From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
1999 studio album by Macy Gray
On How Life Is
Released July 1, 1999 (1999-07-01 ) Studio
Genre
Length 44 :55
Label
Producer Andrew Slater
On How Life Is (1999)
The Id (2001)
On How Life Is is the debut studio album by American singer and songwriter
Macy Gray . It was released on July 1, 1999, by
Epic Records and Clean Slate. Produced by Andrew Slater, it became Gray's best-selling album to date, selling 3.4 million copies in the United States and seven million copies worldwide.
[6]
[7]
The album's second single, "
I Try ", became an international success, topping the charts in Australia, Ireland, and New Zealand,
[8]
[9] while reaching number five on the US
Billboard Hot 100 .
[10] The song also won a
Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance in 2001.
[11]
Critical reception
On How Life Is was met with highly positive reviews from music critics upon its release, with many praising Gray's songwriting and vocal performance.
Q rated the album four out of five stars, calling it a "confident, bluesy soul debut [...] with a lived-in sound – as if
Rod Stewart were a girl."
[20]
Track listing
All lyrics are written by
Macy Gray . All tracks are produced by Andrew Slater
Title Music 1. "
Why Didn't You Call Me " Jeremy Ruzumna 3:14 2. "
Do Something " 4:57 3. "Caligula" 4:38 4. "
I Try " Gray Ruzumna Jinsoo Lim David Wilder 3:59 5. "Sex-o-matic Venus Freak" 3:57 6. "I Can't Wait to Meetchu" 5:18 7. "
Still " 4:15 8. "I've Committed Murder" 4:59 9. "A Moment to Myself" 4:00 10. "The Letter" 5:38
Australian and Japanese edition bonus track
[23]
[24] Title Music 11. "Rather Hazy" Gray 3:10
Sample credits
Personnel
Credits adapted from the liner notes of On How Life Is .
[25]
Musicians
Macy Gray – lead vocals, vocal arrangements (all tracks) ; backing vocals (tracks 1, 3–5, 10)
Dawn Beckman – backing vocals (tracks 1–3, 5–9)
Musiic Galloway – backing vocals (tracks 1–3, 5–10)
Jeremy Ruzumna – backing vocals (track 1) ; organ (tracks 1, 4–6, 8) ; piano (tracks 1, 7, 10) ; electric piano,
Moog (track 2) ;
Farfisa , clavinet (track 3) ;
Rhodes (tracks 5, 6) ;
Optigan ,
Chamberlin (track 10)
David Wilder – backing vocals (track 1) ; bass (tracks 1, 4)
Jinsoo Lim – guitar (tracks 1, 2)
Arik Marshall – guitar (tracks 1, 7–10)
Lenny Castro – percussion (tracks 1, 2, 7–9)
Matt Chamberlain – percussion (tracks 1, 3, 9, 10) ; drums (all tracks)
Darryl Swann – backing vocals, guitar (track 3) ; programming (tracks 1–3, 5, 6, 8–10) ; vocal arrangements (all tracks)
DJ Kiilu – turntables (tracks 2, 8, 9) ; programming (track 8)
Jon Brion – Chamberlin (tracks 2, 3, 8, 10) ; synths (tracks 3, 8) ; guitar (tracks 3–6, 8–10) ; piano (tracks 4, 10) ;
orchestra bells (track 4) ;
vibes (tracks 7, 8) ; marimba (track 8) ; Optigan (track 10)
Patrick Warren – vibes (track 2) ; Chamberlin (tracks 2–4, 7, 8) ; synths (track 3) ; Rhodes,
Wurlitzer (track 9)
Dion Derek Murdock – bass (tracks 2, 6)
Sy Smith – backing vocals (tracks 3, 5, 7)
Bendrix Williams – guitar (track 4)
Rami Jaffee – synths (track 5) ; piano, Optigan, Chamberlin (track 10)
Blackbyrd McKnight – guitar (track 5)
Gabriel Moses – guitar (track 5)
Steve Baxter – horn (track 6)
Charlie Green – horn (track 6)
Michael Harris – horn (track 6)
Miles Tackett – guitar (track 6)
Greg Richling – bass (tracks 6–10)
David Campbell – string arrangement (track 7)
Jay Joyce – guitar (track 7)
Ngozi Inyama – sax solo (track 8)
Technical
Andrew Slater – production
Dave Way – recording, mixing
Darryl "D-Style" Swann – additional engineering
Howard Willing – first assistant engineer
Dave Reed – second assistant engineer
Kevin Dean – second assistant engineer
Jeff Walch – second assistant engineer
Michelle Forbes – second assistant engineer
Sherry Sutcliff – production coordination
Artwork
Stéphane Sednaoui – photography
Hooshik – art direction, design
Frank Harkins – art direction
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Decade-end charts
Certifications and sales
Release history
Notes
^ In Japan, "I Try" was released as a double A-side with "Do Something" on July 23, 1999.
[3]
References
^ "New Releases – For Week Starting 21 June, 1999: Singles".
Music Week . June 19, 1999. p. 27.
^ "New Releases – Week Starting 27 September, 1999: Singles". Music Week . September 25, 1999. p. 25.
^
"メイシー・グレイ" [Macy Gray].
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^ "New Releases – For Week Starting March 13, 2000: Singles". Music Week . March 11, 2000. p. 27.
^ "New Releases – For Week Starting July 24, 2000: Singles". Music Week . July 22, 2000. p. 25.
^
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^
a
b Peters, Mitchell (August 13, 2013).
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^
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^
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^
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^ Skanse, Richard (February 22, 2001).
"Steely Dan, U2 Top Grammys" . Rolling Stone . Retrieved December 1, 2018 .
^
Erlewine, Stephen Thomas .
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^
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^
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^ Weingarten, Marc (August 2, 1999).
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^ Cox, Tom (July 9, 1999). "Irresistible sister".
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^ Perry, Tim (July 3, 1999).
"Album Reviews" .
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^ Nichols, Natalie (July 25, 1999).
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Muzik . No. 51. p. 82.
ISSN
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^
a
b Harron, Sarah (August 1999).
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ISSN
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^ Walters, Barry (August 19, 1999).
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^ Randall, Mac (2004). "Macy Gray". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.).
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^
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^
a
b
c
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^ On How Life Is (liner notes).
Macy Gray .
Epic Records . 1999. 494423 2.{{
cite AV media notes }}
: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (
link )
^
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^
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^
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^
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^
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^
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^
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^
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^
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OCLC
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^
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^
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ISSN
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^ "
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^
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^
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^
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^
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^
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^
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^
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^
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^
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^
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^
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^
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^
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^
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^
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^
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^
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^
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^
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^
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^
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^
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^
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^
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^
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^
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^
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^
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^
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^
a
b
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^
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^
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^
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Nederlandse Vereniging van Producenten en Importeurs van beeld- en geluidsdragers . Retrieved November 22, 2021 . Enter On How Life Is in the "Artiest of titel" box.
^
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^
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^
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^
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Amazon (US). Retrieved December 1, 2018 .
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