Live and More

Last updated
Live and More
Live And More.jpg
Live album by
ReleasedAugust 31, 1978
RecordedJune 17, 1978
Venue Universal Amphitheater
(Los Angeles, California)
Genre Disco, soul, adult contemporary
Length77:35
Label Casablanca
Producer Giorgio Moroder, Pete Bellotte
Donna Summer chronology
Once Upon a Time
(1977)
Live and More
(1978)
Bad Girls
(1979)
Singles from Live and More
  1. "MacArthur Park"
    Released: September 24, 1978
  2. "Heaven Knows (with Brooklyn Dreams)"
    Released: December 9, 1978

Live and More is the first live album recorded by American singer-songwriter Donna Summer, and it was her second double album, released on August 28, 1978 by Casablanca Records. The live concert featured on the first three sides of this double album was recorded in the Universal Amphitheater, Los Angeles, California in 1978.

Contents

Background and release

During the concert, Summer performed a large number of her disco songs - both her hit singles, and a selection of songs from her previous album, Once Upon a Time . However, in this album, Donna also experiments with other musical styles such as jazz, in a medley she named "The My Man Medley". It consists of the George Gershwin song, "The Man I Love", together with "I Got It Bad and That Ain't Good" and the old standard "Some of These Days", neither of which she had recorded previously. She also performed a version of the ballad "The Way We Were", originally recorded by Barbra Streisand for the film of the same name, again, not previously recorded by Summer, but a big live favorite of hers. This was followed by a self-written ballad called "Mimi's Song", dedicated to her young daughter, Mimi. Mimi was present at this concert for Summer to sing the song to, and she is heard on the recording saying goodnight to the audience. The concert ends with one of Summer's best-known songs in the United States - "Last Dance". This hit song is included on the soundtrack of the film Thank God It's Friday , in which Summer had also acted. The composer, Paul Jabara, won an Academy Award for Best Song from a motion picture, and Summer herself won her first Grammy Award for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance with this song. Some versions of "Last Dance" have the slow part removed from the middle but kept at the beginning. The full version, however, was sung at this concert.

The fourth and final side of this double LP album contains a new studio recording entitled "MacArthur Park Suite", which is a medley of four songs including the main song "MacArthur Park", originally recorded as a ballad by the Irish actor Richard Harris. Summer's disco version was edited and issued as a single, and it became one of her biggest hits - her first number one song on the American Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, and a Top five song in the United Kingdom. This song also earned Summer a Grammy Award nomination for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. Another song in the medley, "Heaven Knows" was an American Top five hit, and it featured vocals by Joe Esposito of the Brooklyn Dreams musical group. That group included the musician Bruce Sudano, whom Summer would later marry.

Critical and commercial reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [1]
Christgau's Record Guide C [2]
Rolling Stone favourable [3]

The album received generally favorable reviews from music critics. Stephen Cook from AllMusic website gave the album three out of five stars and wrote that none of the album's songs "eclipse the original versions" but concluded that it is a "very enjoyable concert recording". Robert Christgau gave the album a "C" and criticized the arrangements and the song "Mac Arthur Park Suite," to which he preferred Andy Kaufman's interpretation. Tom Carson from Rolling Stone magazine gave the album a favorable review and wrote that even though "the hits are exiled to side three, they come across fairly well".

Live and More would become Summer's first number one double album in the United States, and achieved double platinum status in the U.S.

Track listing

All tracks written by Donna Summer, Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte except where noted; all tracks produced by Moroder and Bellotte.

Side one
No.TitleLength
1."Once Upon a Time"3:04
2."Fairy Tale High"2:20
3."Faster and Faster to Nowhere"2:09
4."Spring Affair"2:34
5."Rumour Has It"2:34
6."I Love You"3:38
Total length:16:18
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
7."Only One Man"
2:06
8."I Remember Yesterday" 3:52
9."Love's Unkind" 2:37
10."The Man I Love"/"I Got It Bad (And That Ain't Good)"/"Some of These Days" (My Man Medley)6:25
11."The Way We Were"3:23
12."Mimi's Song"
  • Weber
  • Summer
4:28
Total length:22:51
Side three
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Try Me, I Know We Can Make It" 4:14
2."Love to Love You Baby" 3:34
3."I Feel Love" 6:56
4."Last Dance" Paul Jabara 5:32
Total length:20:16
Side four
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
5."MacArthur Park"/"One of a Kind"/"Heaven Knows"/"MacArthur Park (Reprise)" (MacArthur Park Suite) Jimmy Webb (MacArthur Park)17:47
Total length:17:47

Notes

Personnel

Production

Charts and certifications

Certifications and sales

RegionCertification Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada) [19] 2× Platinum200,000^
United Kingdom (BPI) [20] Gold100,000^
United States (RIAA) [21] Platinum1,000,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

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