Alanna Myles’ self-titled album was an interesting mix of rock tunes. This album propelled her into stardom back in 1989. It was a huge hit in Canada, in the US as well, and around the world. It reached number one for weeks in Canada, also did very well in the US going to number five, and went to number three in the UK on the album chart.
So who is Alanna Myles? Well she was born, on Christmas Day in Toronto back in 1958. She began her career at the age of 18 performing in solo gigs in southern Ontario. She eventually met Christopher Ward, who was an artist and songwriter with Warner Music Group. He helped her out with her material and helped her write a few songs as well. At the age of 31 in 1989, she got enough material and the band together to do an album she named Alanna Myles.
The biggest hit on this album is Black Velvet. It’s a song about Elvis and his life, and apparently Elvis used to use a hair dye named Black Velvet because his hair was naturally blonde and he dyed it black. Apparently Alanna was not the first person to record this song. A country singer named Robin Lee recorded it and didn’t get a big hit out of it, but Atlantic Records gave it to her first, then gave it to Alanna Myles to record it. Alanna’s version did very, very well.
Christopher Ward, the writer we talked about earlier, co-wrote this song with Myles. They were boyfriend and girlfriend at the time, and they were inspired by a bus full of Elvis fans riding to Memphis attending the 10th annual vigil at Graceland in 1987. When they got back to Canada, they were like, hey, we gotta write a song about Elvis.
The song itself has that swampy, bluesy sound and really paints a picture of the American South, Elvis’ rise, and the impact he had on music. When it came out, it connected right away with listeners.
When they released the single a year later in 1989, it did really well. It went to number one all over the world including Norway, Sweden and Switzerland. It also did very well in Canada, and it went to number one in the US as well. The song went on to win a Grammy Award and became her signature track, the one everyone still knows today.
Here’s Black Velvet, a song about Elvis.
