Leaving Las Vegas (song)

"Leaving Las Vegas" is a song written by David Baerwald and performed by Sheryl Crow that appears on Crow's debut album, Tuesday Night Music Club. It charted within the top 60 in the United States and the top 30 in Canada. Sheryl Crow performed the song on her live album Sheryl Crow and Friends: Live from Central Park. While the release date likely reflects its physical availability as a single or an official date tied to radio promotion, "Leaving Las Vegas" was in regular rotation at such influential radio stations as KIIS-FM in Los Angeles as early as mid-May 1994 -- an early sign that Crow would make inroads at Top 40 radio at a time of significant transition for the radio format.

"Leaving Las Vegas"
7-inch US single
Single by Sheryl Crow
from the album Tuesday Night Music Club
B-side
  • "The Na-Na Song"
  • "Reach Around Jerk"
ReleasedJune 18, 1994
Length5:10 (album version)
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Bill Bottrell
Sheryl Crow singles chronology
"All I Wanna Do"
(1994)		 "Leaving Las Vegas"
(1994)		 "Strong Enough"
(1994)

Title

The song's title was based on the semi-autobiographical 1990 novel of the same name by the late John O'Brien, who was a good friend of one of the song's writers, David Baerwald. However, on a performance on the Late Show with David Letterman, Sheryl Crow stated that the song was "autobiographical". This infuriated Baerwald and the rest of the original Tuesday Night Music Club who helped write most of the album. Though O'Brien's suicide occurred soon after this incident, his family came forward to state there was no connection.[1]

Critical reception

Larry Flick from Billboard wrote, "It's time for the critically revered Crow to finally get a moment of radio fame. Bright spot on her "Tuesday Night Music Club" album is a kicky blend of acoustic strumming and percussion. Crow's voice is raw and incredibly expressive, which helps the song's cinematic lyrics pack the powerful punch they do."[2] Pan-European magazine Music & Media commented, "Miss Crow doesn't believe in Elvis' tribute to the capital of showbizz, and gets out of town on an adventurous funky synth bassline a lot of singer/songwriters would not dare to think of."[3] A reviewer from People Magazine described it as "a disillusioned, neon-dazzled desert tune".[4]

Music video

The song was accompanied by Crow's first ever promotional video. It was directed by David Hogan, who also shot her video for "All I Wanna Do". The 1993 video shows Crow performing the song with her guitar in the dark, with only some parts of her face lit up. Other scenes include famous Vegas images such as dancers and Elvis Presley lookalikes walking on a highway, "leaving Las Vegas", and Peter Berg driving with Crow in the passenger seat of his convertible. The video uses an edited version of the song.

Track listing

UK cassette single (Cat. No. 580 644-4)

  1. "Leaving Las Vegas"
  2. "Leaving Las Vegas" – Live in Nashville

UK CD 1 (Cat. No. 580 645-2)

  1. "Leaving Las Vegas"
  2. "I Shall Believe" – Live at the Borderline
  3. "What I Can Do for You" – Live at the Borderline

UK CD 2 (Cat. No. 580 647-2)

  1. "Leaving Las Vegas" – Live in Nashville
  2. "No One Said It Would Be Easy" – Live in Nashville
  3. "The Na-Na Song" – Live in Nashville

Charts
Chart (1994) Peak
position
Canada Top Singles (RPM)[5] 29
UK Singles (OCC)[6] 66
US Billboard Hot 100[7] 60
US Alternative Airplay (Billboard)[8] 8
US Mainstream Top 40 (Billboard)[9] 31

References
  1. "The Biography of Sheryl Crow".
  2. Flick, Larry (26 March 1994). "Single Reviews" (PDF). Billboard. p. N55. Retrieved 17 March 2021.
  3. "New Releases: Singles" (PDF). Music & Media. 22 January 1994. p. 9. Retrieved 9 March 2021.
  4. "Picks and Pans Review: Tuesday Night Music Club". People. 29 November 1993. Retrieved 18 October 2021.
  5. "Top RPM Singles: Issue 2498." RPM. Library and Archives Canada.
  6. "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company.
  7. "Sheryl Crow Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard.
  8. "Sheryl Crow Chart History (Alternative Airplay)". Billboard.
  9. "Sheryl Crow Chart History (Pop Songs)". Billboard.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.