Customer Reviews

Very Best of The Phoebe Snow

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I originally got into the music of Phoebe Snow thanks to singer, Linda Rondstadt. A few years ago I acquired a video tape featuring various Ronstadt peformances from over the years. One of the clips featured a 1978 "Saturday Night Live" appearance where Linda dueted ("The Married Men", "In His Kiss") with another singer named, Phoebe Snow. Well it was love from the first time I heard Snow's voice.It is an amazing instrument that is sensitive, velvety and mellow one moment and is muscular with rip roaring power the next.As an artist, Phoebe Snow seems to be able to tackle everything from folk ("Poetry Man") to pop ("Every Night") to gospel ("Good Times") to R&B and soul ("Shakey Ground", "At Last"). No wonder the recording industry could never catagorize her.She is both a talented songwriter and a musical interpreter. Originally I had the CD "The Best of Phoebe Snow", which I listened to all the time. But recently I've moved on to "The Very Best of Phoebe Snow". The main difference between these two 'best of' CDS? "Very Best" has six more cuts (some of them live performances) and remastered sound. Give a try to this CD and you to will become addicted to this amazing voice.

Is this truly "the very best" of Phoebe Snow? With any artist that is as great and influential as her that is always going to be a subjective question. Yes, you'll find the hits (Poetry Man), the covers, and some previously unreleased versions of Harpo's Blues and Good Times (both live versions). But the original albums, like their contemporaries (Joni Mitchell, Jackson Browne, etc.), so vividly convey the heydey of the 1970's singer-songwriter inspiration and cultural/musical interblending that has so badly gone in the wrong direction since.

There is no substitute for the originals; they'll bring you back to a place when music truly meant something and changed lives. Thirty years later, Phoebe's sound is still quite distinct and stealthily sophisticated.

This is a great introduction to Phoebe Snow, who is clearly going to get the love and appreciation that she has had coming to her in upcoming years. People like Norah Jones very clearly are fishing downriver from people like her.

Having been a Phoebe fan for years and years, I have been
getting my "Phoebe Fix" via her commercials on TV - but hey,
Phoebe's got fans out here that would love to have a new CD to look forward to! I just got "The Very Best Of...", and, yes, it surely IS the very best! Shakey Ground, Do Right Woman, Teach Me Tonight, Two Fisted Love - and the bonus: At Last - phew!
I've finally replaced the old 8 tracks and cassettes, and am ready for more! Does anyone know if she ever tours? Play clubs somewhere (besides the east coast)? We've got this great Blues and Jazz Society in Casper, Wyoming, that brings in high calibre acts - how about paying us a visit, Phoebe!?

The title of this compilation should have been "Some of the Very Best of Phoebe Snow." Phoebe Snow has such an impressively eclectic range of work that narrowing it down to one disc is a difficult task at best.Tom Vickers does a pretty good job in highlighting the many facets of an artist that defies classification. Her folk tinged pop masterpiece hit "Poetry Man" is timeless in its appeal and still gets frequent airplay these many years later. Her rendition of Paul Simon's "Something So Right" starts out touchingly restrained yet soulful and builds to an ironic wail that far surpasses the formulaic, straight ahead cover by Barbra Streisand and captures the wistful and playful undertone that Paul Simon conveys so well in much of his songwriting. I am pleased that the previously unreleased live Carnegie Hall performances of "Harpo's Blues" and "Good Times" were included. "Harpo's Blues" in particular demonstrates what a gut wrenching blues performer Phoebe Snow is, as is also the case with her "live" performance of "At Last". If I have any complaint it is that I wish more cuts from "Second Childhood", my personal favorite, had been included or perhaps added to make a 2 disc set. Phoebe snow is often at her best in her jazzier persona with such standouts from Second Childhood like "No Regrets" and "There's a Boat Dats' Leavin' Soon For New York." Another favorite from that same album is "Cash In" with the gospel counterpoint background vocal brilliance of The Jessy Dixon Singers. All in all this compilation is an impressive overview of Ms Snow's unique talent. I recommend that you also explore "Second Childhood" as her most consistently satisfying album.

Something deep inside compelled me to find and repurchase this album recently. I did further research and found that I received it in the mail on the day that Phoebe's daughter died. When I played it for the first time, I was immediately transported back 30 years to front row seats at her concert in Sacramento. She wooed me with her depth, her resonance, her soul and I was fully captivated by her for two hours, caught in the trance of her mana. Her music continues to soothe and comfort. I am so happy to have brought this album, and more specifically her music and soul back into my life. Thank You Phoebe.

I agree with Mr. Markham in many respects, that this is only SOME of Phoebe Snow's best music. Everybody has their favorites. For instance, MY favorite Phoebe Snow album is "It Looks like (Phoebe) Snow." Indeed, It's probably one of my top 10 favorites of all time. I would disagree with Mr. Markham, however, in that I think Snow's voice is best shown off in her quieter, more melancholy songs. Nevertheless, this collection is a good overview, and a great place to start if you don't know her work. Listening to Snow's best work makes me happy to be alive. What else can you say?

Sweet, melancholy, simple, frustrated, satisfied, redeeming, soulful, tearful, hopeful, in love, in denial, in ecstacy. This CD is the one I would pick if I could only take one CD on a desert island! The bodacious self-confidence, the plain-girl insecurity, the longing in her voice is that of just about every woman. "I am I good enough?" "I am MORE than good enough!!!" Each song is like a movie. I never tire of this CD.

The Very Best of Phoebe Snow is a wonderful compilation of some of her best songs..The live version of Harpo's Blues alone is
worth the purchase.

If you are a fan of Phoebe's music you will not be
disappointed.

I LOVE PHOEBE I AM 23 YRS. OLD AND ALL MY FRIENDS TELL ME THAT I HAVE AN OLD SOUL...I THINK U HAVE TO TO BE ABLE TO APPRECIATE PHOEBE....SHE IS A PASSIONATE, EMOTIONAL, AND THOUGHTFUL SINGER/SONGWRITER!!!! SHE IS ONE OF THE BEST IN MY OPINION...I STARTED COLLECTING VINYL WHEN I WAS ABOUT 17 AND WHEN I WAS 20 I BUMPED INTO SECOND CHILDHOOD AND I WAS COMPLETELY BLOWN AWAY...I LOVE IT!!!! I LIKE TWO-FISTED LOVE, GOING DOWN FOR THE THIRD TIME, ALL OVER, AND I ALSO LOVE NEVER LETTING GO...THERE ARE ALSO MANY OTHERS I LOVE....AT ANY RATE BUY THIS CD AND YOU WILL NOT BE DISSAPOINTED IF U LOVE REAL MUSIC, REAL MUSICIANSHIP, AND THOUGHTFUL, HEARTFELT LYRICS...CHECK OUT PHOEBE SNOW SHE MAY NOT CATCH U THE FIRST TIME BUT GIVE HER SOME TIME AND SHE WILL TOUCH U "ALL OVER!!"

This is an excellent CD. Some of this music is nearly 30 years old but sounds as good as ever. My personal favorite is "Never Letting Go." Still touches my heart like none other. If you're a Phoebe fan, this is a must-have CD.