Holly Near – A Live Album (Originally released in 1975 on LP)

Holly Near’s second release, A Live Album, documented the nightclub set she developed afterwards and was a clearer artistic statement, in fact the true introduction to her as a songwriter and performer. Backed only by pianist Jeff Langley and bassist Rob Moitoza, she sang songs that explored the more personal politics of human relationships. “Started Out Fine,” athe lively opener, and “Get Off Me Baby,” a blues, found the singer telling off unsatisfactory male companions, while “Haven’t Grown Tired (Of Living With You)” described a happier romance. Near returned to national politics with the impassioned “It Could Have Been Me,” written to commemorate the anniversary of the Kent State killings, and reflected on economic troubles from a wife’s point of view in “Laid Off.” If much of this material seemed to spring from observation rather than experience, there was also “Water Come Down,” a warm reminiscence of her childhood, and the strikingly personal “Free to Grow,” ain which she addressed a fellow traveling performer who, unlike her, had a wife waiting at home. “I’ve never found a man who would do it for me,” ashe noted. (“Faces” also described the loneliness of life on the road.) The pared-down instrumentation (compared to the first album) and the live setting allowed Near to shine both as a singer and as a communicator, an opportunity she exploited with her often moving compositions. Many people discovered Holly Near through this album, which became her best-seller. AllMusic Review by William Ruhlmann