Live at Carnegie Hall | ||||
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Live album by | ||||
Released | August 1981 | |||
Recorded | September 1979 | |||
Venue | Carnegie Hall, New York City | |||
Genre | Vocal pop | |||
Length | 74:19 | |||
Label | Altel Sound Systems | |||
Producer |
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Liza Minnelli chronology | ||||
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Live at Carnegie Hall (reissued in 2022 as Live in New York 1979) is the fourth live album by American singer Liza Minnelli. Released by the Altel Sound Systems record company in 1981, it was her first and only release under that label. [1]
Carnegie Hall held great significance in Minnelli's family, as her mother, also a singer and an actress Judy Garland, made her triumphant return there 18 years earlier in an event that some call "the greatest night in showbiz history". [2] In this context, Minnelli had a desire to return with a new season of shows after her successful performances in the musical The Act . [2] However, she didn't want to return with the same nightclub act she had been doing for years; she wanted innovations.
With the help of her dedicated team, including Fred Ebb (the writer, producer, and director of the show), Wayne Cilento and Ron Lewis (choreographer), Lawrence Miller (set designer), and Mark Gero as her production manager, Minnelli set out to surprise with her new tour. In an interview, she stated, "I wanted to turn my shows at Carnegie Hall into a presentation theater," adding, "I wanted each song to be a complete acting piece; a complete character. I wanted Carnegie Hall to be my baby". [2]
The album was produced by Hank Cattaneo and Bill LaVorgna, with recordings taking place in the Carnegie Hall concert hall, located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, in September 1979. [3] The show in question was one of the eleven sold-out performances in Minnelli's series at the venue. [3]
The cover was created from one of the images from Minnelli's collection, taken by the American pop art painter and filmmaker Andy Warhol [4] [note 1]
At the time of the release, Minnelli was not affiliated with a major record label and had the vision to record these concerts and release them independently. Two years later, in 1981, she began selling the limited edition of the double album at her live performances. [6]
In 2021, the Real Gone Music record label renamed the album as "Live In New York 1979" and re-released it on limited pink vinyl and also limited red vinyl, with 1,400 copies each. [7] In 2022, the album was finally released in a 3-CD edition that includes the complete show for the first time and the abbreviated version previously released on vinyl. [8]
The album received favorable reviews from music critics.
Will Friedwald of The Wall Street Journal wrote that the show "was not Mrs. Minnelli's final act - or even the halfway point - but it was the climax of a moment in cultural history. The AIDS epidemic would soon end the festivities, but, as captured by Liza Minnelli at Carnegie in 1979, it was the greatest party in history." Regarding Minnelli's performance, he stated: "Mrs. Minnelli's supreme power may well be her extreme sensuality - she's openly sexy in a way that almost no theatrical diva ever is" closer to Peggy Lee or Julie London. You can't help but notice this in two songs written by Ebb and John Kander for her starring role in "The Act": In "City Lights" - an even better vehicle for her than the more famous "Theme from 'New York, New York'" - she sings not only of her love for her adopted city, but a kind of lust for it." [9]
Stephen Mosher of BroadwayWorld gave a favorable review in which he considered Minnelli's performances of "Cabaret," "New York, New York," "City Lights," and "But The World Goes Round" electrifying. He stated that the singer is in great vocal shape throughout the entire concert, and "as, song by song, monologue by monologue, Liza Minnelli takes the listener on a series of intriguing paths, her ability to tell the stories she brought to the stage shines brightly, resonating with individuality and originality." He concluded by saying that "from start to finish, [the album] is not only one of the best albums by Liza Minnelli to be released on CD, not only one of the best concert albums to be recorded, produced, remastered, and re-released after an uncomfortable four-decade wait, it's simply one of the best albums, period." [10]
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "How Long Has This Been Going On? / It's a Miracle" | George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin / Barry Manilow, Marty Panzer | |
2. | "My Ship / The Man I Love" | Kurt Weill, Ira Gershwin / George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin | |
3. | "Some People" | Jule Styne, Stephen Sondheim | |
4. | "Come in from the Rain" | Melissa Manchester, Carole Bayer Sager |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "London Town" | Fred Ebb, Paul Klein, Lee Goldsmith | |
2. | "New York Medley: I Guess The Lord Must Be In New York City / Take Me Back To Manhattan / Manhattan/ New York City Rhythm / 42nd Street / Lullaby Of Broadway / On Broadway / New York, New York / Every Streets A Boulevard / Theme from New York, New York" | Harry Nilsson / Cole Porter / Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart / Barry Manilow, Marty Panzer / Harry Warren, Al Dubin / Barry Mann, Cynthia Weil, Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller / Leonard Bernstein, Betty Comden, Adolph Green / Jule Styne, B. Hillyard / John Kander, Fred Ebb |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Someone to Watch Over Me" | George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin | |
2. | "Twelve Fellas" | Fred Ebb, Larry Grossman | |
3. | "You & I / Honeymoon Is Over / Happy Anniversary" | Leslie Bricusse / Harvey Schmidt, Tom Jones / Charles Aznavour, Fred Ebb | |
4. | "City Lights" | John Kander, Fred Ebb |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Cabaret" | John Kander, Fred Ebb | |
2. | "Shine On Harvest Moon" | Nora Bayes, Jack Norworth | |
3. | "But The World Goes Round" | John Kander, Fred Ebb | |
4. | "Bows (Liza/Liza)" | George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin |
Liza May Minnelli is an American actress, singer and dancer. Known for her commanding stage presence and powerful alto singing voice, Minnelli has received numerous accolades, and is one of the few performers awarded a non-competitive EGOT. Minnelli is a Knight of the French Legion of Honour and subject of the 2024 documentary, Liza: A Truly Terrific Absolutely True Story.
Kander and Ebb were a highly successful American songwriting team consisting of composer John Kander and lyricist Fred Ebb. Known primarily for their stage musicals, which include Cabaret and Chicago, Kander and Ebb also scored several movies, including Martin Scorsese's New York, New York. Their most famous song is the theme song of that movie. Recorded by many artists, "New York, New York" became a signature song for Frank Sinatra. The team also became associated with two actresses, Liza Minnelli and Chita Rivera, for whom they wrote a considerable amount of material for the stage, concerts and television.
Flora the Red Menace is a musical with a book by George Abbott and Robert Russell, music by John Kander, and lyrics by Fred Ebb. The original 1965 production starred Liza Minnelli in the title role in her Broadway debut, for which she won a Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical. This was the first collaboration between Kander and Ebb, who later wrote Broadway and Hollywood hits such as Cabaret and Chicago.
New York, New York is a 1977 American romantic musical film directed by Martin Scorsese from a screenplay by Earl Mac Rauch and Mardik Martin, based on a story by Rauch. John Kander and Fred Ebb wrote several songs for the film, including "New York, New York" which became a global phenomenon. A tribute to Scorsese's home town of New York City, the film stars Liza Minnelli and Robert De Niro as a pair of musicians and lovers.
"Theme from New York, New York", often abbreviated to just "New York, New York", is the theme song from the Martin Scorsese musical film New York, New York (1977), composed by John Kander, with lyrics by Fred Ebb. Liza Minnelli performs the song in the climax of the film. It was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song.
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