Rough Town
Recording Artist: Johnny Hallyday
Writers: Jim Vallance
Bryan Adams
Date Written: December 1988 / Vancouver, Canada
Albums: Rough Town (Philips, 1994)
Munich City Nights, Volume 54
Johnny Hallyday a la Cigale - Live 1994 (Mercury France, 2004)
Audio:
 
Johnny Hallyday: vocal
Colin James: lead guitar
Robin Mesurier: electric rhythm and acoustic guitar
Chuck Leavell: organ
Bill Payne: piano
James Hutchinson: bass
Richard Hayward: drums
Sam Clayton: percussion
Ian Wikson: backing vocal
 
Produced by Chris Kimsey. Recorded by Steve Holroyd at Ocean Way Studios, Los Angeles, California.  Mixed by Chris Kimsey at Metropolis Studios, London.
Comments:
When Johnny Hallyday first appeared on the scene in the 1950's he was hailed as "France's answer to Elvis". He remains one of Europe's biggest stars to this day.

"Rough Town" would have been perfect for Paul Rogers, Lou Gramm or Roger Daltrey -- singers with an innate sense of phrasing who play the English language like an instrument.  For that matter, Bryan Adams sang a superb vocal on the home-studio demo that we sent to Hallyday.

Johnny's band does a great job of replicating -- and even improving upon -- our demo track., but Johnny's vocal performance fails to capture the swagger and attitude the song demands.

Even worse is the "live" performance recorded at "la Cigale" in Paris in 1994 (released in 2004).  Again, the band is outstanding, but Johnny's vocal is, at best, an impressionistic doodle.
Lyrics:

Hot night in the city streets
Old papers blowin' 'round my feet
Some dude's got his eye on you
Better walk quickly down the avenue
Somewhere somebody's baby cries
A new heart beats as another one dies

It ain't easy but you live and learn
If you don't get what you want
You might get what you deserve

It's a rough town
You give it all just to live in fear
No refuge no place to run

Talkin' 'bout a rough town
Gotta find a way to get outta here
Ain't no way around it
It's a rough town

Cold dawn comes with the break of day
Morning sky turns gun metal gray
From an upstairs window there's a woman scream
A nightmare vision from some junkie's dream
An angry fist beatin' on an old steel door
Tell me why you here
Hey, what you lookin' for?

It ain't easy but it ain't for long
This place is crazy
Tell me, hey, where did things go wrong?

It's a rough town
Middle of the night and the street's alive
It's a gamble it's a chance you take

Talkin' 'bout a rough town
Gonna turn your world inside out
Call it what you want
But it's a rough town

2 a.m. I can't get to sleep
I bin lyin' here on these sweat-stained sheets
Beneath my window the city crawls
It's a rat race outside these walls, Yeah!

It's a rough town
You give it all just to live in fear
No refuge no place to run

Talk about a rough town
Gotta find a way to get outta here
Ain't no way around it
It's a rough town

It's a rough town
Middle of the night and the street's alive
It's a gamble it's a chance you take

Talkin' 'bout a rough town
Gonna turn your world inside out
Call it what you want
But it's a rough town