Wikipedia

Live City Sounds

Live City Sounds is a live album by the American musician Mary Lou Lord, released in 2001.[1] It was a return to Lord's busking roots.[2][3]

Live City Sounds
Live album by
Mary Lou Lord
Released2001
Recorded2000
VenuePark Street station, Boston; Harvard Square
GenreIndie folk
LabelRubric
Mary Lou Lord chronology
Got No Shadow
(1998) 		Live City Sounds
(2001) 		Baby Blue
(2004)

The album was originally sold via mail, before being reissued by Rubric Records.[4][5]

Production

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The album includes covers of songs by Richard Thompson, Big Star, the Magnetic Fields, and Bob Dylan, among others.[6][7][8] Lord recorded the album on a newly purchased portable DAT recorder, which she returned within 30 days for a refund.[9][10] The songs were captured at Park Street station, in Boston, and at Harvard Square.[11] A studio recording of "Speeding Motorcycle", a cover of the Daniel Johnston song, was included on the reissue.[10]

Critical reception

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Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic     [12]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music     [13]
Entertainment WeeklyB+[14]
(The New) Rolling Stone Album Guide     [15]

No Depression wrote that "Lord proves a particularly strong interpreter of Richard Thompson’s work, jangling through '1952 Vincent Black Lightning' and delicately rendering 'Beeswing'."[16] Entertainment Weekly noted that the highlights include "a pair of motorcycle odes by Richard Thompson and Daniel Johnston, and a languid take on Springsteen's 'Thunder Road' that recasts it as the daydream it probably always was."[14]

Trouser Press declared that "the performances, unembellished and heartfelt, are perfect."[4] The Boston Globe thought that "her imitations feel more like tributes than ripoffs."[17] The Chicago Tribune determined that the album "finds Lord's warm, waif-ish voice most moving on ballads but stretched on less sedate material."[18]

AllMusic wrote: "As a whole, this disc serves as a startling reemergence of Mary Lou Lord onto the indie folk rock scene. With more than her share of negative press from detractors, Lord lets the music speak for her. The music remains charming, simple, and powerful."[12] The Encyclopedia of Popular Music concluded that Live City Sounds "outshone her studio work."[13]

Track listing

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No.TitleLength
1."I Don't Want to Get Over You" 
2."She Had You" 
3."Thirteen" 
4."Vincent 52" 
5."Not Half Right" 
6."She's Still Bewitching Me" 
7."Ontario, Quebec and Me" 
8."His Lamest Flame" 
9."Beeswing" 
10."Thunder Road" 
11."By the Time It Gets Dark" 
12."Sayonara" 
13."Ricochet in Time" 
14."Own Worst Enemy" 
15."Lonesome When You Go" 

References

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  1. ^ Mehr, Bob (February 26, 2004). "Mary Lou Lord". Chicago Reader.
  2. ^ Catlin, Roger (31 Jan 2002). "Live City Sounds Mary Lou Lord". Calendar. Hartford Courant. p. 6.
  3. ^ "Grinding an ax for Richard Thompson". Iowa City Press-Citizen. 16 Jan 2003. p. D2.
  4. ^ a b "Mary Lou Lord". Trouser Press. Retrieved 20 February 2022.
  5. ^ Leonard, Marion (February 20, 2007). Gender in the Music Industry: Rock, Discourse and Girl Power. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. ISBN 9780754638629.
  6. ^ Devenish, Colin (March 1, 2002). "Mary Lou Lord's Got "Live"". Rolling Stone.
  7. ^ "Town's sounds". The Commercial Appeal. 16 May 2003. p. G3.
  8. ^ Trager, Oliver (2004). Keys to the Rain: The Definitive Bob Dylan Encyclopedia. Billboard Books. p. 703.
  9. ^ Pierce, Gala M. (24 Jan 2003). "Mary Lou Lord finds refuge playing in Boston's subway on her latest". Time Out!. Daily Herald. p. 6.
  10. ^ a b Molloy, Tim (3 Jan 2003). "Live City Sounds". The Philadelphia Inquirer. p. 8E.
  11. ^ Johnson, Heather (15 May 2003). "Indie Rock". The Tennessean. p. D3.
  12. ^ a b "Live City Sounds". AllMusic.
  13. ^ a b Larkin, Colin (2006). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Vol. 5. MUZE. pp. 322–323.
  14. ^ a b "Live: City Sounds". Entertainment Weekly.
  15. ^ (The New) Rolling Stone Album Guide. Simon & Schuster. 2004. pp. 494–495.
  16. ^ "Mary Lou Lord – Live City Sounds". No Depression. Retrieved 20 February 2022.
  17. ^ Massari, Paul (21 Feb 2002). "Mary Lou Lord Live: City Sounds Rubric Records". Calendar. The Boston Globe. p. 8.
  18. ^ Reger, Rick (17 Jan 2003). "Mary Lou Lord". Friday. Chicago Tribune. p. 7.4.
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