Live: All the Way from America | ||||
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Live album by | ||||
Released | 13 July 2004 | |||
Recorded | Saratoga, California | |||
Genre | Pop | |||
Length | 70:00 | |||
Label | Savoy Jazz, 429 Records | |||
Producer | Joan Armatrading | |||
Joan Armatrading chronology | ||||
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Live: All the Way from America is a live album by the British singer-songwriter Joan Armatrading. It was Armatrading's second live album, following the 1979 release of Steppin' Out , and was, therefore, the first live album she had released in twenty-five years. Armatrading was on tour following the release of her 2003 studio album Lovers Speak , and a concert from this tour was recorded on 25 June 2003 at the Lillian Fontaine Garden Theatre [1] in Saratoga, California. The album takes its title from her 1980 song "All the Way from America", which originally appeared on the album Me Myself I . It was released in 2004 on digital format, CD and DVD by Savoy Records / SLG, and re-released in 2009 in CD format on the 429 Records label.
The album presents the set from the concert exactly as it was, with no overdubs, [2] though the gaps between songs were edited down. It contains six songs from Armatrading's "acclaimed" [3] album Lovers Speak (2003), four songs from the Gold-certified album Joan Armatrading (1976), two songs from Me Myself I (1980), two songs from Show Some Emotion (1977), one song from Walk Under Ladders (1981) – all of which albums had also been certified Gold and had reached the top 10 in the UK album charts. It also contained the song "Rosie", which featured on the 1979 EP How Cruel as well as on her 1983 compilation album Track Record .
Armatrading had a pared-down band for the tour and for this album, featuring only herself on vocals and all guitars, multi-instrumentalist Gary Foote and Spencer Cozens on keyboards.
The DVD of the concert is 105 minutes long and contains the bonus tracks "Bottom to the Top", "On the Road" (tour video), and "In These Times" (studio version). [4]
Allmusic's Thom Jurek drew attention to Armatrading's "rambling, nearly ecstatic version of Let's Talk About Us from Lovers Speak, and stated that her versions of Show Some Emotion and Love and Affection on this live album are "strident and full of conviction and reverie". He concludes that Live: All the Way from America is "a sexy record, it offers listeners a soul's eye view of love and it is rendered beautifully raw and direct". [2]
The album was rated four out of five stars by AllMusic.
All songs written and arranged by Joan Armatrading.
Musicians
Production
Christopher John Spedding is an English guitarist and record producer. In a career spanning more than 50 years, Spedding is best known for his studio session work. By the early 1970s, he had become one of the most sought-after session guitarists in England. Spedding has played on and produced many albums and singles. He has also been a member of eleven rock bands: the Battered Ornaments, Frank Ricotti Quartet, King Mob, Mike Batt and Friends, Necessaries, Nucleus, Ricky Norton, Sharks, Trigger, and the Wombles. In May 1976, Spedding also produced the first Sex Pistols recordings.
Joan Anita Barbara Armatrading is an English singer-songwriter and guitarist. Her first major commercial success came with her third and fourth albums, Joan Armatrading (1976) and Show Some Emotion (1977), and she continues to play live and record studio albums. A three-time Grammy Award nominee, Armatrading has also been nominated twice for BRIT Awards as Best Female Artist. She received an Ivor Novello Award for Outstanding Contemporary Song Collection in 1996.
"Whole Lotta Rosie" is a song by Australian hard rock band AC/DC. It is the eighth and final track on the band's fourth Australian album, Let There Be Rock, released in Australia in March 1977, and was written by Angus Young, Malcolm Young, and Bon Scott. It is also the eighth and final track on the international version of the album, released in June the same year.
Me Myself I is the sixth studio album by British recording artist Joan Armatrading. Released in May 1980, the album was Armatrading's highest ever chart placing both in the UK and in the US. In Australia, the album peaked at number 13. It was certified "Gold" in the UK by the BPI in July 1980.
A Private Heaven is the fifth studio album by Scottish pop singer Sheena Easton, released on 21 September 1984 by EMI America Records. The album featured two US Top 10 hit singles: the lead single "Strut" and the controversial "Sugar Walls". "Swear", a third single, peaked at No. 80.
Gold Dust is a live album by the late English folk rock singer Sandy Denny. It documents one of Denny's last public performances and was recorded at London's "Sound Circus" venue at the Royalty Theatre, Portugal Street, near Aldwych, London on 27 November 1977. The album features many of her classic songs both as a solo artist and as a member of Fairport Convention and Fotheringay and remains the most extensive documentation of Sandy's live work with a backing band. The album was not released on the label originally planned owing to stated technical problems with the master tape, and was only released on a different label twenty years after her death after various guitar and backing vocal tracks parts were re-recorded by Jerry Donahue and others.
"Down to Zero" is a 1976 song by British singer-songwriter Joan Armatrading. It features pedal steel guitar by B. J. Cole and drums by Kenney Jones of the Faces.
Whatever's for Us is the debut album of British singer-songwriter Joan Armatrading. The album was a collaboration between Armatrading and singer-songwriter Pam Nestor. At the time the two were musical partners and wrote over a hundred songs together. Armatrading sings lead vocals and plays piano and acoustic guitar, while Nestor co-wrote most of the songs.
Walk Under Ladders is the seventh studio album by British singer-songwriter Joan Armatrading, released on 4 September 1981 by A&M Records. The album peaked at No. 6 on the UK Albums Chart and was certified Gold by the British Phonographic Industry for sales in excess of 100,000 copies. The album peaked at No. 16 in Australia. Two minor hits from the album both fell just short of cracking the UK Top 40: "I'm Lucky", which peaked at No. 46, and "No Love", which peaked at No. 50.
Back to the Night is the second studio album by the British singer-songwriter Joan Armatrading. The album was released in April 1975 by A&M Records.
To the Limit is the fifth studio album by British singer-songwriter Joan Armatrading, released in September 1978 by A&M.
The Key is the eighth studio album by the British singer-songwriter Joan Armatrading, released on 28 February 1983 by A&M Records (AMLX64912). The album was recorded at Townhouse Studios in Shepherd's Bush, London; Polar Studios in Stockholm and also in New York.
Steppin' Out is a live album by the British singer-songwriter Joan Armatrading. The title is taken from her song of the same name which was first released in 1975 on her second studio album Back to the Night. A DVD with the same title, containing concerts recorded by WDR in 1979 and 1980, was released in 2004.
Secret Secrets is the ninth studio album by British singer-songwriter Joan Armatrading, released on 4 February 1985 by A&M. The album was recorded and mixed at Battery Studios, in Willesden, London. It reached number 14 on the UK Album Chart and was certified Silver by the British Phonographic Industry for sales in excess of 60,000 copies. The album peaked at number 18 in Australia. The album had little success with singles, with its only charting hit, "Temptation", stalling at no.65 on the UK Singles Chart.
Sleight of Hand is the tenth studio album by British singer-songwriter Joan Armatrading, released on 12 May 1986 by A&M Records. It was recorded and produced by Armatrading at Bumpkin Studio, her own purpose built studio in the grounds of her home. The album peaked at No. 34 on the UK Album Charts, No. 70 on the US Billboard 200, and No. 39 in Australia. It was certified Silver by the British Phonographic Industry for sales in excess of 60,000 copies.
Lovers Speak is the fifteenth studio album by British singer-songwriter Joan Armatrading, and was released on 25 March 2003. Three tracks from the album were released by Telstar on 10 March 2003 as a sampler.
Into the Blues is the sixteenth studio album by British singer-songwriter Joan Armatrading, released on 1 May 2007. The album was recorded by Armatrading at Bumpkin Studios, her own purpose-built studios. It was released on the 429 label (17625) and on the Hypertension label. The album was released in 2008 as a deluxe edition, with a DVD.
Starlight is the eighteenth studio album by British singer-songwriter Joan Armatrading, and was released in 2012 as a digital album on the Hypertension label, and then as a CD in 2013 on the 429 Records and Savoy labels. The album was recorded at Bumpkin Studios, Armatrading's own purpose-built studio.
Live at the Royal Albert Hall is a live album by the British singer-songwriter Joan Armatrading. It was recorded live on tour in 2010 and 2011, following the release of Armatrading's seventeenth studio album This Charming Life. The album was released as a digital album, CD and DVD by 429 Records / Savoy Jazz (FTN17814).
How Cruel is a 12-inch one-sided EP by British singer-songwriter Joan Armatrading, which was released in November 1979 on A&M. The title track had previously appeared on Armatrading's live album Steppin' Out, which was not released in the US. The EP was released in the US and elsewhere, but not in the UK. It peaked at #19 on the Norwegian Albums Chart. It was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance at the 23rd Annual Grammy Awards in 1981. The single from this EP was "Rosie"/"How Cruel" (1979/1980), which reached #49 in the UK and #52 in Australia. "Rosie" was included on Armatrading's first compilation album, 1983's Track Record, as well as her 2004 live album Live: All the Way from America. All four tracks from this EP were placed at the start of the second CD of Armatrading's 2003 compilation album Love and Affection: Joan Armatrading Classics (1975–1983).