Little Earthquakes
Tori Amos Biography Part 3
Although Y Kant Tori Read was considered a monumental flop (although, with her success today, original copies of this CD can bring in a pretty penny!), Tori was still obligated to complete her six-record contract. On her own now, Tori had only months to procure a chart topper for the execs.
Tori had a collection of songs she had been working on alone (unless the piano counts). Given the time constraint, she took this demo to the higher-ups who dismissed it out of hand. They were seeing Nirvana, Pearl Jam, and the like climb the charts and didn’t see the “girl and the piano thing” going anywhere anytime soon. They didn’t think their audience would “get it.” They turned down the album, but gave Tori some time to get another one together.
Tori requested the help of buddy and guitarist Steve Caton, boyfriend Eric Rosse, and other talented folk to help her rework the yet-to-be-named album. The product was the paradoxically heart-warming and heart-wrenching Little Earthquakes we all know and love today. Writing both from her heart and from experience, Tori tackled subjects such as religious oppression, the trials and tribulations of adolescence, fear of leaving home, sexual assault, the general messed-uped-ness of the world, and even death (in an albeit “fun” way on Happy Phantom). Atlantic was sold this time, and the album was picked up.
However, Atlantic was a bit concerned about releasing the album in the U.S. right away, the Americans being a bit more into the rock scene at the time. They decided to ship Tori off to the UK, expecting Brits to take a liking to her more readily. An elaborate club tour was initiated and East West (Atlantic’s European counterpart) promoted the heck out of Little Earthquakes.
In October of 1991, Tori released the “Me and a Gun” single complete with B-sides…critics loved it. As “Silent All There Years” was a more radio-friendly song, the single was re-released with it receiving top billing. The single did well (no surprise there!) and she entered the UK charts and began appearing on popular television talk shows.
By the time Little Earthquakes was released in the UK in January of 1992, Tori already had a cult following. The album did well on the charts, staying there for months and topping off at #14 . Her U.S success quickly followed, Little Earthquakes doing well on the charts, receiving quite a bit of airplay (especially the Silent All These Years Video on VH1), and receiving several Grammy and MTV award nominations. Tori also began supplying her fans early with B-sides which were included on EP versions of Silent, Me and a Gun, China, Winter, and Crucify.
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