The Very Best of Sheryl Crow (CD - 2003)

Includes liner notes by David Wild.

Personnel: Sheryl Crow (vocals, acoustic guitar, 12-string guitar, piano, bass guitar, background vocals); Kid Rock (vocals); Kenny Olson (guitar); John Shanks (electric guitar, background vocals); Tom Bukovac (electric guitar); Paul Franklin (steel guitar); Matt Rollings (piano); Jamie Muhoberac, Jimmie Bones (keyboards); Michael Rhodes (bass guitar); Abraham Laboriel, Sr., Shannon Forrest (drums); Misty Love, Misty Love, Shirley Hayden (background vocals).

Audio Mixers: Chuck Ainlay; Dave Way; Kid Rock; Al Sutton; Jeff Rothschild.

Liner Note Author: David Wild.

Recording information: Henson Recording Studios, Hollywood, CA; Sound Emporium, Nashville, TN; The Clarkston Clubhouse.

Photographers: Peter Lindbergh; Mark Seliger; Naomi Kaltman.

One of those rare talents who bucked the jinx of winning the Best New Artist Grammy (which she snagged in 1995), Sheryl Crow accrued an impressive canon over the span of a decade. Starting with this Missouri native's twangy, Rickie Lee Jones-flavored 1993 smash "All I Wanna Do," Crow has made her mark with songs such as the forward-looking "Every Day Is a Winding Road," the pleading ballad "Strong Enough," and the Beach Boys-flavored summer anthem "Soak Up the Sun."

This former in-demand session musician's talents also found her going down a country path by way of a classic duet with Kid Rock on the ballad "Picture," which rubs shoulders with the wonderfully atmospheric "Home" and the put-up-or-shut-up sentiment of the life-loving "If It Makes You Happy." Fans who are looking for new material get rewarded with two versions of Cat Stevens' "The First Cut Is the Deepest," one with a vintage Rod Stewart-like arrangement and a country version, featuring steel guitar. Also included is "Light in Your Eyes," a gentle mid-tempo nod to the late George Harrison. minimize