After the storm, singer Tyrell records ode to his hometown
Singer-producer Steve Tyrell grew up in Houston’s Fifth Ward. There, his father ran a grocery store, and Tyrell fell under the spell of the city’s vibrant blues and R&B scenes. From here, Tyrell headed to New York working with Burt Bacharach, Dionne Warwick and BJ Thomas at Scepter records, eventually beginning a solo recording career singing standards in the early-’90s.
He lives in Los Angeles these days, but after watching the effects of the flooding brought by Hurricane Harvey, Tyrell went into the recording studio to cut an ode to his hometown.
“Seeing all the devastation in Houston has left a hole in my heart,” Tyrell wrote. “As you know, Houston is my hometown. It’s where I learned to walk, talk, read, and write... where I lived, loved, and where I discovered my passion
for music. Houston is family and no matter where I go, it will always be ‘home.’ ”
Tyrell recorded the Lee Hazlewood-penned, Dean Martin-popularized song “Houston,” with new lyrics by Janine Sharell and Mark Winkler.
“Whereas the original was a song of desperation and despair, this version speaks of the hearts and hands that have come forward in the wake of this tragedy to help and to heal,” he wrote.
Tyrell had to leave the country for a weeklong performance residence in Italy, but he’s been working with the J.J. Watt Fund and Hand in Hand 2017 to raise money for relief efforts.