Musicals, Solo albums, BVs, and Duets!
Jennifer had her first shot at the big time as she joined the cast of the musical Hair, set up in Los Angeles.
The same year (1968), she also released her debut album on the indie label Parrot. After another album on the same label, she switched to Reprise and released Jennifer in 1972. This album didn’t do well, but it was a sign of what would become her speciality: singing other people’s tunes.
On Jennifer, we find compositions by Barry Gibb and Jackson Browne. Only one tune was written by herself, Last Song.
Since the album didn’t chart, she switched labels again and released her next two albums on Arista: Jennifer Warnes (1976) and Shot Through The Heart (1979).
In the ’76 release, we get her first top-ten hit, Right Time of the Night. The album also contained the classic Love Hurts.
Shot Through The Heart didn’t perform as well, and with no hits, it was time to move on again.
Before she picked her next label, Jennifer managed a smash hit singing a duet with Joe Cocker for the soundtrack of Officer and a Gentleman. The tune was Up Where We Belong.
Hitting #1 worldwide and winning all awards, Jennifer was now in a much better position to land her next deal.
Signed to Cypress, Jennifer decided to release an album of only Leonard Cohen tunes. As a frequent backup singer for him and often promoted to duets, her 1986 album was named after one of his best tunes, Famous Blue Raincoat.
The album also had First We Take Manhattan, Bird on the Wire, and Joan of Arc on it.
Interestingly, Jennifer actually released First We Take Manhattan before Leonard himself. Another fun fact is that Stevie Ray Vaughan was the guitarist on her version.
The singles from her Cohen tribute were all released in 1987, the same year the movie Dirty Dancing dropped.
On Dirty Dancing’s soundtrack, Jennifer scored her next worldwide smash hit as she duets with Bill Medley singing the theme tune for the movie, (I’ve Had) The Time Of My Life.
After collecting all the awards, she took her time before the next album.
In 1992, she covered another great tune, Whole Of The Moon by the Waterboys, on her album The Hunter. This would be her last charting single.
Jennifer Warnes Tunes | Related Pages
(I’ve Had) The Time Of My Life
Learn how to play (I’ve Had) The Time Of My Life by Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes using chords, lyrics, chord analysis, and the original recording.
| E | C#m7 | D | D |
Now I’ve had the time of my life, no I never felt like this before…
Bird on the Wire
You can learn how to play Bird on the Wire by Leonard Cohen using chords, lyrics, chord analysis, TAB, and the original recording.
| A | E |
Like a bird on the wire…
Famous Blue Raincoat
You can learn how to play Famous Blue Raincoat by Leonard Cohen using chords, lyrics, chord analysis, TAB, and the original recording.
| Bm7 | G |
It’s four in the morning, the end of December…
Jennifer Warnes on the web
Artists & Bands
Behind every single tune you learn, there’s an artist or band with an entire catalogue of music, waiting to be discovered.
Find out more about these great Artists & Bands, and let their tunes guide you to success.
About me | Dan Lundholm
This was an article about Jennifer Warnes tunes, by Dan Lundholm. Discover more about him and learn guitar with Spytunes.
Most importantly, find out why you should learn guitar through playing tunes, not practising scales, and studying theory in isolation.
