New York, NY (Top40 Charts) After a long, insanely successful career writing songs for other musicians - The Eagles,
Aaron Neville, Bonnie Raitt, Mavis Staples, and Rod Stewart, to name a few - it was time for Larry John McNally to begin writing songs for himself. One night, after mentioning to a friend that he was a fan of the Holy Grail of organs, the Hammond B3, that friend hooked him up with Harry Waters.
Waters, son of Pink Floyd's
Roger Waters, had already made his own name in the industry, having performed with his father, Ozric Tentacles, Marianne Faithful, Tom Jones, Dean Ween and Nick Cave; sharing stages with the Stones, Dylan, Young, Gilmour, and Vedder; as well as fronting his own jazz band, The Harry Waters Band.
McNally Waters were only a few songs into their partnership when they were offered an international tour, where they solidified their sound night after night on stage. In 2019, McNally Waters opened five UK shows on the Nick Mason's Saucerful of Secrets Tour.
With their second full-length album delayed by COVID-19, they have released three songs on an EP named for its title track, "Bang Bang." Their new single, "Pompadour," a tribute to the late, great Amy Winehouse, is an incredibly timely, yet timeless, track that showcases the musical niche the pair carved out for themselves among blues, country, rock and folk.
Inspiration for "Pompadour" by McNally Waters:
"I remember seeing
Amy Winehouse on Jonathan Ross right at the beginning of her career and thinking what a gorgeous singer she was, evoking memories of Billie Holliday. She had an absolutely unique voice, unmistakably hers. Yet her story is deeply tragic, and I think the world is missing a great artist who would have gone on to create so much more. She used to come and sing at a jazz jam in Soho, where I used to play in the late 90s. I consider myself blessed to have been able to be there for those times." - Harry Waters
"Amy Winehouse! What a rare combination of talents and charisma. She was a killer singer and guitar player, songwriter, performer...what a vibe. Her vulnerability made you want to stand beside her, hold her hand and watch over her. A lot of great singers have recorded my songs: Mavis Staples, Chaka Khan,
Aaron Neville and more, but in recent years she was the one I had most dreamed of working with. When we first started writing this song in tribute to her, I thought about what an odd word 'Pompadour' is. Amy so owned, and totally reinvented that iconic 60s girl-group look that the dictionary should put a photo of her in the place of the meaning of the word." - Larry John McNally
A video for the new single will premiere on 885fm.org, a service of Saddleback College and California
State University, Northridge, on Friday, February 19, 2021 at 9:00AM US Pacific time.
