Carly Simon: Live at Grand Central explained

Carly Simon: Live at Grand Central
Artist:	Carly Simon
Type:	video
Cover:	File:CarlysimonLiveatgrandcentral.jpg
Caption:	Original VHS cover
Released:	April 1995
Recorded:	April 2, 1995
Venue:	Midtown Manhattan, New York City
Genre:	Live, pop, adult contemporary
Length:	70 minutes

Carly Simon: Live at Grand Central is a 1995 concert special that aired on Lifetime Television. Performed in the middle of New York City's Grand Central Terminal, the surprise concert was a prelude to Simon's first concert tour in 14 years.^[1] It featured Simon and a live band performing the majority of her Letters Never Sent album, as well as some of her hits such as "That's the Way I've Always Heard It Should Be", "Anticipation", "Legend in Your Own Time", "Haven't Got Time for the Pain", "Jesse", "Coming Around Again", and "Let the River Run". It was directed by English music video and film director Nigel Dick.^[2]

For this special, Simon was nominated for two CableACE Awards: Performance in a Music Special and Original Song for "Touched by the Sun", winning for the latter.^{[3] [4]}

Production and release history

It was Jackie Onassis's idea for Simon to perform in Grand Central.^[5] Simon wrote the song "Touched by the Sun" for Onassis, which originally appeared on Simon's album Letters Never Sent (1994).^[6] The surprise performance "stopped commuters in their tracks",^[7] and aired on Lifetime on May 21, 1995. Simon was also featured in an episode of the Lifetime original series Intimate Portrait, which was broadcast the same night.^[8]

Live at Grand Central was released on home video on December 12, 1995.^[9] The concert was restored and re-released on January 27, 2023 on Blu-ray, Vinyl and CD,^[10] and can be purchased through Simon's official website.^[11] Alongside the announcement, a video of "Like a River" from the concert was released, which was not featured on its original release.^[10]

Track listings

All tracks composed by Carly Simon; except where indicated.

Original 1995 release

1. "Touched by the Sun"
2. "Haven't Got Time for the Pain" (Simon/Jacob Brackman)
3. "Letters Never Sent" (Simon/Brackman)
4. "I've Got to Have You" (Kris Kristofferson)
5. "Anticipation"
6. "Halfway 'Round the World"
7. "Legend in Your Own Time"
8. "Jesse" (Simon/Mike Mainieri)
9. "De Bat (Fly in Me Face)"
10. "Coming Around Again"
11. "Davy"
12. "That's the Way I've Always Heard It Should Be" (Simon/Brackman)
13. "Let the River Run"
14. "We Have No Secrets"

Revised 2023 re-release

1. "Touched by the Sun"
2. "Anticipation"
3. "I've Got to Have You" (Kris Kristofferson)
4. "We Have No Secrets"
5. "Haven't Got Time for the Pain" (Simon/Jacob Brackman)
6. "Jesse" (Simon/Mike Mainieri)
7. "That's the Way I've Always Heard It Should Be" (Simon/Brackman)
8. "Letters Never Sent" (Simon/Brackman)
9. "Legend in Your Own Time"
10. "De Bat (Fly in Me Face)"
11. "Davy"
12. "Halfway 'Round the World"
13. "Like a River"
14. "Coming Around Again"
15. "Let the River Run"

Awards

CableACE Awards
Year	Work	Award	Recipient	Result	Ref
1995	"Touched by the Sun"	Original Song	Carly Simon
	Live at Grand Central	Performance in a Music Special or Series
		Directing a Music Special or Series	Nigel Dick

Live album

Live at Grand Central
Type:	live
Artist:	Carly Simon
Cover:	File:Carly Simon Live at Grand Central.jpg
Label:	C'est Music Arista
Producer:	Frank Filipetti
Prev Title:	Songs from the Trees (A Musical Memoir Collection)
Prev Year:	2015
Next Year:	2023

Live at Grand Central was made available for the first time on vinyl and CD on January 27, 2023, making it Simon's second live album, following Greatest Hits Live in 1988.

A review from Riff magazine stated: "This new release of Live at Grand Central captures [Simon's] command of the stage beautifully, and the remixing does it the justice it deserves."^[12]

Track listing

Credits adapted from the album's liner notes.^[13]

Personnel

• Teese Gohl – music director, keyboards
• Rick Marotta – drums
• Doug Wimbish – bass
• Peter Calo – guitar
• Dirk Ziff – guitar
• Mick Rossi – keyboards
• Mindy Jostyn – violin
• Eric Bazilian – mandolin
• Marc Cohn – backing vocals
• Jerry Barnes – backing vocals
• Katreese Barnes – backing vocals
• Curtis King – backing vocals

Charts

Album – Billboard (United States)^[14]

External links

• Carly Simon's official website

Notes and References

1. Web site: Live At Grand Central 1995 . https://web.archive.org/web/20121119052057/http://www.carlysimon.com/music/Live_At_Grand_Central.html . November 19, 2012 . Carlysimon.com . October 31, 2021.
2. Web site: Carly Simon – Live at Grand Central . . November 4, 2022 . November 4, 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221104230548/https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/462734/carly-simon-live-at-grand-central#overview . live.
3. Web site: Carly Simon: Live at Grand Central – Awards . . May 17, 2021 . November 10, 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221110214650/https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0449509/awards/ . live.
4. Web site: HBO and Garry Shandling's 'Larry Sanders Show' Lead CableACE Awards . . November 4, 2022 . March 19, 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220319150051/https://apnews.com/article/be8db562a5d5872a3bd026f0a5045360 . live.
5. Web site: Bonko . Larry . Carly Simon Spends 3 Hours Signing "Jackie" Books for Fans, Drops Newly Mixed Single Also Named 'Touched by the Sun' . Showbiz 411 . 23 October 2019 . November 4, 2022 . October 24, 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20191024013315/https://www.showbiz411.com/2019/10/23/carly-simon-spends-3-hours-signing-jackie-books-for-fans-drops-newly-mixed-single-also-named-touched-by-the-sun . live.
6. Web site: Carlysimon.com . Letters Never Sent . https://web.archive.org/web/20121113224810/http://www.carlysimon.com/music/Letters_Never_Sent.html#press . November 13, 2012 . August 30, 2014.
7. Web site: Star Tracks . . October 12, 2022 . February 15, 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20130215021033/http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20105494,00.html . dead.
8. Web site: Bonko . Larry . "Gramps" is surely no Ben Matlock . . October 12, 2022 . April 23, 2008 . https://web.archive.org/web/20080423232001/https://scholar.lib.vt.edu/VA-news/VA-Pilot/issues/1995/vp950520/05180070.htm . live.
9. Web site: . Live At Grand Central – Carly Simon . November 4, 2022 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20220605001806/https://www.allmusic.com/album/live-at-grand-central-mw0000946022 . June 5, 2022.
10. Web site: Carly Simon Releasing Her Iconic Concert 'Live At Grand Central Station' . 2 November 2022 . . November 3, 2022 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20221104165559/https://www.legacyrecordings.com/2022/11/02/carly-simon-releasing-her-iconic-concert-live-at-grand-central-station/ . November 4, 2022.
11. Web site: Carly Simon Official Website – Store . Carlysimon.com . November 3, 2022 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20221102154136/https://www.carlysimon.com/shop . November 2, 2022.
12. Web site: Alm . Rachel . REVIEW: Carly Simon revisits 'Grand Central' on reissued live album . RIFF . January 23, 2023 . January 29, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230123154318/https://riffmagazine.com/album-reviews/carly-simon-live-at-grand-central-2023-reissue/ . January 23, 2023 . live.
13. Carly Simon . Live at Grand Central . 2023 . booklet . C'est Music.
14. Web site: Carly Simon – Chart history . . December 27, 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221021023757/https://www.billboard.com/artist/carly-simon/chart-history/tlp/ . October 21, 2022 . live.