Tori Amos - Biography
B. Myra Ellen Amos, 22 August 1963,
North Carolina, USA. Amos was compared early in her career to
everyone from Kate Bush to Joni Mitchell. She began playing the
piano aged two-and-a-half, and was enrolled in Baltimore's
Peabody Institute as a five-year-old prodigy. Legend has it that
she was formally ejected for 'playing by ear' the songs of John
Lennon and the Doors, following six years' study. After failing
an audition to gain re-entry, Amos concentrated on the bar
circuit of Washington, DC, which she continued to do throughout
her high-school years, gradually moving to better venues and
adding her own material. In 1980, aged 17, she released (under
her real name, Ellen Amos) her first single 'Baltimore'/'Walking
With You' on the MEA label (named after her own initials). She
favoured cover versions such as Joni Mitchell's 'A Case Of You',
Billie Holiday 's 'Strange Fruit' and Bill Withers' 'Ain't No
Sunshine', later staples of her 90s live set. Amos then adopted
the first name Tori, after a friend's boyfriend's remark that she
'didn't look much like an Ellen, more like a Tori'. Still the
dozens of demo tapes she had recorded since her early teens (mostly
sent out by her doting father) failed to give her a break, and
she switched tack to front pop-rock band Y Kant Tori Read (a play
on words that referred to her previous expulsion from the
conservatory). Musicians in the band included guitarist Steve
Farris (ex- Mr. Mister ), Matt Sorum (future Cult and Guns
N'Roses drummer), Vinny Coliauta ( Frank Zappa ), Peter White (co-writer
to Al Stewart ) and Kim Bullard (ex- Poco ), but the production
and material (largely co-composed between Bullard and Amos) did
her few favours. Amos lowered her profile for a while after this
undignified release, though she did appear on albums by Stewart,
Canadian songwriter Ferron and Stan Ridgway. As she remembers,
'After the trauma I crumbled. I was very confused about why I was
doing music.' Nevertheless, she persevered in writing her own
songs, and eventually a tape of these reached Atlantic Records'
co-chairman, Doug Morris. Though he saw the germ of her talent,
he decided that her current sound was to the taste of the average
American-FM listener, and sent Amos instead to the UK (and East
West Records) so that she might enjoy a better reception. Amos
moved to London in February 1991 and started playing small-scale
gigs around the capital. Her 'debut' EP, Me And A Gun, was
released in October 1991, and tackled the emotive and disturbing
topic of her rape by an armed 'fan' as she drove him home after a
gig. An acclaimed debut album, Little Earthquakes, followed in
January 1992, although the comparisons to Kate Bush continued (not
helped by a similar cover design). Much of the following year was
spent writing and recording a second album with co-producer and
partner Eric Rosse. The result, Under The Pink, included a guest
appearance from Trent Reznor ( Nine Inch Nails ), and was
recorded in his new home - the house where in 1969 Sharon Tate
was murdered by Charles Manson's followers. The first single
lifted from it, 'Cornflake Girl', reached number 4 in the UK
charts, and Amos was heralded in the press, alongside Polly
Harvey ( PJ Harvey ) and Björk, as part of a new wave of
intelligent, literate female songwriters. This was cemented with
the release of the sexually charged Boys For Pele. Quite apart
from having a baby pig suckling on her breast on the cover, the
lyrics were a powerful combination of artistic and erotic
liberation. Armand Van Helden 's remix of 'Professional Widow'
gained a huge club following and secured Amos a UK number 1.
Several of the songs on the follow-up, From The Choirgirl Hotel,
were informed by Amos's recent miscarriage. The album proved to
be her most mature and musically adventurous to date, Amos
recording with a full band for the first time.
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