Andy Pratt - Avenging Annie

Story behind the song

The following article was written by the author, Andy Pratt, Sept 6, 2006
I wrote "Avenging Annie" in the summer of 1972 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, at my mother's 1926 Steinway B Baby Grand piano. I had broken up with my first wife[.] ... I was stoned on marijuana. On my turntable was the The Byrds' Sweetheart of the Rodeo, in particular the Woody Guthrie song "Pretty Boy Floyd." You can clearly hear that the first part of "Avenging Annie" is an altered version of "Pretty Boy Floyd." I shut off the record and began playing "Pretty Boy Floyd." I was going into a creative trance, and I altered Woody's words, then out came a Bach-like piano riff which I liked, so I began singing to it in falsetto, taking the part of a woman I called Avenging Annie. A whole story came out, which was a fantasy version of my relationship with [my ex-wife], combined with the outlaw theme of the American West. I worked on the song for a few weeks and played for other people who liked it. I made a demo with Rick Shlosser and Bill Riseman, which became a hit at Brown University Radio WBRU. This new fame led to me being whisked away by John Nagy of Earth Opera, Clive Davis of Columbia Records, and Nat Weiss of The Beatles, being wined and dined in New York City and given star treatment at the famous Black Rock on 6th Avenue. Once recorded and released on Columbia, "Avenging Annie" took on a life of its own, which has never really stopped. My version was given extensive radio play, became a number one single in New Orleans and Providence, and reached about number eighty-five in the national charts. I did a successful tour of the East Coast, where Jimmy Buffet opened for me at Max's Kansas City, an Andy Pratt show was broadcast from Boston's Jazz Workshop over WBCN radio, and many other wonderful things happened. The Andy Pratt record, with "Avenging Annie" is still available on various web sites, including www.amazon.com.
Roger Daltrey covered "Avenging Annie" in 1974, and his version appeared first on his One of the Boys album as well as other collections he released. My opinion of his version is that he was afraid to play the role of a woman in the song, and his band did not play the syncopations that we played in our version. I prefer my version. Still, I am grateful for his recognition of the song, and the added exposure that he helped me to gain.
Carmenica Diaz wrote a book called "Avenging Annie" and credits the song as the book's inspiration, for which I thank her.
http://www.itsaboutmusic.com/andypratt.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andy_Pratt_(singer-songwriter)

http://www.myspace.com/andyprattrocks

no copyright infringement intended if copyright owner wishes video to be removed - please contact me directly on this channel , thankyou kindly.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• andy
• pratt
• avenging
• annie
• pretty
• boy
• floyd
• bonnie
• and
• clyde
• oakley

[tolgreen]

EXCELLENT!!!!

[BebingtonGirl]

@tolgreen

Thank you Priscella for watching

[MrCJWelch]

Dear Beb,

No, please do send me a link to Mr. Pratt's page. BTW, is Andy back in the US?

Best,

CJ

[BebingtonGirl]

@MrCJWelch CJ if you scroll up the comments and click on recordsare - for that is indeed the mighty Andy and he's back in the US.

[MrCJWelch]

Really a very nice tribute to Andy Pratt! I've always loved this song and followed not only Andy's music through his albums but also his life. He really did wear his heart on his records. You could see the Canary soar and feel it when his wings were clipped.

I met Andy in private upstairs at Shaboo in Storrs, CT in the early 70's. His performance was great and anyone trucking around a Bosendorffer Piano for a gig as small as Shaboo sure loved his music and his fans.

Cheers Andy!

CJW

[BebingtonGirl]

@MrCJWelch Thank you CJW for the comment and story. Great artist have you checked out his channel on YouTube ?

[recordsare]

Hi People thanks....

[TheJimmyjames8]

i always thought it was the revenge of andy! great song andy!

[kwixotic]

I suppose it doesn't matter that this song didn't get beyond #85 on the national music chart because I've always found it a catchy song from the first time I heard it back in the spring of '73.

[countrypaul]

I am the person who brought Avenging Annie to WBRU for its debut. My band, Benefit Street (benefitstreetband daht cahm) was recording at Andy's studio, Aengus; knowing I worked at WBRU, Andy and engineer Bill Reisman gave me a pre-release copy of Andy's first (great) LP, Records are Like Life, which got heavy airplay, and later the astounding demo version of Annie, which we also played like maniacs. It's still an amazing artistic and emotional accomplishment. Thank you, Andy - you still rock!

[5000loto]

Some time around 1973 (not really sure of date) I saw Andy Pratt in one of the small, below street level clubs on Boylston Street, Boston. An incredible show. In particular I remember the back up singers as being just outrageous. Thanks Andy!

[he115eeker]

Best song ever haha

[lrd9999]

Roger Daltrey must have been a little squeamish about singing from a female perspective. That's no crime, but his version didn't have a tenth of the passion this has. AP sings as if he actually means it.

[gerrit1263]

I love this song glad I found it back

[makwabid69]

@fbe31955 ...Brother, you're not alone in the reconciling of loving this song and being into hard rock (I'm 52). But it's a tribute to your tastes - at least you know what you like, what is 'good' to you, rather than being a slave to a perception of what others might say about it! Andy Pratt is a singer/songwriter extraordinaire...and he can rock out with the best of them! Cheers!

[s9h9a9n9e9]

Best Outlaw Song ever written! Hail to the King! (..and this from someone who has their own Outlaw Song)