Live and More


Live and More is the first live album recorded by American singer-songwriter Donna Summer, and it was her second double album, released on August 28, 1978 by Casablanca Records. The live concert featured on the first three sides of this double album was recorded in the Universal Amphitheater, Los Angeles, California in 1978.

Background

During the concert, Summer performed a large number of her disco songs - both her hit singles, and a selection of songs from her previous album, Once Upon a Time. However, in this album, Donna also experiments with other musical styles such as jazz, in a medley she named "The My Man Medley". It consists of the George Gershwin song, "The Man I Love", together with "I Got It Bad and That Ain't Good" and the old standard "Some of These Days", neither of which she had recorded previously. She also performed a version of the ballad "The Way We Were", originally recorded by Barbra Streisand for the film of the same name, again, never previously recorded by Summer. This was followed by a self-written ballad called "Mimi's Song", dedicated to her young daughter, Mimi. Mimi was present at this concert for Summer to sing the song to her, and she is heard on the recording saying goodnight to the audience. The concert ends with one of Summer's best-known songs in the United States - "Last Dance". This hit song is included on the soundtrack of the film Thank God It's Friday, in which Summer had also acted. The composer, Paul Jabara, won an Academy Award for Best Song from a motion picture, and Summer herself won her first Grammy Award for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance with this song. Some versions of "Last Dance" have the slow part removed from the middle but keeps it at the beginning. The full version, however, was sung at this concert.
The fourth and final side of this double LP album contains a new studio recording entitled "MacArthur Park Suite", which is a medley of four songs including the main song "MacArthur Park", originally recorded as a ballad by the Irish actor Richard Harris. Summer's disco version was edited and issued as a single, and it became one of her biggest hits - her first number one song on the American Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, and a Top five song in the United Kingdom.
This song also earned Summer a Grammy Award nomination for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. Another song in the medley, "Heaven Knows" was an American Top five hit, and it featured vocals by Joe Esposito of the Brooklyn Dreams musical group. That group included the musician Bruce Sudano, whom Summer would later marry.
Live and More would become Summer's first number one double album in the United States, and achieved double platinum status in the U.S.

Track listing

All tracks written by Donna Summer, Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte except where noted; all tracks produced by Moroder and Bellotte.
Notes

Weekly charts

;Single
YearSingleChartPosition
1977"Down, Deep Inside "UK Singles Chart5
1978"MacArthur Park"USA Billboard Hot 100 chart1
1978"MacArthur Park"UK Singles Chart5
1978"MacArthur Park"Sweden Single Chart16
1978"Heaven Knows"USA Billboard Hot 100 chart4

Certifications and sales

Personnel

Production