As previously announced, McGovern will present Winding Road for New York audiences Feb. 13-16 and Feb. 21-23 at the Metropolitan Room. McGovern will head into the recording studio over the Feb. 1 weekend and will continue laying down tracks for the next two weeks. Tommy Krasker, the co-founder of PS Classics, expects a spring release for the single CD.
A Long and Winding Road features an eclectic mix of tunes from such celebrated sixties singer-songwriters as Joni Mitchell, Jimmy Webb, Paul Simon, Carole King, James Taylor, Randy Newman, Bob Dylan, John Lennon, Paul McCartney and Laura Nyro. Song titles include "The Circle Game," "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?," "The Moon's a Harsh Mistress" and "Imagine," among others.
In a statement Krasker said, "We committed to recording A Long and Winding Road after seeing a half-hour rehearsal in December. The mating of performer and material is so perfect, and Maureen's approach to the songs is so compelling and powerful – we knew it had to be preserved on disc. Jeff Harris, Maureen's longtime music director, will be enlarging the instrumental forces slightly for the studio, but the repertoire will pretty much mirror the show that Maureen is performing at the Metropolitan Room."
About her new show, McGovern recently stated, "For the longest time, people have been asking me to do a concert featuring so-called 'Baby Boomer' songs. At this time in my life, looking back, what interested me most were those introspective songs that influenced and inspired my own development as a person and an artist before 'The Morning After.' I started out as a folk singer in the late '60s, so it was highly nostalgic for me to go back and explore this particular section of my musical influences. I fell in love all over again with the early works of Jimmy Webb, Carole King, Bob Dylan, Randy Newman and other groundbreaking singer-songwriters from my youth. Their songs, as The New York Times has called them, have become 'the second half of the Great American Songbook.' They're classic, timeless and evoke all kinds of memories."
Maureen McGovern's performing credits are numerous and varied. She appeared on Broadway in Little Women, Nine, The Pirates of Penzance and The Threepenny Opera, and her many recordings include the Grammy nominated "The Pleasure of His Company" and the Academy Award-winning song "The Morning After." She was also seen in the films "The Towering Inferno," "Airplane!" and "The Cure for Boredom," and she appeared at the Sundance Theatre in The Umbrellas of Cherbourg and Jerry Herman's Dear World. McGovern will offer A Long and Winding Road — directed and co-conceived by Philip Himberg — at the Metropolitan Room, 34 West 22nd Street, Feb. 13-16 and Feb. 21-23 at 7:30 PM. For reservations call (212) 206-0440 or visit www.metropolitanroom.com.
For more information about PS Classics, visit www.psclassics.com.
