Nanci Caroline Griffith is an American singer, guitarist, and songwriter, raised in Austin, Texas, who lives in Nashville, Tennessee. Griffith appeared many times on the PBS music program Austin City Limits starting in 1985.
Elaine Paige is an English singer and actress, best known for her work in musical theatre. Raised in Barnet, Hertfordshire, Paige attended the Aida Foster Theatre School, making her first professional appearance on stage in 1964, at the age of 16. Her appearance in the 1968 production of Hair marked her West End debut.
"From a Distance" is a song written in 1985 by American singer-songwriter Julie Gold. Gold was working as a secretary at the time for HBO and writing songs in her free time. Gold's friend, Christine Lavin, introduced the song to Nanci Griffith, who first recorded it for her 1987 album, Lone Star State of Mind.
Julie Gold is an American singer-songwriter. She is best known for her musical composition "From a Distance," which became a hit for Bette Midler and won a Grammy Award for Song of the Year in 1991.
Other Voices, Other Rooms is Nanci Griffith's tenth album, released in 1993. It consists of songs written by other songwriters who have influenced her own career. Guest artists who appear in their own compositions include Frank Christian playing guitar on "Three Flights Up", Bob Dylan playing harmonica on "Boots of Spanish Leather", and John Prine lending harmony vocals on "Speed of the Sound of Loneliness". The album get its name from the Truman Capote novel of the same name.
There's a Light Beyond These Woods is singer-songwriter Nanci Griffith's debut album. It was recorded live to two-track over four days, December 9 to 11, 1977 and January 3, 1978 in Austin, Texas. Griffith wrote most of its songs, as she would on almost all of her subsequent albums.
Once in a Very Blue Moon is singer-songwriter Nanci Griffith's third album. The sounds have become a little more country and a little less folk than her previous albums. Her first two albums were backed sparsely with instrumentation, but starting with this album, the whole complement of country-styled instrumentalists can be heard. Noted country musicians performing on the album include banjo player Béla Fleck and champion fiddle player Mark O'Connor. The title song was covered by Dolly Parton, who included her version on her Real Love album in 1985.
The Last of the True Believers is singer-songwriter Nanci Griffith's fourth album, and her last with the folk music-oriented Philo Records. The acclaim accorded her from her previous Once in a Very Blue Moon and the current album would gain her a contract with a major recording company after this album. Here, Griffith continues her turn toward a more country-oriented work than her first two albums, which were primarily folk-sounding. It also includes two songs which would later be hits for Kathy Mattea: "Love at the Five and Dime" from her 1986 album Walk the Way the Wind Blows, and "Goin' Gone", Mattea's first Number One, from 1987's Untasted Honey.
Lone Star State of Mind is Nanci Griffith's fifth album, and her first with a major recording label. Griffith's music took a turn from her original folk music base into more commercially viable country music. For this album, she enlisted the talents of veteran country producer Tony Brown. The album garnered her first appearance on the Billboard Country charts, rising to #23 on the Country Albums chart, and is her highest charting album. The title track, "Lone Star State of Mind," became the first of only three Griffith singles to enter the Top 40 of the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart. It peaked at #36, while two other singles from the album, "Cold Hearts/Closed Minds" and "Trouble in the Fields", reached #64 and #57 respectively. "From a Distance" failed to chart because it was released only as a promotional single in the USA. That song successfully hit the charts when Bette Midler covered it in 1990.
One Fair Summer Evening is Nanci Griffith's seventh album, and her first one recorded in a live setting. It was recorded on August 19 and August 20, 1988 at Anderson Fair, a Houston, Texas club long known for featuring folk artists in an intimate setting.
Other Voices, Too is a 1998 album by Nanci Griffith. Following on from the Grammy Award winning album Other Voices, Other Rooms, Other Voices, Too is a second album of cover songs written by a wide variety of singer/songwriters. The album includes many guest performances from musicians, including Guy Clark, The Crickets, Odetta, Lucinda Williams, Rodney Crowell, Steve Earle, Lyle Lovett, John Prine, Emmylou Harris, Gillian Welch, Jimmie Dale Gilmore and Richard Thompson.
The Complete MCA Studio Recordings is a compilation album spanning the five-year period, from 1987 to 1991, that Nanci Griffith spent with MCA Records. The 46-track, two-CD album features all of the songs from the four studio albums recorded on the label during these years: Lone Star State of Mind (1987), Little Love Affairs (1988), Storms (1989) and Late Night Grande Hotel (1991), as well as three previously unreleased recordings.
Clock Without Hands is Nanci Griffith's fourteenth studio album, released in July 2001. It was named after Carson McCullers' final novel. The album contains a particularly personal collection of songs, including "Last Song for Mother", a tribute to her late mother. Vietnam is a recurring subject in several songs, including the biographical "Pearls Eye View " for Dickey Chapelle, and "Traveling Through This Part of You" for her ex-husband, Eric Taylor, a Vietnam veteran.
The Dust Bowl Symphony is an album released by Nanci Griffith in 1999. It consists of songs Griffith had previously released on other albums, but re-recorded with an orchestral backing. The album was recorded at Abbey Road Studios with the London Symphony Orchestra. Darius Rucker duets with Griffith on "Love at The Five and Dime", and the album also has contributions from Sonny Curtis and Glen Hardin, Beth Nielsen Chapman and Griffith's own band, The Blue Moon Orchestra. The song "Waiting for Love", written by Griffiths, from Blue Roses from the Moons was picked out by Griffiths as giving the singer a "brief moment of being Edith Piaf".
Blue Roses from the Moons is a studio album by Nanci Griffith, released in March 1997. The album was recorded from live takes in the studio, with her band The Blue Moon Orchestra and Jerry Allison, Sonny Curtis and Joe B. Mauldin of The Crickets. Darius Rucker duets with Griffith on "Gulf Coast Highway". The song "Waiting for Love", written by Griffiths, and commencing "Life is full of finer things / They're lost and found in the dark" was later re-recorded with symphony orchestra for the 1999 album The Dust Bowl Symphony.
Country Gold is a 10 track compilation CD of songs taken from the Nanci Griffith MCA albums Lone Star State of Mind, Little Love Affairs, One Fair Summer Evening and Storms. It was released on March 11, 1997.
Flyer is a 15-track studio album, primarily of original material by the singer-songwriter Nanci Griffith, released in 1994. It was nominated for Best Contemporary Folk Album in the 37th Annual Grammy Awards. The album has contributions from Peter Buck, Mark Knopfler, Emmylou Harris, Larry Mullen Jr., Adam Clayton, Adam Duritz, The Chieftains and the Indigo Girls.
Love Can Do That is an album by Elaine Paige, released in 1991. It was Paige's first album released by RCA and marketed in Europe by BMG. Produced by Dennis Lambert and recorded at The Zoo in Encino, California. The album reached #36 in the UK album chart.
From a Distance is a compilation album released in 1997 by Elaine Paige.
The Loving Kind is the 19th album by singer-songwriter Nanci Griffith. It was released June 9, 2009 on Rounder Records. Comprising thirteen songs, it was her first release of all new material since 2005. The album tackles political topics such as Loving vs. Virginia and capital punishment, as well as songs about Griffith's heroes, such as Townes Van Zandt. BBC Music gave the album a generally positive review, stating that "It does sound like her muse is finally on the mend."
