Winter Marquee [Live]

Amazon.com
On her first live collection in nearly a decade and a half, Texas country-folk queen Nanci Griffith and her longtime band, the Blue Moon Orchestra, bring renewed middle-aged gravitas and introspection to original back-catalog Griffith favorites like "I Wish It Would Rain," "Listen to the Radio," and "There's a Light Beyond These Woods." Griffith brings similar grace and authority to songs by others--John Prine's "Speed of the Sound of Loneliness," Townes Van Zandt's "White Freight Liner," and Dylan's "Boots of Spanish Leather"--that she's nearly made her own over the years. On various cuts she gets able assists from musical compatriots Emmylou Harris, Tom Russell, and Andrew Hardin. Though the four new songs (make that eight new songs if you fall for the clever marketing snag and shell out the extra dough for the concert DVD) don't immediately resonate with quite the same vitality as the aforementioned oldies, they'll no doubt grow on Griffith fans in years to come. --Bob Allen

Tracks:

Speed Of The Sound Of Loneliness
I Wish It Would Rain
Boots Of Spanish Leather
Two For The Road
Listen To The Radio
There's A Light Beyond These Woods
Gulf Coast Highway
The Flyer
Good Night, New York
Traveling Through This Part Of You
Last Train Home
I'm Not Drivin' These Wheels
What's That I Hear
White Freight Liner

Amazon.com

On her first live collection in nearly a decade and a half, Texas country-folk queen Nanci Griffith and her longtime band, the Blue Moon Orchestra, bring renewed middle-aged gravitas and introspection to original back-catalog Griffith favorites like "I Wish It Would Rain," "Listen to the Radio," and "There's a Light Beyond These Woods." Griffith brings similar grace and authority to songs by others--John Prine's "Speed of the Sound of Loneliness," Townes Van Zandt's "White Freight Liner," and Dylan's "Boots of Spanish Leather"--that she's nearly made her own over the years. On various cuts she gets able assists from musical compatriots Emmylou Harris, Tom Russell, and Andrew Hardin. Though the four new songs (make that eight new songs if you fall for the clever marketing snag and shell out the extra dough for the concert DVD) don't immediately resonate with quite the same vitality as the aforementioned oldies, they'll no doubt grow on Griffith fans in years to come. --Bob Allen

Customer Reviews:

Better named... "the worst of Nanci Griffith"........2006-12-05

I purchased this DVD because I love the voice, the warmth, and the immense inner beauty of this woman... Nanci Griffith.

I was totally disappointed. The first 4 songs/performances were mediocre, at best. When it finally got to a song that felt real, it was overwhelmed by the background... Don't get me wrong, I love the slide steel (and other instruments) but they should compliment not compete with Nanci's superb voice.

Most of this DVD sounded over produced and just annoying. I'd like to say there is something/anything redeeming about this DVD but I couldn't find it.

If you're a Nanci Griffith lover... avoid this DVD.

She's still got it.......2003-12-28

After two disappointing albums from Nanci Griffith, "Winter Marquee" is a delightful surprise. Not to mention a definite improvement over her one other live album, "One Fair Summer Evening," which I give five stars for performance but one star for sound quality - that one always sounded to me like the final mix was phoned in. This time around, Griffith and friends are in fine form and it feels like you're in the audience.

Most of the songs are among her best-known ones, but Griffith is one of those performers who can make even old favorites sound fresh on stage. Classics like "I Wish It Would Rain" and "Listen To the Radio" are just as addictive here as the first time you heard them, and "Gulf Coast Highway" (never among my favorites from her catalog, but I know I'm outvoted on that one!) gets yet another righteous revival. "I'm Not Drivin' These Wheels" and "Traveling Through This Part of You" get my votes for this collection's biggest revelations; the studio versions of both were always a bit forgettable for me, but the performances here are irresistible.

The covers are also terrific. This performance of John Prine's "Speed of the Sound of Loneliness" tops both the original and Griffith's previous recording of it, but Julie Gold's "Good Night New York" really steals the show. Written years before 9/11 as a tribute to past generations of immigrants, it unavoidably has more than one meaning now. There is only one new original song featured here, "Last Train Home" (at least I think it's new), but it's a scorching Texas tale which features some of her all time best lyrics, guaranteed to make good use of your "repeat" button. Here's hoping she's written more songs like this one for the next album - and in the meantime, this one is a more than welcome addition to her collection.

Winter Marquee.......2003-10-23

This disc adds little new to Nanci Griffith's corpus. Chances are you've already heard most of these songs. But there's a certain spark in live folk and country that makes this CD eminently worth listening to.

Recorded (the liner notes don't say where) on the "Clock Without Hands" tour, this CD features both recent and older. It brings tunes like "Listen to the Radio" back into play, and it also allows her to try on the music of others. She covers classic songwriters like Phil Ochs and Bob Dylan, and current major names like John Prine and the late Townes Van Zandt.

Griffith is one of those gifted musicians, rare in this day of teen-pop and boy bands, who sounds as good live as in the studio. It's a joy to listen to her swing through the tracks, plainly loving making music as much as we love listening. She's backed by a skilled band who fill out her sound, and they really help her sound good.

This is the kind of CD you can stick in the player and listen to over and over again. I have, in fact, done so. I recommend you do the same.

Same old Nanci!.......2002-12-23

This album is well played, well sung and enjoyable. However there's nothing new on here that we haven't heard from Nanci before. There's no outstanding live versions of tracks we've heard before (The live version of love at the five and dime from "One Fair Summer Evening" fills out and expands the song from a short album filler to a titanic tale of love found lost and found again), and the new tracks don't tug at the heartstrings or linger long in the memory (although her previous studio album clearly showed that she can do that with (for me) "Armstrong" being one of the best songs she's ever sung.

I think one of the reasons may have been the dropping of the narrative between songs which were such a highlight of "One Fair Summer Evening" - talk to any Nanci fan about popcorn machines and you'll bring back the whole introduction with references to vanilla cokes and getting off the bus at South Austin. Buy the DVD instead! I'm going to

Same old lovable Nanci!.......2002-11-13

Nanci has always excelled in her live performances, connecting with each audience in a way that seems impossibly intimate, yet with a winsome self-affacement that bowls them over every time. Although recent albums -- both studio and live -- have slowly crept towards a by-rote professionalism, this concert album is a decisive return to form, showcasing all that is best about Griffith's live persona. Its acoustic roots run deep; the tinkling piano riffs are held in check, her vocals are impassioned and direct. After gliding through some of her best love songs, Griffith gets a little bogged down in earnest folkie political material -- maybe a song or two too many in that direction, but you do get that she's really sincere about this stuff. Anyone who's seen her live will be enchanted by this new album; it really conveys that certain something that sets Nanci above the crowd. Recommended!

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