Jane Olivor - The Best Side of Goodbye (1980)

Jane Olivor (born May 18, 1947) is an American cabaret singer. She was initially compared, often favorably, to Barbra Streisand and Edith Piaf. After releasing five albums from the late 1970s through the early 1980s, her stage fright, anxieties over her rapid success, and her husband's illness and death caused her to take a 10-year hiatus from her career. Reviving her performing and recording career in the early 1990s, she released five more albums from 1995 through 2004. Since 2009, she has been retired from the public eye.

Her fourth album, The Best Side of Goodbye, produced by Louie Shelton, Michael Masser, and Jason Darrow, was released in 1980 and climbed to number 58 on the Billboard charts. Columbia released the song "Don't Let Go of Me" as the album's only single.
Jane Olivor was a stranger in a strange land crafting albums in the '70s which never reached the potential of Love Decides, her Varese Sarabande compact disc released in 2000. The Best Side of Goodbye (1980) comes close with its sensitive settings for Olivor's thoughtful vocals.
Producer Jason Darrow creates a subdued Barry Manilow-type production with the title track, while Michael Masser produces what is arguably the definitive version of his collaboration with Linda Creed, the George Benson hit from 1977 "The Greatest Love of All." Whitney Houston would take it to number one in 1986, but in Jane Olivor's care the song enjoys a different nuance, perhaps one that its co-creator had in mind to begin with. Olivor sounds absolutely determined as the strings swell up behind her and she belts out the philosophy. Louie Shelton also offers his vision for the singer, and "Manchild Lullaby" becomes a serenade for adults, the other side of Linda Ronstadt's Dedicated to the One I Love. Olivor's singing is ghostly and ethereal on Gordon Lightfoot's "Weeping Willows, Cattails," empowering on Gerry Goffin and Michael Masser's "To Love Again," and heartfelt on Randy Edelman's "Don't Let Go of Me."
Three producers on one project is the Tina Turner Private Dancer approach, and hearing what these individuals do with Olivor's perfect vocal instrument is as enjoyable as listening to her take each note and stretch it for all it is worth. As Olivia Newton-John would go to different extremes, keeping it loose on Totally Hot and going beyond serious on Warm and Tender, Jane Olivor takes both paths and builds a satisfying set of performances. It took two decades before she could surpass this effort, as she did so admirably with Love Decides.
"The Best Side of Goodbye" stands on its own as a valuable look at a valuable artist. It has a special power and some of its moments are quite moving.

Track listing

01. "Manchild Lullaby"  (S. Schwartz, L. Snow)  - 4:22 
02. "A Long And Lasting Love"  (G. Goffin, M. Masser)  - 3:46 
03. "Golden Pony"  (K. Dunham, B. Gundry)  - 3:25 
04. "Weeping Willows, Cattails"  (G. Lightfoot)  - 3:54 
05. "To Love Again"  (G. Goffin, M. Masser)  - 4:37 
06. "Don't Let Go Of Me"  (R. Edelman)  - 3:33 
07. "Love This Time"  (P. McCann)  - 3:49 
08. "The Best Side Of Goodbye"  (G. Cohen, M. Berardi, R. Berardi)  - 3:40 
09. "The Greatest Love Of All"  (M. Masser, L. Creed)  - 4:49 
10. "Vagabond"  (C. Assous, E. Marnay)  - 3:00 

Credits
Jane Olivor - vocals
Frank Owens - strings
Julia Tillman Waters, Maxine Willard Waters, Oren Waters - background vocals
Audio Mixers - Jimmie Haskell, Michael Delugg, Rob Mounsey
Arrangers - David Frank, Gerard Cohen, Jane Olivor, Louie Shelton, Michael Masser, Perry Botkin Jr., Rob Mounsey, Randy Edelman, Greg Mathieson.
Engineers - Doug Epstein, Joe Bogan, Michael DeLugg
Design [Cover] – John Berg
Photography By – Brian Hagiwara
Producer – Jason Darrow, Louie Shelton, Michael Masser

Notes
Genre:  Pop, Music Hall
Length:  39:07
© 1980

Label - Columbia Records

 

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Jane Olivor - In Concert (1982)

Jane Olivor (born May 18, 1947) is an American cabaret singer. She was initially compared, often favorably, to Barbra Streisand and Edith Piaf. After releasing five albums from the late 1970s through the early 1980s, her stage fright, anxieties over her rapid success.
Jane Olivor “In Concert”, her first live album, was recorded in December 1981 at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, and released in 1982.
Although it was a live album, Jane Olivor's fifth LP release, “In Concert”, could be considered her next regular recording rather than the usual profit-taking remake of past hits. At least two-thirds of it could, since eight of the 12 tracks were songs she had not recorded previously. Her back catalog was accounted for by "Better Days (Looks as Though We're Doing Somethin' Right)" and "Carousel of Love" from First Night, the title song from Stay the Night, and "Weeping Willows, Cattails" from The Best Side of Goodbye. Her other choices were typically opposite and typically surprising. She reclaimed John Denver's 1974 hit "Annie's Song" from a female perspective, rediscovered a worthy but underrated 1980 singles chart entry from Grace Slick with "Seasons," anticipated the success of Dan Fogelberg's "Run for the Roses," and provided a vocal version of Vangelis' hit theme from the hit film Chariots of Fire with "Race to the End." These tracks continued her mission of making art songs out of thoughtful pop, but her fans had to be most excited by the inclusion of three songs co-written by the singer: "Pretty Girl," "Where There Is Love," and "Marigold Wings (Earthbound)." Here, she indulged her taste for torch singing to the fullest and suggested that she might be able to make the transition to being a singer/songwriter. Alas, In Concert proved to be a swan song, at least to the initial phase of Olivor's career. Music business pressures and personal tragedy combined to take her away from performing for more than a decade and away from the record bins for more than 18 years, which made her final Columbia album a precious document instead of the relatively minor addition to her catalog it had seemed at the time of its release.


01.  "Stay The Night"  (M. Green, N. Dolph)  - 3:25 
02.  "Run For The Roses"  (Dan Fogelberg)  - 3:27 
03.  "Pretty Girl"  (Jane Olivor, Kathy Wakefield)  - 2:50 
04.  "Where There Is Love"  (Jane Olivor, M.Leikin)  - 2:45 
05.  "Better Days (Looks As Though We're Doing Somethin' Right)"  (C.Sager, M.Manchester)  - 2:04 
06.  "Carousel Of Love"  (J. Darrow, J. Stone)  - 2:11 
07.  "Marigold Wings (Earthbound)"  (Jane Olivor, Kathy Wakefield)  - 2:25 
08.  "Annie's Song"  (John Denver)  - 2:42 
09.  "Seasons"  (Grace Slick)  - 2:40 
10.  "Weeping Willows, Cattails"  (Gordon Lightfoot)  - 2:30 
11.  "Daydreams"  (G. Delerue, Jason Darrow)  - 3:31 
12.  "Race To The End (From The Hit Movie "Chariots Of Fire")"  (Vangelis, J. Anderson)  - 2:30 

Credits
Brian Koonin - acoustic guitar, electric guitar, synthesizer
Jack Bashkow - ocarina, reeds, saxophone
David Frank - piano
Joel Diamond , Bob Stecko - keyboards
John Caruso - synthesizer
Ron Tierno - drums, percussion
Don Yowell, Thomas Young - background vocals
Director - David Frank
Photographers - Don Hunstein; David Gahr
Arrangers - J. Stone; David Frank; Joel Diamond ; Richie Rome; Bob Stecko; Bernard Grobman; Jane Olivor; Lee Holdridge ; Michael Delugg; Brian Koonin.

Notes
Recorded at Berkley School of Music, Boston
Genre: Pop
Lenght: 35:28

© 1982 Columbia Records

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