how
it all began:
"We
basically got together because of my first album. He was intrigued
by my voice and wanted to know if I was a songwriter. We got together
over the phone and started exchanging song ideas. We were compatible
right off the bat, (so) we started literally writing 'The Woman
In Me' over the phone. . . It wasn't love at first sight with
me (when I finally met him face to face). I had already fallen
in love with his mind before I ever had any romantic inclinations
towards him."
"Mutt was working out to my album every morning. I was just
this new artist that he was introduced to. So he found out how
to get a hold of me. When we had our first phone conversation,
I was so in tune with him creatively. At first, I didn't know
who he was. "He said, `I want to know how serious of a songwriter
you are. Why don't you sing me something you've been working on?'
So I sang him 'Home Ain't Where His Heart Is (Anymore)'
over the phone. And he let me listen to what he was working on.
It was Michael Bolton's 'I Said I Loved You But I Lied',
which is Mutt's song .So I listened to it and i thought, "Wow!
this guys really good!" (laughs) I thought it was so great, I
said, oh I can definitely write with this guy. Oh okay, me and
half the world! I think that in his own mind he's thinking i really
wanna get together with this person and write. So that's when
we decided to meet at fan fair in June '93."
Their
collaboration was crucial to bringing out Twain's delightful pop-country
sensibility. Coming from a rock records background with production
clients including Def Leppard, AC/DC and the Cars, Lange was unencumbered
by fear of country radio's oft-voiced preference for sound-alike
artists to fit specific demographics. Still, it wasn't Lange only
who put the pop in Twain's music.
"People think the pop stuff is coming from Mutt,"
she says. "But what they don't understand is that almost the opposite
is true. His real love as a listener is country. He'd like the
whole thing to be steel and fiddle. I grew up singing country,
and I need to draw from other music just for inspiration. So when
I get a chance to branch out in another direction, I take it."
"When we started working together, I became such a fan
of his voice. 'No One Needs to Know' is kind of like a
duet. I love us together on that.
falling
in love:
"One day we just hugged. We'd hugged before, I mean, goodbye
at the airport. But that time we just didn't let go for the longest
time. It was so intense. I thought: "I really don't want to let
go of this person." At that moment we knew we had a lot to talk
about. It was great....it was a sweet sweet moment."
"Looking at him the day I fell in love, and looking at him
the day before? Two different things."
their relationship:
"We work together, we write together. Musically we have a
great thing going, because we share something so intimate, so
natural. "
"One song on her album, 'God
Bless the Child', an aching lullaby, was written after her
parents' tragic accident. "I felt totally lost, and that song
was my crying out. I sang it until I met Mutt." Now", she
says, "I don't feel lost anymore."
"I'm usually in the kitchen cooking, working out songs in my head
while Mutt is in the living room watching some sort of game. Although
it's not unusual for us to not see each other for up to a month,
because one of us is off working on a project or video.''
why he isn't with her at award ceremonies:
"He never comes with me. I don't think he ever will, and
I totally understand where he comes from. He's a humble guy and
basically he doesn't want to be a star. He just wants to be a
person who makes the music... he wants people to know him through
his music."
"He doesn't do interviews. He could have been a star himself.
He's got great rock`n' roll hair and he's in great shape and he's
got such a great voice. But he's a producer at heart. He doesn't
want to be a star."
how
he's influenced Shania:
"He
really helped my confidence as a songwriter. He convinced me to
be myself. I can be pretty black and white and frank and there's
a lot of attitude in some of my songs. Mutt said it was cool and
worked well. I just think Mutt's been able to bring out the best
in me. He's made me a much better writer."
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