‘My Own Way’ was recorded in 2001 to attract record label attention
A London producer has uploaded a rare demo from Amy Winehouse, recorded when she was just 17 years old.
Gil Cang, a musician from Camden, shared a demo for “My Own Way” – a song written by Cang with co-composer James McMillan – on YouTube. Cang told the Camden New Journal that it was produced in September 2001 to attract record label attention prior to Winehouse’s eventual signing with Island Records.
“We’d been writing quite a lot of pop tunes, doing a lot of pop promos with various artists who would come in, many of various, dubious talent,” Cang said. “It was at a particularly dire time in the pop world – lots of terrible, terrible girl bands and boy bands and we had to make something for them. Amy came in to see us, opened her mouth and just blew us all away.”
The release of the track could prove controversial as Winehouse’s unfinished demos were destroyed by her label in 2011 to prevent any posthumous albums being made using unfinished vocals or studio stems. Nevertheless, it’s interesting to hear Winehouse’s development into the artist she became.
Cang explained that he simply wanted people to have the opportunity to hear the song. “I’ve had it knocking about for so long. I found it again last week and thought – I’ll put it out there so people could hear it.”
Listen below.