Maria McKee
Encyclopedia
Maria Luisa McKee is an American
singer and songwriter
. She is best known for her work with Lone Justice
and her 1990 UK solo chart-topping
hit, "Show Me Heaven
".
/country rock
band
, Lone Justice
, in 1982, with whom she released two album
s. Several compilations of both previously released and unreleased material and a BBC Live In Concert album have been released since their demise. Her band opened for such acts as U2
.
When she was 19, she wrote Feargal Sharkey
's 1985 UK
number one hit "A Good Heart
", a song
she has since recorded
herself and released on her album Late December
. The song was originally written about her failed relationship with musician
Benmont Tench
. Sharkey would later go on to also cover "To Miss Someone" from her self-titled solo debut, on his third solo album "Songs From The Mardi Gras".
In 1987 she was featured in the Robbie Robertson
video
"Somewhere Down the Crazy River", and contributed back-up vocals to his debut solo album, which included the song. She released her first solo, self-titled album in 1989. Her song "Show Me Heaven
", which appeared on the soundtrack
to the film
Days of Thunder
, was a number one single
in the United Kingdom
for four weeks in 1990. She refused to perform this song in public up until recently, when she sang it for the first time in eighteen years, at Dublin Gay Pride.
Following her debut, McKee has released five studio
(and two live
) albums. The later three, High Dive
, Peddlin' Dreams
and Late December
, were released independently via her own Viewfinder Records label
(distributed in the UK via Cooking Vinyl
).
In 1998, The Dixie Chicks recorded McKee's track "Am I the Only One (Who's Ever Felt This Way?)" and included it on their Grammy
nominated album Wide Open Spaces
.
guitarist Bryan MacLean
, with whom she played in a duo
as a teenager. She attended University High School in West Los Angeles, California, and is married to her bass player Jim Akin, who co-writes
and co-produces
her solo albums since High Dive in 2003. In the 1990s, she spent time living in Dublin and the East Village
, before settling in her native Los Angeles.
' tribute album
Sweet Relief, on the song "Opelousas (Sweet Relief)". She has also provided backing vocals
to U2
's cover
of Creedence Clearwater Revival
's "Fortunate Son" (B-side
of 1992 "Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses" single from their Achtung Baby
album), as well as to the Counting Crows
' 1993 debut August and Everything After
on "Sullivan Street" and "Mr. Jones". On Robin Zander
's 1993 solo album she sang backing vocals for the track "Reactionary Girl." She also sang backing vocals on Robbie Robertson
's debut and self-titled solo album, on the track "American Roulette". Much lesser known is her contribution of lead and co-lead vocals on two tracks on a contemporary Christian praise and worship album called "Come As You Are".
She contributed "If Love Is a Red Dress (Hang Me in Rags)" to the Pulp Fiction soundtrack
in 1994. McKee also contributed a song "Never Be You" for the soundtrack to the Walter Hill movie
Streets of Fire
.
Ricky Ross
, of Scottish
band Deacon Blue
, wrote "Real Gone Kid
" about her; the song became one of the band's biggest UK
Top Ten hits.
She recorded a duet, "Friends In Time", with The Golden Horde
on their eponymously titled album in 1991. She also recorded another duet, "This Road is Long," with Stuart A. Staples
on his 2006 album, Leaving Songs. In addition she co-wrote the duet, titled "Promise You Anything," with Steve Earle
which appeared on his 1990 album, The Hard Way
.
She teamed with Dwight Yoakam
for a duet on "Bury Me," from his 1986 debut, Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc., Etc.
McKee contributed the lyrics and vocals to the song "No Big Bang" on the only album by The Heads, No Talking, Just Head
, also playing guitar and synthesizer on the song together with the band, mostly ex-members of Talking Heads
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
singer and songwriter
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
. She is best known for her work with Lone Justice
Lone Justice
Lone Justice was an American country rock band formed in 1982 by guitarist Ryan Hedgecock and singer Maria McKee.-Early era:They began their career as part of the L.A. cowpunk scene of the 1980s. Lone Justice was inspired by Hedgecock and McKee's mutual affection for rockabilly and country music...
and her 1990 UK solo chart-topping
Record chart
A record chart is a ranking of recorded music according to popularity during a given period of time. Examples of music charts are the Hit parade, Hot 100 or Top 40....
hit, "Show Me Heaven
Show Me Heaven
Australian singer Tina Arena released her version of the song as the fifth single for her 1994 album Don't Ask.-Chart performance:-Other cover versions:...
".
Music
McKee was a founding member of the cowpunkCowpunk
Cowpunk or Country punk is a subgenre of punk rock and New Wave that began in the UK and California in the late 1970s and early 1980s. It combines punk rock or New Wave with country music, folk music, and blues in sound, subject matter, attitude, and style...
/country rock
Country rock
Country rock is sub-genre of popular music, formed from the fusion of rock with country. The term is generally used to refer to the wave of rock musicians who began to record country-flavored records in the late 1960s and early 1970s, beginning with Bob Dylan and The Byrds; reaching its greatest...
band
Musical ensemble
A musical ensemble is a group of people who perform instrumental or vocal music. In classical music, trios or quartets either blend the sounds of musical instrument families or group together instruments from the same instrument family, such as string ensembles or wind ensembles...
, Lone Justice
Lone Justice
Lone Justice was an American country rock band formed in 1982 by guitarist Ryan Hedgecock and singer Maria McKee.-Early era:They began their career as part of the L.A. cowpunk scene of the 1980s. Lone Justice was inspired by Hedgecock and McKee's mutual affection for rockabilly and country music...
, in 1982, with whom she released two album
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
s. Several compilations of both previously released and unreleased material and a BBC Live In Concert album have been released since their demise. Her band opened for such acts as U2
U2
U2 are an Irish rock band from Dublin. Formed in 1976, the group consists of Bono , The Edge , Adam Clayton , and Larry Mullen, Jr. . U2's early sound was rooted in post-punk but eventually grew to incorporate influences from many genres of popular music...
.
When she was 19, she wrote Feargal Sharkey
Feargal Sharkey
Feargal Sharkey is a singer from Northern Ireland who first found fame as the lead vocalist of pop punk band The Undertones...
's 1985 UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
number one hit "A Good Heart
A Good Heart
"A Good Heart" is a 1985 single by Feargal Sharkey, from his self-titled album.Written by Maria McKee about her relationship with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers keyboard player Benmont Tench and produced by the Eurythmics' David A. Stewart, this was former Undertones singer Feargal Sharkey's third...
", a song
Song
In music, a song is a composition for voice or voices, performed by singing.A song may be accompanied by musical instruments, or it may be unaccompanied, as in the case of a cappella songs...
she has since recorded
Sound recording and reproduction
Sound recording and reproduction is an electrical or mechanical inscription and re-creation of sound waves, such as spoken voice, singing, instrumental music, or sound effects. The two main classes of sound recording technology are analog recording and digital recording...
herself and released on her album Late December
Late December
Late December released on April 24, 2007, is Maria McKee's sixth solo album. The album contains the single "A Good Heart", a song McKee had written over twenty years earlier but had never released...
. The song was originally written about her failed relationship with musician
Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
Benmont Tench
Benmont Tench
Benjamin Montmorency Tench, III is an American keyboardist best known as a founding member of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.-Early years:...
. Sharkey would later go on to also cover "To Miss Someone" from her self-titled solo debut, on his third solo album "Songs From The Mardi Gras".
In 1987 she was featured in the Robbie Robertson
Robbie Robertson
Robbie Robertson, OC; is a Canadian singer-songwriter, and guitarist. He is best known for his membership as the guitarist and primary songwriter within The Band. He was ranked 59th in Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time...
video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
"Somewhere Down the Crazy River", and contributed back-up vocals to his debut solo album, which included the song. She released her first solo, self-titled album in 1989. Her song "Show Me Heaven
Show Me Heaven
Australian singer Tina Arena released her version of the song as the fifth single for her 1994 album Don't Ask.-Chart performance:-Other cover versions:...
", which appeared on the soundtrack
Soundtrack
A soundtrack can be recorded music accompanying and synchronized to the images of a motion picture, book, television program or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack of a film or TV show; or the physical area of a film that contains the...
to the film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
Days of Thunder
Days of Thunder
Days of Thunder is a 1990 American auto racing film released by Paramount Pictures, produced by Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer and directed by Tony Scott. The cast includes Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman, Robert Duvall, Randy Quaid, Cary Elwes and Michael Rooker. The film also features appearances...
, was a number one single
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
for four weeks in 1990. She refused to perform this song in public up until recently, when she sang it for the first time in eighteen years, at Dublin Gay Pride.
Following her debut, McKee has released five studio
Recording studio
A recording studio is a facility for sound recording and mixing. Ideally both the recording and monitoring spaces are specially designed by an acoustician to achieve optimum acoustic properties...
(and two live
Live album
A live album is a recording consisting of material recorded during stage performances using remote recording techniques, commonly contrasted with a studio album...
) albums. The later three, High Dive
High Dive
High Dive is the fourth album by American singer/songwriter Maria McKee, released in 2003 .-Track listing:All songs by Maria McKee, except where noted.#"To the Open Spaces" – 3:13#"Life Is Sweet" – 3:49...
, Peddlin' Dreams
Peddlin' Dreams
Peddlin' Dreams is the sixth album by American singer/songwriter Maria McKee, released in 2005 .-Track listing:#"Season of the Fair" – 3:34#"Sullen Soul" – 4:26#"Turn Away" – 3:23#"Peddlin' Dreams" – 4:31#"My One Tru Love" – 3:37...
and Late December
Late December
Late December released on April 24, 2007, is Maria McKee's sixth solo album. The album contains the single "A Good Heart", a song McKee had written over twenty years earlier but had never released...
, were released independently via her own Viewfinder Records label
Record label
In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...
(distributed in the UK via Cooking Vinyl
Cooking Vinyl
Cooking Vinyl is a UK-based independent record company, founded in 1986. Its original orientation was toward contemporary folk music—notably Billy Bragg, and Michelle Shocked's Texas Campfire Tapes, recorded on a Sony Walkman, one of its first releases...
).
In 1998, The Dixie Chicks recorded McKee's track "Am I the Only One (Who's Ever Felt This Way?)" and included it on their Grammy
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
nominated album Wide Open Spaces
Wide Open Spaces
Wide Open Spaces is the major label debut of American country music band the Dixie Chicks, and the fourth studio album overall, released in 1998 . It was their first record with new lead vocalist Natalie Maines, and became their breakthrough commercial success...
.
Personal
McKee is the half-sister of LoveLove (band)
Love was an American rock group of the late 1960s and early 1970s. They were led by singer/songwriter Arthur Lee and lead guitarist Johnny Echols...
guitarist Bryan MacLean
Bryan MacLean
Bryan MacLean was an American singer, guitarist and songwriter, most known for his work with the influential rock band Love. His famous compositions for Love include "Alone Again Or" and "Old Man".-Early life:...
, with whom she played in a duo
Duet (music)
A duet is a musical composition for two performers. In classical music, the term is most often used for a composition for two singers or pianists; with other instruments, the word duo is also often used. A piece performed by two pianists performing together on the same piano is referred to as...
as a teenager. She attended University High School in West Los Angeles, California, and is married to her bass player Jim Akin, who co-writes
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
and co-produces
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
her solo albums since High Dive in 2003. In the 1990s, she spent time living in Dublin and the East Village
East Village, Manhattan
The East Village is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, lying east of Greenwich Village, south of Gramercy and Stuyvesant Town, and north of the Lower East Side...
, before settling in her native Los Angeles.
Session and guest work
In addition to writing Sharkey's hit "A Good Heart", McKee has also contributed to the Victoria WilliamsVictoria Williams
Victoria Williams is an American singer-songwriter and musician, originally from Shreveport, Louisiana, although she has resided in Southern California throughout her musical career. She is noted for her descriptive songwriting talent, which she has used to immerse the listener of her songs into a...
' tribute album
Tribute album
A tribute album is a recorded collection of cover versions of songs or instrumental compositions. Its concept may be either various artists making a tribute to a single artist, a single artist making a tribute to various artists, or a single artist making a tribute to another single artist.There...
Sweet Relief, on the song "Opelousas (Sweet Relief)". She has also provided backing vocals
Backing vocalist
A backing vocalist or backing singer is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists...
to U2
U2
U2 are an Irish rock band from Dublin. Formed in 1976, the group consists of Bono , The Edge , Adam Clayton , and Larry Mullen, Jr. . U2's early sound was rooted in post-punk but eventually grew to incorporate influences from many genres of popular music...
's cover
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
of Creedence Clearwater Revival
Creedence Clearwater Revival
Creedence Clearwater Revival was an American rock band that gained popularity in the late 1960s and early 1970s with a number of successful singles drawn from various albums....
's "Fortunate Son" (B-side
A-side and B-side
A-side and B-side originally referred to the two sides of gramophone records on which singles were released beginning in the 1950s. The terms have come to refer to the types of song conventionally placed on each side of the record, with the A-side being the featured song , while the B-side, or...
of 1992 "Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses" single from their Achtung Baby
Achtung Baby
Achtung Baby is the seventh studio album by Irish rock band U2. It was produced by Daniel Lanois and Brian Eno, and was released on 19 November 1991 on Island Records. Stung by the criticism of their 1988 release Rattle and Hum, U2 shifted their musical direction to incorporate alternative...
album), as well as to the Counting Crows
Counting Crows
Counting Crows is an American rock band originating from Berkeley, California. Formed in 1991, the group gained popularity following the release of its debut album in 1993, August and Everything After, which featured the hit single "Mr. Jones"...
' 1993 debut August and Everything After
August and Everything After
August and Everything After is the first commercially released album of the American rock band Counting Crows, released September 14, 1993....
on "Sullivan Street" and "Mr. Jones". On Robin Zander
Robin Zander
Robin Wayne Zander is the lead singer and rhythm guitarist for the rock band Cheap Trick.-Early life:Zander was born in Beloit, Wisconsin, the fourth of five children; he has two older brothers, and older and younger sisters....
's 1993 solo album she sang backing vocals for the track "Reactionary Girl." She also sang backing vocals on Robbie Robertson
Robbie Robertson
Robbie Robertson, OC; is a Canadian singer-songwriter, and guitarist. He is best known for his membership as the guitarist and primary songwriter within The Band. He was ranked 59th in Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time...
's debut and self-titled solo album, on the track "American Roulette". Much lesser known is her contribution of lead and co-lead vocals on two tracks on a contemporary Christian praise and worship album called "Come As You Are".
She contributed "If Love Is a Red Dress (Hang Me in Rags)" to the Pulp Fiction soundtrack
Pulp Fiction (soundtrack)
Music from the Motion Picture Pulp Fiction is the soundtrack to Quentin Tarantino's 1994 film Pulp Fiction. No traditional film score was commissioned for Pulp Fiction. The film contains a mix of American rock and roll, surf music, pop and soul...
in 1994. McKee also contributed a song "Never Be You" for the soundtrack to the Walter Hill movie
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
Streets of Fire
Streets of Fire
Streets of Fire is a 1984 film directed by Walter Hill and co-written by Hill and Larry Gross. It was described in previews, trailers, and posters as "A Rock & Roll Fable." It is an unusual mix of musical, action, drama, and comedy with elements both of retro-1950s and 1980s...
.
Ricky Ross
Ricky Ross (musician)
Ricky Ross, born Richard Alexander Ross is a Scottish singer-songwriter and broadcaster, most famously for his work with the rock band, Deacon Blue.-Biography:...
, of Scottish
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
band Deacon Blue
Deacon Blue
Deacon Blue are a Scottish pop band formed in Glasgow during 1985. Their name was taken from the title of the Steely Dan song "Deacon Blues". The band consists of vocalist Ricky Ross and Lorraine McIntosh, keyboard player James Prime and drummer Dougie Vipond....
, wrote "Real Gone Kid
Real Gone Kid
"Real Gone Kid" is a song by the Scottish rock/pop band Deacon Blue. Rleased in 1988, it was the first single to from the band's second album When the World Knows Your Name which was released six months later. The single was the band's first top ten hit, reaching #8 in the UK Singles Chart...
" about her; the song became one of the band's biggest UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
Top Ten hits.
She recorded a duet, "Friends In Time", with The Golden Horde
The Golden Horde (band)
The Golden Horde were a rock, punk, psychedelic band based in Dublin, Ireland. The most renowned line-up of the band was: Peter O'Kennedy, John Connor, Sam Steiger, Des O' Byrne, and Simon Carmody, although at the very first live performance, there were 13 band members on stage.Their first...
on their eponymously titled album in 1991. She also recorded another duet, "This Road is Long," with Stuart A. Staples
Stuart A. Staples
Stuart Ashton Staples is an English musician best known as the lead singer of British indie band Tindersticks, in which he also plays guitar. Staples has a very recognizable vocal style and a distinctively low voice.-Career:...
on his 2006 album, Leaving Songs. In addition she co-wrote the duet, titled "Promise You Anything," with Steve Earle
Steve Earle
Stephen Fain "Steve" Earle is an American singer-songwriter known for his rock and Texas Country as well as his political views. He is also a producer, author, a political activist, and an actor, and has written and directed a play....
which appeared on his 1990 album, The Hard Way
The Hard Way (Steve Earle album)
The Hard Way is a studio album by Steve Earle and The Dukes. The album was released in 1990.-Track listing:All songs written by Steve Earle unless otherwise noted.#"The Other Kind" - 5:09...
.
She teamed with Dwight Yoakam
Dwight Yoakam
Dwight David Yoakam is an American singer-songwriter, actor and film director, most famous for his pioneering country music...
for a duet on "Bury Me," from his 1986 debut, Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc., Etc.
Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc., Etc.
Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc., Etc. is country music artist Dwight Yoakam's début album. It was also the first of three consecutive No. 1 Billboard Country Albums for him. Three of its tracks rose into the Top 40 of the Hot Country Singles chart in 1986. Yoakam's first single was "Honky Tonk Man"...
McKee contributed the lyrics and vocals to the song "No Big Bang" on the only album by The Heads, No Talking, Just Head
No Talking, Just Head
No Talking, Just Head is an album by The Heads, a band composed of Jerry Harrison, Tina Weymouth, and Chris Frantz of Talking Heads, joined by a variety of guest singers...
, also playing guitar and synthesizer on the song together with the band, mostly ex-members of Talking Heads
Talking Heads
Talking Heads were an American New Wave and avant-garde band formed in 1975 in New York City and active until 1991. The band comprised David Byrne, Chris Frantz, Tina Weymouth and Jerry Harrison...
.