Customer Reviews

Live At Last

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a real good CD! You need to hear this. The live quality is excellent. This is the reunion concert of the first band to perform at the original Woodstock. They had the potential to impact and change the direction of music in their day. The tragedy that struck this band with Nanci's car accident not only affected her and the band but we all lost out too. When you listen to this CD it's hard to believe this band just got together again after 30 years of being apart and out of music. They can still ROCK with the best of them and do. They were ahead of their time in many ways. If you want to learn more about what happened to end their rise to fame before their time see the video "Sweetwater a True Rock Story". ...If you are a fan of Sweetwater, Woodstock, the 60s and early 70s; if you are music history buff or just want to experience some darn good, new to you, but still Classic Rock, check out this CD. It is really cool. Enjoy!!!

This of is from an amazing group, the first to perform at Woodstock, a group share bills w/ the major stars of the day, and a group that suffered incredible hardships.They have grown into an amazing talent, w/ more energy,music ability, and strength. This album caught Nancy Nevins, and Sweetwater at their very best, performing old favorites such as "My Crystal Spider", and Just For You. This is a must have for Sweetwater fans!

These folks are oh so good! There are 3 or 4 cuts from their original [2] LP's where they out-airplaned the Airplane, and did it with a more jazzy flair. Seriously, Nansi/Nancy Nevins easily outsang Grace, in the same style, but with more chops and more heat/warmth. On other tunes [or introductions], they have this almost Renaissance style on certain a capella passages, with great harmony and counterpoint (and never bland, as sometimes happened when the Stone Poneys tried the same sort of thing). Many of their songs were outstanding compositions with terrific arrangements; the performances from everyone are matchless and gutsy. Whether joy, humor, sadness or other emotions colour a given song, they seem to nail it.

They were multi-ethnic, and had a conga player, a flute player, plus a cello player who did a long solo on "My Crystal Spider" that sounds more like Hendrix than most guitar players who have had a go at imitating Jimi.

But their signature sound was really nothing without Nevins' voice. Besides having tons of technique, she was masterful at every tonal nuance of each kind of song she sang, whether using volume swells, biting off words in staccato fashion, or softly breathing a quiet, more soulful ballad. She also commanded great dynamics, being able to go from loud to quiet without any hint of her voice breaking . . . one might think of her as rock's equivalent of Joan Baez.

The original Sweetwater stood out as a rock-fusion band without a guitarist, the only one of their era. This reunion gig has taken on a guitarist with a heavy, dominating sound, so it doesn't really sound like Sweetwater. Nancy Nevins's new, post car-crash voice isn't really suited for all of the old Sweetwater stuff, and especially not for shouting over a heavy fuzz guitar, but she does manage a few moments of magic, especially on the new-material "Heroes and Ladies."

Nancy's accident was tragic. The best music from the band was the pre-Woodstock recordings. There is enough good stuff on this album, though, to make it worth several listens.

Sweetwater is even better now than when they opened the historical Woodstock Festival. Images and words drift across my mind as I listen to "Live at Last." I'm sent images of sadness, of joy, of longing. Nancy Nevins has too much soul to be white. Like Billie, Nancy sings from vast and probably painful experience with a voice much richer now than in earlier recordings; it has an ache to it, a longing that touches the listener, yet it's not without joyous hope for whatever's coming. "Rock Me," the 3rd cut, isn't something you can just sit and listen to without introspection. Hat's off to Sweetwater, then and especially now.