| "That Girl Could Sing" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Japanese cover | ||||
| Single byJackson Browne | ||||
| from the albumHold Out | ||||
| B-side | "Of Missing Persons" | |||
| Released | September 1980 | |||
| Recorded | Autumn 1979–spring 1980 | |||
| Genre | Rock,pop | |||
| Length | 4:34 | |||
| Label | Asylum | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Jackson Browne | |||
| Producer(s) | Jackson Browne &Greg Ladanyi | |||
| Jackson Browne singles chronology | ||||
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"That Girl Could Sing" is a hit single written and performed byJackson Browne from his 1980 albumHold Out. The song peaked at #22 on theBillboard Hot 100, charting for 13 weeks after its Sept. 20, 1980 debut. It was also released as a single in Japan. "That Girl Could Sing" was the seventh-biggest hit single of Browne's Top 40 career (beating 1976's "Here Come Those Tears Again" by one position higher on theBillboard Hot 100).[1][2][3]
Lyrically, the song expresses positive remembrance of a relationship with an ultimately elusive woman:
That last sentence of that first verse was praised by Kit Rachlis in his September 1980 review of the album, but he bemoaned "Talk about celestial bodies/And your angels on the wing."[4] The full title of the song is only sung by Browne once in the song, who then ends the song with a variation on it:
Billboard writes that the song starts "with a haunting instrumental before his perceptive lyrics and vocals take charge" and that the melody builds in intensity over the course of the song.[5]Record World called it a "prime example" of how "Browne's ballad-into-rocker arrangements are endearing as they are distinctive."[6]
"That Girl Could Sing" was long speculated to be about either singer-songwriterLaura Nyro, whom Browne dated in the early 1970s, or his friend and former touring companionLinda Ronstadt, but was considered to have been inspired by sometime-Browne backup singerValerie Carter. Fan website editor Russ Paris stated on his site that he believed that "most fans seem to consider Carter the inspiration for the song" with Browne giving a couple hints through the years".[1] After announcing Carter's death during a concert on March 4, 2017 at the Maui Arts & Cultural Center inKahului, Hawaii, Browne played the song in tribute to her. Finally, on April 22, 2017, he formally acknowledged Carter as the subject of the song at theBurton Cummings Theatre inWinnipeg, Canada, stating: "It's a song I wrote about her, there was a time that I was just crazy about her."
Musically, the song is dominated byDavid Lindley's lap steel guitar andCraig Doerge's keyboards, andRick Marotta guests on the song to addhigh-hat and toms, according to the album liner notes. Fans recall Lindley quoted in the April 1982 issue ofGuitar Player magazine as saying that, playing aRickenbackerlap steel, he was using a broken Fairchild limiter amplifier "on its last legs." In addition, producerGreg Ladanyi has been quoted as noting that "the guitar sound on the track 'That Girl Could Sing' required minimal processing, and the tone of the record is pretty true to what came out of Lindley's amp."[7][8][9]
| Chart (1980) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| USBillboard Hot 100[10] | 22 |
