..:: audio-music dot info ::..


Main Page     The Desert Island     Copyright Notice
Aa Bb Cc Dd Ee Ff Gg Hh Ii Jj Kk Ll Mm Nn Oo Pp Qq Rr Ss Tt Uu Vv Ww Xx Yy Zz


Lenny Kravitz: Mama Said

 A l b u m   D e t a i l s


Label: Virgin Records
Released: 1991.04.02
Time:
 52:38
Category: Pop/Rock
Producer(s): Lenny Kravitz
Rating: *******... (7/10)
Media type: CD
Web address: www.lennykravitz.com
Appears with:
Purchase date: 2001.08.06
Price in €: 6,99



 S o n g s ,   T r a c k s


[1] Fields of Joy (Fredricks/Kamen) - 4:03
[2] Always on the Run (Kravitz/Slash) - 3:57
[3] Stand by My Woman (Hirsch/Kravitz/Krizan/Pasch) - 4:16
[4] It Ain't over Till It's Over (Kravitz) - 3:55
[5] More Than Anything in This World (Kravitz) - 3:43
[6] What Goes Around Comes Around (Kravitz) - 4:40
[7] The Difference Is Why (Kravitz) - 4:48
[8] Stop Draggin' Around (Kravitz) - 2:37
[9] Flowers for Zoë (Kravitz) - 2:45
[10] Fields of Joy (Reprise) (Fredricks/Kamen) - 3:57
[11] All I Ever Wanted (Kravitz) - 4:04
[12] When the Morning Turns to Night (Kravitz) - 2:58
[13] What the Fuck Are We Saying? (Kravitz) - 5:10
[14] Butterfly (Kravitz) - 1:45

 A r t i s t s ,   P e r s o n n e l


LENNY KRAVITZ - Synthesizer, Bass, Guitar, Arranger, Drums, Sitar, Vocal, Mellotron, Fender Rhodes, Horn Arrangements, String Arrangements

DAVID DOMANICH - Drums, Engineer
HENRY HIRSCH - Organ, Bass, Piano, Engineer, Mellotron, String Arrangements, Mixing, String Machine, Mini Moog
MICHAEL HUNTER - Trumpet
NANCY IVES - Cello
LEBRON SCOTT - Bass
SLASH - Guitar
KARL DENSON - Saxophone
SEAN LENNON - Piano
PHENIX HORNS - Horn
THE PHOENIX HORNS - Horn
BUTCH TOMAS - Saxophone
ADAM WIDOFF - Guitar
ZORO - Drums

HENRY HIRSCH - Engineer, Mixing
DAVID DOMANICH - Engineer
GREG CALBI - Mastering
TOM BOUMAN - Design
MELANIE NISSEN - Art Direction
JAMES CALDERARRO - Photography
STEPHEN E. SMITH - Management
DANNY GOLDBERG - Management
RON STONE - Management

 C o m m e n t s ,   N o t e s


1991 CD Virgin 91610
1991 CS Virgin 86209
1991 CD Atlantic 91610
1991 CS Atlantic 91610
1992 CS Virgin 86209



Moving forward a couple years from the psychedelic fixations of his debut, Mama Said finds Lenny Kravitz in the early '70s, trying to graft Curtis Mayfield and Jimi Hendrix influences to his Prince and Lennon obsessions. This time around, he synthesizes his influences better; it's essentially a seamless record, with all of its classic rock homages so carefully produced that it sounds as if it could have been released in 1972. Kravitz's songcraft has gotten better as well, with the swirling Philly soul of "It Ain't Over Till It's Over" and the rampaging Sly Stone-meets-Hendrix "Always on the Run" standing out as instantly addictive singles. Still, some of the joy that informed Let Love Rule has worn off, largely because it's more polished and studied than its predecessor. That, however, doesn't prevent Mama Said from being another thoroughly enjoyable guilty pleasure — its sweet soul and fuzzy hard rock are slyly seductive. Ironically for such an inviting record, Mama Said is Kravitz's divorce album, yet it never quite conveys any true pain or emotion, since he puts sound over substance. Essentially, the lyrics are afterthoughts, but with a record as immaculately produced and sonically pleasurable as Mama Said, it doesn't really matter that it's talking loud and saying nothing, because it sounds good while it's talking.

Stephen Thomas Erlewine
All-Music Guide, © 1992 - 2001 AEC One Stop Group, Inc.



New artists often flaunt their influences, but few do so with the intensity that Lenny Kravitz displayed on his 1989 debut, Let Love Rule. Drawing on the legacies of artists ranging from John Lennon and Jimi Hendrix to Sly Stone, Kravitz offered a sound and a message that evoked the guitar-drenched, peace-loving psychedelia of the late Sixties so unabashedly that it approached fixation. The good news, then, is that Kravitz has discovered the Seventies. On Mama Said, which alludes to a wider array of musical styles than its predecessor did, he offers a collection of new material that is, like much of his first effort, richly textured, movingly executed and maddeningly derivative.

After "Fields of Joy," an opening cut that segues from a gentle acoustic intro into a searing burst of electric guitar, much of the first half of Mama Said plays like a sampling of black pop circa, say, 1972. "Always on the Run," written with Guns n' Roses guitarist Slash, is a bit of horn-tinged funk wrapped around a riff similar to that used by Stevie Wonder in "Superstition"; "What Goes Around Comes Around" features a Curtis Mayfield-like falsetto vocal buoyed by Stax-inspired sax fills; "It Ain't Over 'til It's Over" bathes the album's catchiest refrain in luscious strings, bringing to mind the Philadelphia soul of the Spinners and the O'Jays.

The seventh track, "The Difference Is Why," finds Kravitz once again deep in Hendrix territory, using guitar effects and thick, resonant bass lines that pop up again on "Stop Draggin' Around," "When the Morning Turns to Night" and a psychedelic reprise of "Fields." Hendrix's presence is also apparent in the lyrics on this record, imagist reflections on love and nature that, while less pedantic than Let Love Rule's tales of racial prejudice and urban despair, ultimately convey the same message – that, as Kravitz sings in "Always on the Run," "love's all that matters."

Celebrating one's heroes is hardly cause for reproach in itself. Prince – a musician whose penchant for producing and playing various instruments Kravitz shares and a singer whose whisper-to-a-scream vocal style he adopts for urgent numbers like "Stand by My Woman" and "All I Ever Wanted" – has rarely been subtle about his various fascinations, among which Hendrix happens to be prominent. But Kravitz is light-years away from His Royal Badness in terms of establishing a musical persona of his own. Rather than synthesizing his influences in a way that allows him some personal expression, Kravitz seemingly aims to acknowledge as many of them as he can in the course of an hour; the result is a rather disjointed album that lacks freshness and distinction. Kravitz continues to demonstrate a talent for crafting and arranging engaging songs; unfortunately, up to this point it has proven less a creative talent than a recreative one.

ELYSA GARDNER - Rolling Stone Nr. 602
© Copyright 2001 RollingStone.com



Sometimes it's fun to take the albums of latter-day rockers and play spot-the-influence, and on Mama Said, it's like shooting fish in a barrel. "Always on the Run," with its punchy horns and emphatic vocals, is cribbed from Sly Stone. "What Goes Around Comes Around," with its understated arrangement and Kravitz's falsetto, is straight out of Superfly-era Curtis Mayfield. "Stand By My Woman" and "All I Ever Wanted," meanwhile, are so directly copped from John Lennon--lyrically, sonically, attitudinally--that it ought to be actionable. Younger fans might not care about any of this, of course, because in and of themselves, Kravitz's songs are tuneful, and they do rock.

Daniel Durchholz - Amazon.com



Was sollte da noch kommen? Lenny Kravitz hatte zwei Jahre zuvor mit Let Love Rule ein gigantisches Album abgeliefert, da konnte er doch eigentlich nichts Besseres mehr... Doch. Er konnte. Mama Said steht dem Debüt-Album des Amerikaners in nichts nach.

Nur wenige Platten starten so fulminant: "Fields Of Joy", "Always On The Run", "Stand By My Woman", "It Ain't Over Til It's Over" sind die ersten vier Nummern der CD, vollgepfropft mit cleveren Blues-Arrangements und geführt von einer großartigen Rhythmus-Abteilung, jedes für sich eine kleine Perle. Ein Durchschnitts-Hitschreiber würde wahrscheinlich einen Finger drangeben, hätte er dafür auch nur einen einzigen der musikalischen Einfälle, die Kravitz unverschämt und gleich zu Beginn im Dutzend in seine Stücke packt.

Und wie schon bei Let Love Rule schafft es Kravitz auch bei seinem zweiten Album, diese Vorgabe durchzuhalten: Bei keinem einzigen Stück der CD geht ihm so richtig die Luft aus, immer schleicht sich sein Beat irgendwie doch ins Ohr, macht sich breit, fett sogar. Was ist das? Blues? Soul? Rock? Mama Said sprengt jede einzelne Kategorie und reiht sich ebenbürtig ein in die Reihe der ganz großen Alben der 90er. Was? Das klingt ein wenig abgehoben? Mama Said schwebt ja auch ziemlich weit oben.

Michael Ebert - Amazon.de



Trotz des Titels: Kravitz ist kein Muttersöhnchen. Das Cover zeigt den wahren Lenny - den Paradiesvogel, der weiß, was er will: zum zweiten Mal musikalisch wettmachen, daß er die Sixties nicht selbst erleben durfte. It Ain't Over'Til It's Over könnte, trotz der Sitar, von Smokey Robinson sein; Stand By My Woman lebt von Lennon-Anleihen und Soul-Feeling; bei Hendrix (und Prince) hat der vielseitige Instrumentalist mit der Chamä- leon-Stimme ein paar Lektionen gelernt - und alles eigen kombiniert, rauh, mit Herz.

Bongo-Getrommel, Reggae-Beat, schräge Punk-Riffs, Ska-Rhythmen, feurige Flamenco-Gitarren, schnoddrige Rap-Zitate verdrängen Rock'n'-Roll-Einlagen.

© Audio 6/91



Mit seinem Debütalbum "Let Love Rule" bewies Lenny Kravitz, daß er recht originell Popmusik aus den 60er Jahren in die 90er transportieren kann. Die mit "Mama Said" vorgeführte Reprise desselben Anliegens war nicht notwendig. Das Album wimmelt von Versatzstücken, die vor 25 Jahren in wesentlich reizvollerem Kontext eingesetzt wurden, vor allem aber in we- sentlich interessanteren Songs. Mit "Fields Of Joy" und "Always On The Run" fielen Kravitz gerade zwei akzeptable Kompositionen ein, der Rest erschöpft sich in endlosen Textwiederholungen, die den Sänger ad nauseam in unterschiedlichen Stufen der Hysterie präsentieren.

© Stereoplay



In the same way that people said Springsteen was copping Dylan, people are saying that Kravitz is copping Lennon. As the Boss later proved with a larger-than-life road show and his own persona, Lenny Kravitz is proving himself with a personal, heartfelt sophomore LP that is filled with pop/rock/ soul nuggets that hold up, listen after listen, despite the scrutiny of retro naysayers. Perhaps his greatest feat is creating an album that depends heavily on his own tribulations in lyrical content while still speaking with a relevancy for the masses - not unlike I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got. That relevancy comes with the addition of other songwriters, arrangers and musicians - most notably Guns N' Roses' Slash on the churning title track and Sean Ono Lennon adding piano (and not helping to distance Lenny from John) on the ballad, "All I Ever Wanted." Also on the subject of progression is the addition of more tracks utilizing brass, woodwinds, strings and especially Kravitz's amazing falsetto; "It Ain't Over `Til It's Over" melds Earth, Wind & Fire with latter-day Beatles, and "What Goes Around Comes Around" recalls Curtis Mayfield bopping around the stage in Superfly. Progression through regression might not be the artistically correct mode of operation, but Mama Said simultaneously makes a case for the sheer enjoyment of listening to classic pop redux, and the multi-faceted talent of Lenny Kravitz.

CMJ New Music Report Issue: 228 - Mar 22, 1991
© 1978-1999 College Media, Inc. All rights reserved.
 

 L y r i c s


FIELDS OF JOY

Let's wander slowly through the fields
Slowly slowly through the fields
I touch the leaves that touch the sky
Just you and i through fields of joy
All trouble slowly fades away
Slowly slowly fades away
I hold your hand inside my hand
Across the land through fields of joy
The sound of music that we hear
The blend of colors throug the air
All cities, mountains disappear from view
All truth and beauty near to me and you
With you through the fields
With you through the fields
With you through the fields
The fields of joy

Let's wander slowly through the fields
Slowly slowly through the fields
I know our love will never die
Just you and i
Through fields of joy
Through fields of joy


ALWAYS ON THE RUN

My mama said
That your life is a gift
And my mama said
There's much weight you will lift
And my mama said
Leave those bad boys alone
And my mama said
Be home before the dawn
And my mama said
You can be rich or poor
But my mama said
You can be big or small

But i'm always on the run

My mama said
That it's good to be truthful
But my mama said
Don't take more than a mouthful
And my mama said
That it's good to be natural
And my mama said
That it's good to be factual

But i'm always on the run

My mama said
Baby don't ride that crazy horse
And my mama said
You must push with much force
And my mama said
Go get all that your after
And my mama said
That love's all that matters

But i'm always on the run


STAND BY MY WOMAN

There were times i wasn't kind
And there were times i wasn't even around
And there were times i made you cry
So many times i had to say goodbye
When you want to talk
I'm on the phone
But now baby i am here for you alone

I'm gonna stand by my woman now
I'm gonna stand by my woman now
'cause i can't live my life alone
Without a home

There were times i didn't understand
And there were times i waouldn't hold your hand
But now baby now i'm here for you
'cause baby i am so in love with you

I'm gonna stand by my woman now
I'm gonna stand by my woman now
'cause i can't live my life alone
Without a home

I'm gonna stand by my woman now
I'm gonna stand by my woman now
'cause i can't live my life alone
Without a home

I'm gonna stand by my woman now
I'm gonna stand by my woman now
'cause i can't live my life alone
Without a home
Stand by my woman now
I'm gonna stand by my woman now

'cause i can't live my life alone
Without a home
Without a home


IT AIN'T OVER 'TIL IT'S OVER

Playing games with love

So many tears i've cried
So much pain inside
But baby it ain't over 'til it's over
So many years we've tried
To keep our love alive
But baby it ain't over 'till it's over

How many times
Did we give up
But we always worked things out
And all my doubts and fear
Kept me wondering
If i'd always be in love

So many tears i've cried
So much pain inside
But baby it ain't over 'til it's over

So many years we've tried
And kept our love alive
But baby it ain't over 'till it's over

So many tears i've cried
So much pain inside
But baby it ain't over 'til it's over

So many years we've tried
And kept our love alive
But baby it ain't over 'till it's over


MORE THAN ANYTHING IN THIS WORLD

More than anything in this world
I just want you to be my woman
More than anything in this world
I wanna be your man

I'd walk through fire
Stand in the rain
I'll go through hell and back
On a plane
I'd scale the mountains
Swim the seas
I beg for mercy
Down on my knees

More than anything in this world
I just want you to be my woman
More than anything in this world
I wanna be your man

I caused you sorrow
I've caused you pain
But love is all we will have to gain
I searched to whole world, oh i
And i want you to be my baby

More than anything in this world
I just want you to be my woman
More than anything in this world
I wanna be your man


WHAT GOES AROUND COMES AROUND

My pockets were full and now my money's gone
My friends come around and now they're gone
Things come and they come and then they go
And where they go nobody knows

It's gonna come around
What goes around comes around
It's gonna come around
What goes around comes around

My cup over runneth with the fullness and grace
Yet people push bullshit in my face
The future can't hold what your money can't buy
My brother keep striving your child relies

It's gonna come around
What goes around comes around
It's gonna come around
What goes around comes around

The world keep on spinning does the future know ?
We're destined to screw ourselves one blow
We've ruined what's pure down from nature below
You'd better look back it'll all be gone

It's gonna come around
What goes around comes around
It's gonna come around
What goes around comes around

So children please listen this world is yours
This message to deep to ignore
Your forefathers said but they did not do
The things that would show that they cared for you

It's gonna come around
What goes around comes around
It's gonna come around
What goes around comes around
Comes around comes around comes around
Comes around comes around comes around
Comes around comes around comes around
Comes around yeah

Gonna take you higher
I'm gonna take you higher
I'm gonna take you higher
Yeah yeah yeah

I'm gonna take you higher
Gonna take you higher
Yeah yeah yeah
Gonna take you higher higher
Higher higher higher higher
Gonna take you higher
Gonna take you higher


THE DIFFERENCE IS WHY

I'm just a human
I never said i was god
And each day i wonder where you are
How could our lives once be so together
Now we're apart
I know we can make it
But where do we start ?
Sometimes the scales get unbalanced
Don't you know the reason why ?

The difference is why
The difference is why

You say you can't trust me
Have you tried ?
You say you don't love me
That's a lie
There are so many so many rainbows
That we have to climb
But baby baby why can't we survive ?
We've got to get our heads untangled
And free our state of mind

The difference is why
The difference is why

Sometimes the scales get unbalanced
Don't you know the reason why ?

The difference is why
The difference is why
Does this have to be goodbye ?


STOP DRAGGIN' AROUND

Thinking positivity
If you wanna be with me
I'll take you to the promised land
Come on baby take my hand

Stop draggin' around

Higher and higher and higher we get
I'll freak you like a sex-o-lette
You say you wanna be my wife ?
Ii'll take you to another life, come on

Stop draggin' around

Come on baby, take my hand
I'll take you to the promised land

Stop draggin' around

Flowers For Zoë
Flowers for Zoë
Love is for Zoë
Angels and rainbows
All kinds of things you can call your own

Gardens for Zoë
And oceans for Zoë
Jungle gym playgrounds
All kinds of things for you to explore


FLOWERS FOR ZOË

Love is for Zoë
Angels and rainbows
All kinds of things you can call your own

God is for Zoë
And heaven's for Zoë
Oh can you believe
That everything is waiting to unfold ?

You can call your own
You can call your own
You can call your own


FIELDS OF JOY (Reprise)

Let's wander slowly through the fields
Slowly slowly through the fields
I touch the leaves that touch the sky
Just you and i through fields of joy
All trouble slowly fades away
Slowly slowly fades away
I hold your hand inside my hand
Across the land through fields of joy
The sound of music that we hear
The blend of colors throug the air
All cities, mountains disappear from view
All truth and beauty near to me and you
With you through the fields
With you through the fields
With you through the fields
The fields of joy

Let's wander slowly through the fields
Slowly slowly through the fields
I know our love will never die
Just you and i
Through fields of joy
Through fields of joy


ALL I EVER WANTED

Baby can't keep on running
All i want you to do is to feel with me yeah
We both are hurting
And it's gonna take a little time
To heal all the wounds and save our family

All i ever wanted
All i ever needed
All i ever wanted was love

Remember kissing in the moonlight ?
How we held each other all night
All i ever wanted was love

Darling darling darling
Don't you want to feel good inside ?
It seems i've forgotten how it feels to be
Look up to the stars
And ask the heavens
To show you the truth
So that you can be free

All i ever wanted
All i ever needed
All i ever wanted was love

Remember kissing in the moonlight ?
How we held each other all night
All i ever wanted was love

Tell me what's the answer ?
It's gotten so cloudy i just can't see
But you got your life and i got mine
Are we even ?
When i know i want you
And baby you want me
All i ever wanted
All i ever needed
All i ever wanted was love

Remember kissing in the moonlight ?
How we held each other all night
All i ever wanted was love


WHEN THE MORNING TURNS TO NIGHT

Little girl with heroin so blue
You've got to find the future in you
Your scepters and needles will put you away
Forever and a day

Your future will haunt you before you get there
Imagine the planet with no air
All mute no light no sun only light
As far away as neverland

As the sky comes tumbling down to the head
And the valleys are all filed up with dirt
As many people as there are sands in the sea
Will die the morning after

So little girl with your heroin so blue
I guess our future is all up to you
Through the battle sequence you must fight
'til the morning turns to night

So imagine our world with no air
Just follow the son, he'll take you where
The night and the seas are all full of light
'til the morning turns to night

'til the morning turns to night


WHAT THE .... ARE WE SAYING?

Will we ever understand ?
Or is teh fate of man at hand ?
Will we live or shall we die ?
How will we ever know if we never try ?
The government's the devil's hands
It's a lie and it's a scam
They wind us up, put us down and watch us go
And if you close your eyes
There's a big surprise

What the .... are we saying ?
Do we feel what we dream about ?
We've got to keep on praying
And one day we'll see the light

I've been lost in the name of love
And we kill our brothers daily in the name of god
We'd better chill before we take on some tribulation
And if we realized
Then we'd make a little love now sing

What the .... are we saying ?
Do we believe what wee read about ?
We've got to keep on praying
And one day we'll see the light

What the .... are we saying ?
Do we feel what we dream about ?
We've got to keep on praying
And one day we'll see the light


BUTTERFLY

You are the most beautiful thing
I've ever seen
You shine just like sunlight rays
On a winter snow
I just had to tell you so
Your eyes sparkle as the stars
Like the moon the glow
Your smile could light the world on fire
Or did you know ?

Your mind's full of everything that
I want to know
I just had to let you know
I just had to tell you so
You're my butterfly
Fly high
Fly fly fly

 M P 3   S a m p l e s


Currently no Samples available!