I Could Not Ask For More - Edwin McCain Official Music Video
Edwin McCain(Photo: Special to The News-Press)
Some musicians gripe about their big hit. They hate being defined by just one song, and they hate having to perform it every night of their lives.
not edwin mccain.
heres how the rootsy singer-songwriter feels about his biggest hit, Ill Be.
Thank G*d! he says and laughs.
Because McCain knows the alternative. Without his soaring 1998 ballad, he probably wouldnt be performing Friday at Southwest Florida Performing Arts Center in Bonita Springs. In fact, he probably wouldnt have a music career at all.
McCain, 47, remembers getting that fateful call from the record label president. It changed his life forever.
I was SECONDS away from getting dropped (from the label), McCain says. He told me, Listen, you better come up with something great. And I was like, "OK, give me a minute. Hang on, Im coming. Ill get you something good."
I had this idea and I put it all together, and I felt like it had a shot.
Edwin McCain(Photo: David McClister)
That song, of course, was Ill Be, and it shot all the way to No. 5 on Billboard"s Hot 100 chartand eventually became a staple at weddings everywhere. Almost two decades later, the song still gets covered on YouTube and in singing competitions such as American Idol.
The longevity of that song has just been staggering, McCain says. It still gets 5,000 spins a week nationwide on radio and the online streams are insane!
People send me videos of people doing it on YouTube, all these kids out there singing it, and Im like, You werent even born then! Its awesome.
McCain went on to have a long and critically acclaimed career after that, including the 1999 hit I Could Not Ask For More which, just like "I"ll Be," gets performed at weddings a lot. And McCain says hes just fine with that.
Probably as a 25-year old, I would have pouted a little bit and said, Well, I dont want to just be known for singing wedding songs, he says. But as a 47-year-old musician, I go, Oh my G*d, how lucky am I that people still use these songs atweddings! Because I still have a job.
And every time wedding season rolls around, its like I get a whole new life. Its crazy!
Thats why McCain doesnt understand musicians who complain about their huge hit.
Theyre p****d about it! he says. Its so myopic. Its so shortsighted. Because the truth is, the alchemy that has to come together to create a hit song, the seemingly thousands of insignificant coincidences that all have to line up perfectly for that to happen, are so far beyond the artists control.
"And yet, somehow we still manage to believe that we had something to do with it. Authorship is part of it, performance is part of it, but theres this huge component of timing and luck and all of these other individuals that were dedicated and working toward achieving that impossible thing of a hit song.
Edwin McCain(Photo: Special to The News-Press)
Thats why McCain says h**l always be grateful for Ill Be. Without it, who knows where he"d be or what he"d be doing today?
Ive always looked at it like absolute fortune, he says. I joke in my shows: It would be like having a winning lottery ticket and your big house and walking by it every day and going, Stupid lottery ticket! Dumb lottery ticket that made me financially independent!
Connect with this reporter:Charles Runnells (News-Press) (Facebook),@charlesrunnells (Twitter),@crunnells1 (Instagram)
If you go
What: Edwin McCain Trio
When: 8 p.m. Friday
Where:Southwest Florida Performing Arts Center, 11515 Bonita Beach Road, Bonita Springs
Tickets:$28-$38
Info: 389-6901 or swflpac.com
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Source: http://www.news-press.com/story/entertainment/2016/12/13/edwin-mccain-ill-be-bonita-springs-live-music-performing-arts-center-southwest-florida-performing-arts-center-swfl/95192734/
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