Customer Reviews

Very Best of Nicolette Larson

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

When I first heard "Lotta Love," I was working in a radio station. When we previewed this record )out of the stack of 30 or 40 vinyl 45s that used to come in every week), I told the music director: "This is going to be a hit." How sweet it was to be right.

She had other hits along the way, during a career not nearly as successful as I thought it should have been. "I Only Want To Be With You" was a fine cover, snd she made a brief appearance in the movie Twins singing, "I'd Die For This Dance."

The song that knocked me breathless was "Let Me Go, Love," a duet with Michael McDonald (of the Doobie Brothers). It's still a staple of soft-music stations.

Her musical styles were so varied, though, that she never really landed in one category long enough to become dominant. She sang many songs that were either country-flavored or outright country in nature.

Her body of work is well-represented in this collection of tunes. If you've never heard anything other than "Lotta Love," you owe it to yourself to try this superb CD.

Isn't it funny how we forget how good a certain artist is? Such is the case with this classy lady from the 70s/80s. This collection is a superb representation of Miss Larson's exquisitely touching voice and her expert taste in selecting great songs and great backups, ranging from Michael McDonald to Linda Ronstadt. Each song on here is a jewel, most notably "Lotta Love," "Fool Me Again" and "Let Me Go Love." The liner notes are also some of the best I've ever read on a CD. What a shame Ms. Larson passed on at such a young age. She could certainly give some of these so-called singers of the 90's some vocal lessons. What a great tribute to a vastly underappreciated singer! God Bless You, Nicolette.

Nicolette Larson was one of my favorites in the late 70's-80's and remains a clear recognizable voice on this CD. Extremely well thought out liner notes, obviously created with love for this woman whos passing makes this all the more bittersweet. This is a wonderful collection! As a vocalist, I LOVE some of these songs and play them again and again. I didn't get a chance to see her perform live, but this collection does give you the "feel" of her work.

Nicolette never captured the public imagination as a solo singer despite having a superb voice and an outgoing personality. She was very popular with other singers, many of whom employed her as a backing singer on their records. You'll find her name in the credits of albums by Guy Clark, Commander Cody, Neil Young, Christopher Cross, Emmylou Harris, Neil Young, Rita Coolidge, Linda Ronstadt, John Stewart and many others.

Eventually, a record company gave her a recording contract and her first single (Lotta love - a Neil Young song) made the American top ten. It seemed that Nicolette was set for a long and glittering career but nothing else she ever did came close to matching the success of Lotta love.

Nicolette's second single (Rhumba girl - a Jesse Winchester song) became a minor American hit. One later single (Let me go love - a duet with Michael McDonald) made the American top forty. Among the failed singles was a cover of I only want to be with you, originally a hit for Dusty Springfield in the sixties. Nicolette's version is almost as good as Dusty's and far superior to many other versions I've heard. Nicolette never charted in Britain, but although some of her albums were released in the UK, I'm not sure that any effort was made to promote them.

Changing musical trends caused Nicolette to change directions. She recorded a couple of country albums (Say when, Rose of my heart). I never heard the first but I bought the second on vinyl and it's outstanding. It yielded a top ten country hit (That's how you know when love's right, a duet with Steve Wariner) but any hopes that Nicolette would establish herself as a country star faded. Nicolette eventually married and settled for motherhood, only rarely returning to the recording studio. A lullaby album marked the end of her career.

Nicolette died in her mid-forties following liver failure. She was not a prolific solo recording artist but this compilation is a fitting tribute to a brilliant singer.

It was good to again be able to hear this special voice, I hadn't heard in so many years and very sad to find out last year that she had passed away so young in her life. Most of these are terrific recordings (some of the country selections) well not my taste all together but a nice try. I do love her late 70's and early 80's period and missed her voice as the years went by. I will play this for along time to come and thanks for that beautiful "Irish lullabye", very moving.

Nicolette's voice has so much life and energy it is really hard to stomach the fact that she's gone. This retrospective is excellent...good remastering job, good selections. Now when can we hear her tribute concert "Lotta Love" on CD?

If Larson's career wasn't exactly stellar, you wouldn't guess it from this collection of tunes from Larson's 4 pop albums, 2 country albums and 1 children's lullabies album [and her appearance on the soundtrack of "Arthur"]. Best known for her 1978 smash "Lotta Love," Nicolette more or less faded from view after that but still put out some great recordings. For the Nicolette fan, this album is a must-have if only because it contains a bonus track of a long, lightly disco-fied version of "Lotta Love" [well, long might not be a good word for it, because the song clocks in at about 4 1/2 minutes]. All others will be surprised by some great songs and may even wonder after listening how exactly Nicolette failed to stay on the charts in any meaningful way after the success of her first album and single. And while the album provides some clues about the answer to that question--namely, genre-hopping--it also provides a great introduction to non-fans of an often underlooked talent who died too young but whose musical catalog is worthy of more than a few superlatives.

Best known for her late 70's hit "Lotta Love", this long overdue retrospective collects some of the singer's finest moments, hitting on all aspects of her career. The songs have held up amazingly well. This is a great collection for fans and a great starting point for those unfamiliar with the bulk of her work. Most of her albums are unavailable at this time.

Unfortunately

I'd die for this dance (from the film Twins)
Let me be the one (from the film Renegade)

are not on this CD and sadly both still virtually not available on CD.

An American treasure, this collection of Nicolette's work, a must have. We miss you.