From a Distance: The Very Best of Nanci Griffith

by

Nanci Griffith

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I was turned on to Nancy Griffith back in 1988 by a young country western singer attending Manhattan's American Academy of Dramatic Arts and Music. Knowing my interest in music, he convinced me buy "One Fair Summer Evening," which immediately became a seminal part of my music collection.

Now, on one CD you get some of the best songs from that album as well as many other favorites - all beautifully remastered. I compare this lady's musical progression (bear with me here) to Woody Allen's growth as a filmmaker. She is never satisfied to stick with what made her popular. She's always expanding her music to reflect her own personal interests and causes. Sometimes that has led to less than perfect albums. But you have to admire someone who wants to grow as a person and as an artist.

I finally had the privilege of seeing her in concert last December here in NYC (rescheduled from 9/14/01, for obvious reasons). And I repaid a longstanding debt to the guy who connected me with her music so many years ago - I took a lady to the concert who had never heard Nanci's music. In one evening she became a devoted fan.

Do yourself a favor and buy this CD. I'd have to highly recommend "One Fair Summer Evening" also. It includes the song "Red Brick Floor," which is just beautiful. My view is that Ms. Grifffith should be a lot more famous than she is. Her voice and talent are huge. But I have the impression that isn't as important to her as making little pieces of art with her Blue Moon Band.

As a fan of Nanci Griffith for many years, I was delighted at the prospect of a new "Best of" CD. That is, until I saw that 15 of the 22 cuts on "From a Distance" were previously released together on an earlier compilation, "The MCA Years: A Retrospective," issued in 1993 and still readily available. Which begs the question: Why is this CD necessary? If the material itself is glorious, the marketing motivation for re-re-releasing it is much less so. I would encourage potential buyers of this to instead purchase the earlier compilation, which also includes the great songs "Deadwood South Dakota," "So Long Ago" and "Listen to the Radio," and also buy the live CD "One Fair Summer Evening." Then one would have truly the finest of Nanci Griffith's music from those MCA years.