Have You Seen Me Lately Explained

Have You Seen Me Lately
Type:Studio album
Artist:Carly Simon
Cover:Have You Seen Me Lately.jpg
Released:September 25, 1990
Recorded:at Right Track Recording, New York City
Genre:Rock
Length:50:26
Label:Arista
Producer:Frank Filipetti and Paul Samwell-Smith
Prev Title:My Romance
Prev Year:1990
Next Title:This Is My Life (Music from the Motion Picture)
Next Year:1992

Have You Seen Me Lately is the 15th studio album by American singer-songwriter Carly Simon, released by Arista Records, on September 25, 1990.

The album spent 32 weeks on the US Billboard 200, peaking at No. 60.[1] The first single, "Better Not Tell Her", was very successful on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart, charting for 21 weeks, peaking at No. 4, and becoming Simon's biggest hit of the 1990s.[1] The second single, "Holding Me Tonight", was also successful on this chart, peaking at No. 36 and charting for five weeks. The track "Fisherman's Song" features backing vocals by Judy Collins and Simon's sister, Lucy Simon.[2] Simon released a children's book based on the song the following year.[3]

The album's title track was written for the Mike Nichols film Postcards from the Edge (1990), but the entire title sequence – including the song – was deleted by producers, although a great deal of Simon's underscore compositions and thematic interludes remain in the film, eventually earning her a BAFTA nomination for Best Film Score in 1991.[4]

Reception and promotion

A critical and commercial success, Have You Seen Me Lately spent eight months on the Billboard 200, while Stephen Holden, writing in The New York Times, called the album "superb" and the title track "the album's most stunning moment".[5] Greg Sandow, writing for Entertainment Weekly, graded the album B, and stated "'Life Is Eternal' breathes an air of genuine uplift" and "'Better Not Tell Her' and the title track sound firm, tender, and genuine, with pointed melodies and an airy outdoor aura". In a retrospective review from AllMusic, William Ruhlmann rated the album three stars out of five: "Simon has always written songs for her age group; here, it's the fortysomethings of the 1990s. At the end, "We Just Got Here" provides the summer's-end metaphor for middle age." Ruhlmann also singled out the tracks "Better Not Tell Her" and "Fisherman's Song".

Simon released music videos for the singles "Better Not Tell Her" and "Holding Me Tonight"; the former being shot on a beach on Martha's Vineyard in July 1990 - at the estate of Jackie Onassis.[6] Simon also performed the latter on Late Night with David Letterman in 1990.[7] Simon performed the tracks "Happy Birthday" and "Life Is Eternal" on a 1991 episode of The Phil Donahue Show.[8] [9]

Awards

YearAwardCategoryWork/RecipientResultRef.
1991Boston Music AwardsOutstanding Pop AlbumHave You Seen Me Lately[10]
Outstanding Female VocalistCarly Simon

Track listing

Credits adapted from the album's liner notes.[11]

Personnel

Production

Charts

AlbumBillboard (United States)[1]

Album – International[12]

SinglesBillboard (United States)[1]

YearSingleChartPosition
1990"Better Not Tell Her"Adult Contemporary4
"Holding Me Tonight"36

External links

Notes and References

  1. Carly Simon – Chart history . January 4, 2015 . . https://web.archive.org/web/20221021023757/https://www.billboard.com/artist/carly-simon/chart-history/tlp/ . October 21, 2022 . live.
  2. Web site: Carlysimon.com . Have You Seen Me Lately . June 11, 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220515163630/https://www.carlysimon.com/have-you-seen-me-lately . May 15, 2022 . live.
  3. Web site: Carlysimon.com . Books . June 11, 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20081108161746/http://www.carlysimon.com/books/Books.htm . November 8, 2008 . dead.
  4. Web site: Original Film Score in 1991 . . August 21, 2020 . July 17, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210717150330/http://awards.bafta.org/award/1991/film/original-film-score . live.
  5. News: Holden . Stephen . The Pop Life . . October 31, 1992 . August 21, 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160306214438/http://www.nytimes.com/1990/10/31/arts/the-pop-life-479090.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm . March 6, 2016 . live.
  6. News: Carly Simon - Better Not Tell Her. https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/5t5KMI8-1vs . December 21, 2021 . live. YouTube. April 29, 2014.
  7. News: Holding Me Tonight on Late Night . https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/WuRyBZAVskI . December 21, 2021 . live . YouTube . August 21, 2014.
  8. News: Carly Simon - Happy Birthday . https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/QeY7BpEF1PM . November 15, 2022 . live . YouTube . November 15, 2022.
  9. News: Carly Simon - Life is Eternal . https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/t2jm9h-x4K8 . November 15, 2022 . live . YouTube . November 15, 2022.
  10. Web site: Boston Music Awards 1991 . . October 30, 2021 . Nov 4, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20211104053128/https://bostonmusicawards.com/bma/boston-music-awards-1991/ . live.
  11. Carly Simon . Have You Seen Me Lately . 1990 . booklet . Arista.
  12. CAN Charts > Carly Simon. RPM. January 4, 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150104153238/http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/rpm/028020-110.01-e.php?PHPSESSID=f74hoacm6uk64inshgv8rde7p7&q1=Carly+Simon&q2=&interval=20. January 4, 2015. dead.