Nanci Griffith - One Fair Summer Evening

Nanci Griffith first built her audience through intimate, well-timed, and energetic concerts. This live set, recorded in August 1988 at the legendary Anderson Fair in Houston, contains her best performances of originals like "Workin' in Corners," "The Wing and the Wheel," and "Love at the Five and Dime," as well as songs by Bill Staines, Eric Taylor, and Julie Gold, songs she helped bring just shy of fame: "Roseville Fair," "Deadwood, South Dakota," and "From a Distance." Griffith learned her craft and got her chops down at Anderson Fair, and her gift for narrative shines brilliantly in her (often hilarious) between-song stories, and her unaffected, twangy whisper. She's backed by the subtlest and most sympathetic of bands, the Blue Moon Orchestra, and there's nary a misstep, a rare thing for a live album. --Roy Kasten Amazon.com essential recording

The Red Brick Floor........

Nanci's One Fair Summer Evening is just great. For a woman with such a tiny speaking voice, she can and does show her talent with this live album. Some of the songs are a little quirky but thats why I like it so much. I dont know what Anderson Fair really looks like because I live in Australia and my visits to Texas on different occasions got only as far as San Antonio and Dallas but feel like I am taking a little 'spin on the red brick floor' whn I listen to this album. if you don't have it in your collection, you should. January 13, 2008

Memories

Great CD! My mom and I used to drive around in our old camry listening to this (audio cassette) when I was younger. I recently purchased this CD for her as a present since our tape got eaten up a long time ago. Nanci is great appeals to all listeners in my opinion. May 17, 2007

Beautiful CD

I love this CD! Great songs and Nanci's voice sounds great. The backup band is very tasteful. I highly recommend this. May 9, 2007

From the first to last song, this is a masterpiece

A moving series of songs intertwined with Nanci's set up stories, from first to last this is a great CD. The pace and tempo of songs ebbs and flows carrying you on Nanci's well crafted journey. From the romantic "More Than a Whisper" and the enchanting "I Would Bring You Ireland" culminating in the fast paced, toe-tapping, vibrating "Spin on a Red Brick Floor", this is a collection to enjoy and treasure. April 21, 2007

Same Material - Much more impressive recording

God this is a great album. Nanci Griffith is a national treasure.

Emerging on the wobbly legs of a foal in the late 70s, with anonymous production from people who didn't understand how to package her mousy persona, what MCA sold us was a cutesy, virginal, perky gal. This is not where Nanci's presence is now. If I play one of the early MCA CDs for someone, I know the first question will be "Are you sure this is the right speed?" because she has a high, nasal delivery. Griffith hung in there and has become a deeply affecting & personal singer-songwriter. Without changing terribly much about her voice, and singing the same songs at her live shows, and on this cd, Griffith has transformed both herself and the material. A tribute to taking your licks and developing your delivery/voice at live shows.

Usually live versions of studio songs suffer by comparison. Not here! Stripped of the earlier folky instrumentation and resung as a wiser, older woman, some of these songs become astonishing. In other hands, her standard topics (spinsters, wallflowers, living alone) would be ruminating or miserable, but Nanci's talent is to make anyone love these songs; witness Pearl Jam fan below, and I'm a young urban guy.

She pulls emotional devastation out of the one-two punch of "Working in Corners" and "More than a Whisper" in newly austere, stripped down versions. Both of them embody a "hanging in there despite my pain & regret" mood. I have a hard time getting to the other songs, which are almost all great, in deference to these two; over and over.

My favorite cds complement her voice with minimal, calm orchestrations. When a producer steers her back to over production, I've not enjoyed them as much. I allow myself to forget this CD (and Flyer) every now and then, so that I can rediscover them again. The impact of a fresh listen has never diminished. Both provide a rich pick me up.

Nanci Griffith is profound without being pompous. After a listen you want to write her a thank you note.

(Note: This review focuses on her emotional depth, but she's also darned funny & charming on this cd.) March 22, 2007

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