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.
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. 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.
Contents
Charts
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
Personnel
Production
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
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
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