Born: 1962, Jann Arden Richards, in Calgary, Alberta
Born in Calgary, Arden grew up listening to Petula Clark, Carly Simons, Sam Phillips, Syd Straw and Lyle Lovett. But her idol was Karen Carpenter whom she emulated while strumming along to guitar which she had learned to play by listening to John Denver records.
Arden cut a solo 7" single as Jann Richards (her real name) when she was 17 and soon became a fixture on the grimy Calgary music scene often stuck in the back of a van with five guys who would, night after night, play Tina Turner, Led Zeppelin, Nazareth and Foreigner covers (quite badly too).
Arden also played trumpet in a band called Hiphugger, but gave that up quickly and busked with her guitar on the streets of Vancouver until someone punched her in the head, knocking her unconscious and scooping up $4 in revenue from the guitar case. Much of this, and a tense homelife led to an abusive bought with alcohol (which she would give up by age 26).
Music Works Management's Rudi LeValley and Neil MacGonigill, first saw Arden performing Olivia Newton-John covers and country twang in a lounge. MacGonigill trailed Arden around Calgary following her every move and urging her on. She finally signed a management deal 6 months later.
Through some demo tapes sent to A & M Records, the management team convinced A & R man Alan Reid to come to Calgary and check out 'the voice' in a small 40 seat theatre. She was signed in the summer of 1992 to a reciprocal deal on A & M in Canada and the US.
Arden recorded her first album, 'Time For Mercy', in Los Angeles with collaborator Ed Cherney (Eric Clapton, Bonnie Raitt). The album spawned several hit singles letting Arden go on to win two Junos in 1993 for Best Solo Performer and Best Video. The album has sold an impressive 250,000 copies to date.
Arden's second album, 'Living Under June' (also recorded in LA with Ed Cherney), sold six-times platinum in Canada and 500,000 in the US (despite a snubbing from their AAA formatted radio stations) for total world-wide sales of 1.3 million. The single "Insensitive" went Top 10 globally, including #1 in Australia and would be used in an Italian TV commercial.
In a tour supporting Chris Isaak earlier in the year, the venues ranged from a couple of hundred people to several thousand and larger. But a tour of the U.S. sent her back to low-rent bars and dives like in her formative years playing Vancouver.
Arden had some major setbacks with her songwriting style as well, when she began getting letters about "Could I Be Your Girl?" from people who assumed that metaphorical references to demons and Jesus were construed as devil worshipping or just the opposite - some radio stations refused to play the record for fear of encouraging a religious fervor from those thinking Arden might be a bible thumper.
She won three Junos in 1995 for Female Vocalist of the Year, Songwriter of the Year and Single of the Year (for "Could I Be Your Girl?"), and 1996 nominations including Entertainer of the Year and Single of the Year. 1996 would also see appear on countless major TV shows, including David Letterman and Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve.
Taking time out of recording 6 songs for her third album in LA, Arden stopped to host the 1997 Junos with wit and aplomb.
Even before her third album, Happy?, was available in stores, the first single "The Sound Of" was in the Top 10 charts in Canada. The album's bonus track is a cover of Lulu's "To Sir With Love". Arden continues her uphill spiral of success with three hit albums and a series of brilliantly shot music videos by Calgary's Jeth Weinrich.
Her well-received fourth album, "Blood Red Cherry", was released March 21, 2000. Again co-produced by Ed Cherney, it leavened her usual sombre ballads with some of the trademark humour she displays in interviews, notably the bluesy, uptempo "Best Dress".
Singles
as Jann Richards
1980 Never Love A Sailor (independent)
as Jann Arden
1993 Will You Remember Me (A & M)
1993 The Way Things Are Going (A & M)
1993 I Would Die For You (A & M)
1993 I'm Not Your Lover (A & M)
1994 Time For Mercy (A & M)
1994 Could I Be Your Girl (A & M)
1995 Insensitive (A & M)
1995 Wonder Drug (A & M)
1995 Unloved (A & M) [with Jackson Browne]
1996 Good Mother (A & M)
1997 The Sound Of (A & M)
Albums
1993 Time For Mercy (A & M)
1994 Living Under June (A & M)
1997 Happy? (A & M)
2000 Blood Red Cherry (A & M)
Video
1993 Will You Remember Me
1994 Could I Be Your Girl?
1995 Insensitive
1996 Good Mother
1997 The Sound Of
Compilation Tracks
1998 Time For Mercy on '30 Hour Famine' (Nettwerk)
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