That Girl Could Sing
| "That Girl Could Sing" | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Japanese cover | ||||||||||
| Single by Jackson Browne | ||||||||||
| from the album Hold Out | ||||||||||
| B-side | "Of Missing Persons" | |||||||||
| Released | September 1980 | |||||||||
| Format | 7" | |||||||||
| Recorded | Autumn 1979-Spring 1980 | |||||||||
| Genre | Rock, pop | |||||||||
| Length | 4:34 | |||||||||
| Label | Asylum | |||||||||
| Writer(s) | Jackson Browne | |||||||||
| Producer(s) | Jackson Browne & Greg Ladanyi | |||||||||
| Jackson Browne singles chronology | ||||||||||
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"That Girl Could Sing" is a hit single written and performed by Jackson Browne from his 1980 album Hold Out. The song peaked at #22 on the Billboard Hot 100, charting for 13 weeks after its Sept. 20, 1980 debut. It was also released as a single in Japan. "That Girl Could Sing" was the seventh-biggest hit single of Browne's Top 40 career (beating 1976's "Here Come Those Tears Again" by one position higher on the Billboard Hot 100).[1][2][3]
History
Lyrically the song expresses positive remembrance of a relationship with an ultimately elusive woman:
- "She was a friend to me when I needed one —
- "Wasn't for her I don't know what I'd have done.
- "She gave me back something that was missing in me.
- "She could have turned out to be almost anyone ...
- "With the possible exception
- "Of who I wanted her to be ...
That last sentence of that first verse was praised by Kit Rachlis in his September 1980 review of the album, but he bemoaned "Talk about celestial bodies/And your angels on the wing."[4] The full title of the song is only sung by Browne once in the song, who then ends the song with a variation on it:
- "She wasn't much good at saying goodbye — but,
- "That girl was sane.
The song today is a staple of classic rock radio stations. It has long been speculated to be about singer/songwriter Laura Nyro or pop singer Linda Ronstadt, but more likely was inspired by sometime-Browne backup singer Valerie Carter. Fan website editor Russ Paris stated on his site that he believes that "most fans seem to consider Carter the inspiration for the song" and that:
"There have been a number of occasions where Jackson has hinted that the answer is Valerie Carter. For example, during a concert, Jackson once referred to the person in the song by saying that he knew exactly where she was at that moment, and Valerie Carter was onstage singing backup for him at the time."[1]
Musically, the song is dominated by David Lindley's lap steel and Craig Doerge's keyboards, and Rick Marotta guests on the song to add high-hat and toms, according to the album liner notes. Fans recall Lindley quoted in the April 1982 issue of Guitar Player magazine as saying that, playing a Rickenbacker lap steel, he was using a broken Fairchild limiter amplifier "on its last legs." In addition, producer/recorder Greg Ladanyi has been quoted as noting that "the guitar sound on the track 'That Girl Could Sing' required minimal processing, and the tone of the record is pretty true to what came out of Lindley's amp."[5][6][7]
Chart positions
| Chart (1980) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | 22 |
Notes
- 1 2 Paris, Russ. JACKSON BROWNE FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS, The Jackson Browne Fan Page, jrp-graphics.com.
- ↑ Wikipedia Jackson Browne Discography
- ↑ Whitburn, Joel. Billboard Hot 100 Charts - The Eighties. Wisconsin: Record Research, 1991.
- ↑ Rachlis, Kit. "Hold Out" Review Rolling Stone Sept. 4, 1980.
- ↑ The Gear Page musicians message board.. June 16, 2008. Retrieved July 4, 2012.
- ↑ Steve Hoffman Music Forums, Dec. 18, 2008. Retrieved July 4, 2012.
- ↑ Becka, Mark. "Guitar Greatness" Mix Magazine March 1, 2005.