Biography
'Rock Swings? is an unlikely set that surprisingly works perfectly! Paul Anka tackled 14 well known rock anthems and, with the support of a 17-piece band, transforms them into a distinctively original arrangement performed with enough ?swing? to out shine the ?rat pack? themselves. The album was even recorded at the historic Capital studios in Los Angeles, which were the stomping grounds for Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Nat King Cole and all the crooners of that era. Whilst discussing the album, Paul Anka fully appreciated that there will be an initial ?knee-jerk? reaction to the album, but goes on to note:
?People will say nail him, but I want them to at least listen to it. And anyone astute enough and that has any integrity musically will look at it and go, you know what goddamn it, I didn?t want to like it, but it?s there, the quality is there.? As the composer of countless classics including ?My Way?, ?Diana?, ?Puppy Love?, Paul Anka knows quality. Born in Ottawa, Canada in 1941 to Lebanese descent, Paul Anka courageously moved to the US as a young man and by the age of 20 could boast of over 125 compositions, his own label (Spanka) as well as having penned the second best-selling US single of all time (?Diana? sold 20 million copies and is only beaten by ?White Christmas?). His success continued on it?s trajectory as he wrote numerous hits for such heavyweights as Frank Sinatra (he gave Frank ?My Way?) and Tom Jones (She?s A Lady), the theme to Johnny Carson?s ?The Tonight Show?, which has aired every weekend for 30 years, and with 900 songs, 50 years in the business and 124 albums to his credit, he has been recently named the 21st most successful artist in Billboard?s history. On 10 February 2005, Paul Anka was awarded the Order of Canada, the highest honour for lifetime achievement. With such unwavering credentials, even the ?man with the golden touch? realises he is a taking a risk with his new album, ?There?s no doubt I?m sticking my neck out on this. ?
But with such great songs arranged and interpreted in such a completely new way, Paul has created something so unique that ?naysayers? are put to shame after their first listen. After seeing Paul?s performance of ?Smells like Teen Spirit? on David Letterman, Dave Grohl, formerly of Nirvana, responded with: ?Holy s---! That's Teen Spirit.' And I thought it was f---ing amazing, I thought it was so great. It was such an interesting arrangement. It's pretty classic.'
| 
