Why the long overdue release of a nearly 30-year-old concert recording means so much to me
5
By HoCo
Shortly before Carly Simon's friend, Jackie Kennedy Onassis, died in 1994, Carly wrote "Touched by the Sun," a powerful song in tribute to the inspiration she drew from the radiant former first lady.
Carly presented Jackie, by then ailing, with a copy of the song and shared that she had always wanted to perform an informal concert at Grand Central Terminal, the New York monument Jackie had helped preserve in the 1980s.
Jackie, moved by the song's lyrics, told Carly she ought to perform at Grand Central – and to sing "Touched by the Sun" there.
A year after Jackie died, Carly honored her friend by singing that song and some of her greatest hits and tracks from the album she was promoting at the time, "Letters Never Sent," at Grand Central Terminal in April 1995.
The resulting concert was initially released on VHS and laserdisc and then languished. Until now.
Friday brings its remastered and restored release on vinyl, CD, streaming and Blu-ray.
For me, that "Touched by the Sun" song, and the live performance of this music at that particular time, transcends being a fan of the artist who had served as an inspiration to me for more than 22 years at that point. And still does 50 years after our introduction via "You're So Vain."
The first time I interviewed Carly for the Miami Herald was for a story pegged to the November 1994 release of "Letters Never Sent," a personal album that featured "Touched by the Sun" and "Like a River," a wrenching and yet life-affirming song Carly wrote about her mother who had died that year. Both tunes were performed at that Grand Central gig.
One of my best friends, Jennifer, and I flew to Columbus, Ohio, to see Carly on a rare concert tour date in March 1995, a week or so before the Grand Central performance. Carly invited us backstage for our first of several meetings in person.
"Touched by the Sun," the centerpiece of this live recording, figures prominently in other more personal ways – for both artist and this listener.
Carly presented a copy of the lyrics to Jackie's family at her wake.
Last August, when my Mom died, I knew that "Touched by the Sun," a hard-strumming Carly rock song Mom especially liked, would feature in the music playlist I painstakingly designed for her Celebration of Life.
"Like a River" belonged at her service, too. I anguished over cutting it. But in keeping with my desire for a Norman Lear-styled sendoff for Mom – poignance but with a lot of laughs – I thought that beautiful tearjerker might tilt the balance too much away from laughter.
As Carly had wanted to thank a woman she loved for serving as such a monumental inspiration I, too, wanted to acknowledge Mom publicly for being someone who was also fearlessly "𝑐𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑙𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡" and who set such a high example.
Someone who pushed me out of my comfort zone.
"𝑂𝑓𝑡𝑒𝑛 𝐼 𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑤𝑎𝑙𝑘/𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑎𝑓𝑒 𝑠𝑖𝑑𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑡/...𝐵𝑢𝑡 𝑑𝑒𝑒𝑝 𝑑𝑜𝑤𝑛 𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑑𝑒 𝐼 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤/𝐼'𝑣𝑒 𝑔𝑜𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑛 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑔𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑡𝑠, 𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑛 𝑚𝑦 𝑟𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑒 𝑙𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑛𝑔/𝐿𝑒𝑡 𝑚𝑦 𝑤𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑑𝑒𝑠𝑖𝑟𝑒/𝑆𝑜𝑎𝑟 𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑛𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡/𝐼 𝑛𝑒𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑙𝑒𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚 𝑠𝑎𝑦, '𝑆[he] 𝑚𝑢𝑠𝑡 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑚𝑎𝑑.'
Someone to emulate who made me understand what a great life lesson line Carly composed: "𝐼 𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑔𝑒𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒/𝐼 𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑒 𝑜𝑛𝑒/𝑂𝑛𝑒 𝑤ℎ𝑜 𝑖𝑠 𝑡𝑜𝑢𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑢𝑛."
Five months after Mom died, almost to the day, "Live at Grand Central" is out. Since I was 9, I had always played Carly's new releases to Mom – oft-times to the point of driving her crazy.
Mom heard this music in the house when I had the laserdisc 28 years ago. But we never got to enjoy it together on our car rides where we'd really listen closely to music. I so wish I could play this long overdue live recording for her now. But Mom's up there, "𝑐𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑙𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡" and "𝑡𝑜𝑢𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑢𝑛." And that's a good place to be.
