Carly Simon: Anthology (CD1) CD Track Listing

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Carly Simon Anthology (CD1) (2002)
2002 Elektra Entertainment Group / Rhino\n\nOriginally Released November 5, 2002\n\nAMG EXPERT REVIEW: For Carly Simon fans looking for something a little more extensive than a single-disc greatest-hits collection, but not something so large and expensive as her Clouds in My Coffee 1966-1996 box set, Anthology is a good deal. The two CDs include 40 songs from 1971 to 2000, among them nearly two dozen chart hits (though some of the later ones only made the adult contemporary charts). For the more cold-blooded fan who wants to zero in on her best and most popular work, there might well be more than she or he wants to hear, particularly on disc two, devoted entirely to post-1980 material, which reflects her move from tenuously folk-rock-related singer/songwriting to blander adult contemporary music. For those who see her early work as her best, The Best of Carly Simon remains about all you need; for those who appreciate her whole career, the lengthier single-disc anthology The Very Best of Carly Simon: Nobody Does It Better will likewise suffice. There's not much in rarities on Anthology either -- nothing from her pre-Elektra recordings as part of the Simon Sisters, and nothing previously unreleased, though 1995's "Touched By the Sun" was only on the Live at Grand Central video, and four tracks are taken not from Simon albums but from film soundtracks (including, of course, her massive 1977 hit, "Nobody Does It Better"). All of this might be too much carping. This does, after all, gather material from more than half a dozen labels, presented respectfully with a 40-page booklet, though the liner notes are much heavier on fawning affection than historical details. -- Richie Unterberger\n\nAmazon.com Editorial Review\nInevitably described as leggy or toothy, Carly Simon emerged in the early '70s as a kind of finishing-school sex symbol. She's the daughter of publisher Richard Simon, as in Simon and Schuster, and her very personal early songs were informed with a familiarity and uneasiness with the trappings of wealth and prominence. The finely detailed "That's the Way I've Always Heard It Should Be" best captures the young Simon. At a time when her counterculture peers were singing about buildings going up in flames, 26-year-old Carly focused on the glow from her brooding father's cigarette as she slipped by his study. "That's the Way" was the first of a string of top-10 hits Simon produced through the '70s and into the '80s. Anthology includes the lot of them--from "Anticipation" through "You're So Vain" past "Let the River Run" (better known as the theme from Working Girl). Far surpassing the 10-song Elektra retrospective, The Best of Carly Simon, this two-disc, 40-song collection spans three decades in the career of an artist who clearly believes that confession is good for the soul. --Steven Stolder \n\nAmazon.com Customer Review\nIt's the superior sound quality, February 7, 2003 \nReviewer: jake_iw \nCarly Simon's two disc Anthology contains forty songs -- and all but one was previously available on compact disc (the new track is the live recording of "Touched by the Sun"). So you own Warner Brothers' The Best of Carly Simon Volume I (single disc), you own Arista's three disc boxed set Clouds In My Coffee and you own Arista's Greatest Hits Live (single disc) -- what do you need this one for?\n\nIt's an appropriate question. Even more so if you're also someone who owns all of Simon's studio albums. Why buy Anthology for any reason other than to keep the collection complete? Especially at this price?\n\nThere is a wonderful essay in the booklet that comes with the Anthology. There are some interesting photos. And?\n\nFor me, the deciding factor was all the talk of the superior sound quality. The reviewers are not mistaken, there is a world of difference in the sound quality of the previous versions (whether they're songs from the seventies, eighties or nineties). I don't think it's just an issue of remastering. I think a number of songs have been remixed to bring tracks that were previously buried in the mix more to the foreground. \n\nThis isn't a make it or break it test for Carly fans. Having this album doesn't make you a better fan and not having doesn't make you a worse one. But having it does give you a new perspective on recordings you previously felt you had heard.\n\nAre there any complaints to be made? Sure. It would be easy to point out that the B-side to "Give Me All Night," a wonderful song called "Sleight of Hand," is still not available on disc.\nDespite a boxed set and now a two disc anthology, the only way to hear this song remains vinyl. Want to hear her song to the mini-series Sins? Well you'll still have try to find it on an import CD. Don't believe import's even an option for her song from the film Torchlight. And in my group of Carly Simon listeners, we're all agreed that "Touched by the Sun" was not the song performed at Grand Central that needed to find it's way onto compact disc. (The majority weighs in on her radical reworking of "We Have No Secrets.")\n\nThat's song selection. And it's certainly valid to comment on what this could have been. But let's deal with what it is: a Simon album you need to hear with your own ears. As with her other release this year, Christmas is Almost Here, in my circle many were surprised to hear the actual CDs having heard samples online. The online samples do not begin to demonstrate the superior sound quality to this collection.\n\nTime's are tough and album prices continue to rise. So if the cost seems too high to go into blindly for what may be thirty-nine songs you already have (plus one new live track), try to find someone who has Anthology already. Listen to it and I'm willing to bet you'll decide quickly that this anthology is worth the cost. \n\nAmazon.com Customer Review\nAt long last, a Carly anthology that does her justice, January 12, 2003 \nReviewer: A music fan from Singapore \nJoni Mitchell, James Taylor, Carole King are some of the great 70s singer/songwriter artistes often associated with, if not mentioned in the same breath, as Carly Simon. Yet listening to this definitive and career spanning anthology of Carly's quickly dispels the myth that she was a peer of and working in the same folk/rock genre as these aforementioned artistes. Except for very early Carly - pre-"No Secret" - there is very little that is folksy about Carly. Her sensitivities are decidedly and unashamedly pop, as is abundantly evident in the contents of this anthology. Her music, then and now, is always upfront, superslick, and impeccably produced. Her singing voice is strong and clear, with hardly a trace of vibrato or the interpretive nuance that is the hallmark of a pop stylist. Her lyrics - she writes her own songs - are never overtly poetic or obscure. They're prose so straightforward you can almost speak them. That makes Carly difficult to categorise....distinctive, unique.\n\n"Anthology" is comprehensive in covering all the many phases of Carly's long career, from her folksy beginnings to her latter day metamorphosis into jazz and pop standard chanteuse. Yet Rhino is smart enough to realise that Carly's best and most enduring work hailed from the 70s, so wisely dedicated most of CD1 to recalling her classic songs from this era. "That's The Way I've Always Heard It Should Be", "Legend In Your Own Time" and Carly's anthem "You're So Vain", are all career highlights and timeless songs. The sonic quality of these remastered tracks is so stunning listening to them today still gives me goosebumps. CD1 is close to flawless. You could argue that "No Secrets" should have been better represented....but then again which Carly fan doesn't already own the album ? More pertinently, what happened to "It Keeps You Running", a modest sized American hit for Carly which was conspicuously missing from the "Clouds In My Coffee" boxset and yet again here ? Carly (or somebody) must really hate the song. Other highlights for me on CD1 are "Attitude Dancing", "Waterfall", "Nobody Does It Better", "You Belong To Me" and "Vengeance". The James Taylor duets ("Mockingbird" and "Devoted To You") are pedestrian. So is the wobbly "One More Time" whose inclusion is puzzling.\n\nCD2 is more unfamiliar and needs a couple of spins to hit home for early Carly fans like me....but all in all, it's a pretty strong set. The blazingly beautiful "Coming Around Again" and "Let The River Flow" - both movie soundtrack songs - are the two hits from the 80s/90s era that anchor CD2. "Why", the European disco hit and "Coming Back Home" are also great. Other highlights culled from albums and soundtracks include "Not A Day Goes By", "Orpheus", "Better Not Tell Her", "My Romance", "Like A River", "Love Of My Life", "Two Little Sisters" and the Jimmy Webb-produced "Film Noir". Surprisingly, the weakest songs on CD2 are from her mid-career smash album "Coming Around Again". "Give Me All Night" is pop hack material of the worst kind. Sadly, the two cuts from her latest studio album "The Bedroom Tapes" are also unimpressive and oddly unmoving. Luckily, CD2 and the anthology closes on a high with a powerful live recording of "Touched By The Sun".\n\nCarly Simon's "Anthology" is the long awaited career retrospective that fans have been waiting for. For far too long, we had only the "Best Of, Volume 1" which cuts off at "Attitude Dancing" and omits her later stuff. The 90s UK-import is expensive and frustratingly less than comprehensive. The "Clouds In My Coffee" boxset is again strangely patchy, includes indulgent choices and for Carly nuts only. "Anthology" is a great product, featuring great songs remastered to scintillating effect and beautifully packaged. The liner notes are a little too obscure, personal and eccentric for my liking but then.. to each his own. \n\nAmazon.com Customer Review\nNobody Does It Better!, December 6, 2002 \nReviewer: Mike Vegas King from Taunton, MA United States \nLeave it to Rhino Records to release the definitive Carly Simon collection. The 1995 Carly Simon boxed set inexplicably left off several hit songs, and did not present the songs in chronological order. Including previously unreleased songs and obscure album tracks, the boxed set's appeal was geared more towards the hard core collector. This compilation wisely includes all of Carly Simon's top 40 hits, as well as many familiar album tracks, presented in chronological order. The sound quality is superb, the packaging is great, the liner notes are entertaining as well as informative, and the photos are exquisite.\n\n"That's The Way I've Always Heard It Should Be" was Carly's breakthrough hit and the obvious choice to lead off the first disc. Its matter of fact reasoning for getting married is just as relevant today as when it was first released. Mick Jagger's background vocals on the #1 hit "You're So Vain" never sounded so strikingly clear. The confessional "We Have No Secrets" hints that honesty may not always be the best policy. Carly's growling vocals on "Vengeance" proved that she could rock out with the best of them. "Come Upstairs" sounds as playful as it does seductive, and is one of my favorite songs. "My Romance" is a beautiful rendition of the classic Rogers and Hart song. The liner notes boast that "Let The River Run" is perhaps the best song ever written for a movie. While that statement is subject to debate, there is no question that all of Carly Simon's best songs to date are included in this anthology. \n\nHalf.com Album Notes\nPersonnel includes: Carly Simon (vocals, acoustic guitar, whistle, piano, electric piano, synthesizer, percussion, programming); James Taylor (vocals, acoustic guitar); Jimmy Ryan (acoustic guitar, electric bass); Mike Egan, Paul Keough (acoustic guitar); Eric Gale, Lee Ritenour, Robbie Robertson (electric guitar); Nile Rodgers (guitar); Jeff Baxter (steel guitar); Eric Bazilian (mandolin); David Sanborn (alto saxophone); Michael Brecker (tenor saxophone); Randy Brecker (trumpet); Michael MacDonald (electric piano); Dr. John (piano, organ); Richard Tee (electric piano, Clavinet); Robert Sabino (keyboards); Will Lee (bass, background vocals); Bernard Edwards, Doug Wimbish (bass); Steve Gadd (drums); Roberta Flack, Carole King (background vocals).\n\nProducers include: Eddie Kramer, Richard Perry, Arif Marden, Mike Manieri, Nile Rodgers.\n\nCompilation producers: Carly Simon, David McLees, Gary Peterson.\n\nRecorded between 1971 & 2000. \n\nIncludes liner notes by Jack Mauro.\n\nAll tracks have been digitally remastered. YEAR: 2002
This rock cd contains 21 tracks and runs 78min 18sec.
Freedb: 3b125815
Buy: from Amazon.com

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