Amy Winehouse: The Day She Came to Dingle

Having just recently seen the new Winehouse documentary "Amy, made me dig up my Amy Winehouse CDs. "Amy Winehouse - The Day She Came to Dingle" was included in the CD/DVD combo called "At the BBC" (2012 release).

"Amy Winehouse – The Day She Came To Dingle" (50 min.) is an interesting item. The performance from Amy and the interview with Amy was shot in December, 2006 (just after "Back to Black" came out) for a BBC program called "Other Voices", and was recorded in Dingle, Ireland. In the interview, Amy discusses her influences (Sarah Vaughan, Ella Fitzgerald, Soweto Kinch, Thelonious Monk, Ray Charles, etc.) and we are treated to video footage from those performers as well. But this also includes more recent comments from various people (the head of Universal Records, etc.) that was clearly shot after Amy's passing away. As to the actual performances from Amy, there's sadly enough only 6 songs, but what a beauty they are. It's just Amy with bass (Dale Davis) and guitar (Banerjee), allowing clear focus and attention on Amy's singing, and boy, she just sounds fantastic. A shame there are 'only' 6 songs from Amy on here, but great to see this again after having seen "Amy" yesterday.

As to the documentary, "Amy" was directed by the same guy who made the outstanding documentary called "Senna" some 3-4 ago on the life and times of F-1 driver Ayrton Senna, and here as well, he delivers a top-notch documentary that will enrage and shock and sadden you. Given complete access to all video and audio archives by the Winehouse family (read: Amy's dad Mitch), Mitch now has disavowed this documentary (because he looks more interested in Amy's money than Amy's well-being). Family bickering aside, there is performance footage in the documentary that will make your jaw drop to the floor, the most amazing for me being when Amy is filmed while's she's recording the song "Back to Black", we see/hear her mostly a-cappella while she has headphones on, with an arm casually on a chair, and after the song Amy commenting to no-one in particular "that was a bit heavy, no?" (it turned out to be the take that ended u on the album). "Amy" is a MUST-SEE!