Am I Not Your Girl? is the third studio album by Irish singer Sinéad O'Connor. It is a collection of covers of mostly jazz standards, which O'Connor describes as "the songs I grew up listening to [and] that made me want to be a singer". The album title comes from the song "Success Has Made a Failure of Our Home". The album is dedicated to the people of New York City and especially the homeless whom O'Connor met at St. Mark's Place.Booklet of Am I Not Your Girl
The album did not gain much critical acclaim or commercial success, in part because its decades-old songs deviated sharply from O'Connor previous work in the pop-rock and art-rock genres such as her hugely successful I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got. The muted reaction to the album led to O'Connor's career losing much of the commercial momentum she had built up to that point, especially when coupled with the album's confessional liner notes and the Garden State Arts Center controversy when she refused to perform after the US national anthem.
The album's promotion was marked by a controversial appearance on Saturday Night Live, where O'Connor tore up a photo of Pope John Paul II, leading to public and media scrutiny.
Promotion
On 3 October 1992, O'Connor appeared on Saturday Night Live as a musical guest, and sang the album's lead single, "Success Has Made a Failure of Our Home". She was then scheduled to sing "Scarlet Ribbons" from the album, but the day before the appearance she changed to "War", a Bob Marley song which she intended as a protest against sexual abuse of children in the Catholic Church, referring to child abuse rather than racism. During the performance O'Connor wore a necklace with the Rastafari star and also had a scarf with the Rastafari and Ethiopian colors of red, green, and gold. She then presented a photo of Pope John Paul II to the camera while singing the word "evil", after which she tore the photo into pieces, while saying "Fight the real enemy".
O'Connor's action led into a public and media frenzy. NBC received more than 500 calls on Sunday, and 400 more on Monday, with all but seven criticising O'Connor; the network received 4,400 calls in total. Contrary to rumour, NBC was not fined by the Federal Communications Commission for O'Connor's act, as her behaviour did not breach any regulatory rule for broadcast content.. NBC did not edit the performance out of the West Coast tape-delayed broadcast that night.
Track listing
Japanese release Three exclusive bonus tracks only appear on some copies of the original Japanese release of this album: "My Heart Belongs to Daddy", "Almost in Your Arms" and "Fly Me to the Moon".
Personnel
Musicians Sinéad O'Connor – vocals Richard Tee – acoustic piano David LeBolt – synthesizers Ira Siegel – guitars David Finck – bass Chris Parker – drums (1–4, 6–12) John Reynolds – drums (5) Jerry O'Sullivan – Uilleann pipes (11) Joanie Madden – tin whistle (11)
Orchestra Patrick Williams – arrangements (1) Torrie Zito – conductor (1, 3, 4, 6, 8, 9, 12), arrangements (3, 4, 6, 8, 9, 12) Rob Mounsey – arrangements and conductor (2, 10) Doug Katsaros –arrangements and conductor (5) Sid Ramin – arrangements and conductor (7) Sinéad O'Connor – arrangements (11) Brass and Woodwinds Dennis Anderson – alto saxophone, flute Dave Tofani – alto saxophone, flute Ronnie Cuber – baritone saxophone, bass clarinet Ted Nash – tenor saxophone, clarinet Gerry Niewood – tenor saxophone, clarinet Shelly Woodworth – English horn, oboe George Flynn – bass trombone Kim Allan Cissel – trombone Birch Johnson – trombone Keith O'Quinn – trombone Jim Pugh – trombone Robert Millikan – trumpet, flugelhorn Brian O'Flaherty – trumpet, flugelhorn Alan Rubin – trumpet, flugelhorn Joe Shepley – trumpet, flugelhorn Lew Soloff – trumpet, flugelhorn Dave Braynard – tuba Bob Carlisle – French horn John Clark – French horn Fred Griffin – French horn Strings Richard Locker – cello Charles McCracken – cello Fred Zlotkin – cello Gloria Agostini – harp Lamar Alsop – viola Julien Barber – viola Jesse Levine – viola Elena Barere – violin Arnold Eidus – violin Barry Finclair – violin Charles Libove – violin Alan Martin – violin Nancy McAlhany – violin Jan Mullen – violin David Nadien – violin, concertmaster John Pintavalle – violin Matthew Raimondi – violin Laura Seaton – violin Richard Sortomme – violin Marti Sweet – violin Gerald Tarack – violin Donna Tecco – violin
Production Sinéad O'Connor – producer Phil Ramone – producer, mixing Gary Chester – engineer, mixing Tommy Civello – assistant engineer Yvonne Yedibalian – assistant engineer Greg Calbi – mastering at Sterling Sound (New York, NY) Jill Dell'Abate – project coordinator Kate Garner – photography Pure Management – management
Charts
Weekly charts +Weekly chart performance for Am I Not Your Girl? Chart (1992) Peakposition Finnish Albums (The Official Finnish Charts) 18
Year-end charts +1992 year-end chart performance for Am I Not Your Girl? Chart (1992) Position Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) 82 +1993 year-end chart performance for Am I Not Your Girl? Chart (1993) Position Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) 63
Certifications and sales
References