5
Masters degree in music, teaching for three
years at a junior college in Tyler, Texas,
and three years at the University of Wisconsin
at Eau Claire.
In 1971, Jennings made a leap into the unknown,
moving to Nashville to try his
hand as a professional songwriter. "I became a
songwriter because I couldn't make a
living as a teacher. It was something that I
had to do for self-preservation. I had to
give it a shot." Arriving in town with a tiny
bankroll, he began making the rounds of
local clubs, where he met fellow songwriter,
Troy Seals. They wrote together without
pay for a fledgling publishing company,
scraping by for several months until some of
their songs were recorded. The break came when
Dobie Gray ("Drift Away") recorded
several of Jennings' tunes on his Shift to
White album. Following that, Jennings' work
began to attract attention.
After signing with Almo Irving Music Publishing
in 1974 and moving to Los
Angeles, Jennings commuted between the West
Coast and Nashville for several years.
His first sound track writing was in the film
Casey's Shadow, but it was two more
years before he got another chance. While sound
track work eventually brought him
the greatest publicity, Jennings views it as
being a separate, but parallel, career to his
songwriting. Signed to Warner Chappell Music in
1981, his second film was An
Officer and A Gentleman, for which he co-wrote
the theme "Up Where We Belong,"
and won an Academy Award for Best Original
Song.
More film work followed, and in between,
Jennings wrote such hits as "Didn't We
Almost Have It All" (Whitney Houston); "Looks
Like We Made It" and "Somewhere
In The Night" (Barry Manilow); "Finer Things,"
"Higher Love," and "Roll With It"
(Steve Winwood); and "Tears in Heaven" (Eric
Clapton). He won a Golden Globe, an
Academy Award, and a Grammy Award for "My Heart
Will Go On" (Celine Dion),
the theme from the film Titanic. His songs
continue to provide the perfect mood
for film and television, including Moulin
Rouge!, A Beautiful Mind; How to Lose a
Guy in 10 Days; Yours, Mine and Ours; and
Freedom Writers.
JENNIFER KIMBALL, SONGWRITER
"I didn't really think I would be in the music
business. I thought I was going to be
an actress when I was in high school," says
Jennifer Kimball, who grew up all over the
world, wherever the Army stationed her father.
At the University of Alabama, Kimball
focused on a career as a college professor, but
in her senior year she met a budding
singer/songwriter named Tom Kimmel and her path
was changed forever. She
became a background singer for Tom and an
editor of his songs. Along the way they
fell in love--"that's how I got in the music
business." A year later they married and
moved to New England, "where we thought we'd
make our fame and fortune."
Notoriety and wealth eluded them and after a
year, they moved back to Alabama to
regroup. Tom had jobs at two different
factories while Jennifer worked in an office.
CASE STUDY:
User Comments Add a comment…