The Very Best of Macy Gray

The Very Best of Macy Gray
Greatest hits album by Macy Gray
Released August 30, 2004 (UK)
September 7, 2004 (U.S.)
October 20, 2004 (Japan)
Recorded Enterprise Studios
O'Henry Sound Studios
(Burbank, California)
Aragon Ballroom
(Chicago, Illinois)
The Farm
(Dublin, Ireland)
Capitol Studios
Conway Recording Studios
Paramount Studios
The Record Plant
(Hollywood, Los Angeles, California)
Way Station Studios
(Los Angeles, California)
D&D Studios
(New York City, New York)
Ameraycan Recording Studios
Royaltone Studios
(North Hollywood, Los Angeles, California)
Remote Recording Services
The Studio
(Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
HMS House
(?)
Genre R&B, soul, neo soul
Length 71:01
Label Epic
Producer Macy Gray, Andrew Slater, Darryl Swann, Jeremy Ruzumna, Dallas Austin, Mike Elizondo, Damon Elliott, Josh Rabinowitz, Fatboy Slim, Bugz in the Attic, Gang Starr
Macy Gray chronology

The Trouble with Being Myself
(2003)		 The Very Best of Macy Gray
(2004)		 Live in Las Vegas
(2005)
Singles from The Very Best of Macy Gray
  1. "Love Is Gonna Get You"
    Released: August 16, 2004
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic [1]

The Very Best of Macy Gray is the first greatest hits album (fourth overall) by American R&B-soul singer–songwriter Macy Gray, released in the United States on September 7, 2004 by Epic Records. It contains eight hit singles from Gray's first three albums plus two brand-new tracks (the single "Love Is Gonna Get You" and a cover of Aerosmith's 1975 song "Walk This Way"), three remixes, three album tracks, and the track "Demons", a collaboration with Fatboy Slim from his 2000 album Halfway Between the Gutter and the Stars which had previously not been included on any of her albums. The album failed to attract much attention but nevertheless became another UK top forty album for Gray and charted moderately in other countries of Europe.

On December 1, 2008, the album was re-released in the United Kingdom including "Winter Wonderland" (which first appeared as a B-side to the "Sexual Revolution" single), featured in the Marks & Spencer Christmas ads. Due to digital downloads the track reached number seventy-six on the UK Singles Chart the week ending December 27, 2008.[2]

Track listing

  1. "I Try" 1 (Macy Gray, Jeremy Ruzumna, Jinsoo Lim, David Wilder) – 3:59
  2. "Do Something" 1 (Gray, Darryl Swann, Ruzumna, Dion Murdock, Patrick Brown, Raymon Murray, Rico Wade, Cameron Gipp, Robert Barnett, André Benjamin, Antwan Patton, Thomas Burton, Greg Mays, Daryl Barnes, George Clinton, Jr., Garry Shider, Bernard Worrell) – 4:57
    • Contains a sample of OutKast's "Git Up, Git Out" (Patrick Brown, Raymon Murray, Rico Wade, Cameron Gipp, Robert Barnett, André Benjamin, Antwan Patton, Thomas Burton) and Nice & Smooth's "Funky for You" (Greg Mays, Daryl Barnes, George Clinton, Jr., Garry Shider, Bernard Worrell)
  3. "Still" 1 (Gray, Ruzumna, Bill Esses, Jeff Blue) – 4:15
  4. "Why Didn't You Call Me" 1 (Gray, Ruzumna) – 3:14
  5. "I've Committed Murder" 1 (Gray, Swann, Ruzumna, Kiilu Beckwith, Eddie Harris, Francis Lai, Carl Sigman) – 4:59
    • Contains a sample of Eddie Harris' "Live Right Now" (Eddie Harris) and an interpolation of Francis Lai & His Orchestra's "(Where Do I Begin?) Love Story" (Francis Lai, Carl Sigman)
  6. "Sexual Revolution" 2 (Gray, Ruzumna, Wilder, Swann) – 4:45
  7. "Sweet Baby" (featuring Erykah Badu) 2 (Gray, Joe Solo) – 3:49
  8. "Boo" 2 (Gray, Ruzumna, Wilder, Swann, Victor Indrizzo, Zac Rae) – 4:25
  9. "When I See You" 3 (Gray, Ruzumna, Indrizzo, Justin Meldal-Johnsen) – 3:43
  10. "It Ain't the Money" (featuring Pharoahe Monch) 3 (Gray, Ruzumna, Indrizzo, Meldal-Johnsen, Troy Jamerson, Beck Hansen) – 4:07
  11. "She Ain't Right for You" 3 (Gray, Ruzumna, Indrizzo, Meldal-Johnsen) – 4:12
  12. "Love Is Gonna Get You" 4 (Gray, Mike Elizondo, Natalie Stewart) – 3:00
  13. "Walk This Way" 4 (Steven Tyler, Joe Perry) – 3:31
  14. "Demons" (Fatboy Slim featuring Macy Gray) 5 (Norman Cook, Gray, Bill Withers) – 3:14
    • Contains elements of Bill Withers' "I Can't Write Left-Handed" (Bill Withers)
  15. "When I See You" (Bugz in the Attic Remix) – 6:35
  16. "I've Committed Murder" (Gang Starr Main Mix featuring Mos Def) – 4:38
  17. "Sexual Revolution" (Norman Cook Radio Mix at 128BPM) – 3:32
Japanese edition

Adds "We Will Rock You" as the fourteenth track, between "Walk This Way" and "Demons".

UK re-release
  1. "Winter Wonderland" – 2:53

Charts

Chart (2004) Peak
position
Belgian Albums Chart (Wallonia)[3] 52
Dutch Albums Chart[4] 50
Italian Albums Chart[5] 58
Japanese Albums Chart[6] 236
Portuguese Albums Chart[4] 23
Swiss Albums Chart[4] 84
UK Albums Chart[4] 36

References

  1. ↑ Allmusic review
  2. ↑ "Chart Stats – Macy Gray – Winter Wonderland". Chart Stats. Retrieved 2008-12-15.
  3. ↑ "ultratop.be – Macy Gray – The Very Best Of". Ultratop (in French). Retrieved 2009-10-05.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 "Macy Gray – The Very Best Of Macy Gray – Music Charts". αCharts.us. Retrieved 2008-03-16.
  5. ↑ "Classifiche Artisti". FIMI (in Italian). Retrieved 2008-03-18.
  6. ↑ "The Very Best Of Macy Gray – Oricon". Oricon (in Japanese). Retrieved 2009-10-05.