Customer Reviews

Live at Carnegie Hall

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

 

 

Dory Previn is very up-front about her personal problems -- and she had some to be up-front about. But she makes lovely sad (and funny -- often both at once) and scary music out of them.

This album, culling songs from her several previous albums and setting them in a live-performance milieu with a full band, is a compelling document of her style, her presence and her music.

"Mythical Kings and Iguanas" and "The Lady with the Braid" are meditations on wanting what you have not and on denying that you need what you have. "Kings" is wistful, regretful and confessional. "Lady" is scary and so very sad, as the lady asks "Would you care to stay all night and save my life?"

"Mary C Brown & the Hollywood Sign" (allegedly inspired by a real-life suicide in which an unsuccessful starlet hanged herself from the sign) is about giving up/in, and beyond that a meditation on the glitter of show-biz and the way Hollywood represents and reflects the zeitgeist of America.

"Twenty Mile Zone" is a sardonic account of the time she was arrested for driving peacefully along and screaming as loudly as she could in her car. Funny and disturbing.

Other outstanding songs include "Angels & Devils the Following Day"; a meditation on what makes a good relationship, "Left Hand Lost"; about being born left-handed and made to change to be "normal" (as a natural left-hander who wasn't forced to change, this song is scary to me) and "Moon Rock", a peppy upbeat look at a lot of things only marginally related to its ostensible subject.

This is the Dory Previn album to buy to introduce yourself to her music.

In my personal universe (and welcome to it), Dory Previn reigns as the best female singer/songwriter of all time, and Dusty Springfield reigns as the best female singer.

While she had a cult following in the '70's and infrequently performed in small folk clubs, I think she is largely forgotten today. Even so, her devoted fans remember her fondly, and continue to count her albums among their most prized possessions. For my money, no female singer/songwriter other than Joni Mitchell has equalled her dazzling run of 7 perfect albums in a row - not Kate Bush, not anyone. Few males have matched this track record either. She deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as Leonard Cohen, Randy Newman, and Paul Simon - but she isn't. So, it's fair to ask - who is she? Here's a nutshell history:

She was married to composer Andre Previn, with whom she collaborated on film scores. He wrote the music, and she'd write the words. Their biggest hit was "(Theme From) Valley Of The Dolls", performed memorably by Dionne Warwick. Other popular film songs were "You're Gonna Hear From Me" from the Natalie Wood starrer "Inside Daisy Clover", and "Come Saturday Morning" from the Liza Minnelli movie "The Sterile Cuckoo". Some were collaborations without Andre, whom she had divorced (he left her for Mia Farrow) after a series of nervous breakdowns and periods in mental hospitals.

Eventually Dory began to write about all of this on her deeply personal records. She started writing her own music too. Turned out she sang beautifully and wrote brilliantly. Her early songs were gathered together in a poetry book with the same title as her first album ("On My Way To Where"). She later followed this with an autobiography about her abused childhood years in New Jersey ("Midnight Baby"), and another one about her chaotic adult years in Hollywood ("The Bog-Trotter"). These subjects would also be addressed in her songs. In-between books she'd release her masterful albums. After her fourth studio album she appeared "live" at Carnegie Hall in a sold-out concert.

Judging by the rabid fan response, it was an emotional experience that rivalled Judy Garland's performance at the famed venue years earlier. I'm not kidding. It's all captured here.

While her previous records featured music and orchestrations that sounded vaguely Hollywood musical/Broadway-ish (although a lot quieter than that implies) - on this "live" recording the songs are re-cast with acoustic guitar and folk band backing. At times it almost sounds country. She would continue to record with this sound on her next album ("Dory Previn") and her final one ("Children of Coincidence").

Her first 4 albums are available on CD in two-for-the-price-of-one packages. Of these, "On My Way To Where", "Mythical Kings and Iguanas", and "Reflections In A Mud Puddle" are flawless from start to finish. Truly perfect records. I like "Mary C. Brown and the Hollywood Sign" a lot, but it contains a certain shrillness that the previous 3 albums did not. Then came "Live At Carnegie Hall", "Dory Previn" (very good, though a bit overly verbose and less tuneful than usual), and the under-rated "Children of Coincidence". The latter two are available as single CD's and are well worth having despite my caveats. To pass them up is to miss some great stuff.

Which should you buy? All of them - they're all terrific! You won't be sorry! But if you just want to try her out, this "live" recording is a virtual "greatest hits" of her best songs up until then - and is a good place to start.

This double album was released in 1973, and was her fifth release. She performs the favourites from her first four albums, and adds two news songs. It's nice to hear the audience adulation (which Dory Previn acknowledges very modestly), and some of her humorous introductions to the songs.

After this, she moved from United Artists records (who had released all her work up to that point), and made two fine albums for Warner Brothers - both extremely sophisticated. Sadly, these have not appeared on CD; they're even better.

In a recent CD review of the music of Priscilla Herdman I wrote the following paragraph that can serve as a lead in to this review of Dory Previn's work:

"Every once in a while I run into a CD or DVD that, for lack of a better term, is just plain whimsical. This detour started a couple of years back with a review of film about Miss (Ms). Beatrice Potter and her artistic talent, especially of illustrations for children's books. And, in that spirit, we will just let it go at that. The CD under review, Star Dreamer, by singer/songwriter Priscilla Herdman, in any case fits that description. I have described her work previously in a review of her 1998 CD, "Moondreamer" and the sense of that review can fit here: ''

So here, once again we have a performer who doesn't fit neatly into one of my folk rock, rock, rockabilly, blues, jazz categories but who nevertheless drew my attention once I got onto her lyrics. And that is where one goes here-to the lyrics. There is some powerful, personal stuff about dysfunctional family (especially fathers-she is searing on this subject), love, war (of course in this period, 1973), aging. You know, all the subjects of the folk rainbow except her performance live at Carnegie Hall has more the quality of an intimate cabaret act.

Be forewarned some of these songs are not for the faint-hearted. Here, though, is what you NEED to listen to: "Scared To Be Alone (if you can bear it)," "Esther's First Communion," "The Veteran's Big Parade," and to be whimsical, "Moon Rock", done from the perspective of the moon.

Bought cd for my husband and he loves it! Listens to it every day.

Could not connect with Ms Previn. I reacted to songs drowning in self indulgence. Did not find the music particularly interesting either. But it does sound as though that 1970s Carnegie Hall audience loved her. I guess it was 70s solipsism.