Anthony Newley Part 2: Tony adds a little more Newley
- Place – KD’s Studio, Chiswick London
- Time – 1994
- Artist – Anthony Newley
- Album – Too Much Woman
The album took several weeks to complete and this gave me a wonderful opportunity to try and find out a bit more about the man behind this rare and diverse talent.
I found a very complex and, at times, lachrymose person.
His moods were trampoline like, he could go from laughter to tears in a matter of minutes. and strangely he always spoke of Newley the artist in the third person.
When Tony would leave a message on my answer machine at home, if he said “Hi, it’s Tony.” I knew it was personal. If he said “Hi, its Newley.” I would know straight away it was business
The first title we recorded for the album was a version of the song Why. this had been a number one record for Tony in 1960.
We decided to record this version as a duet with his daughter Tara.
Tony’s delivery bordered on the operatic and he could see I wasn’t thrilled by his performance.
I explained to him that it didn’t really sound like I expected it to, the voice was somehow too big for the track.
He smiled and immediately said, “Oh you want more Newley.“
Returning to the studio, he got behing the microphone and did a perfect rendition as Anthony Newley.
On completion of the album I played it to various record companies but unfortunately could not obtain a major release, mainly due to his lack of profile in the media at the time.
I decided that I would release the album myself.
With little funding for promotion and that lack of luck you needed, the album never accomplished the success we had hoped for.
Comparably, Tony Bennett’s successful resurgence in the early nineties puzzled Newley. He once asked me why I thought the public had taken to him so easily again.
I told him,
“Apart from his amazing talent, he is accessible, whereas you Tony, live like a recluse. No one knows how to contact you, they have no idea whether you live here in the UK, or America.”
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