Best Of (W/1 Live Track) [Original recording remastered, Best of]

On the other hand, I'd bet Olivor had nothing to do with this rerelease -- witness, in the liner notes, the use of her former name not once, but twice, a name she has long since distanced herself from, and probably a Sony jab at her. (Some other factual errors exist too in the liner notes as Jane had returned to performing by 1990, and was already doing big concert halls again by 1993).

The liner credits are pretty much a total mess. First off, does producer Jason Darrow have a longlost evil twin, "James Darrow" (listed as a producer on the back, on the inside and as specific producer for "Vincent" off of FIRST NIGHT)? (Does anyone proofread anything? Wouldn't someone say, "hmmmm, isn't it a bit weird there's a "James" AND a "Jason" Darrow producing on the same release? Apparently, not). Second, Michael Masser did NOT produce the cut "The Best Side of Goodbye" -- uh, Jason Darrow did (I'm guessing "James" was unavailable). Third, the unlisted Jack Gold produced "Last Time I Felt Like This." Fourth, NO one is given any producer credit for the cuts off STAY THE NIGHT; again, that would be Jason Darrow.

One can picture the meeting around the Sony/Legacy tables -- "look kids, this Olivor has released her SAFE RETURN concert CD/DVD, which has all of the good songs from her Columbia years, and she's getting royalties! Get some release out now to compete with that! Oh, and point out a couple of times she used to be Linda Cohen too!" Oh, and I really love the enormous FBI warning on the back of this CD about piracy and royalties -- especially since the battles between Olivor and Columbia have been well-publicized. Maybe she's finally, through this release, getting a nickel or two from the money she's earned them over the years, and I'd be pleased to hear that, but whether that's a reality.......

I certainly agree with the reviewer below: Columbia/Sony/Legacy needs to rerelease Olivor's full recordings, remastered, with bonus tracks, and with accurate, proofread liner notes. Her recordings for them are too important to be ignored, and there simply has to be more material in the vaults for release.

I have to mention another unsung hero, and that's the original engineer on the Jason Darrow produced cuts (including the Masser-attributed "Best Side of Goodbye") by the name of Michael DeLugg. DeLugg really knew how to place Jane's voice in the mix, and to give her voice some space around it; his engineering on Olivor's Columbia years served her extremely well.

I'd give this 5 stars, but Legacy's sloppiness is too rampant to warrant that. Why do they put people who know nothing about an artist in charge of a release like this?