Donna Summer Live In Concert--Twice

[Robbie]

I recently popped Donna's "Live And More Encore" into the CD player, not having listened to it in a very long time. I have to say it sounded so good to hear Donna sing live again.

This CD was from 1999; it was recorded off of the VH-1 special Donna did in early 1999. I also have her first "Live and More" album (1978). Comparing the two albums within a span of 20 years, Donna has not only gotten better with age, but her influence has gone beyond anything one could imagine.

"LAM-Encore", although obviously covering most of her work covering two decades (knowing that her biggest hits were to come post-1978), really endures. One of the great things about this album is that you really get to hear her versatility, especially in her gutsy rendition of "Dim All The Lights", a song she had written and wanted to bring to Rod Stewart to record. Her voice is so amazing that in the beginning of the record, she can sound as raspy as Rod. Another great thing is that Donna is very down-to-earth; you can hear it throughout this album. You almost get a feeling as if you've known her for so long and like you're a close friend of hers.

The "more" (studio) portion is good, although there are only two songs. "I Will Go With You" is a nice song, as is the techno-ish "Love Is The Healer".

Donna's first "Live And More" is also good, but after hearing "Encore" you just have a better appreciation for her and her music. "LAM" focused primarily on "Once Upon A Time" and "I Remember Yesterday" selections, plus standards and a song she wrote for her daughter. I was somewhat disappointed by the third side. "Try Me" was great, but "Love To Love You" couldn't hold up the same. I think the audience was waiting for "Last Dance". I thought the ending where you hear the guys shouting "far out" in those surfer dude voices was a fitting one. Of course, in order to fit 70 minutes on the CD, "MacArthur Park Suite" was taken out and "Down Deep Inside" was added in instead. I like it, but it just wasn't the same without the Suite.

I'd recommend "Live And More--Encore" from 1999 to anybody who has never heard Donna perform live. She is truly one of the greatest gifts not just to disco music, but to music in general. I just hope "LAM--E" is still in the stores, for it's been three years since its release.

[DanceMan]

Coincidentally - all last week I was playing the LAM-Encore which I picked up when it first came out. I enjoyed it very much...although if you are comparing Donna's voice from 1978, I have to disagree with you as I compared Last Dance and MacArthur Park and there was no way that she could either hit the same early high notes nor sustain those same notes as long ...otherwise, i have no complaints....pretty good for a woman in her mid-50s....and I still love Donna in spite of some of the incidious comments she made about Gay people when she was going thru her Born again phase.....i didnt care for the newer cuts, they were throwaways, although I like the Andre Bocelli cut a lot and she did do a fantastic job on it!

[sirius]

Dear Danceman!
LaDonna never made such stupid sentences
about Gays and AIDS...the politics and the
media made this out of her. She never said
that "AIDS is the divine punishment for the
gays", but she said that they were very
promiscous and will pray for the people with
AIDS. That´s all!
After the Disco-Sucks-Campaign in 79, also
the Queen of Disco has to be erased.
Remember that even Paul Jabara (one of her
best friends) died on AIDS.
Donna find her way to religion like so many
other BlackPeople before and after her
(Marvin Gaye, Prince, Stevie Wonder, Gloria
Gaynor, and so many more).
By the way, there were lots of interviews
in the 90ies with her(esp. in GayMagazines
like "Attitude" or "Genre") and "I Feel Love
Forever"!!!
Cosmic Love & Kisses From SIRIUS & DARKTUNES

[Jeff H]

Hi DanceMan--

Sure, Donna might not be able to hit and/or hold some of those notes the way she used to, but I think her voice has a deeper, richer, more resonant quality than it used to.

I think her voice actually sounded BETTER as her career progressed, so I wonder if her voice just matured, or if as a young performer she was told by her producers to sing a certain way, or both. I sometimes wonder what those early classics might have sounded like if she had been able to really cut loose. :grin:

And as for the issue of her alleged comments about AIDS, we have debated that "urban legend" before (it's the topic that caused me to finally become a regular poster and not just a "lurker," as Bernie describes it!). Check back through the (very) old posts for more info.

[Robbie]

JeffH--

I agree with you about Donna's voice today as opposed to her earlier years. I think her voice and singing style got better as the years went on. I was impressed by her vocal talent on the second live album. I could careless if she can't hit the highest notes like she could 25 years ago; I still think she has a wonderful voice.

As for the controversies, I think Donna made a public statement back in the early 90's about something that was printed in "New York" magazine that wasn't really true. Religious-wise, she grew up in a very religious family in Boston, and true to a typical 60's flower child, "rebelled", so to speak and was active in the psychadelic music scene before heading off to Germany to do plays and musicals. I remember reading that in the late 70's she was heavily into faith healers and astrologers before declaring herself "born again" in the 80's. Sort of like Gloria Gaynor, but I don't think Donna ever made any hard-core gospel albums like Gaynor did for a brief time.

[DanceMan]

whatever the case may be....i still LOVE Donna Summer and will always buy and read anything I can get my hands on regarding her....I wish we had more artists of her caliber and singing style today that we had in her back in the day...oh well....I am a true blue discofile so I am not out to trash any of our greats...though I do get critical from time to time being an ex-music critic....
ciao 4 now

[ol'skinflint]

Hi DanceMan--

Sure, Donna might not be able to hit and/or hold some of those notes the way she used to, but I think her voice has a deeper, richer, more resonant quality than it used to.

I think her voice actually sounded BETTER as her career progressed, so I wonder if her voice just matured, or if as a young performer she was told by her producers to sing a certain way, or both. I sometimes wonder what those early classics might have sounded like if she had been able to really cut loose. :grin:

And as for the issue of her alleged comments about AIDS, we have debated that "urban legend" before (it's the topic that caused me to finally become a regular poster and not just a "lurker," as Bernie describes it!). Check back through the (very) old posts for more info.

I agree with Jeff, I think she sounds better now, and she's without question one of dance music's most historic performers. I also think she looks better, less made up and more earthy. I'm just sorry that she doesn't perform or record as often as she did in disco's heyday but time never stands still. And she has ALREADY EXPLAINED that she never made that statement...she suspects that a magazine writer who was angry at her for cancelling an interview started that nonsense.

[Boogie Child]

Not that I want to start this debate again...

If you watch Donna Summer's HBO concert from 1983 ("A Hot Summer Night with Donna"), she makes the comment about "Adam and Eve not Adam and Steve" during the song "Woman". This was the time of her "born again" religious zeal, and she makes a few comments equating gay to sinful.
Of course, +25 years later, she may have a different point of view.

[totouk]

I have played that video from the HBO special many many times over the years and I have never heard the Adam and Steve remark. She may have said it in some concerts but it never made it to the video.

toto

[Boogie Child]

I now longer have a VHS player, so I can't watch the video, but this was posted at the Donna Summer forum regarding the HBO show:

"Donna was in her most fervently religious period of her career....and it was during this tour that all the big mistakes that black-balled her occurred. Yes...the "Adam and Steve" comment is in clear view during "Woman"...ugh. I was mortified. I also find her comment about her color very offensive...and not funny in the least. She comes across...to me...as very cold and bitchy. I prefer the more loving and warm Donna of today (and of course the sexy sleazy Donna of the 70's)...to this ultra-thin Bible-thumping zealot of 1983."

I may be wrong - it may have been cut - this person may be referring to a bootleg copy. I don't know.