Crazy Life (Gino Vannelli album)

Crazy Life
Studio album by
ReleasedOctober 1973[1]
RecordedFebruary–April 1973[1]
StudioA&M Studios, Los Angeles, California
GenreBossa nova
Soft rock
Contemporary pop/rock[2]
Length23:43
LabelA&M
ProducerHerb Alpert
Gino Vannelli chronology
Crazy Life
(1973)
Powerful People
(1974)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Rolling Stone Album Guide (1992)[3]

Crazy Life, originally released in 1973 by A&M Records, is the debut album by Canadian singer and songwriter Gino Vannelli.

Six years before Crazy Life came out, Vannelli had gained a recording contract with RCA Canada under the name Van Elli because his real name was viewed "too Italian".[1] However, Van Elli would release only one single under that moniker, 1970's "Gina Bold", before being dropped.[4] With brothers Joe and Ross, Vannelli traveled to New York, back to Montreal, and again to Los Angeles where he was discovered by producer Herb Alpert and gave him a demo tape.[5] Alpert signed Vannelli on the condition he produce the singer’s first album, which Vannelli agreed to.

Before signing with A&M, Vannelli had written several albums' worth of songs, including most of the material on Powerful People and Storm at Sunup – indeed the title track was the only song from Vannelli's Alpert demo to appear on Crazy Life.

Even before its release, Crazy Life gained some airplay on stations in the Vannellis' home city of Montreal,[1] but A&M's support was poor and this meant Crazy Life did not chart in either the US or Canada.[6] The title track has appeared on many later compilations like The Best of Gino Vannelli.

  1. ^ a b c d Mann, Bill (1973-09-15). "A Little Hustling Never Hurt a Rising Pop Star". Montreal Gazette. p. 29.
  2. ^ "Crazy Life – Gino Vannelli". All Music Group.
  3. ^ DeCurtis, Anthony; George-Warren, Holly and Henke, James; The Rolling Stone Album Guide – Completely New Reviews: Every Essential Album, Every Essential Artist, p. 733 ISBN 0679737294
  4. ^ "All those nights in Montreal with Gino Vannelli". Montreal Gazette. 1 November 2013. Retrieved 1 May 2017.
  5. ^ Valcourt, Keith (20 December 2016). "Gino Vannelli, singer of hit 'I Just Wanna Stop' on new live album and DVD". The Washington Times. Retrieved 1 May 2017.
  6. ^ Colander, Pat (1975-08-22). "Gino Vannelli: On the Trek to Stardom". Chicago Tribune (Section 3). p. 8.