They might not have met, but their *duet on "O Come All Ye Faithful" is one of the most god-awful songs she's ever put her name on. It's like an outtake from the This Christmas album -- so bad that they left it off the album. * I use the term "duet" loosely, as her overdubbed vocals sound like a complete afterthought on that recording.
The "o come yet faithful" thing doubtlessly sounded good on paper but it's execution is sorely lacking. It was a waste of Olivia's time. It really wasn't a duet. This Christmas is probably the worst thing she ever has done on record. I mean, to be fair it was well intentioned on her end and she still sounds good, but Travolta, God Bless him is pretty bad in terms of vocals and a great portion of the cringe factor attached to that project is all his. I've always believed and still do believe this was done primarily to divert the narrative from the unsavory stories in the press about him that was circulating at the time and his pal Olivia took pity on him and contributed . Thankfully she made a few other superior Christmas albums before and after. Say one will about LIV ON, at least it didn't let " This Christmas" stand as possibly Olivia's last stand alone album. Liv On for its problems was an earnest and heartfelt project close to ONJ's heart. This Christmas was John Travolta's PR rehabilitation and vanity project Hopefully before Olivia retires due to age or,God forbid her health further declines she has at least one good quality album in her to stand as her last recorded work. I'd love to see her work with Farrar again or even someone like her nephew Brett Goldsmith ( who co-produced her Hotel Sessions EP) or even Juliana Hattfield to produce something that harkens perhaps closer to her early to mid 70s work. Bring things full circle , maybe accompanied by a reissue and revamp of her back catalogue on digital, CD and Vinyl. I'm probably expecting too much but one can hope...
I have a playlist called "Songs I Can't Sing Along With, But It Doesn't Stop Me From Trying". I just added 'Hopelessly Devoted to You'. I love that song so much.
It reminded me of Olivia too. It sounds like an updated version of her classic country pop sound, kinda atmospheric. Great album, by the way.
Anybody watching the new lifetime movie on Olivia yet? I am only 15 minutes into it and it is pretty well done so far. USA Today had a fairly decent review of it yesterday. A one hour documentary follows the movie on Lifetime.
Ah, I see Lifetime is airing the Delta Goodrem movie from last year. I'll have to record the program that follows. Does anyone know if that one-hour bio is new or not?
I don’t think a new documentary has been made. I’d imagine if there was it would be used next month to support the international release of her memoir.
I just finished watching the bio on Lifetime. It is technically new, although the majority of it is made up from parts of an earlier TV biography from around 2007 or so. Regardless, it's great, with the majority of it being made up of Olivia herself talking about her life, with other interviews from Chloe, Didi Conn, David Foster, and several other people. The last few minutes take the biography right up to today, talking briefly about her two recent recurrences of cancer, mentioning last year's TV movie about her life, showing her clip from early this year in which she says that rumors of her death have been greatly exaggerated, and mentioning that her memoir is being published in the U.S. next month. Well worth the time to watch if you have the opportunity.
I agree and not only that her vocals were in perfect condition in my opinion on the Soul Kiss album. John Farrar really brought everything out vocally for her on this album while the content of the tracks might have been lacking...she sounds so amazing. Emotional Tangle is a hidden gem, love that one.
Love this picture of Olivia from when she received her doctorate last year. Really shows off her sense of humour. I always smile when I see it.
Hello All. John H. in Cali here. Just saw the movie on Lifetime last night on Olivia's career --and the documentary. Yeah, I've been in love her since Grease came out, but I really didn't buy any of her tapes until some years later. But, regarding that recording of 'If Not For You' on one of her first albums, I always wondered what that sound in the background was while they were recording. Now I know... A couple of questions here though. Why didn't they do another take ? Were they running out of studio time/ money to record or what ? I mean nothing against her dog or anything, but that was totally audible on the track. I know it can be hard to get a take right, but seems like they would have done it again. Just wondering here...
Perhaps they thought no one would notice? I know what you mean, though. Olivia’s albums were beautifully put together and recorded so it’s odd they didn’t try to correct this..
Olivia has always said she didn't want to record that song, so maybe she proclaimed that take as "good enough" and wanted to move on to something else. Maybe John Farrar knows the answer; it would sure be great if someone would do an extensive interview with him and ask him questions like this about all those old songs. Of course, since she was an unknown back then, recording studio time might have been very limited and they simply didn't have time to do it again. Perhaps they planned to come back and work on it later and they forgot about it until it was time to do the mixing, at which point it might have been too late to re-do it.
I'll be fascinated to see what the general public response in the US is to the telemovie. It was clearly done with a lot of heart, especially on Delta's part. Olivia leaves a message for Delta at about the 1.10 mark in this appearance on Access last week: It was heavily edited down from the 3-hour runtime for the Australian version, but that might have helped to pace up the first half which inexplicably dwells on her relationships with Bruce Welch and Lee Kramer instead of more interesting narratives. If nothing else, hopefully it reminds American audiences how much of a beloved pop culture figure Olivia is, what great songs she had, and how she transformed from girl-next-door into a woman of remarkable strength and compassion. x
I am guessing that it will be shown on channel 5, in which case it will probably be part of an Olivia themed extraveganza. Maybe the Grease movie followed by Olivia's favourite singles as voted by the great British public, then this new film....
This is worth watching again, almost a year on. It was lovely to see footage of Olivia in a studio singing again after her diagnosis. What a pleasant surprise for her to revisit an underrated album track from 'Back With A Heart' too (arguably the most radio-friendly song on there, too). Here's a link to the full recording if anyone hasn't heard it. x
