Tommy Emmanuel & John Knowles - Heart Songs

Tommy Emmanuel & John Knowles - Heart Songs - 2019

Heart Songs is an album comprised of songs about love and played directly from the hearts of Tommy Emmanuel and John Knowles. The two CGP’s took some of their favorite classic songs about love and rearranged them into something really special. On the guitar, Emmanuel got to emulate some of his favorite singers like Hank Williams, Michael McDonald, Billy Joel, and Bonnie Raitt. There are Broadway numbers like “Somewhere" from West Side Story and "Where Is Love" from Oliver!. There are also some original songs like "After Paris" by Knowles and "Eva Waits” by Emmanuel. 

Recorded at EastWest Studios in Los Angeles, Heart Songs features arrangements of Hank Williams’ "Cold, Cold Heart,"  the Bee Gees’ "How Deep Is Your Love," Billy Joel’s "Lullabye (Goodnight, My Angel)" and Michael McDonald’s "I Can Let Go Now" among its 14 tracks.

Said McDonald about the cover of “I Can Let Go Now,” "To hear a master like Tommy Emmanuel interpret any song is a joyous and emotional experience to say the least. To hear such a master perform one of your own compositions is the experience of a lifetime. One for which I'll be forever be grateful."

Said Emmanuel about the album, "A 'heart song' is really a love song. Love has many facets—love of family, romantic love. So we started there and then looked for melodies that could be played with heart."

Added Knowles, "And we tried to choose songs that people have heard. So that when they hear them, even though we're not singing or they may not know all the words, they have a connection to these songs in their own hearts."

Regarding their playing on the album, Emmanuel said, "It was a wakeup call to not overplay, to be respectful and serve the music properly.”

“When you're being respectful to the melody, you're also respecting the listener's previous experience with that song," said Knowles. "We play into their expectations while at the same time surprising them now and then."

01. Cold, Cold Heart (Hank Williams)

02. How Deep Is Your Love (The Bee Gees)
03. I Can't Stop Loving You (Don Gibson)
04. Somewhere (Leonard Bernstein from West Side Story)
05. I Can Let Go Now (Michael McDonald)
06. Lullabye (Goodnight, My Angel) (Billy Joel)
07. After Paris (John Knowles)
08. Walkin' My Baby Back Home (Roy Turk & Fred Ahlert)
09. I Can't Make You Love Me (Allen Shamblin & Michael Reid)
10. Where Is Love (Lionel Bart)
11. He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother (Bobby Russell & Bobby Scott)
12. Eva Waits (Tommy Emmanuel)
13. Turning Home (Live)
14. How Deep Is Your Love (Live)


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