Mostly Live

Young @ Heart Chorus | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 19, 2008)
• Original Release Date: 2008
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Rhino Records
• ASIN: B001CIS70Y
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #90,246 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Review

Young @ Heart by Ariana Venturi Issue 101 Fall 2007, MUSIC With performers ranging in age from 72 to 88, and a repertoire steeped in both Radiohead and Talking Heads, Young @ Heart bridges the gap between modern and genuinely old school.To be young at heart one must ostensibly be old at everything else: old hat, old fashioned, old guard. But this cloying phrase is an apt description of the Young@Heart chorus, a group of Sonic-Youth-singing, Outkast-rapping senior citizens who prove that you can teach some old dogs new tricks, and some formidable adages new wit. Besides musicality and vocal talent, the defining criterion of the group is age: each member of Young@Heart is 72 or older. Many of the group have lived through both world wars. One member fought in the Battle of the Somme. Founded in 1982 at an elderly housing project in Massachusetts, the group pooled its members experience to create a vaudevillian array of music, comedy, and dance for a local audience. The group has since gained acclaim on an international level through annual tours of Europe, and has starred in a self-titled, award-winning documentary film. They ve also generated Internet buzz through member Fred Knittle s rendition of Coldplay s Fix You, which boasts nearly half a million hits on YouTube. The elderly perspective of Young@Heart s members imbues the group s repertoire with a new er, old perspective. As they stand on stage, some energetically dancing, others perpetually attached to the breathing machines that they depend on to live, the music they sing takes on a dim irony. After all, Should I Stay or Should I Go has a completely different meaning when sung by an octogenarian. Under the direction of Bob Cilman, Young@Heart embraces this morbid humor, which is nowhere more apparent than the title of their just-released debut album Mostly Live, comprising mainly concert recordings. Mostly Live plays out as a poignant celebration of life from the vantage of those who continue to live it to the fullest. The subtle crinkle of a voice, the improvised rhythm of a chorus too breathy to keep up, the odd resonance of a familiar phrasing all come together to create a soundscape that is both catchy and eccentric, an easy listen with a darker underbelly. Their satirical approach is reminiscent of early Talking Heads, and it comes as no surprise that David Byrne will bring them to New York City s Town Hall in October. Though not all senior citizens would as willingly trade in their Bach for Bowie, the Young@Heart chorus gives unique expression to the songs we thought a later generation owned. Ariana Venturi --Bomb Magazine

Young@Heart Chorus Mostly Live Monday, July 30, 2007 By Greg Saulmon When Johnny Cash recorded U2's One he reached deep into an essentially somber song and hoisted it improbably yet cautiously toward an eerie euphoria. In the hands of the Young@Heart Chorus -- whose youngest member was born in 1932 -- "One" is set to a syncopated accordion that traces the song's rainy-day figure. Like Cash's version, though, when the track veers into its surprisingly celebratory denouement the image evoked isn't of sun breaking the clouds -- it's of seeing the storm and calling its bluff. Such is the case with many of the tracks on Mostly Live, the first full-length release in Young@Heart's 25-year history. Along the way, the group racks up an impressively eclectic collection that ranges from a barrelhouse version of Sonic Youth's "Schizophrenia" to a klezmer-ish "Every Breath You Take" to a loopy spin through Outkast's "Hey Ya." The former are all good fun, but Young@Heart is at its best on tracks like Radiohead's "Fake Plastic Trees" and Coldplay's "Fix You" -- the latter of which features the wispy percussion of 82-year-old Fred Knittle's oxygen tank and his vulnerable but richly dignified voice. Someone once told me that growing up isn't about getting things; it's about losing them. But while that sense of loss hangs heavy in "Fix You" and "Fake Plastic Trees," what's even more unmistakable is how much the singers of Young@Heart have left to give. Young@Heart celebrates the release of Mostly Live with a performance at the Iron Horse on August 5. --MassLive

Singing seniors redefine rock songs By JAKE COYLE, AP Entertainment Writer Fri Jun 15, 6:37 PM ET NORTHAMPTON, Mass. - Fred Knittle wears his belt up high. His nose is tethered to an oxygen tank, and on stage he's confined to a folding chair. From this unlikely perch, he's turning rock 'n' roll on its head. Singing Coldplay's "Fix You," Knittle transforms the song into a powerful ballad about a grandfather's healing wisdom. It means something different coming from an 80-year-old retiree suffering from congestive heart failure. Knittle is a singer for the Young@Heart Chorus, whose members range from 73 to 92 years old. Singing songs they shouldn't even know, at an age when they're expected to be sitting quietly somewhere, they subvert all accepted notions of old and young. Songs by bands like the Radiohead, OutKast and Nirvana take on a new dimension when performed by these 23 foot-stomping senior citizens. "Fix You" or the Clash's "Should I Stay or Should I Go" become about life and death. Though little known in America, the Northampton-based Young@Heart has performed from Australia to London, serenaded the king and queen of Norway, been discussed on "The Daily Show," and been documented in an acclaimed film for British television. They're now recording an album tentatively titled "Rockin' At Heaven's Door." It may sound like a gimmick, but Young@Heart is no karaoke act. They're a cover band for the ages. ___ "All we've ever had is now." Jack Schnepp, 77, singing the Flaming Lips' "All We Have Is Now." ___ Inside a Young@Heart rehearsal in Northampton, Bob Cilman, 53, is pretending to throw his shoe at Jack Schnepp for missing his cue on Bruce Springsteen's "Dancing in the Dark." After a laugh, the shoe returns to Cilman's foot, but more lighthearted threats will surely follow. Whipping his chorus into shape before their spring concert at Dartmouth College is hard work, and Cilman is a taskmaster who refuses to baby his elderly singers. "I hated Bob when I first came into the chorus," says ex-Marine Steve Martin.Steve Martin, 79, whose youthful vigor is only hinted at by the convertible he drives. "He's insane. It took me a while to trust him." Young@Heart is the brainchild of Cilman, whose generous heart beats with a provocateur spirit. He directs the chorus through unique arrangements of music the singers spent their lives telling their kids and grandkids to "turn down!" He's been having his baby-boomer revenge for 25 years. "It's making these people sing stuff that they really didn't want to hear their kids listen to," says Cilman, grinning. "They really were upset about it." Founded in 1982, the chorus grew out of a lunchtime sing-a-long at a meal site for the elderly run by Cilman. He was struck by a deadpan version of Manfred Mann's "Do Wah Diddy" sung by a woman in her late 80s. "I just realized, `Wow, there's something here. We can explore this,'" remembers Cilman, who is director of the Northampton Arts Council. (The chorus is funded by the town of Northampton, the Massachusetts Cultural Council and the National Endowment for the Arts.) In the past decade, the chorus has done 12 tours in Europe, Australia and Canada. They took up residence at the Lyric Hammersmith in London for a ten days in 2005, and made Norwegian royalty cheer their version of a-ha's "Take On Me" in 2001. "I don't know how many more 15 minutes we'll have in our lifetime," jokes Martin. They perform with an expert band that includes William Arnold Jr., who played drums for Motown great Junior Walker Being edgy not cutesy is a constant aim of the chorus, which also performs theatrical productions. --Associated Press

Product Description

Rhino brings Mostly Live CD from its limited regional and concert venue sales release to a national platform just in time for the DVD launch of the acclaimed Fox Searchlight Pictures documentary feature film YOUNG@HEART on September 16th. Mostly Live presents seventeen songs by the Young@Heart Chorus, the New England area senior citizens (ages 73-93) group celebrated worldwide for their spirited choral interpretations of rock, punk, and R&B classics. The multiple award-winning film chronicles seven weeks in the chorus members’ lives as they prepare for a one-night concert in their hometown of Northampton, MA. Blending humor and sadness, YOUNG@HEART builds up to their triumphant live show, an inspiring testament to an extraordinary group of people who may be old in body but never are old in spirit. In the film, their covers of classics by the Ramones, Bob Dylan, the Bee Gees, David Bowie, James Brown, and othersgive these songs new life and meaning.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not your average old-folks church choir, March 11, 2009

By 

Paul Seaman (Concord, CA (SF Bay Area)) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Mostly Live (Audio CD)

I saw "Young@Heart" last year -- and I'm a "Die-Hard" and "Hotel Rwanda" kind of guy... But I found this movie such an unexpected joy. Authentic and touching and at least some of the pop songs they cover could stand on their own right, notably Coldplay's "Fix You" (from "X & Y"). So I was eager to get the original soundtrack when it came out. Alas, they seem to have released the DVD, but not the score separately. I was hesitant to buy this compilation without previewing it, but the risk was well-rewarded. This is NOT a novelty album. Sure, it's old people singing covers of pop songs, but at its worst it's no more syrupy than "We Are the World" and at its best you get, well... a truly inspired rendition of Coldplay's "Fix You." And some other nicely done rock classics, all the more poignant to listen to knowing that several of the performers died shortly after these recordings. See the movie! I think it might be hard to fully appreciate this album without that context.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Highest Praise, May 21, 2009

By 

Lee J C (Near Kansas City, MO USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mostly Live (MP3 Download)

I could not agree more -- this soundtrack reflects the tender genius of a hardworking group of elders in Northampton, Mass. -- a very diverse and liberal college town. Their choral director is masterful in his choice of music, interpretation and sheer passion for the singers' and their art. The documentary has compelled me to look up the original versions of these songs because of the touching delivery and power of the YAH chorus. Can't recommend "Fix You" more highly, esp.

Get both -- the documentary, which will tear at your heart and also thrill you with pride in these elders and their great accomplishments -- including a couple of mean James Brown-like performances, and the CD. You will be richly rewarded.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Tears of Joy, March 12, 2010

By 

All You Need Is Sushi "JFK" (California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mostly Live (Audio CD)

Having just seen AVATAR, and ALICE IN WONDERLAND, and SHUTTER ISLAND, I tuned into PBS to watch Young At Heart.

And this was after seeing it over the Holidays on PBS, too.

All the millions and billions of dollars connected to those Hollywood "films" can't touch Young At Heart.

Get out the KLEENEX, Mom. This is what soul is all about. Pure life, expressed through music and togetherness.

Watching prisoners jump to their feet in ovation, watching these joyful seniors persevere... leaves Tinseltown in the dust.