This mid-'70s double album trawls through the highlights of Dory Previn's four previous works, with two new songs added. The material on Live at Carnegie Hall is enriched by audience reaction and occasional raucous laughter, rather than the playing, which is competent but staid in parts. It is certainly gratifying to hear an artist so clearly nervous eliciting such a warm and enthusiastic response, but that aside, there's nothing that makes these renditions any better or worse than their studio counterparts. But Previn's guileless, untutored voice is a touching instrument live, and the between-song chat is witty and affecting. Of the two new songs, "Be Careful, Baby, Be Careful" is the best -- a cabaret-style ballad in which she sings, "Kick a person when she's up/And you can break her spirit you know/But kick a person when she's down/And all you'll break is your toe."
© Charles Donovan /TiVo