Search - Tribute to Nicolette Larson :: A Tribute to Nicolette Larson: Lotta Love Concert

A LOT TO LOVE AND A LOT LEFT OUT

John Jenks | West Hollywood, CA | 02/21/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I attended both nights of concerts honoring the life and music of the late Nicolette Larson at Santa Monica Civic Auditorium in February of 1998. The first night, I'd bought a ticket to the sold-out show from a scalper and enthralled, I watched the show from the tenth row. The second night, a member of the house band gave me a laminated all access pass and, enraptured (not hyperbole), I watched from the wings of the stage. A live release of the event had been long rumored, but after so many years had lapsed, I'd long since given up hope of ever seeing any keepsake of these wonderful performances surface, save for the roll of photos I snapped, the bootleg cassette that some rabid queen from Long Beach mailed to me later on, and the backstage stories I duly diarized when I got home that night. (It's not everyday that Mary Kay Place walks in on me when I'm standing at a urinal.) So at long last - arriving on Valentine's Day, no less - Nicolette is getting her due. This set boasts mainly the big hits - e.g., Ronstadt & Blue Bayou, Browne & Running on Empty, Buffett & Margaritaville (would have thought Come Monday a more appropriate choice, given the circumstances). But take it from one who was there: to pare down to a single disc, hard decisions had to be made and more magical moments somehow ended up on the cutting room floor, such as Ronstadt's spine-tingling take on Jimmy Webb's Adios, which mystifies me not just because it was vocal perfection (despite her onstage disclaimer that it was past her bedtime) but because its sentiment reflected the evening's most fitting tribute to her friend, former roommate, and singing sister. Emmylou Harris, who only appeared on the second of the two evenings, gave a brief dedication to Nicolette explaining why she selected Even Cowgirls Get the Blues, but that too was sadly omitted. Larson is remembered most for her biggest hit, Lotta Love, on which Carole King, Bonnie Raitt, and the astonishingly good Valerie Carter & Rosemary Butler trade off verses. [By the way, don't believe the liner notes: unless they were overdubbed later, Mary Kay Place, Linda Ronstadt & Emmylou Harris do NOT sing on this track; diva-licious Ronstadt arrived at the SaMo Civic exactly at intermission, went onstage to do her three numbers in the second half and grudgingly stuck around for the ensemble finale of You've Got a Friend, after which she immediately BOLTED the premises. Notice that she is the only artist absent in the group photo.] Bonnie Raitt's Love Has No Pride (wow!) contextualizes the live disc, reminding us of the relevance of the two evenings' worth of concerts, as do Jackson Browne's acoustic For a Dancer and Crosby, Stills & Nash's cover of In My Life & Dan Fogelberg's Part of the Plan, a much more profound song than the ditty I remembered. So there is a lot to love, but a lot left out, and a long time to wait



SERVING SUGGESTION: Nicolette Larson Live At The Roxy from 1979 (released by Rhino Handmade in a pressing limited to 5,000 copies)"

A "Lotta Love" In The Room

Erik North | San Gabriel, CA USA | 02/19/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Though she may not necessarily have been considered a superstar, Nicolette Larson was a singer who had a lot of big-name friends whom she supported and who supported her. Her untimely passing in December 1997 at the age of 45, due to a cerebral edema, deeply affected that community of 70s/80s singer/songwriters who were close to her throughout her career and her life. A tribute was held in her memory at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium over a period of two nights in February 1998. Now, after eight years of various entanglements and haggling, the music of those two nights has been compiled onto this fine CD.



Emceed by Robert Hays, this tribute CD brings together many of Nicky's friends together--Carole King; Bonnie Raitt; Jackson Browne; Dan Fogelberg; Crosby, Stills, and Nash; Joe Walsh; Little Feat; Jimmy Buffett; Emmylou Harris; and Linda Ronstadt. All of them band together to do Nicky's big 1979 Neil Young-penned smash "Lotta Love" to start things off, and Carole's "You've Got A Friend" to wrap it all up. And in between, we get that whole Los Angeles-based music mafia doing their thing. Walsh (alias Mr. "Hey How Ya Dooin'") does his thing on "Rocky Mountain Way"; Buffett, the original Parrothead, does his 1977 classic "Margaritaville"; and Jackson gives us "Running On Empty" and the meditative "For A Dancer."



As tends to happen, of course, the women really stand out, with Bonnie doing an acoustic version of "Love Has No Pride", and Emmylou giving us "Even Cowgirls Get The Blues." But perhaps the biggest ovation of the night for any of the artists was that given to Nicky's fellow "road warrior" Linda, who had not been seen much in recent times due to health problems. Linda, who is the godmother to Nicky's daughter Elsie Mae, is featured here reprising her heartfelt 1977 classic "Blue Bayou" as a poignant tribute to her fallen friend.



Although it is a pity that these performances took eight long and grinding years to see their legitimate apperances on CD, it is nevertheless nice to have them now than not to have them at all. There was definitely a "lotta love" in the room for one of pop music's most underappreciated (by the public) artists, and it shows on this fabulous recording."

You'll Get A Lotta Love To Get You Thru This Tribute

Garry D | Scottsdale, AZ | 03/21/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Nicolette is known by the vast public for that one song written by Neil Young. But what a cover! It still blasts from the radio as stong as the day it was released.

A heartfelt, almost perfect tribute with the artists who worked with and loved her. Almost perfect because I didn't think Margaritaville was a good choice for Jimmy Buffett (and I'm a diehard Parrothead!) I would have liked 'La Vie Danssante' or even a shot at 'Rhumba Girl'. Just a thought. Everyone is in fine form. Turn off 'American Idol', listen to this CD and see how its done.

Footnote: Neil Young performs 'Lotta Love' in his concert movie "Heart Of Gold" and does it for 'Nick'.

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