If you saw the film A Star Is Born (2018) starring Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper, then you definitely recall the memorable song, "Shallow." It was one of the highlights of the movie, which was actually the fourth cinematic iteration of Star.
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Maybe you wondered about the awards heaped upon the track. According to American Songwriter, it nabbed a pair of Grammys, plus Best Original Song honors from the Golden Globes and the Academy Awards. Many artists have successfully covered it, including Trisha Yearwood and Garth Brooks, Billy Porter, and Darren Criss and Lea Michele. You might not be aware of the key role Lukas Nelson played in the composition of "Shallow," so we will fill you in.
The Song Needed An Intro, So Enter Lukas Nelson
Per udiscovermusic.com, Nelson served as a music consultant to Star. "He also has numerous co-writing credits on its soundtrack, including 'Black Eyes,' written with Cooper; 'Music To My Eyes,' with Lady Gaga; and 'Alibi,' credited to all three."
In a YouTube interview, Nelson recounted the story of how "Shallow" got its famous intro. Lady Gaga told him that the tune needed one. So he said he played one for her on the spot, right in the recording studio's control room. "That was how that got born," Nelson recalled. "Didn't get a co-write, but I was proud to be a part of it and to have arranged that and to produce that song with my band. That's all of us live in there."
He added, "And they didn't change much when they put it in the film. I'm really grateful for it. Mark Ronson and those guys wrote a great song that I was happy to be a part of."
Nelson is so modest and humble and self-effacing! Everybody knows the intro to that song and he deserves a lot of credit for supplying it.
An Eric Clapton Track Was An Influence On Nelson As He Composed The "Shallow" Intro
According to udiscovermusic.com via Country Show on BBC Radio 2, "Nelson said that the introductory chords of Clapton's 1996 hit 'Change The World',,,were a key reference for 'Shallow.' Demonstrating on acoustic guitar, he noted: 'That lick that I wrote, that came from me listening to Clapton...."
Musicians never know where their influence lands, I guess. Can be with anyone, anyplace.
