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A Mother's Gift: Lullabies From The Heart
Motherhood definitely agrees with Carnie Wilson. And the chart-topper, with Wilson Phillips, wants the world to know it. The result of her joy is Wilson's solo debut, A Mother's Gift: Lullabies From The Heart, a collection of lullabies for her year-old daughter, Lola Sofia.
"I am more proud of this than anything I've ever done in my life," Wilson says of the record. "This album is Lola, her spirit. I thought about Lola while I sang every single song. She is my inspiration, absolutely a hundred percent."
Wilson was to begin another record, but during her pregnancy she realized, thanks in part to Kenny Loggins, this was the album she needed to make at this time in her life. "When I first knew I was pregnant I thought, ‘Wouldn't it be great if I did a lullaby album?'" she says. "Music is obviously very important to me and when I was pregnant [husband] Rob [Bonfiglio] and I played music for Lola every night. The record that I could not get enough of and listened to every single day for three months straight was Kenny Loggins' Return To Pooh Corner. It changed my life, literally. That album made me say, ‘This is why I'm making a lullaby record, cause to be affected like this, that's how I want to affect people and mothers.' It made me connect with my child and knowing that she was falling asleep to peaceful music in the nursery while in my arms…the experience of it was beyond anything I've ever felt."
That wonder is felt throughout the 12-song collection, as Wilson, with the help of producers Jack Kugell and Jason Pennock, soothingly croons her way through some obvious selections, such as the original "A Mother's Prayer" (featuring pianist Jim Brickman), the timeless "What A Wonderful World," and the touching "Lola Sofia," a song written as a gift to Carnie by label mate Joey Daniels and Big3 Records Chairman & CEO Bill Edwards. The CD also features the occasional surprise "Heaven," a song written by her uncle, Beach Boy Carl Wilson, and Elvis Presley's "Love Me Tender," interpreted as a lullaby.
'Love Me Tender' sounds like it was written as a lullaby," she says. "That was one that just popped into my head and I thought, ‘Wouldn't that be amazing?' I pictured that exact arrangement that Jack and Jason came up with and it was just so appropriate." Wilson sang the background vocals with Lola strapped to her in a Baby Bjorn. "She was pressing on my chest and it was hard to breathe and stuff but I did it," she says laughing. "It was so cute."
But Wilson calls "You Are So Beautiful," a duet with her legendary father, Brian Wilson, the centerpiece of the album. "There's something about the vibe the production is just beautiful, but the vibe of it is so gentle and touching. You feel a father and daughter energy. It reminds me of Nat [King Cole] and Natalie [Cole]," she says, referring to the Grammy-winning Unforgettable album. "Being in the studio with my dad and Lola is an experience I will never forget."
Listeners feel the love as the song ends with Carnie saying to her daughter, "That's your grandpa." It's a sweetly intimate moment saved for all time. To Wilson though, that description applies to the whole of A Mother's Gift. "I started recording this record when Lola was three months old. Every week I got to sing and know that today my daughter started crawling, today my daughter smiled, today my daughter said ‘Momma' for the first time," she says.
The disc's heart and soul is the original, "When You Dream," which Carnie and her husband penned together. "Rob had this song floating around his studio for years. He had a melody and music, but he didn't have lyrics. I said to him, ‘We should really write a song for this record. It'd be wonderful if we wrote a song for Lola," she recalls. "So when I was about seven months pregnant he brought the guitar into the bed, which he did every night, and we just wrote the lyrics together. It's a wonderful song. It reminds me of Simon & Garfunkel."
Another standout is the opener, The Wizard Of Oz classic "Over The Rainbow." That one sums up the kind of song she was looking to include on the record. "These are just classic songs full of sensitivity and hopefulness. "It's sentimental and touching." It also wouldn't be out of place on a Diana Krall or standards collection.
Carnie hopes that fact is not lost on listeners of all ages. "You can call this a lullaby album, but you can also can it an album that's just soothing and nice to listen to. It's not just for babies," she says. "Everyone who has had a chance to listen to the album, from children to adults, love it."
Ultimately, Wilson says she couldn't have picked a better album to step into the solo spotlight with. "At first I was nervous about doing something on my own cause I'm used to having Wendy and Chynna with me, but I'm so proud of my first solo album," she says. "This feels right it's what I'm living. It's true in every sense, it's so authentic. It would be like if I was born and raised in Nashville and I did a country album. I think it's my best and most heartfelt singing. It was such a labor of love."
Wilson hopes if listeners take anything from A Mother's Gift, it's the same sense of joy and awe she felt while making the record. "I hope that others are affected like I've been affected," she says. "I want mothers, and fathers, to make the connection with their babies and children with music. It's so powerful."
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Carnie Wilson's