Rock_Swings Knowpia

Rock Swings
Rock Swings
Studio album by Paul Anka
Released	May 31, 2005 (Can); June 7, 2005 (US)
Recorded	November 2004
Studio	Capitol Studios (Los Angeles, California)
Genre	Swing
Length	58:18
Label	Verve Music Group
Producer	Paul Anka; Alex Christensen;
Paul Anka chronology

Rock Swings is an album by Paul Anka. Recorded in November 2004 and released on May 31, 2005 in Canada and June 7, 2005 in the United States, it contains swing jazz covers of popular rock and pop songs from the 1980s and 1990s.

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	link
Rolling Stone	link
BBC.co.uk	Negative link

The idea of an established vocalist giving rock hits a "standards" treatment was earlier realized by Anka's contemporary Pat Boone in the 1997 album, In a Metal Mood: No More Mr. Nice Guy, with Boone doing covers of songs by Alice Cooper, Van Halen and Judas Priest. That same year, Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gormé covered Soundgarden's "Black Hole Sun" in a lounge-jazz style on the 1997 compilation album release, Lounge-A-Palooza. Anka also covers "Black Hole Sun" on Rock Swings.

Reportedly, the Michael Jackson song "Billie Jean" was slated to be on the album in the recording stages, but Paul Anka could not get through a vocal take without bursting into laughter.^[1] The album features "It's My Life" by Bon Jovi, a song which includes the line "Like Frankie said, 'I did it my way'", a tongue-in-cheek reference to the Sinatra classic "My Way", the lyrics to which were written by Anka.

After the release of this album, Anka was awarded a star on Canada's Walk of Fame in Toronto. A DVD release of the same name, including live performances of these songs by Anka, was released on December 6, 2005.

Charts edit

Debuted at:

#120 on the Billboard 200
#9 on the Official UK Album Chart
#2 on Billboard's Top Jazz Albums chart
#1 on Amazon.de

Track listing edit

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"It's My Life"	Jon Bon Jovi, Richie Sambora, Max Martin	4:02
2.	"True"	Gary Kemp	4:30
3.	"Eye of the Tiger"	Jim Peterik, Frankie Sullivan	4:04
4.	"Everybody Hurts"	Michael Stipe, Peter Buck, Mike Mills, Bill Berry	4:14
5.	"Wonderwall"	Noel Gallagher	3:37
6.	"Black Hole Sun"	Chris Cornell	4:28
7.	"It's a Sin"	Neil Tennant, Chris Lowe	4:59
8.	"Jump"	David Lee Roth, Eddie Van Halen, Michael Anthony, Alex Van Halen	3:36
9.	"Smells Like Teen Spirit"	Kurt Cobain, Krist Novoselic, Dave Grohl	2:42
10.	"Hello"	Lionel Richie	5:14
11.	"Eyes Without a Face"	Billy Idol, Steve Stevens	3:59
12.	"Lovecats"	Robert Smith	3:58
13.	"The Way You Make Me Feel"	Michael Jackson	3:49
14.	"Tears in Heaven"	Eric Clapton, Will Jennings	5:01

Certifications edit

Country	Certification	Sales/shipments
Canada	Gold^[2]	50,000

Samples edit

Smells Like Teen Spirit

"Smells Like Teen Spirit" as covered by Paul Anka on his album, Rock Swings.

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Personnel edit

Production edit

Paul Anka – executive producer
Alex Christensen – producer
Al Schmitt – engineer, mixing
Steve Genewick – Pro Tools engineer
Steffen Häfelinger – vocal editing
Ralph Kessler – mastering
Sascha Kramer – photography
www.schilko.com – artwork

Musicians edit

Paul Anka – vocals
Randy Kerber – acoustic piano
Mike Lang – acoustic piano
Larry Koonse – guitars
Dean Parks – guitars
Mike Valerio – bass
Vinnie Colaiuta – drums
Luis Conte – percussion
Emil Richards – vibraphone
Dan Higgins – alto sax and flute solos (3, 5, 6)
Jon Crosse – tenor sax solo (12)

Orchestra edit

Patrick Williams – arrangements (1, 5, 8), conductor and leader
Randy Kerber – arrangements (2-4, 6, 7, 10-14), conductor and leader
John Clayton – arrangements (9), conductor and leader
Brad Dechter – orchestration (9)
Jon Crosse – conductor and leader
Jules Chakin – contractor
Terry Woodson – music copyist (1, 5, 8)
Joanne Kane – music copyist (2-4, 6, 7, 9-14)

Brass and Woodwinds

Dan Higgins and Greg Huckins – alto saxophone, flute
Joel Peskin – baritone saxophone, bass clarinet
Gene Cipriano – tenor saxophone, flute
Bill Liston – tenor saxophone, clarinet, flute
Bryant Byers, Steve Holtman, Alex Iles, Andy Martin, Bob McChesney and Bill Reichenbach Jr. – trombone
Sal Cracchiolo, Charles Davis, Gary Grant, Larry Hall and Warren Luening – trumpet
Jim Atkinson, Kurt Snyder and Brad Warnaar – French horn

String section

Bruce Dukov – concertmaster
Larry Corbett, Ernie Ehrhardt, Vanessa Freebairn-Smith, Anne Karam, Miguel Martinez, Steve Richards and Andrew Shulman – cello
Gayle Levant – harp
Marilyn Baker, Pam Goldsmith, Jorge Moraga, Simon Oswell, Karie Prescott, James Ross, Harry Shirinian and Evan Wilson – viola
Rebecca Bunnell, Darius Campo, Mario De Leon, Joel Derouin, Bruce Dukov, Charles Everett, Kirstin Fife, Armen Garabedian, Berj Garabedian, Tiffany Yi Hu, Patricia Johnson, Peter Kent, Miran Kojian, Razdan Kuyumjian, Dennis Molchan, Jennifer Munday, Anatoly Rosinsky, Haim Shtrum, Les Terry, Mari Tsumura and Shari Zippert – violin