Lifeline Extended [Original recording remastered, Live]

Holly Near, Ronnie Gilbert | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 24, 2002)
• Number of Discs: 2
• Format: Original recording remastered, Live
• Label: Appleseed Records
• ASIN: B00006GOEP
• Also Available in: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #85,749 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. Harriet Tubman

2. Si Me Quieres Escribir (If You Want to Write to Me)

3. Pastures of Plenty

4. Beloved Comrade

5. Two Good Arms

6. Biko

7. Isabel

8. Started Out Fine

9. The Right Time

10. No More Genocide

See all 13 tracks on this disc

Disc: 2

1. Greetings (spoken)

2. Women's Medley

3. I Cried

4. Activity Room

5. Perfect Night

6. Lucky to Be Men

7. Stormy Medley

8. Army Song / Chairman of the Board

9. Family Promise

10. Singing for Our Lives

See all 11 tracks on this disc

Editorial Reviews

Rambles, April 12, 2003

"This is top value and is a sort of catalogue of great songs from the middle of the last century."

Product Description

When Holly Near and Ronnie Gilbert united for a series of concerts at San Francisco’s Great American Music Hall in 1983, it was an historic intersection between two generations of fearless topical folksingers and songwriters. The collaboration between Gilbert (a former member of The Weavers) and Near (a peace activist and feminist music pioneer) sent a wave of excitement through the folk/peace/feminist circles in the US. These women voiced the work, faith, humor and complexities of the social change movement afoot.

The weekend of shows was recorded and distilled into "Lifeline," which subsequently became one of Near’s best-selling records and a milestone in contemporary folk and women’s music. Reissued by Appleseed and retitled "Lifeline Extended," the original 16 songs on "Lifeline" expand into a remastered 2-CD set – 23 songs plus the inclusion of some wonderful onstage banter. The material, carefully retrieved from the deteriorating master tapes, includes Weavers’ standards like "Goodnight Irene" and "Pastures of Plenty" as well as Near originals that have become anthems for the left, such as "No More Genocide" and "Singing for Our Lives." Near and Gilbert also honor other political songwriters, performing "Biko" by Sweet Honey in the Rock founder Dr. Bernice Johnson Reagon; "Two Good Arms," Charlie King’s song about the martyred Sacco and Vanzetti, "Kid’s Song" by Ferron, and more. In keeping with their mutual theatrical roots, Holly and Ronnie break out of any traditional definition of folk music by including a surprising and delightful array of show tunes and pop standards, including "Stormy Weather," "Come Rain or Come Shine" and "Lucky to Be Me." Ronnie performs a brilliant character piece entitled "Chairman of the Board," which, coupled with Holly’s haunting version of Brecht/Weill’s "Army Song" from "The Three Penny Opera," leaves the audience in a chilled, breathless silence.

See all Editorial Reviews

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great performance, a great recording and a great reissue., November 30, 2002

By 

Daniel P. Smith "Daniel P. B. Smith" (Massachusetts, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Lifeline Extended (Audio CD)

If you think you might have the REMOTEST interest in Holly Near, Ronnie Gilbert, The Weavers, or this kind of folk music, you will love this recording.

My cherished copy of this on LP hasn't been available for years. This 2-CD set improves on the LP in every way.

What I can't get over, listening to this music again, is what a really, REALLY exceptional performance it is. When Pete Seeger and Arlo Guthrie sing "together" (to take another intergenerational pair) I always have the felt that the collaboration is casual and perhaps not very intensively rehearsed.

But when Holly Near and Ronnie Gilbert sing, I hear two very accomplished singers with two strong voices, completely different in sound, yet blending perfectly... just singing their hearts out, holding nothing back, and perfectly _in tune_ both musically and emotionally.

The live recording captures the excitement and involvement of the moment, and the intense, sincere cheering and applauding of the mostly-female audience.

Wow.

The original LP, which hasn't been available for years, contained a total of 15 tracks running 53 minutes. This 2 CD-set contains of 23 tracks and 88 minutes of music. The CD includes nine tracks which did not appear on the LP, every one a worthy addition: "Starting Out Fine," "The Right Time," "Kid's Song," "Women's Medley," "I Cried," "Lucky To Be Me," "Army Song/Chairman of the Board," "Family Promise," and "Singing With You." One song on the LP, "Gracias A La Vida", is omitted from the CD.

It is especially good to have Ronnie Gilbert's "Army Song." The song is from Brecht and Weill's _The Threepenny Opera_ but the track is actually a short theatrical monologue which, as I write this, seems regrettably apropos.

I played this for the first time on my car player, and track 5, "Two Good Arms," happened to be playing just as I passed the dome of the courthouse in Dedham where Sacco and Vanzetti received their unfair trail. Perhaps I unconsciously knew this when I put the CD in, but I'll take my synchronicity where I can find it: it was very moving.

"Hay Una Mujer Desaparecida" sent shivers down my spine. "Harriet Tubman" made me want to stand up and cheer. "The Activity Room" is just plain _nice_.

I am glad the lifeline of this recording has been extended, and I wish a happy and "extended lifeline" to Holly Near, Ronnie Gilbert, and everyone who captured this wonderful moment, first in vinyl and now in polycarbonate.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Astonishing, March 22, 2004

By 

Karlis Streips (Riga, Latvia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Lifeline Extended (Audio CD)

When Holly Near came together with Ronnie Gilbert for the concert that became "Lifeline", the two of them produced an album of nearly unparalleled strength and power. It may be an album of anthems for the left, as the Amazon review says, but I think it's more of an album of anthems for the heart. "Singing for Our Lives" is in particular a song about HIV/AIDS, which at the time of the recording was ignored by the Alzheimer's-riddled mind of Ronald Reagan, and there has never been a more powerful song: "We are a gentle, angry people, and we are singing, singing for our lives." I am so glad to see that the album has been re-released on CD, 'cause I've worn my tape out. Holly Near is the high priestess of lesbian music, and Ronnie Gilbert is a legend. What more could anyone ask for?

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Absolute Treasure..., April 26, 2005

By 

Diane S. Gross (Keystone Heights FL) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Lifeline Extended (Audio CD)

Like one of the other reviewers who commented on this album, I had nearly worn out my cassette tapes of these songs. I was thrilled to see they had been re-released on CD and especially happy that additional material was included in the new release. I purchased a video documentary several years ago called "Wasn't That a Time". It was about the Weavers (a folk group with which Ronnie Gilbert sang in the fifties) and their journey through the McCarthy era and beyond blacklisting. That documentary chronicled, I believe, the first duet that Ronnie Gilbert and Holly Near sang - and the chemistry they demonstrated as they sang on camera is guaranteed to raise goosebumps in even the most jaded viewer. Since then, Gilbert and Near have proven to be mesmerizing, funny, and absolutely in synch in their performances. Don't pass this album by - you won't be sorry you purchased it!