Nancy (top) and Ann Wilson of Heart

The Heart concert film “Night at Sky Church” will be released March 8 via Legacy Recordings.

Taped in March 2010 at the Experience Music Project in Seattle, the full-length concert film contains performances of the band’s best-known material and features country/bluegrass star Alison Krauss on three songs, among them “These Dreams.”

“Working with Ann and Nancy Wilson far exceeded any expectation of how talented and beautiful I already thought they were,” said Krauss in a statement issued Feb. 15.

VH1 Classic is scheduled to air a broadcast edition of “Night at Sky Church” during the week of its DVD/Blu-ray release.

It’s time for the Wilson sisters to join the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame

By Phill Marder

In this week’s offering, we’re going to start off with opinions…opinions that – like most opinions – cannot possibly be supported by any means of fact or logic. But since they’re my opinions, I’m going to express them as I always do “’cause it’s my blog and I’ll do what I want.’” If you’d like to express yours, head to the bottom of this article and fill out the box where it tells you to “leave a reply” and don’t forget to hit the “submit” button. Remember, it’s your blog, too, and you can write what you want. We’ll print them all (that agree with me).

Ok, here we go…
Opinion No. 1 – Ann Wilson is the greatest female singer in the history of Rock & Roll. She can belt out the heaviest of rock and she’s equally adept at carressing the softest of ballads. Not only does she have an incredible voice, she knows how to sing. She avoids the temptation to try to cram every note she can hit onto every word of the song. There are other great female vocalists in the Rock Era, but none even approaches Ann Wilson.

That folks is just my opinion. But it’s just my No. 1 opinion. Let’s move on to opinion No. 2…Nancy Wilson is the foxiest guitar player in the history of Rock & Roll and her playing ability matches her looks. Of course, if you’re a straight female, I would expect a different outlook on the appearance factor.

Personal view No. 3…The Wilsons set the bar for bands led by females. Fans of the Pretenders may have a strong argument as will followers of Joan Jett & the Blackhearts, the Bangles, the Go Gos and others. But I’ll put my money on Heart.

And finally, opinion No. 4…It doesn’t matter if they’re male or female, the Wilson sisters belong in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as sure as most current inductees or anyone being considered.

With the opinions out of the way, let’s look at some facts.

Together, the Wilsons wrote and recorded some of the best records of the last 35 years. Still, like almost everyone else championed by this blog, they haven’t even received a nomination for the Hall of Fame.

The original band’s albums – “Dreamboat Annie,” No. 7 in 1976, and “Little Queen,” No. 9 the following year – emulated Led Zeppelin’s approach, including heavy rockers such as “Crazy On You, “Magic Man,” “Barracuda,” “Little Queen,” “Kick It Out,” “Heartless,” “Straight On” and “Even It Up,” alongside acoustic-flavored gems such as “Dreamboat Annie.” Between 1976 and 1980, they placed eight singles in the top 40, peaking with a No. 8 remake of the 1966 Aaron Neville hit “Tell It Like It Is.”

After a brief slump, a revamped and almost forgotten Heart achieved its greatest success, beginning with 1985′s eponymous LP which produced four top 10 singles and gave Heart its first No. 1 album. Ironically, the third single from the LP, “These Dreams,” featuring Nancy on a rare lead vocal, became the group’s first No. 1 single. The song, written by Martin Page and Bernie Taupin, reportedly had been rejected by Stevie Nicks.

The follow-up LP, “Bad Animals,” reached No. 2 powered by the No. 1 single “Alone,” and the next LP, “Brigade,” got to No. 3 led by the single “All I Wanna Do Is Make Love To You,” which hit No. 2.

Strangely, “Alone” was the band’s first hit in the United Kingdom though both the “Dreamboat Annie” and “Little Queen” albums reached the UK top 40. Once “Alone” clicked, Heart ran off 10 more British hit singles.

The recently released “Red Velvet Car,” coming 34 years after “Dreamboat Annie” first graced the charts, should improve the Wilson’s case for induction. For those who haven’t heard it, the effort hearkens back to the sound of the original version of Heart and the girls had a hand in the writing of all the material as they did early in their career. Ann’s magnificent voice may have lost a tad on the upper end, but 90 percent of Ann Wilson’s voice still far surpasses most female vocalists.

But, of course, that’s just my opinion. As is this…Heart belongs in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

By Carol Anne Szel

What woman out there does not remember belting out the lyrics of the song “Alone” somewhere at some time in their lives and for some reason?  I know I did, a lot.  From “Magic Man” to “These Dreams” to all of those rock and roll tunes that Heart singer Ann Wilson belted out over the span of the band’s career, rivaling anyone in rock with their passionate,  gut wrenching, heart pumping sound.

With a voice that is par-excellence, Ann Wilson turned 60 this past weekend.  She paved the way for female rockers to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with any male musician on the scene.  Yet Ann and Nancy Wilson always stayed in their truth as females in exile from the stereotypical female genre of the fallen angel.  Heart brought you into their songs, telling you they understand, letting you feel the lyrics like “try to understand, he’s a magic man.” You want to know who he is. You want to know why she needs him.

Ann Wilson evoked feelings and emotions when she sang, hitting ranges in her vocals that ranged as high and low, and their timeless lyrics which are so full of rich passion, pleasure and pain.

I remember one interview I did with Ann in 1991 where we sat down as a couple of friends talking about life.  She asked if she could tell me something in confidence, off the record.  She was beaming as she told me she was about to adopt her first son. It was real; she was a woman who felt as passionate about life as she did about her music. And this is, as promised, actually the first time I’ve ever put that confidence in print.

Of course, there is always a dark side. Spoken about not fitting into the shallow world of physical model-like body, Ann encountered the feelings that women face head on in life. We related.

In concert her voice was as clear and strong as it is presented on the records. Something that can often be a disappointment when catching a show and quickly realize that the live sound is nothing like the over-produced, ten-times layered album, and you walk away with the feeling you’ve just heard a bad cover band singing your favorite band’s music.

Often cited as the female Led Zeppelin,  Heart had two hit singles in 1976, “Crazy on You” and “Magic Man” on their “Dreamboat Annie” release, and their single “Heartless” in 1978 with the double-Platinum album, “Dog and Butterfly.”

But it was in the ’80s that Heart broke onto the mainstream rock charts with their first venture on Capitol Records, simply titled “Heart.” Landing at the #1 spot in 1985, selling more than 5 million copies to date on the strength of hits “What About Love?” “These Dreams,” “Never,” and “Nothin’ at All,”  this band of sisters became the musical force that brought them the rock status they so rightly sought.

Their release that followed, “Bad Animals” in 1987 is the one that brought us the power ballad, “Alone,” as well as “Who Will You Run To?” which ended up being the apex of their career.

With a new release Heart album loosely slated to come out later this year,  Ann and Nancy Wilson will surely be a very welcomed breath of fresh air in the world of music. Happy Birthday Ann. From all of us who felt your lyrics for the last two-plus decades.  We grew up living the lyrics of your songs and look forward to a couple of more decades of new music to come.

View the Heart video “Alone”