1. Beyond the Blue
2. Happy Girl - Beth Nielsen Chapman, Roboff, Annie
3. Walk My Way
4. All I Have
5. Life Holds On
6. The Color of Roses
7. Emily
8. When I Feel This Way
9. I Keep Coming Back to You
10. Sand and Water
11. Years
12. Say Goodnight
Amazon.com
Throughout the '90s, Beth Nielsen Chapman was one of the most industrious and literate songwriters in Nashville, penning material for a new breed of female country star, including Kathy Mattea, Faith Hill, Martina McBride, and Lorrie Morgan. However, her own recordings have barely dented the country charts, for the simple fact that they're not really country at all. As a singer and arranger, Chapman owes much to the jazz-folk of Joni Mitchell, while echoing the AAA soul-smarts of Shawn Colvin. Her spiritual sensibility shines on songs like "Sand and Water" and "The Color of Roses," as she confronts personal tragedy with an openness to healing. Chapman's music has gone through various transformations, and what this collection lacks in continuity, it makes up for in the ambition of Chapman's lyrical vision. --Roy Kasten
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Beth Nielsen Chapman - Greatest Hits
- Audio CD: 0 pages (1999-03-23)
- Publisher: Reprise / Wea
- Label: Reprise / Wea
- Studio: Reprise / Wea
- Average Customer Review:
 based on 23 reviews
- Sales Rank in Music: #8958
Avg. Customer Review:
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
Customer Rating:
Summary: An emotional ride that will always lift the spirit 2008-03-24
Comment: I came accross Beth when my sister died. I remember hearing "Sand and Water" being played in the house after the funeral. Her haunting voice tempered with a clearness seemed to rest the minds and spirits of the family.
6 years later and my partner lost her father and I was asked if I knew any music that could be played at the funeral. I remembered the music of Beth and bought this album. My partner and her mother immediately fell in love (and cried) when "Say Goodnight" was played and this they choose for the final song at the funeral.
But please dont get the idea that this album is morbid. Its simply a delight of beautiful songs, sung with a clarity that is rare.
My partner has now fallen for "All I have", a beautifully crafted love song. Its become our song. Two people who have found each other and are just simply happy to have this love and dont need anything more. "All I have is all I need.."
A very emotional album that will lift your spirit whenever needed.
4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
Customer Rating:
Summary: A truly great CD. 2006-03-14
Comment: A collection of depth and beauty. Haunting melodys and meaningful lyrics. An inspiring piece of work. One of my most played CDs.
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
Customer Rating:
Summary: If you've never heard of Beth before . . . 2005-10-15
Comment: . . . then this is a great place to begin. Many of the tracks are earlier material and songs which Beth has written for other artists who went on to have hits with them, i.e. HAPPY GIRL, as done by Martina McBride and THE COLOR OF ROSES as covered by Bette Midler. Beth's versions are superior, in my opinion. She has a unique and distinctive voice which is capable of generating all kind of emotions in a person. Special mention must be made of the track ALL I HAVE, which still gets much radio play here in the UK. This is so personal, so beautiful and such an intimate love ballad that you can almost imagine Beth is performing this to you in your living room. This lady has the vocal style of the sadly missed and brilliant Eva Cassidy. AMAZING. SAND AND WATER, which was also done by Elton John, was also the title of her album she wrote when overcoming the grief of losing her husband to cancer in 1994, and has been used in ER, as I may have mentioned in my review of it. Great guitar work abounds on this track, both folk and classical influences collide ather well. I will also mention EMILY, which will have even the hardest man tearing up and letting go; LIFE HOLDS ON, which is full of hope, and a world-folk BEYOND THE BLUE with the mind-blowing Gregorian chant at the end - if the guitar riffing sounds familiar you may or may not know that Nelly Furtado ripped it off on one of her recent hits. I could go on, but I'll finish by saying you will be in for a treat. Very hard to fault!
2 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
Customer Rating:
Summary: Great disc 2005-09-14
Comment: I enjoy this music and the artist. The songs are for a very laid back feeling and easy to listen to.
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
Customer Rating:
Summary: A brilliant singer-songwriter 2005-07-18
Comment: Beth has established herself as one of Nashville's most prolific and successful songwriters (and for that reason she is sometimes classified inaccurately as a country singer), yet her own music owes more to folk, jazz and pop than it does to country music, even though Rodney Crowell and Jim Ed Norman (two noted country record producers) separately produced most of the tracks here. Beth's music has more in common with Joni Mitchell and Shawn Colvin than it does with Faith Hill, Kathy Mattea, Trisha Yearwood, Lorrie Morgan and other country singers who have recorded so many of her songs. As a country songwriter, Beth scored her first number hit with Strong enough to bend (recorded by Tanya Tucker) but, where this compilation is concerned, country fans will immediately recognize Happy girl (a country number one for Martina McBride). I'm sure that country singers have recorded some of the other songs here but none of them are as well known as Happy girl. Eventually, Beth's success as a songwriter spread beyond country music with pop, rock and folk singers recording her songs.
So this is really a collection of quality easy-listening music with other influences, especially folk. Beth has an outstanding, clear voice that makes one wonder why she has had only limited success as a singer, especially given her success as a songwriter. Actually, it seems that Beth chooses to record what she feels like without worrying about its commercial potential, relying on the royalties from her songwriting to provide her main income.
Death is a recurring theme in several of Beth's songs, but Beth likes to downplay it somewhat, trying to be positive (though the sadness and pain is obvious) and never actually using the d word. Maybe this is Beth's way of coming to terms with bereavement - she lost her husband to cancer in the mid-nineties. The opening track (Beyond the blue) is an ode to somebody (her husband?) who has already gone to heaven and who Beth looks forward to joining one day. The title track to one of Beth's albums (Sand and water) declares that we are all alive temporarily - actually, that album is the source for many of the tracks here. In another song (The color of roses), Beth dreams that a deceased person is still alive and says that the human spirit can overcome reality. Beth sings about survival (Life holds on), describing near-death situations.
Beth also looks on the bright side when singing about life, whatever the subject. Beth sings about her current partner (All I have, When I feel this way, I keep coming back to you, Say goodnight), a former partner with whom reconciliation is impossible, but a smile will do (Walk my may), a life-long friend who she rarely meets because they now live far apart (Emily) and returning to her parents for Christmas (Years).
Beth is clearly somebody who has experienced the best and worst that life has to offer, but who also has the ability to pass on those experiences in song. While she is normally happy to let others record her songs, this collection shows that Beth is a brilliant singer who is perfectly capable of recording her own material.
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Beth Nielsen Chapman - Greatest Hits
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