Live to Tell

Description

Live to Tell is the fifth studio album by the Canadian singer Connie Scott, released on the Canadian label Image 7 Music in 1992, distributed by Word. The album was recorded and mixed by Dave Slagter at Whitewater Studio in Vancouver, Canada; with Roy Salmond of Salmond & Mulder fame producing. Includes covers of “Walk To The Well” written by Ashley Cleveland and recorded on her debut album Big Town released in 1991 and “Healing Waters” written and recorded by Mr. Mister on their 1987-album, Go On.

Canadian Connie Scott made her U.S. debut almost 10 years ago, with the Sparrow album ‘Heartbeat‘, which captured both Dove and Grammy nominations, and positioned her as a talent to watch in the pop idiom. Subsequent releases impressed the public enough to land several of Scott’s singles on the charts. It’s been three years since her last album, a period which has seen the artist establish herself as an in-demand vocalist for jingles, as well as album sessions and live work, with the like of Cher and Michael Bolton, both of whose influences surface frequently on ‘Live to Tell’. On much of the album. Scott’s approach is also comparable to that of Sheila Walsh, another artist who opts for displaying a comfortable command of diverse musical styles.

Also part of Scott’s hiatus was the birth of her second child, an event which figures into the tone of her few original songs, plus several of the well-chosen covers. It takes guts to tackle a song written by as distinctive a personality as Ashley Cleveland, and Scott does so with finesse, on the album’s R&B flavored opener, «Walk to the Well». She follows that with an equally tasteful rendition of the gritty «Healing Waters», a tune penned by Richard Page and Steve George of Mr. Mister. «Little Joey Run» is a moving ballad about the death of a homeless child the singer cannot get out of her mind; followed by «Angels», a prayer of protection for Scott’s own kids.

«Play This Game» is a boisterous challenge to believers not to compromise their faith, while «Starting Now», a song which Scott helped compose, asks us all to look in the mirror to see where a closer walk with the Lord begins. «Inside My Piano» and «You Were Falling in Love With Me» are back-to-back ballads which bog things down a bit, but Scott recovers nicely with the new wave-ish «Cars», an adjunct to Amy’s «Hats», which finds the artist stuck in traffic, and alone with confused feelings about her role as wife, mother and servant of God.

To the credit of Scott and producer Roy Salmond, they do not take the “big finish” easy way out, instead closing with a pair of synth driven pop cuts, «Forever» and the worshipful «I Lift up My Voice». It appears some time away from the studio has refreshed Connie Scott, and resulted in a sophisticated pop effort that ranks with her best work. [Bruce A. Brown, CCM, August 1992]

CD tracklist:

01. Walk To The Well – 4:20
02. Healing Waters – 5:04
03. Little Joey Run – 4:21
04. Angels – 4:22
05. Play This Hame – 5:16
06. Starting Now – 4:30
07. Inside My Piano – 4:25
08. You Were Falling In Love With Me – 4:05
09. Waiting In Cars – 4:21
10. Don’t Ever Stop Believin’ – 3:34
11. I Lift Up My Voice – 5:05

Note: Simultaneously released on cassette and CD by Image 7 Music.

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