Product Description
The new album revisits songs originally written throughout Carly's extensively long and productive career. With new largely acoustic arrangements, the CD was recorded at home on the island of Martha's Vineyard. Carly's son Benjamin Taylor was the originator of the idea and Carly willingly (though sometimes hesitatingly) complied and lived up to the dare. Carly, Benjamin and the rest of the producers, known as Paphiopedilium , chose the songs, most of which were Carly's best-known and commercially successful. In the CD's generous liner notes is an explanation not only of the word Paphiopedilium , but an explanation of the reworking of each of the songs. Carly hopes that even without these notes, the music will speak for itself.

We are proud to give Carly's fans old and new, a brand new look at ten of her best loved, well-known songs as well as two never-heard-before surprises.

NEVER BEEN GONE includes "You're So Vain", "Coming Around Again", "Anticipation", "Let The River Run", "You Belong To Me", "That's The Way I've Always Heard It Should Be", "It Happens Every Day", "Never Been Gone", "Boys In The Trees", and "The Right Thing To Do" along with new songs "No Freedom" and "Songbird".

1. The Right Thing To Do
2. It Happens Every Day
3. Never Been Gone
4. Boys In The Trees
5. Let The River Run
6. You're So Vain
7. You Belong To Me
8. No Freedom
9. That's The Way I've Always Heard It Should Be
10. Coming Around Again
11. Anticipation
12. Songbird

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002OFWFZM/?tag=imwan-20

And the winner for Worst Album Cover of the Year goes to...

Cover notwithstanding, this album shouldn't disappoint any fan of Carly...while the acoustic reworkings don't (and honestly, couldn't) hold a candle to the original recordings, they are decent complements to them, and represent the approach Carly has been taking to her old material in her (all-too-infrequent) concert appearances. Her huskier voice and the lo-fi vibe are at least an interesting window into the songs. Of the new material, "Songbird" is a nice find -- it's been developed from a song Carly demo'ed in the 1970s, and the first verse is that original tape. It's since been fleshed out and is an interesting new/old Carly hybrid. There's also a booklet with track-by-track notes by Carly.

So while I'd prefer another release along the lines of the now-in-litigation THIS KIND OF LOVE, I was pleasantly surprised by NEVER BEEN GONE.

Joe (am I the only one who finds it ironic that Carly is suing Concord/Hear Music, her ex hubby's current label?)

That is a terrible excuse for a cover. They should move the magnifying glass to her lips.

The Joss Stone cover used is pretty awful, not that the original one was anything to write home about -- but it was creative at least...

I'm going to give this a try because it's Carly, but my expectations are low. I don't usually like when artists do this kind of thing. The songs usually come off as devoid of any of the passion and commitment that the originals had(see the acoustic "Layla).
This may be the worst album cover by an established artist in history.

wow....thats an awful cover. I wouldn't buy that just because of the cover. It would scare me seeing that in my room.

buy it, carly needs the money, seriously.

Listen to the terrible redo of "Coming Around Again" over at Amazon. Whoa.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002TA17BA/?tag=imwan-20

You're right, JohnG. That IS terrible.

She sounds like she's a million years old. Or imitating Marianne Faithful.

I caught Carly last fall in concert, and for better or worse, these arrangements are very similar to what she performed in concert. None of the Richard Perry-style gloss in the arrangements, and the deeper, darker tone were both present in concert. It's not my preferred style for Carly, but for what it's worth, I don't think the new disc is totally without merit and I'd still recommend it with reservations to any of her longtime fans. For everybody else, stick with No Secrets, et. al, and you're fine! At least she's still recording, and hopefully will continue writing ...how long have we been waiting for a new release by her frequently-lumped-together-with-contemporary Carole King? (Too long, Carole, get on it!)

Although I am not a fan of Carly Simon in the least, this does sound quite awful. Question:The album cover is truly dreadful, but with the record label being Iris aren't we looking at her iris through the magnifying glass? Isn't she clever?

That being said, would she have to sign with Nipple Records if her catalog were to be re-released?

Shudder....chill down spine...

A well-placed spyglass would be put to good use with these shots

I heared the NBG versions of "Coming Around Again" and "Antcipation" playing in a local Borders store.....DREADFUL!She sounds a 200 year old woman.Horrible as its cover.

I just played samples of it. There's a REASON why her voice was masked by layers of production on the originals. Give this album to a friend... as a joke.

From today's USAToday:

Carly Simon, Never Been Gone
* * * COMING AROUND AGAIN

If you've ever yearned to hear an iconic artist's demo tapes, the bare-bones production and loosey-goosey feel of Simon's latest album — a collection of new versions of her old hits, with a couple of whimsical originals — will be a treat. It's poignant to hear Simon revisit introspective fare such as That's the Way I've Always Heard It Should Be and Anticipation from a more mature perspective. — Elysa Gardner

From the LA Times:

Carly Simon: "Never Been Gone" (Iris Records)

* * *

Artists who re-record touchstone songs from their catalogs, as Carly Simon does on her latest full-length collection, take on the burden of coming up with something different enough to make that material newly relevant. Perhaps not surprisingly, her tour through her nearly four-decade catalog succeeds best when she mixes things up the most.

The opening reading of "The Right Thing to Do" is pleasant, but it seems eerily close to what the song might have sounded like in the hands of her ex, James Taylor -- the presence here of their musician son, Ben, could have something to do with that. Things pick up, however, with the vintage R&B groove of "It Happens Every Day," then deepen with a sophisticated treatment of "Boys in the Trees."

"You're So Vain" turns wistful rather than spiteful, while "You Belong to Me" is given a sultry Latin jazz arrangement, possibly an outgrowth of her Brazilian-tinged 2008 album "This Kind of Love." "That's The Way I've Always Heard It Should Be," is more melancholy than when she released it in 1971 thanks to simple finger-picked guitar backing sweetened with strings and flutes.

What Simon does here is flip through the musical photo album and talk honestly about what place those old memories hold in her life now.

-- Randy Lewis

I picked this up yesterday, but haven't had a chance to listen to it yet. I am looking forward to it. Sure, Carly's voice has changed -- what singer's voice hasn't changed as they approach their mid-60's?

If I want to give my wife and kids a scare.....I'd put this on.

I wasn't quite sure what to expect, but honestly I like this alot. I like the re-arrangements of the songs, and I like Carly's voice -- yes, it is rough, but it is lived in, and carries the weight of her life experiences...