Videos of young Amy Winehouse singing in a park

I’ve got plans to head over to the park later tonight for a picnic with some friends. Before I leave, I thought I’d share these videos of Amy Winehouse. This is not an ironic, “I love to hate Amy” post. Rather it’s an attempt to present the part of her that is musical.

There are hundreds of places to find coverage and commentary on Amy’s numerous, and really quite sad, drunken live performances and embarrassing interviews. I think it’s worth showing this clip of 19-year old Amy being interviewed in 2003– pre-beehive but still brassy. She talks about being inspired to write songs after failing to find any music of substance in the mainstream. She discusses her influences in classic jazz and “beat-driven” positive rap, as well as in the music of more traditional singer-songwriters of the sixties.

The second clip is from the same BBC session for the (now-defunct) show, Collective. Sitting in August sunlight, Amy leisurely belts and plays with the tune of “Take The Box” from her first album, Frank.

Well, I’m off to join some kids at the park for drinks and snacks and music.