Lifeline Extended

Lifeline Extended Artist: Holly Near , and Ronnie Gilbert
Label: Appleseed Records
Category: Music



Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
Format: Original recording remastered
Media: Audio CD
Number Of Discs: 2


UPC: 611587106629
EAN: 0611587106629
ASIN: B00006GOEP


Release Date: 2002-09-24

Related Categories:

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Related | Folk | Styles | Music
Traditional Folk Traditional Folk
Related | Folk | Styles | Music
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Tracks:

  1. Harriet Tubman
  2. Si Me Quieres Escribir
  3. Pastures Of Plenty
  4. Beloved Comrade
  5. Two Good Arms
  6. Biko
  7. Isabel
  8. Started Out Fine
  9. The Right Time
  10. No More Genocide
  11. Kid's Song
  12. Hay Una Mujer Desparecida
  13. Goodnight Irene

Tracks:

  1. Greetings (spoken)
  2. Women's Medley
  3. I Cried
  4. Activity Room
  5. Perfect Night
  6. Lucky to Be Men
  7. Stormy Medley
  8. Army Song / Chairman of the Board
  9. Family Promise
  10. Singing for Our Lives
  11. Singing With You

Similar Items:

  1. This Train Still Runs
  2. HARP: A Time to Sing
  3. Still We Sing: The Outspoken Collection
  4. Cris & Holly
  5. Edge

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars An Absolute Treasure..........2005-04-26

Like one of the other reviewers who commented on this album, I had nearly worn out my cassette tapes of these songs. I was thrilled to see they had been re-released on CD and especially happy that additional material was included in the new release. I purchased a video documentary several years ago called "Wasn't That a Time". It was about the Weavers (a folk group with which Ronnie Gilbert sang in the fifties) and their journey through the McCarthy era and beyond blacklisting. That documentary chronicled, I believe, the first duet that Ronnie Gilbert and Holly Near sang - and the chemistry they demonstrated as they sang on camera is guaranteed to raise goosebumps in even the most jaded viewer. Since then, Gilbert and Near have proven to be mesmerizing, funny, and absolutely in synch in their performances. Don't pass this album by - you won't be sorry you purchased it!

5 out of 5 stars Astonishing.......2004-03-22

When Holly Near came together with Ronnie Gilbert for the concert that became "Lifeline", the two of them produced an album of nearly unparalleled strength and power. It may be an album of anthems for the left, as the Amazon review says, but I think it's more of an album of anthems for the heart. "Singing for Our Lives" is in particular a song about HIV/AIDS, which at the time of the recording was ignored by the Alzheimer's-riddled mind of Ronald Reagan, and there has never been a more powerful song: "We are a gentle, angry people, and we are singing, singing for our lives." I am so glad to see that the album has been re-released on CD, 'cause I've worn my tape out. Holly Near is the high priestess of lesbian music, and Ronnie Gilbert is a legend. What more could anyone ask for?

5 out of 5 stars A great performance, a great recording and a great reissue........2002-11-30

If you think you might have the REMOTEST interest in Holly Near, Ronnie Gilbert, The Weavers, or this kind of folk music, you will love this recording.

My cherished copy of this on LP hasn't been available for years. This 2-CD set improves on the LP in every way.

What I can't get over, listening to this music again, is what a really, REALLY exceptional performance it is. When Pete Seeger and Arlo Guthrie sing "together" (to take another intergenerational pair) I always have the felt that the collaboration is casual and perhaps not very intensively rehearsed.

But when Holly Near and Ronnie Gilbert sing, I hear two very accomplished singers with two strong voices, completely different in sound, yet blending perfectly... just singing their hearts out, holding nothing back, and perfectly _in tune_ both musically and emotionally.

The live recording captures the excitement and involvement of the moment, and the intense, sincere cheering and applauding of the mostly-female audience.

Wow.

The original LP, which hasn't been available for years, contained a total of 15 tracks running 53 minutes. This 2 CD-set contains of 23 tracks and 88 minutes of music. The CD includes nine tracks which did not appear on the LP, every one a worthy addition: "Starting Out Fine," "The Right Time," "Kid's Song," "Women's Medley," "I Cried," "Lucky To Be Me," "Army Song/Chairman of the Board," "Family Promise," and "Singing With You." One song on the LP, "Gracias A La Vida", is omitted from the CD.

It is especially good to have Ronnie Gilbert's "Army Song." The song is from Brecht and Weill's _The Threepenny Opera_ but the track is actually a short theatrical monologue which, as I write this, seems regrettably apropos.

I played this for the first time on my car player, and track 5, "Two Good Arms," happened to be playing just as I passed the dome of the courthouse in Dedham where Sacco and Vanzetti received their unfair trail. Perhaps I unconsciously knew this when I put the CD in, but I'll take my synchronicity where I can find it: it was very moving.

"Hay Una Mujer Desaparecida" sent shivers down my spine. "Harriet Tubman" made me want to stand up and cheer. "The Activity Room" is just plain _nice_.

I am glad the lifeline of this recording has been extended, and I wish a happy and "extended lifeline" to Holly Near, Ronnie Gilbert, and everyone who captured this wonderful moment, first in vinyl and now in polycarbonate.

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