Ryan Adams has done something shockingly delightful this week by covering “Run To You”, a song made famous by Canadian musician Bryan Adams, at a concert in Santa Barbara, Calif.
Bryan Adams is a Canadian musician, songwriter, and producer who had been born in Kingston, Ontario on November 5th, 1959. Bryan gradually rose to international fame and acclaim in the early 80’s with a series of albums. First, there was an FM radio hit “Lonely Nights” from You Want It You Got It. Next, 1983’s Cuts Like a Knife spawned three singles – “Cuts Like a Knife”, “Straight from the Heart”, and “This Time” – that severed as Bryan’s launch pad into mainstream popularity and radio play. But, it wasn’t until Reckless came out in 1985 that he reached international acclaim and industry award nominations. Reckless was the smash album that contained “Run To You”, “One Night Affair”, “Somebody”, and a song called “Heaven” that reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, and No. 9 on the mainstream rock charts. The album also featured “It’s Only Love”, a Grammy nominated duet with Tina Turner, which later won an MTV award for Best Stage Performance. But, Bryan Adams is mostly remembered and known to several generations as the singer of, the now classic song, “Summer of 69”, which also appeared on Reckless.
Ryan Adams
On the other hand, Ryan Adams is an American singer-songwriter, musician, and producer, who had been born on November 5th, 1974 in Jacksonville, North Carolina. And, his given name is David Ryan Adams. After moving to Raleigh, North Carolina, Ryan rose to fame as part of an alternative-country band, called Whiskeytown, which he had formed with Caitlin Cary, a violinist and singer. The band released their debut album, Faithless, in 1996. Faithless “was well received by critics who likened Whiskeytown’s sound to that of Uncle Tupelo, with a heavy debt to Sixties country-rock pioneer Gram Parsons,” according to Rolling Stone. They signed a record deal with Outpost, a subsidiary of Geffen Records, and released a second album – Stranger’s Almanac – in 1997. And, the duo had plans for a third album, Pneumonia, but that was shelved due to changes and mergers at the label. It would turn up a few years later.
In the meantime, Ryan released his first solo album Heartbreaker in 2000 via Bloodshot Records, an alternative country label. Emmylou Harris, Gram Parson’s musical collaborator and a country music legend in her own right, harmonizes with Ryan on “Oh My Sweet Carolina” on Heartbreaker. The next few years of the early 2000’s saw Ryan releasing about an album a year, having his songs covered by major label artist like Tim McGraw and U2’s Bono, posting albums of material online under alter-ego names, and receiving Grammy nominations. Fast forward to 2007. Ryan released an album, Easy Tiger, that featured a duet with Sheryl Crow on “Two”. And, four months later, he released Follow The Light, an EP, containing new tracks, new takes on older RA material, and a cover of “Down In A Hole” by Alice In Chains.
Somewhere along the way, an Adams confusion emerged.
Attendees to Ryan’s concerts would ask him to play Bryan’s “Summer of 69”. And, things came to a head at a 2002 show in Nashville, “Ryan Adams threw a fan out of his show for requesting Bryan Adams’ hit “Summer Of ’69.” He had the house lights turned on and wouldn’t play his six-string until the joker left (with a $30 cash refund from Adams’ pocket). That request was not an isolated incident,” Stereogum reported.
Yet, in recent years, Ryan seems to be mellowing when to comes to the other Adams. In a 2014 interview with the Globe and Mail, the following exchange took place:
“Globe and Mail: You’ve said that the writing of this album was inspired by the Smiths, but I hear a different sound, specifically the leanness and cleanness of Tom Cochrane, Billy Squier and Bryan Adams.
Ryan Adams: Oh God, yes, Bryan Adams was a totally huge part of everything that I am musically. The beginnings of MTV had everything to do with me as a kid. I was transformed by that. I challenge anyone to put on “Run To You” and let that wash over you in a pair of headphones, in your normal listening zone. That stuff is fire-hot.”
Shared birthdates, a shared musical passion, a shared album cover typeface – seriously, examine the covers of Reckless and Ryan Adams – and now, Ryan has covered Bryan, finally.
Check it out:
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