Leftover Wine (via Discogs)
On 2 April, I wrote here that Melanie’s Candles In The Rain is one of my favourite albums by any artist. I was looking forward to revisiting this live album, Leftover Wine, released in September 1970.
Unfortunately, it’s the kind of live album that just doesn’t grab me: lots of audience interaction that plays well if you want a memento of being there, but is considerably less engaging for the casual listener.
The performance is decent and impassioned, as you’d expect from Melanie, on stage alone at Carnegie Hall with just a nylon strung guitar for company. There are hints and echoes of an earlier, folk-revival (so-called) style from the early sixties. Had this been played and recorded in a club in Greenwich Village it might have had a gritty edge and been a good listen. But it wasn’t and, for me at least, it isn’t. Her studio albums of 1971 are a different matter.
It’s fair to add that lots of Amazon reviewers think this is a 5-star album, so don’t take my word for it.
I listened on Spotify, and you can find it as a YouTube playlist.
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