Amy Winehouse - The Collection

by Nick Dent-Robinson

published: 24 / 12 / 2020

Nick Dent-Robinson reflects on 'The Collection', a new five CD box set from the late Amy Winehouse.

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Amy Winehouse didn't leave behind a big body of work when she died suddenly nine years ago, aged just 27. Undoubtedly the most gifted female singer of her generation, she finished just two studio albums with very few songs left over. It was the recording booth, however, rather than the stage where Amy Winehouse felt most at home. The bulk of her recorded output is gathered together on 'The Collection', ' five-CD set selling at £15 that features her two albums ('Frank' and 'Back to Black”) plus the posthumous 2011 selection 'Lioness: Hidden Treasures' as well as two discs of live takes and remixes. The release of 'The Collection' demonstrates'the singer's huge talent and it provides a poignant reminder of what might have been. “Back to Black' remains superb. And 'Lioness' contains a beautiful take on the Shirelles classic 'Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow' as well as 'Body and Soul', a duet with Tony Bennett which turned out to be Amy Winehouse's last ever recording. Bennett later called her “one of the finest and most honest people in music I have ever known.” It isn't hard to understand why.