It’s inevitable, from Jimi Hendrix to Jeff Buckley, almost no sooner than a talented young artist passes away, do we get a torrent of posthumous material ‘celebrating’ the artist’s life while happily lining the pockets of the record labels who have the rights to whatever material is leftover.
With that in mind, the latest addition to the fabled 27 Club, Amy Winehouse, is about to get the Michael Jackson treatment with news that there’s enough unreleased material for not one, but two more posthumous albums.
The kicker? NME reports the person raiding the vaults is none other than the late singer’s own father, Mitch Winehouse.
Winehouse Sr. has barely strayed from the press centered around his daughter’s death last year, including the bereaved father’s tell-all book, Amy, My Daughter released last month. The tome chronicles Mitch’s memories of Winehouse from her childhood – where she was the apple of his eye – to her huge success as the forerunner of the modern soul movement, her demise into damaging relationships and addictions and her eventual death.
Now Winehouse has revealed that there are plans to release a pair of posthumous record, featuring material that wasn’t used on last year’s Lioness: Hidden Treasures compilation.
“I’m not sure that there is much more but i’m sure that we will get at least one other album out, if not two,” says Winehouse Sr.
Lioness: Hidden Treasures proved to be a big hit in its native England, and in a climate of post-Winehouse grief. Entering the UK Charts at #1 during the busy December sales period, ranking fourth overall in its first-week sales alongside Adele, Coldplay and Lady Gaga.
Speaking of the possibility of future posthumous collections, Mitch Winehouse remarked, “There are loads of covers,” he said of the unheard songs, “loads of them, but the problem is we don’t want want to rip anybody off. When her fans are so precious to us we don’t want to put out dross.”
Fair enough Winehouse Sr is attempting to supply fans with what they’re demanding, but surely his daughter’s own catalogue is just as precious to him if it remains unreleased.
In related news, earlier this week another previously unreleased Winehouse performance leaked online in the form of Nas’ “Cherry Wine”. A cut that features singing from the fallen neo-soul star in the track’s main hook, set to feature on the hip-hop artist’s forthcoming LP, Life Is Good on July 17.
You can listen to the posthumous collab, “Cherry Wine” below:
Nas ft Amy Winehouse – Cherry Wine by New Shit
