NanciNet Digest 5-14-98
// The release date for the next album is proclaimed. Plus, concert
// reviews good and not so good. - MF
From: Rob Schrull (RSchrull@gbla.com)
Subject: Upcoming Book and Record
Hi Folks:
Just home in the "spring" hills and mountains of Vermont (God it smells
fresh and clean up here) for a brief moment and then looking forward to
some restful and treasured time on what must be one of the most secluded
and beautiful beaches in Hawaii. I have to admit that life has taken a
change in very positive ways, in many respects, save one or two, since this
past January.
Had a really nice and long visit by telephone with Hooker last night.
Personal stuff of friendship, but I wanted to let you all know that James
is doing some appearances with the Aces having just come back from abroad,
and there will be a few with Nanci. (don't ask me which ones....even James
is uncertain at this point) Now he didn't (and that is the God's honest
truth) ask me to say this, but you all need to go to his web site, pull off
the information about Sea Prayers, get the thing and give it a spin. Why do
I say that? Well, you might think because it's as 'good as it gets' and is
a wonderful CD, which is true...but really what just made me think of it,
was how really special this guy is. He's got a heart bigger then so many
folks I have met in life, and given that, I just thought I'd put in a plug
of support.
I noticed on the posting that there is uncertainty on the release date of
'Other Voices Too'. It is scheduled to be July 21st in both the US and
overseas. The companion book to the album does not yet have a firm release
date, but should be out in the US in September. It is a book co-written by
Joe Jackson, an Irish Journalist and is a 'documentary' style book
incorporating photos and interviews of the participants and songwriters
from both 'Other Voices' albums.
That's it for now. I'll keep you posted as I get more information provided.
Aloha! to all
Rob
_________________________________________________________________
From: PBPALMA@iris.rfmh.org
Subject: Lenox Review
It was wonderful to hear Nanci sing again and I always wish I
could capture the show on recording as, for some unknown reason, her CD's
just never seems to capture the sound as well. I brought my six year old with
me to the show and she loved it as well. I have to say she even impressed me
by knowing who the opening act was - we arrived a few minutes late and I
hadn't heard the introductions and I wasn't quite sure who it was. My
daughter then said to me "That's the guy with the bike!" (you might say we've
watched the _Other Voices, Other Rooms_ video a few times:-) ) Maybe I'm
raising _one_ of my kids right! I'm _sooo_ glad we were able to make the
show. As the reviewer stated, Nanci repeatedly talked of "passing the music
on...keeping the music alive" and her selection of songs was a wonderful
tribute. It seemed like the show was over so fast and yet she sang almost
two hours. Up to now my favorite Nanci concert has been seeing her at Jones
Beach with the Chieftens (ya all remember _that_ controversy!) But she outdid
herself yet again. I'm already in love with the Sandy Denny song and I'm not
sure I can wait till July for the release (I'd been focused on January '98
so I'm overdue for a fix) I see from the latest list of tour dates that I
may have the opportunity to see Nanci a couple more times this year too!
She's again going to Jones Beach and right here in my home town of Saratoga
Springs for the Newport Folk Fest!!!! The only sad part of her coming here
is that just recently Hattie of "Hattie's Chicken Shack" died. Nanci made
a point of going to Hattie's when she was here last to open for Hootie and
dedicated a song to her during the concert.
Hope ya all enjoy the review - I hope as Nanci tours folks will post
others as they appear. It's always wonderful to read of the stories she tells
and comments she makes during her concerts - especially since I'm hearing
impaired and don't always get all the details first hand even when I'm there!
It really seems unimaginable that Nanci thinks she will never make another
recording. With music so much of her life does she really think there isn't
another song waiting at her fingertips to be written? ....or maybe she just
won't stick her hand out the window anymore.
Happy listening....Pattie "Make a great day" Bott
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From: Susan Krauss (skrauss@hooked.net)
Subject: OV Too
So we know the songs on Other Voices, Too (A Trip Back to Bountiful), but
do we know who's singing with nanci on each track?
1. Wall of Death
2. Who Knows Where the Time Goes
3. You Were On My Mind
4. Walk Right Back
5. Canadian Whiskey
6. Desperados Waiting For A Train (I think Jerry Jeff's on this one with
some others)
7. Wings of a Dove
8. Dress of Lace
9. Summer Wages
10. He Was A Friend of Mine
11. Hard Times
12. Wasn't That A Mighty Storm
13. Deportee
14. Yarrington Town
15. I Still Miss Someone
16. Try The Love
17. Streets of Baltimore
18. Darcy Farrow
19. If I Had A Hammer
susan
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From: Andrew Layden (andrew.layden@strath.ac.uk)
Subject: Concert Reviews
Thanks for posting the Lenox Review.
It sounds like Nanci was in good form.
For balance, I thought I'd share some of my thoughts.
Some of you might regard this as heresy but I've kind of lost faith
in her ability as a live performer.
When I saw her last year, her voice was flat and low, bearing little
resemblance to her excellent performances on the albums.
Her set list was terrible too. OK, so I know she's sort of touring
to promote the current album, but performing TEN songs from it is
outrageous. Especially when she only performed about ten from
her remaining albums (even then, mostly just Flyer and OVOR).
I realise that she had less time due to the Crickets having their
own set, but she should have taken this into account.
Was this just an unusually bad concert?
Was anyone else at this concert (opening night at Glasgow, 1997)?
Should I even bother to go and see her again in November?
(I can't take another disappointment)
I'd love to see more reviews (good and bad) of her recent live performances
to help me make up my mind, and maybe restore my faith.
I know some of these comments may seem rather brutal, but I believe that
sometimes you have to be cruel to be kind. If this kind of criticism
is levelled at Nanci, then she might consider picking up her game a bit.
I feel the need to point out that I AM a fan of Nanci's, and that's
why I feel so strongly about this.
This "Moan of the Month" was brought to you by
Andrew Layden.
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From: "Hans Janssen" (hjanssen@mail.dotcom.fr)
Subject: Fw: OV Too
>A few singers:
>
>>13. Deportee
>
>I know from Tish Hinojosa that she sings this song with Nanci and Lucinda
>Williams.
>
>>19. If I Had A Hammer
>
>From the Pete Seeger tribute "Where have all the flowers gone" I have this:
>
>Vocals: Nanci, Lucy Kaplansky, Eric Weissberg, Rosalie Sorrels, Gillian
>Welch, Odetta, Richard Thompson, Glen Philips, Matthew Ryan, Ted Jones,
Jay
>Joyce, Jean Ritchie, Doug Lancio, Pat McInerney, Eric Taylor, Frank
>Christian, James Hooker & Jim Rooney (In order of appearence)
>
>Eric Weisberg: banjo
>Frank Christian: 12 string gt
>Nina Gerber: Ac gt
>Doug Lancio: Electronic resonator guitar
>James Hooker: piano
>Ron de la Vega: Bass
>Pat McInerney: Drums
>
>So two song are now known.
>
>met vriendelijke groeten,
>
>Hans Janssen.
_________________________________________________________________
From: prive@cdsnet.net
Subject: Review from Lenox
A friend of mine sent me a review from her local paper. It was written
by Greg Haymes, but I don't know which paper it was from. I don't want
to get in trouble, but I did want to share this:
See her in concert and it's almost impossible not to fall in love
with Nanci Griffith.
Physically, she deftly walks that delicate tightrope between cute
and quirky - imagine Ally McBeal and Annie Hall- with an almost beatific
glow on her face.
Intellectually, she's whip-smart, her narrative songs often reading
like the well-crafted tales of Eudora Welty, Carson McCullers and
Raymond Carver.
Musically, she has the voice of an angel...with a West Texas drawl.
You can imagine how the rest of the article went. When I read it to my
husband, he said the guy must be on the NanciNet! The article also
mentioned, "Griffith's honeyed voice had more room to breathe than when
surrounded by her larger regular band, the Blue Moon Orchestra."
Great observation.
Have a great day!
Molly P.
_________________________________________________________________
From: Susan Krauss (skrauss@hooked.net)
Subject: Re: Concert Reviews
At 09:17 AM 5/13/98 +0100, Andrew Layden wrote:
>Some of you might regard this as heresy but I've kind of lost faith
>in her ability as a live performer.
>When I saw her last year, her voice was flat and low, bearing little
>resemblance to her excellent performances on the albums.
I understand that during Nanci's UK tour last year she was sick for most of
it. She did a tv show here taped I think as soon as she got back from the
UK tour and I thought her voice was not in its best shape but when I saw
her live in the summer and the fall, everything was different. Her voice
was in fine shape and so were her spirits.
>Should I even bother to go and see her again in November?
>(I can't take another disappointment)
YES! I don't think you'll be disappointed.
susan
_________________________________________________________________
From: MreenParr (MreenParr@aol.com)
Subject: Nanci in concert
Hi Nancinetters,
In reply to Andrew's mail saying:
> I've kind of lost faith in her ability as a live performer.(
I agree with you, Andrew, that Nanci wasn't on good form during much of her UK
tour last year. As Susan said, it seems that she wasn't really well and
suffered with allergies etc, which obviously affected her voice. I heard her
in London and was terribly disappointed. It was the first time I'd seen her
live in concert (and then she went and announced her 'retirement' so I thought
I'd lost the chance to see a decent performance for ever!) Anyway, this
'retirement' is kind of a relative thing, it appears, so we *do* get another
opportunity, after all!
I'd say, take a chance and go see her again. I reckon (fingers crossed) that
we might be in for a real treat. Or am I just a hopeless optimist....?
Maureen Parr
_________________________________________________________________
From: Samantha Allen (sja2@ukc.ac.uk>
Subject: If I was the woman...
Hi Nancinetters,
I am in the middle of my finals at Kent uni in
Canterbury, England.For my drama project (the directorial concept of
Ibsen's "A Doll's House") I really want to incorporate Nanci's version
of the Lyle Lovett song "If I were the woman you wanted" to end the
play on a note of emancipation.Would anybody be as kind as to send me
the lyrics to the song? I would be really grateful.I spent all of
yesterday tring to find them on the web but I was told that I didn't
have access to the relevant site.
Thanks for your time,
Samantha Allen
_________________________________________________________________
From: jcq@ABPEDS.ORG
Subject: Good Nanci/Bad Nanci
I'm not sure what to think about all of this commotion regarding Nanci's
live performances of last year. Without having seen the European
performance(s) in question, it's hard to know how good/bad they were.
But I do have a few comments about my own experiences seeing her
perform.
I've seen Nanci live nine times since 1988. That number is probably a little
low compared to some of you. But in those nine times, she's never
disappointed me even once. And I've seen her in several different
configurations: solo (the first, and best, time), with a couple of guitar
players and a bass player, with small and large versions of the BMO,
with John Prine, and last year with the BMO and the Crickets. I really
enjoyed the show I saw last year in Greenville, SC, and it's probably not
even in my top five Nanci concerts. I got a real kick out of seeing her play
with the Crickets. And I thought her voice was in good shape. Not quite
as good as I'd heard her before, but close. I'd heard a bit about her
having been sick and that her voice was suffering from that, but she
seemed to be over it by the time of the Greenville show. And she was
obviously having a lot of fun the night I saw her.
I didn't get to see the Sessions at W. 54th until the rerun, and I did not
enjoy that too much. I believe this is the show that she recorded right
after returning from Europe. Her voice was in fairly bad shape on this,
and she looked bad, too. She seemed to be trying to smile too much,
maybe to ward off how tired she felt. The only song I really liked on the
whole thing was her duet with Richard Thompson on "Wall of Death."
She did seem to enjoy that. Anyway, I wish she had postponed this
show until she felt better. (Maybe she didn't have that option.) At any
rate, the ACL show she did later was far superior.
So, Andrew, I'd say your timing was bad, and you should definitely not
consider what you saw to be the norm. Maybe she should have
temporarily stopped the tour at that point so she could recuperate. But
she didn't, and I don't think it had anything to do with money. I think her
concern would've been to not disappoint the fans. Apparently she did
anyway because of some subpar performances, but it would've been
hard for her to come out a winner in that situation, as we've seen
before.
These are my thoughts, for what they're worth.
Jeff Qualls
Chapel Hill, NC
_________________________________________________________________
From: Susan Peete (suepeete@cruzio.com)
Subject: Telluride Town Park campground
Are there other NanciNuts out there going to the Telluride Bluegrass Festival
June 18-21?
If so, are there plans for a get-together?
Have any of you camped out in the Telluride Town Park campground adjacent to
the festival grounds? If so, what was it like? Like for example, Showers?
We are first-timers at this festival and looking forward to it. But we want
to be prepared.
Thank you for any info
Susan Peete
suepeete@cruzio.com
http://www.cruzio.com/~billpeet/
_________________________________________________________________
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