![]() ![]() What happened next is well documented but still an uneasy read. There, it starts with a lone camera flash which then builds to a deafening crescendo of camera clicks, shouting voices and blinding lights. "Amy," he said fatefully, "this is going to change everything." The extent to which it changes was captured masterfully in the Asif Kapadia film. He’d heard her work on Rehab, downstairs in their flat for weeks, but one night he heard the produced version. These were heady days, but Tyler recalls the moment it all changed. At one point they shared a place in LA, with Amy swooning locals bars with her version of Carole King’s So Far Away. Tyler was writing songs with other people and an offer of £500,000 was soon on the table. Amy was quickly signed to two deals, each worth a quarter of a million. It is not unusual on graduation to find yourself in the latest boy band, selling millions and touring the world.īut Tyler and Amy had their sights set elsewhere. The Sylvia Young Stage school turns out talents like their classmate Billie Piper. He, too, gasped in astonishment.īut the school they were in was more like a Hogwarts than your local secondary. She put her arm around him and did her version. The first time they met was singing Happy Birthday in school. Two kids goofing off, getting in trouble and making each other laugh. He was Amy’s best friend since they met in stage school, aged 12, and her frequent flatmate right up to her death. This week, as we approach the 10th anniversary of her passing, I talked to Tyler James, the author of My Amy, The Life We Shared. Or, as you watched her frightening decline in Asif Kapadia’s brilliant film, Amy, discovering why everyone seemed so powerless to stop the forces destroying her. I thought I would never get much closer to answering the questions of where that talent came from or how she got so good, so fast. I did get to talk to her dad: heartbroken by her loss, bewildered by her talent. And then of course, almost inevitably it seemed, she was gone. Two chats were scheduled, but in the chaotic post Back to Black world, neither happened. I simply marvel at her talent.īut I never got to interview her. Since then, the phrase used to describe Amy Winehouse has been ‘generational talent.’ I subscribe to that and every song I’ve heard, interview she’s done, or film that I’ve watched have confirmed it. ![]() It and the album, Back to Black, one of those rare instances of music that will top the charts and wow the music specialist audiences. I played it that night and every night after. Somebody working at a music station had heard that track and hadn’t rated it. The CD I fished out of the bin had Tears Dry On Their Own on it. ![]()
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