Sheryl Crow and Friends: Live in Central Park

Manufacturer Part Number (MPN): 490574

Producer	Sheryl Crow
Engineer

Personnel: Sheryl Crow (vocals, acoustic & electric guitars, harmonica, bass); Chrissie Hynde, Keith Richards, Eric Clapton (vocals, guitar); Stevie Nicks (vocals, tambourine); Sarah McLachlan (vocals); Peter Stroud (acoustic, electric & slide guitars); Mary Rowell (acoustic guitar, violin); Tim Smith (electric guitar, bass, background vocals); Matt Brubeck (cello, bass); Mike Rowe (keyboards); Jim Bogios (drums, background vocals); Ash Sood (tambourine, percussion); Bill Murray.
The Dixie Chicks: Natalie Maines (vocals); Emily Robinson (slide guitar, banjo, background vocals); Martie Seidel (fiddle, background vocals).
Recorded live in Central Park, New York, New York.
"There Goes The Neighborhood" won the 2001 Grammy Award for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance. "The Difficult Kind" was nominated for the 2001 Grammy Award for Best Pop Collaboration With Vocals.
"Strong Enough" was nominated for the 2001 Grammy Award for Best Country Collaboration with Vocals.
Personnel: Sheryl Crow (vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, harmonica); Peter Stroud (guitar, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, slide guitar); Mary Rowell (acoustic guitar, violin); Tim Smith (electric guitar, background vocals); Matthew Brubeck (cello); Mike Rowe (keyboards); Jim Bogios (drums).
Sheryl Crow's musical career thus far is not unlike a Cinderella story. From humble beginnings as a ghost writer and as a recording/touring background vocalist for artists from Sting to Michael Jackson, the Kennett, Missouri native now commands the respect of the popular music community. To that end, she enlisted some heavy hitters for her concert held in Central Park.
Sheryl wastes no time capturing the audience in her spell, not letting the day's rain dampen the spirit of the event. The Dixie Chicks bring their vocals and fiddle playing to a countryfied "Strong Enough.," showing just how seamlessly rock and country overlap. "Gold Dust Woman" features the legendary Stevie Nicks. It's fittingly ironic that as a child, Sheryl would listen to Fleetwood Mac and pretend to be part of the band. The old and new schools of female-fronted rock collide as Chrissie Hynde shares the lead vocal chores on a powerful version of "If It Makes You Happy." Surely, the evening's centerpoint is her duet with Eric Clapton on "White Room." Sheryl handles Jack Bruce's vocal parts masterfully. The night's crescendo ending has all her musical guests joining her for Bob Dylan's "Tombstone Blues."

Entertainment Weekly (1/7/00, p.68) - "...it's a treat to hear Crow, Chrissie Hynde, and the Dixie Chicks trading verses on Dylan's 'Tombstone Blues,' the best cuts belong to [her] when she's all alone with her band....musically muscular..." - Rating: B-
Q (2/00, pp.82-3) - 3 stars out of 5 - "...the limber momentum of the songs, no sentiment, strong emotions, the power of small detail at work in the big setting....Such a groove and such deadly reportage....it really does catch Shery Crow close-up, right now and credibily 'au naturel'."
CMJ (12/27/99, p.27) - "...impresses not only with her own live chops, but also with her talented 'friends'..."
Mojo (Publisher) (2/00, p.91) - "...This lengthy live souvenir has Sheryl in boisterous form, cantering through the familiar hits....[with] some intriguing collaborations....[it] has all the ramshackle enthusiasm of a concert..."