You Probably Think This Thread Is About Carly Simon...

So, for several years now I've had Carly's single-disc Nobody Does It Better best-of. During the recent 40%-off Barnes and Noble sale, I picked up the two-disc Anthology, and it got me exploring her back catalog. I've since picked up Anticipation, No Secrets, Boys In The Trees, and Torch. Lots of good stuff there beyond the hits.

I did a search of the archives and am not sure how many Carly Simon fans are on this forum, but figured I'd give it a shot and start a general-purpose Carly thread. At the very least, it'll break up all the poll threads going right now.

Any recommendations for what I should pick up next? FYI, she's got a new CD coming out at the end of the month on the Starbucks label.

 

One of the Carly Simon albums people forget, but which I love, is Spoiled Girl. It's kind of '80s sounding, but it has some great songs, incl. "The Wives Are in Connecticut" and "Tired of Being Blonde." Very Fairfield County-by-way-of-the-Upper East Side.

http://www.amazon.com/Spoiled-Girl-...bs_sr_2?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1207873489&sr=8-2

Also Moonlight Serenade, which has a terrific version of "In the Still of the Night." Crappy sound, though, and LOUD.

And I like Coming Around Again. I like to program my CD player to play the title song and "Itsy Bitsy Spider" over and over.

 

I am a big fan of the music she put out on the Elektra label, and maybe some of the Warner Brothers stuff.

Her music is great when you want to just kick back and relax.

 

I see there's a new book out about Carly, Joni, and Carol:

http://www.amazon.com/Girls-Like-Us...bs_sr_6?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1207875513&sr=8-6

 

I would definitely pick up Hotcakes. It's a great album from start to finish. The same can be said for Coming Around Again.

 

That's the one that's also a DualDisc, right?

 

Mine is not a Dual Disc. Those don't play in my CD player.

 

I think this thread is about Warren Beatty.

 

Perfect!

 

I'll second the recommendation for Hotcakes. Great album. I like the variety on that album. "Misfit" is one of Carly's best songs. "Just Not True" has a haunting melody.

I saw Carly perform "Mockingbird" with James Taylor at James's show at the Nassau Coliseum when that song was a hit. It was supposed to be a surprise appearance by Carly, but everyone knew she was coming. It was all over the radio. I remember James up there in his ripped t-shirt and jeans, looking kind of scruffy, and Carly wearing a white pantsuit. The house went wild.

 

Don't you? Don't you? Don't you?

 

I remember having Come Upstairs, Torch and Hello Big Man back in the day. They were all fairly solid efforts, imo. Floundering and Is This Love from HBM were especially good, I thought, as well as In Pain from CU. Really liked the whole Torch album.....played that one A LOT when it came out.

 

An overlooked gem from her Elektra years is Another Passenger. It contains a track called "Libby," which is one of her most beautiful songs. Another overlooked gem is Hello Big Man, which is sadly out of print but contains mostly very strong songs that hearken back to her Elektra recordings.

Ones that I would only recommend to die-hard fans: Spy, Come Upstairs, Spoiled Girl, and The Bedroom Tapes.

 

One that doesn't get much attention but that I really love is 'Another Passenger'. "Half A Chance", "It Keeps You Running", "Fairweather Father", and the beautiful "Libby" are all favorites of mine.

 

I have most of my original vinyl for her stuff. How do the CDs sound (particularly the Elektra stuff)?

 

+ 1 !

 

The first Carly Simon set I ever owned? "Clouds In My Coffee" box set!

I've been hooked ever since.

 

Hotcakes and Another Passenger are fantastic efforts from her earlier albums and are well worth acquiring.

I'm very fond of Come Upstairs, in the way that I'm fond of Linda Ronstadt's near contemporaneous release of Mad Love.

A later album that I think is great is Coming Around Again. She also recorded (on both CD and video) an outdoor concert in Martha's Vineyard at about that time which is a great live performance. Called something like "Live from Martha's Vineyard" or similar.

 

just read an excerpt of that new book about carly/joni/carole in the april issue of vanity fair and it was interesting... still not sure why the three of them are lumped together and i have to believe you could fill an entire book just about joni, but it did fill in some gaps in my knowledge base...

 

Get No Secrets, it's my favorite. "The Carter Family", His Friends Are More Than Fond of Robin" and "When You Close Your Eyes" are all gorgeous songs.

 

I just listened to my DVD-A of "No Secrets" earlier this evening. Very nice.

 

Now that you're finished, can I have it?

 

That anthology set is nice! I have a few other CS albums, but that comp is all I really need.

 

I like Boys in the Trees. Good songs nicely interpreted, well recorded, crack band.
I am not so fond of some of the other albums mentioned, which I find too polished for their own good.

 

No secrets is my favourite CS album too, the standouts being exactly the same songs that zebop mentioned. Boys in the trees would be my second choice, even though it's a bit disco-ish in places.

That's my favourite album of her Arista years. From that era I'd also recommend the Greatest hits live album. A nice and atmospheric rendition of her best-known songs (not surprising, hence the title).