Sheryl Crow

C’mon, C’mon (A&M)
by Jamie Kiffel

What’s cool about Sheryl Crow? She’s signed to a massive record label, she’s written tunes for the likes of Don Henley and Celine Dion, her rockabilly style music (that means country is involved) is all over the top-40 stations, and she, herself, is over 40.

What’s cool is that she’s making music that shows where chick rock could go if its singers grow up and get some experience. Like a mature figure skater turning soul-stirring rings around a 13-year-old emotionless prodigy, Sheryl Crow talks about loving, yearning, hurting and rebounding with the deep grace owned only by someone who’s lived it. Surely the young guitar girls of our time won’t get why Sheryl’s simple, twangy guitar progressions and honest alto delivery make audiences instantly feel understood. The answer is simple: This is not chick rock, it’s woman rock. This is the sweet noise of experience, the stuff of a bruised and healed heart; it’s what your mom would teach you if she rocked out. “Hey, love hurts,” she’d smile, slinging that guitar over her back. “But life is plenty big enough for another beer and a fling, and if you make it to top-40 on the way, well, all the better.”