Nanci Griffith: One Fair Summer Evening (1988)
Sweet-voiced songstress Nanci Griffith straddled the folk and country genres, enjoying modest success with her own recordings and having her songs recorded by country hit makers such as Suzy Bogguss and Kathy Mattea.
Before courting a wider audience with the more pop-oriented releases that followed–much the same way that Mary Chapin Carpenter had done more successfully a couple years earlier–Griffith’s August 1988 Anderson Fair (Houston) performance neatly encapsulated her career to that point with a combination of originals and well-chosen covers
She even made Julie Gold’s “From a Distance” a top ten hit in Ireland prior to Bette Midler taking the song to stratospheric heights.
The sympathetic, restrained accompaniment of the Blue Moon Orchestra gives this live release an organic feel throughout. Compared to the original studio versions, which often seem over produced, these recordings feel like the definitive versions of these songs.
Despite only modest success on its release, this album feels like a classic today.
Listen to: “Once in a Very Blue Moon”
Listen to: “Looking For the Time (Workin’ Girl)”
Listen to: “The Wing and the Wheel”
Listen to “From a Distance”
Listen to: “Love at the Five and Dime”
Every Moment Has A Song 