673 Hello Lenny Kravitz - Mr Cabdriver

Chart  entered : 2  June  1990

Chart  peak :  58

Number  of  hits : 19

Lenny  hasn't  always  had  the best  press  but  has  shown  some  durability  as  an  artist.

He  was  born  in  New  York  in  1964    to  a  Ukranian  Jewish  father  and  Afrro-American  mother. His  father was  a  jazz  promoter  who  knew  all  the  big  names  while  his  mother  was  an  actress. Both  of  them  encouraged  his  performing  ambitions. Lenny  left  school, a  multi-instrumentalist  and  began  working  as  a  session  musician. He  began  working  on  his  own  album  in  the  late  eighties  with  his friend, recording   engineer  Henry  Hirsch . He  also  began  a  relationship  with  Cosby  Show  actress  Lisa  Bonet  and  through  her  met  Stephen  Elvis  Smith  who  became  his  manager. Smith  engineered  a  bidding  war for Lenny's  album  which  was  eventually  won  by Virgin   America.

In  July  1989 ,  Lenny  released  his  first  single, "Let  Love  Rule".  The  song  is  a  slow-burning  ,  moderately  funky  plea  for  world  harmony  reflecting  Lenny's  Christian  beliefs. The  arrangement  is  quite  interesting  particularly  Karl  Denson's  sax  break  but  I  do  detect  a  similarity  between  the  chorus  melody  and  a  Special  AKA  track  Break  Down  The  Door.  I  also  find  Lenny's  singing  on  it  a  little  over  the  top  as  if  he's  straining  to  give  a  lightweight  song  some  gravitas.  It  became  his  second  hit  on  reissue   in  1991, reaching  number  39.

In  the  US, the  album  of  the  same  name  was  released  a  couple  of  months  later  drawing  mixed  reviews  from  critics  who  felt  Lenny's  influences  were   too  apparent. Here  Virgin  released  another  single  first, in  January  1990. "I  Build  This  Garden  For  Us"  is  another  optimistic  song  about  world  unity, its  string-driven  psychedelic  arrangement  evoking  a  similar  feel  to  Tears  for  Fears'  recent  Sowing  The  Seeds  of  Love. Again,  it's  spoiled  by  Lenny's  over-emoting  on  the second  verse.

It  came  close  to charting  and  the  LP  was  released  here  in  May  1990, failing  to  improve  on  its  entry  position  of  number  56.  "Mr  Cabdriver "  was  released  shortly  afterwards. Here ,Lenny  eschews  the  soul  posturings  and  instead  channels  the  spirit  of  Lou  Reed  on  a  tale  of  racial  prejudice  amongst  New  York's  cab  drivers, apparently  based  on  a  true  incident. A  strategic  car  horn  obliterates  the  obscenity  on  the  album  version. I  wouldn't  say  it's  a  Desert  Island  Disc  of  mine  but  I  like  the  driving  bass  line  and   the  extended  guitar  solo  at  the  end.
 
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