Nanci Caroline Griffith was an American singer, guitarist, and songwriter. She appeared many times on the PBS music program Austin City Limits starting in 1985. In 1994 she won a Grammy Award for the album Other Voices, Other Rooms.
Other Voices, Other Rooms is the tenth studio album by American singer Nanci Griffith. It was released on March 2, 1993, by Elektra Records. Her first since leaving MCA Records, it consisted entirely of cover songs, in tribute to songwriters who influenced her own songwriting. Guest artists who appear in their own compositions included 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 was titled after the Truman Capote novel of the same name.
Poet in My Window is the second studio album by the singer-songwriter Nanci Griffith, released in 1982. A reissue of the album included a bonus track, "Can't Love Wrong", in the unusual position as the album's lead-off track, preceding all of the original tracks. Griffith wrote all but one of the album's tunes.
Once in a Very Blue Moon is the third studio album by American singer-songwriter Nanci Griffith, released in 1985. The album had more of a country sound 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, champion fiddle player, Mark O'Connor, and pedal steel master, Lloyd Green. 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 the fourth studio album by American singer-songwriter Nanci Griffith, released in 1986 by Philo Records. The acclaim accorded her from her previous album, Once in a Very Blue Moon, and this album earned her a contract with a major recording company. Here, Griffith continued her turn toward a more country-oriented work than her first two albums, which were primarily folk-sounding. It also includes two songs which were later hits for Kathy Mattea, "Love at the Five and Dime" from Walk the Way the Wind Blows (1986) and "Goin' Gone", her first number one, from Untasted Honey (1987).
Lone Star State of Mind is the fifth studio album released by American musician Nanci Griffith, and her first album for MCA Records. With the album, 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 No. 23 on the Country Albums chart, and was her highest-charting album on the chart. It was also a massive success in the United Kingdom, where it topped the country albums chart and spent over a year in the top 20. 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 No. 36, while two other singles from the album, "Cold Hearts/Closed Minds" and "Trouble in the Fields", reached No. 64 and No. 57 respectively. The song "From a Distance" would go on to become a major pop hit when covered by Bette Midler in 1990.
Little Love Affairs is Nanci Griffith's sixth studio album. It peaked at No. 27 on the Billboard Country Albums chart and topped the UK fortnightly country album chart for six weeks. It was also Griffith's first appearance on the main UK albums chart, where it reached No. 78. It spawned three charting singles on the Hot Country Singles chart, with "I Knew Love", "Never Mind", and "Anyone Can Be Somebody's Fool" reaching No. 37, No. 58, and No. 64 respectively. The album marks the beginning of Griffith's long association with keyboardist James Hooker, who would appear on every album until 2006.
One Fair Summer Evening was 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.
Storms was the eighth studio album released by singer-songwriter Nanci Griffith. When recording the album, Griffith chose to go in the direction of mainstream pop music. This was quite a musical change for her, as her previous albums had been folk and country music. Griffith enlisted the talents of noted rock music producer Glyn Johns for the musical style change. The album landed at No. 42 on the Billboard Country Albums chart, and at No. 99 on the Pop Albums chart in 1989. The last track on the album, "Radio Fragile", is about singer-songwriter Phil Ochs.
Other Voices, Too was a 1998 album by Nanci Griffith. It was her thirteenth studio album. 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.
Ruby's Torch is a 2006 Nanci Griffith album on Rounder Records. It is a collection of torch songs penned by Griffith and various other artists, including Tom Waits, Jimmy Webb and Donal MacDonagh Long. All the songs are produced with lush backing arrangements from a string orchestra.
Hearts in Mind is an album by folk-country singer Nanci Griffith, which was released in Ireland and the United Kingdom on October 11, 2004. It was later released in the USA on February 1, 2005 featuring the bonus track "Our Very Own".. As with Griffith's 2001 album Clock Without Hands, Vietnam is a recurring theme.
Winter Marquee is a live album by folk singer Nanci Griffith. It was her first album for Rounder Records after leaving Elektra Records. Recorded live during the Clock Without Hands tour in spring 2002, this album grew from the original wish to capture just one live song into a 14-track live CD album, Griffith's first live recording since One Fair Summer Evening (1988). On May 29, 2002, at the historic Tennessee Theatre in Knoxville, a live performance was filmed, and released on DVD under the same name. During the recording of both the album and the DVD, Griffith was joined on stage by Emmylou Harris, Tom Russell and Andrew Hardin.
Clock Without Hands is Nanci Griffith's fourteenth studio album, released in July 2001. This was her last studio album that Griffith worked with Elektra Records. It was named after Carson McCullers's final novel. The album contains a particularly personal collection of songs, including "Last Song for Mother", a tribute to her 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.
Blue Roses from the Moons was the twelfth 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 Griffith, 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.
Flyer was the eleventh studio album released by singer-songwriter Nanci Griffith. Released in 1994, it contained 15 tracks, mostly of original material. It was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album at the 37th Annual Grammy Awards. The album had contributions from Peter Buck, Mark Knopfler, Emmylou Harris, Larry Mullen Jr., Adam Clayton, Adam Duritz, the Chieftains and the Indigo Girls.
"Love at the Five and Dime" is a song written and originally recorded by Nanci Griffith and later recorded and released by American country music artist Kathy Mattea. It was released in April 1986 as the first single from Mattea's album Walk the Way the Wind Blows. The song was Mattea's breakthrough hit, becoming her first top 10 hit and eventually peaking at No. 3 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart.
Doug Lancio is a guitarist and record producer, based in Nashville, Tennessee. He has worked with a wide range of artists including John Hiatt, Nanci Griffith, Patty Griffin and Bob Dylan.
James Hooker is an American keyboard player, singer/songwriter and composer.
John Mock is an American multi-instrumentalist, composer, arranger, producer, and photographer with a particular interest in the topic of maritime history and culture.
