading

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