I'M A
TRAINED PROFESSIONAL....
(February 1, 1964 – August 11, 2011)
Cherry Pie
is the second
studio album
by American
Glam Metal Band
released in 1990.
The album is the band's
best-known
and
highest-selling release
and peaked at
number 7
on the
Billboard 200.
The album featured
the top 40 hits
"Cherry Pie"
and
"I Saw Red".
Production and marketing
Cherry Pie was
released in 1990
through
Columbia Records.
Like its predecessor,
Dirty Rotten Filthy Stinking Rich,
it was recorded at
The Enterprise in
Burbank, California.
It is rumored that
Erik Turner
and
Joey Allen
did not play
on the album
and that all guitar work
had been performed by
ex-Streets guitarist
and session musician
Mike Slamer.
The rumor has
never been verified,
although Slamer's wife
confirmed in 1998
that her husband
played guitar
on the record.
The album's liner notes
refer to Turner's
function as
"G-string"
and Allen's as
"Bong Riffs",
adding that
"Erik & Joey would
like to thank
Mike Slamer & Tommy Girvin
for their
Wielding G string Inspirations".
Producer
Beau Hill
stated in a
2012 interview
that Slamer
did in fact play
on the album.
Beau had said to
the band that the
"songs are really great,
but I think we're a
little weak in the
solo department
and so I like to
bring somebody in".
Beau also stated that
"everybody in the band
signed off on it
and everything was
done above ground".
Slamer was joined by
numerous other
guest performers;
the record also features
contributions from
Jani Lane's brother
Erik Oswald,
guitarist
C. C. DeVille
from Poison,
guitarist and bassist
Bruno Ravel
and drummer
Steve West
from
Danger Danger,
and singer
Fiona.
The album carried a
parental advisory sticker
in the United States,
due to the final track,
"Ode to Tipper Gore",
which consisted of a
collection of swear words
cut from the band's
live performances.
A "clean" version
of the album
also existed,
with the final track removed,
and an audible
"bleep"
of a curse
in a previous song,
"Train, Train",
which featured the line
"All a-fucking-board"
at the beginning
of the
uncensored version.
Canadian
cable-TV music network
MuchMusic
refused to air the
"Cherry Pie"
video on the grounds
that it was
"offensively sexist".
Songs
The album's lead single,
"Cherry Pie",
was dedicated to
the president of
Sony Music Entertainment
US Don Ienner.
The dedication was no doubt
inspired by the
record company pressure
which led to the
track's creation.
The record was completed
without the song,
but Warrant's label
requested that a new rock
"anthem"
be added in order
to enhance its marketability.
Vocalist
Lane responded by writing
"Cherry Pie"
in 15 minutes.
Bassist
Jerry Dixon
and guitarist Allen,
who believed the album
was complete
and were playing
in a charity
golf tournament
in Denver,
were called back to
Los Angeles
to complete the track.
The single comprises
a string of metaphorical references
to sex
and bears some
melodic resemblance to
Def Leppard's
"Pour Some Sugar on Me",
and
The Arrows'
"I Love Rock 'n' Roll".
The guitar solo
was performed by
Poison's guitarist
C. C. DeVille.
At the end of the solo,
a vocal aside says
"I'm a trained professional".
"Cherry Pie"
became a Top Ten hit
on the Billboard
Hot 100,
reaching number 10
and also reached
number 19
on the
Mainstream Rock Tracks.
The song has been cited by
many as a
"rock anthem".
In 2009,
it was named the
56th best
hard rock song
of all time by
VH1.
The video for
"Cherry Pie"
received heavy airplay
on MTV
and other music
video stations.
It featured
the members of
Warrant
and a scantily
clad woman
(model Bobbie Brown)
who is seen dancing
throughout the video
while the band members
perform and make
tongue-in-cheek
references to the
song's lyrics
for example,
when the above-quoted line
referencing baseball is sung,
Brown appears in a
form-fitting baseball uniform,
complete with a bat,
all against a
white background.
Brown became involved
with Lane
soon after
the video was shot,
and married him in 1991.
The record's second single was
"I Saw Red",
a power ballad inspired
by a true story
of betrayal.
It was written after
Lane had walked in
on his girlfriend
in bed with his best friend,
resulting in his
nervous breakdown
and the delayed release
of the band's first record
Dirty Rotten Filthy Stinking Rich.
The song was one
of Warrant's
most successful singles,
reaching number 10
on the Billboard Hot 100,
number 14
on the Mainstream
Rock Tracks chart
and #36
on the Australian
charts and
spawning two
music videos.
Prior to the writing
of the song
"Cherry Pie",
the album's title
and first single
was to have been
"Uncle Tom's Cabin",
a track which
foreshadowed the kind of
imaginative songwriting
which would later be
more fully revealed on
the Dog Eat Dog record.
Although named after
the classic novel
by Harriet Beecher Stowe,
the song tells the story
of a witness to the
involvement of
local police
in a double murder
and appeared to have
nothing to do
with slavery,
racism,
or the Deep South
(although the video
for the song was set
in Louisiana).
It was eventually released
as the third single
(removing the solo acoustic guitar intro)
and charted at number 78
on the
Billboard Hot 100
and number 19
on the Mainstream
Rock Tracks chart.
"Blind Faith"
was released as
the fourth single
from album.
The song charted at
number 88
on the
Billboard Hot 100
and number 39
on the
Mainstream
Rock Tracks chart
and also
featured a
music video.
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