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Janet Jackson On Teaming Up With Carly Simon
04/25/2001 4:00 PM, Yahoo! Music
Jason Gelman
(4/25/01, 4 p.m. ET) -- One of the songs on Janet Jackson's new album All For You that's generating quite a buzz is her duet with Carly Simon, "Son Of A Gun (I Bet You Think This Song Is About You)." The track's lyrics defiantly boast: "Naw I ain't gone go and act a fool/ And be the lead story on the n--ga news/Not me sucker/I'll never be your lover/I'm gonna make you suffer/You stupid mutherf---er."
Even though Simon's guest vocal on "Son Of A Gun" is limited to expletive-free rapping in the chorus of the tune, it is unusual to hear her crooning on a profanity-laden song. It should be noted that Simon is also currently working on a score for the upcoming Disney movie Winnie The Pooh, but then again it's not every day that a singer gets the chance to contribute to Janet Jackson's album.
Jackson explained to LAUNCH that the original recording of "Son Of A Gun" didn't include the chorus, which borrows liberally from Simon's 1973 chart-topping hit, "You're So Vain": "If you could take Carly's voice out and try to imagine--which would probably be hard, because she's so awesome on this song--the song without her, that was the song. And obviously having to get her approval by using 'You're So Vain,' I was on the phone with her and she wanted to just re-sing all her old parts and sing it all over again. I said, 'Yeah, I'm sure we can do that. That would be totally fine.' She said, 'I'd love to write just a line or two. Honestly there is no pressure [if] you guys don't want to use it. If you feel it fits, then go ahead and do so.' And Carly went back and wrote a whole song."
Jackson added that as Simon shared her thoughts and lyrics during their phone conversation, "Son Of A Gun" really began to really take shape: "It sounded so awesome that we decided to marry the two, and it really sounds, like, 'OK, we thought the whole thing through,' for sure, and it worked perfectly, me co-singing what she sang. She doing the same as what I'm doing--co-singing what I sang--and that's how it became a duet."
Simon shared a similar version of how the duet came about on her official website, carlysimon.com. "I got first inkling of an interest through the usual link: a lawyer," she said. "Luckily mine was on the ball and interested and quick on his feet. He called me and made mention of the fact that Janet had recorded it and was going to call it: "Son Of A Gun."
Simon continued, "She needed sample clearance. I asked that Janet call me, and she did that night. She could not have been sweeter or more appreciative. I said I would prefer to re-record everything that might otherwise have been sampled. Why get Elektra involved and potentially hold up the process?"
"So, Jimmy Jam sent me their tracks and I went into a local studio here on the Vineyard and recorded about 10 new tracks worth of material. The rap was spontaneous and I didn't think they would end up using it, but they did and I couldn't be happier about it. It was the kind of fun you don't necessarily count on having."
It seems Jackson was having fun as well, as she told us, "I absolutely love her on that song. Carly Simon is so nice--definitely a nice woman."
-- Jason Gelman, New York and Gary Graff, Detroit
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