"Live And More" by Donna Summer (1977)

Double LP live recording released when Donna Summer was at the peak of her career and if you ever wonder why Summer and not thousands of other artists, here is a proof: she was dazzlingly versatile, excellent singer, had tons of top-shelf material (largely written by herself), was not afraid to stretch artistically in various directions and was also lovely to look at. Considering that double LP albums were at the time considered compliments that recording industry used to bestow of biggest rock stars (see "Frampton Comes Alive! " or "Wings over America" for example) it was also indisputable evidence that much-maligned and criticised disco could not be ignored - Summer was selling these hits like there's no tomorrow and even cemented her fame in the movie screen. 

The concept of streamlined, continuous flow of songs weaving into each other was very typical of what Summer was doing at the time and majority of these hits were given glitzy treatment with some added oomph, they mostly appear slightly faster than original recordings. Its just mind-boggling how the playlist was made up by highlight after highlight, clearly this was someone extremely prolific and successful. Dazzled by her disco fame, most of the critics dismissed side B clearly designed as interval, where Summer pauses for a moment and goes Las Vegas with jazzy medley and few ballads - what majority saw as a flaw, I found welcome showcase for singer's versatility and point that she could sing anything no matter what genre (imagine if she did some songs from "Hair" where she originally started back in the 1960s). While the rest of the world focused on enormous phenomenon of "MacArthur Park" I thought that Gershwin/Ellington medley was phenomenal and actually very interesting step out of the box. 

Personally this album will always stay close to my heart, because it happened to be one of the first LPs I ever owned - when I bought it back in the day as a kid, I had no idea who Summer was and in fact could hardly distinguish her from Diana Ross (I was very young) but I listened it non stop, as you do when your whole music collection has only two titles. Re-visiting it again decades later, I am purring with pleasure for recognising every single note and applause, even though I am aware of its faults - it is still great fun and disco as a celebration of joy. Perhaps a bit more of variety would be more welcome but obviously disco was what audience wanted. Interesting note: Summer's sisters sang on backing vocals.