abstract
| - %22Poetry Man%22 is a song by the American singer-songwriter Phoebe Snow. The song was written by Snow, produced by Dino Airali, and first appeared on her 1974 self-titled debut album. Released as a single in late 1974, %22Poetry Man%22 became Snow's first charting hit, rising to number five on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in April 1975 and number four in the Canadian RPM Magazine charts. The previous month, the song reached number one on the Billboard easy listening (adult contemporary) chart, where it remained for one week. The success of %22Poetry Man%22 helped Snow achieve a Grammy nomination for Best New Artist in 1975, an award that was won that year by composer Marvin Hamlisch.Snow has stated that the production on the song was more jazz-oriented than the eclectic, acoustic guitar-based music she has often performed throughout her career, saying that she %22never intended to be a jazz artist. That takes a heavy amount of background.%22 The saxophone part on the recording is played by Zoot Sims.On American Top 40 in September 1980, Casey Kasem claimed that Phoebe Snow said that the song is about Jackson Browne. This later was dispelled by Snow as a rumor that had arisen only because Browne was the first musician she had toured with after release of the song.
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