Going Home (Kenny G composition)

Last updated

"Going Home"
Going Home CD Single Cover.jpg
Single by Kenny G
from the album Kenny G Live
ReleasedJanuary 21, 1990
RecordedApril 1988 (Unreleased with Stevie Nicks)/1989 overdubs and completion
Genre Smooth jazz
Length5:29(Album Version) 4:15 (Single Version)
Label Arista
Songwriter(s) Kenny G, Walter Afanasieff
Producer(s) Kenny G
Kenny G singles chronology
"We've Saved the Best for Last"
(1989)
"Going Home"
(1990)
"Theme from Dying Young"
(1991)

"Going Home" is an instrumental song by American saxophonist Kenny G which was released in 1990, from the artist's first live album Kenny G Live .

Contents

Originally recorded in April 1988 for Stevie Nicks' album The Other Side of the Mirror , as working title "Tragedy Of One's Own Soul" and also earlier for a song titled "Lily Girl", both with lyrics written by Nicks. The project was eventually dropped prior to the May 1989 release of her album. There are bootleg versions of both songs widely available online, since neither have ever been officially released by Kenny G or Stevie Nicks.

Reception in China

This appropriately titled song is an unconventional mega-hit throughout the country of China. It has become the unofficial national closing anthem for food courts, outdoor markets, health clubs, shopping malls and train stations throughout the country. Many businesses begin piping the music over their loudspeakers shortly before closing at night. Television stations also play the song before ending their evening broadcasts. Some trains staffed by Nanchang Railway Bureau play the song when reaching their final destinations. Many Chinese, when asked, say they associate the song with the need to finish their activity and go home, although they may not even know the name of the song or its artist. [1]

Kenny G has said that when he played it midconcert in China, the audience got up and left early. [2]

Charts

Chart (1990)Peak
position
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 56
U.S. Billboard Hot R&B Singles 46
U.S. Billboard Adult Contemporary 5

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fleetwood Mac</span> British-American rock band

Fleetwood Mac are a British-American rock band formed in London in 1967 by guitarist and singer Peter Green. Green recruited drummer Mick Fleetwood, guitarist and singer Jeremy Spencer and bassist Bob Brunning, with John McVie replacing Brunning a few weeks after their first public appearance. Guitarist and singer Danny Kirwan joined the band in 1968. Christine Perfect, who contributed as a session musician starting with the band's second album, married McVie and joined Fleetwood Mac as an official member in July 1970 on vocals and keyboards, two months after Green left the band; she became known as Christine McVie.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lindsey Buckingham</span> American guitarist (born 1949)

Lindsey Adams Buckingham is an American musician, record producer, and the lead guitarist and co-lead vocalist of the rock band Fleetwood Mac from 1975 to 1987 and 1997 to 2018. In addition to his tenure with Fleetwood Mac, Buckingham has released seven solo studio albums and three live albums. As a member of Fleetwood Mac, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998. Buckingham was ranked 100th in Rolling Stone's 2011 list of "The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time". Buckingham is known for his fingerpicking guitar style.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stevie Nicks</span> American singer-songwriter (born 1948)

Stephanie Lynn Nicks is an American singer-songwriter known for her work with the band Fleetwood Mac and as a solo artist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers</span> American rock band

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers were an American rock band from Gainesville, Florida. Formed in 1976, the band originally comprised lead singer and rhythm guitarist Tom Petty, lead guitarist Mike Campbell, keyboardist Benmont Tench, drummer Stan Lynch and bassist Ron Blair. In 1982, Blair, weary of the touring lifestyle, departed the band. His replacement, Howie Epstein, stayed with the band for the next two decades. In 1991, Scott Thurston joined the band as a multi-instrumentalist—mostly on rhythm guitar and second keyboard. In 1994, Steve Ferrone replaced Lynch on drums. Blair returned to the Heartbreakers in 2002, the year before Epstein's death. The band had a long string of hit singles including "Breakdown", "American Girl", "Refugee", "The Waiting", "Learning to Fly", and "Mary Jane's Last Dance", among many others, that stretched over several decades of work.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kenny Loggins</span> American singer and guitarist

Kenneth Clark Loggins is an American singer, guitarist and songwriter. His early songs were recorded with the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band in 1970, which led to seven albums recorded with Jim Messina as Loggins and Messina from 1972 to 1977. His early soundtrack contributions date back to A Star Is Born in 1976, and he is known as the King of the Movie Soundtrack. As a solo artist, Loggins experienced a string of soundtrack successes, including an Academy Award nomination for "Footloose" in 1985. Finally Home was released in 2013, shortly after Loggins formed the group Blue Sky Riders with Gary Burr and Georgia Middleman. He won a Daytime Emmy Award, two Grammy Awards and was nominated for an Academy Award, a Tony Award and a Golden Globe Award.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joe Walsh</span> American rock musician (born 1947)

Joseph Fidler Walsh is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. Best known as a member of the rock band Eagles, his five-decade career has also included solo work and stints in two other successful rock bands: James Gang and Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band. He was also part of the New Zealand band Herbs. In the 1990s, he was a member of the short-lived supergroup the Best.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kenny G</span> American jazz saxophonist and composer (born 1956)

Kenneth Bruce Gorelick, known professionally as Kenny G, is an American smooth jazz saxophonist, composer, and producer. His 1986 album Duotones brought him commercial success. Kenny G is one of the best-selling artists of all time, with global sales totaling more than 75 million records.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kenny Chesney</span> American country musician (born 1968)

Kenneth Arnold Chesney is an American country singer. He has recorded more than 20 albums that include more than 40 Top 10 singles on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs and Country Airplay charts, 32 of which have reached number one. Many of these also have charted within the Top 40 of the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, making him one of the most successful crossover country artists. He has sold over 30 million albums worldwide.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cheryl Wheeler</span> American folk singer and songwriter

Cheryl Wheeler is a Massachusetts-based singer-songwriter of contemporary folk music. She has recorded thirteen folk albums to date and has toured extensively throughout the United States since the mid-1970s.

Marilyn Martin is an American singer and songwriter. She is best known for her 1985 hit duet with Phil Collins, "Separate Lives", which went to number one.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mickey Gilley</span> American singer-musician (1936–2022)

Mickey Leroy Gilley was an American country music singer and musician. Although he started out singing straight-up country and western material in the 1970s, he moved towards a more pop-friendly sound in the 1980s, bringing him further success on not just the country charts, but the pop charts as well.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rascal Flatts</span> American country rock band

Rascal Flatts was an American country rock band founded in 1999 in Nashville, Tennessee. The group consisted of Gary LeVox, Jay DeMarcus, and Joe Don Rooney. DeMarcus is LeVox's second cousin, a brother-in-law of country music singer James Otto, and was previously a member of the contemporary Christian music duo East to West. LeVox and DeMarcus are both natives of Columbus, Ohio.

<i>Buckingham Nicks</i> 1973 studio album by Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham

Buckingham Nicks is the only studio album by the duo of American rock guitarist Lindsey Buckingham and singer Stevie Nicks, both of whom later joined Fleetwood Mac. Produced by Keith Olsen, the album was released in September 1973 by Polydor Records.

Dorsey William Burnette III is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter who was part of the band Fleetwood Mac from 1987 to 1996. Burnette also had a brief career in acting.

<i>The Other Side of the Mirror</i> (album) 1989 studio album by Stevie Nicks

The Other Side of the Mirror is the fourth solo studio album by American singer and songwriter Stevie Nicks. Released on May 30, 1989, through the Modern Records label, the album was recorded in California, New York, and Buckinghamshire in England, and is loosely based around the theme of Lewis Carroll's novel Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edge of Seventeen</span> 1982 single by Stevie Nicks

"Edge of Seventeen" is a song by the American singer-songwriter Stevie Nicks from her debut solo studio album Bella Donna (1981), released as the third single from the album on February 4, 1982. The lyrics were written by Nicks to express the grief resulting from the death of her uncle Jonathan and the murder of John Lennon during the same week of December 1980. The song features a distinctive, chugging 16th-note guitar riff, drum beat and a simple chord structure typical of Nicks' songs. The song's title for the single release was "Edge of Seventeen (Just Like the White Winged Dove)". In the United States, "Edge of Seventeen" just missed out on the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at No. 11. Despite this, it became one of Nicks' most enduring and recognizable songs and has been covered by several artists. In 2021, it was ranked No. 217 on Rolling Stone's list of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time".

"Crazy Arms" is an American country song which was a career-making hit for Ray Price. The song, released in May 1956, went on to become a number 1 country hit that year, establishing Price's sound, and redefining honky-tonk music. It was Price's first No. 1 hit.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KRS-One</span> American rapper

Lawrence "Kris" Parker, better known by his stage names KRS-One and Teacha, is an American rapper from the South Bronx. He rose to prominence as part of the hip hop group Boogie Down Productions, which he formed with DJ Scott La Rock in the mid-1980s. KRS-One is known for his songs "Sound of da Police", "Love's Gonna Get'cha ", and "My Philosophy". Boogie Down Productions received numerous awards and critical acclaim in their early years. Following the release of the group's debut album, Criminal Minded, fellow artist Scott La Rock was shot and killed, but KRS-One continued the group, effectively as a solo project. He began releasing records under his own name in 1993. He is politically active, having started the Stop the Violence Movement after La Rock's death. He is also a vegan activist, expressed in songs such as "Beef". He is widely considered an influence on many hip-hop artists.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kenny Edwards</span> American musician (1946–2010)

Kenneth Michael Edwards was an American singer, songwriter, bassist, guitarist, mandolinist, and session musician. He was a founding member of the Stone Poneys and Bryndle and a long-time collaborator with Linda Ronstadt and Karla Bonoff.

John Barlow Jarvis is an American songwriter, composer, session pianist and recording artist. Before moving to Lake Tahoe in 2014, he had lived in Nashville, Tennessee, since 1982.

References

  1. Levin, Dan (May 11, 2014). "China Says Goodbye in the Key of G: Kenny G". New York Times. Retrieved May 11, 2014.
  2. "Let's Talk About Kenny G" by Carl Wilson. Slate. December 2, 2021. Accessed December 3, 2021.