So Damn Happy [Live]

Loudon Wainwright III | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 19, 2003)
• Original Release Date: 2002
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Live
• Label: Sanctuary Records
• ASIN: B0000AKCMI
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #20,093 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Funny, endearing, poignant, irascible and witty, May 21, 2004

By 

hyperbolium (Earth, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: So Damn Happy (Audio CD)

As impressive as Wainwright's work has been over the past 35 years, this live album shows that the burnish and perspective of age has only deepened the quality of his work. His songs, pose contrasts to brilliant dramatic and literary effect: humor against anger, a capella singing against spoken interjections, creating a rich catalog of emotion from which he draws. Add a devoted crowd and the effortless musical backing of long-time friends (and family), and you get a live album that perfectly frames Wainwright's mastery as a singer, songwriter and stage performer.

Wainwright's trademark humor is on full display, with his vision of Woody Allen's "Sleeper" future taken to the afterlife in "Heaven" ("There'll be lots of drinking in Heaven / Smoking, eating and sex / What you didn't do in this life bad for you / Will be totally cool in the next."). He pokes a sharp, ironic stick at file sharing ("Something for Nothing"), and revisits the tragedy of Tonya Harding ("Tonya's Twirls") in a song that, removed from its historical currency, is still surprisingly moving. Equally moving is the deeply sentimental autobiography of "The Picture," a lovely ode to his sister and their shared childhood.

Wainwright's masterful stage presence, and the fluidity with which he sings, plays and interacts with the audience is truly staggering. The product of many, many nights just like these (taped in 2002 at Largo in Los Angeles, and the Mystic Theater in Petaluma, CA), Wainwright is completely effortless in the limelight. His accompanists (Van Dyke Parks on piano, David Mansfield on violin) and guests (Richard Thompson on guitar, and Martha Wainwright on vocals) weave their way perfectly in to his colorful tapestry.

With a collection of his songs that stretches from the early 80s to the late 90s, this is a nice introduction to the last 20 years of Wainwright's writing and a singularly compelling look at his perfect showcase, the stage.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Wainwright Shares His Happiness, February 4, 2004

By 

Steve Vrana (Aurora, NE) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: So Damn Happy (Audio CD)

If anyone deserves a shot at happiness, it Loudon Wainwright III. Well into the fourth decade of his recording career, Wainwright continues to walk a tightrope between introspective singer/songwriter and court jester. It would stand to reason that on this (his third live album), he would not stray far from this path. He can at times be touching and poignant (the new song "Much Better Bets" or 1992's "The Picture") or he can go for the funny bone ("Tonya Twirls" and the hilarious new song "The Sh*t Song").

Of the twelve previously released songs, most were recorded since his last live album, 1992's HISTORY. The exceptions are "Westchester County" (from 1983's FAME AND WEALTH and also on HISTORY) and "The Home Stretch" with Richard Thompson guesting on guitar (from 1986's MORE LOVE SONGS).

In addition to Thompson, Van Dyke Parks provides piano on three tracks, and multi-instrumentalist and longtime sideman David Mansfield appears on about half the tracks.

There are three other new songs included here: "Something for Nothing," a song about file sharing (he seems to favor it), the funky "You Never Phone," performed with his daughter Martha, and the skewed look at the afterlife in "Heaven" where Wainwright declares "There will be lots of drinking...smoking and eating and sex." While I'm not going to plan on that, if Wainwright is there it certainly won't be boring. [Running Time - 60:11] RECOMMENDED

5.0 out of 5 stars The Maestro at work.... on stage, July 27, 2010

By 

Mr. P. S. Rapaport (Manchester, England) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: So Damn Happy (Audio CD)

"It's a curious world in which Bruce Springsteen is fêted like a messiah and Loudon Wainwright languishes virtually unknown". So said legendary British DJ John Peel in 1984. Absolutely right! It was true then and is even more so now, a full quarter of a century later [OK so he may no longer be "unknown" but he definitely doesn't receive anything like the recognition his work deserves].

Loudon Wainwright is quite simply the greatest American songwriter of the past 50 years with the (possible) exception, I suppose, of Dylan - although I'd gladly take on anybody in a debate about their respective credentials. Perhaps Loudon's subject matter is not as ambitious as Dylan's, mostly sticking as it does to his own experiences - family, career, demons, loves, hates, travels, trials and tribulations. But oh, those brilliant songs - there's just so many of them...

If you have yet to discover the wondrous back-catalogue of this master craftsman, then congratulations - you've just stumbled upon a musical goldmine and this CD is as good a place to start as any. Compared to Loudon's previous two live albums this set is superior to 'A Live One' and, in my view, at least the equal of 'Career Moves'. It was released in 2003 to a deafening silence of publicity and then quickly disappeared without trace. I found a dozen copies scandalously reduced to one pound at Fopp in Manchester a couple of years ago and, aghast at the sight, bought up them all to send to friends. There isn't a naff track here but highlights are the tear-jerking 'Picture', the acidic 'Tonya's Twirls', 'Cobwebs' (about my children and possibly yours too) and the irony-laden and, as always with LWIII, right-on-the-money 'Something For Nothing'. There's a lovely duet with Martha and an immaculate rendition of 'Primrose Hill' which even surpasses the original studio version. But perhaps the standout moment is the magnificent 'Home Stretch', featuring glorious guitar work by guest Richard Thompson. Every band/artist has their hard-life-on-the-road song (actually LWIII has three or four) but did anybody ever sum it up quite as profoundly as the maestro does here?

Wonderful songs. Sublime performances. A brilliant CD.