Never Letting Go

Never Letting Go is the fourth album by singer–songwriter Phoebe Snow, released in 1977 (see 1977 in music).

Never Letting Go
Studio album by Phoebe Snow
Released	1977
Studio	A&R Recording, New York City
Genre	Soft rock
Label	Columbia
Producer	Phil Ramone
Phoebe Snow chronology
It Looks Like Snow (1976) Never Letting Go (1977) Against the Grain (1978)

Reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]
Christgau's Record Guide	B [2]

In a retrospective review for Allmusic, critic William Ruhlmann wrote "...the record marked a fall-off in both her commercial success and her artistic accomplishment. The tasty studio musicians and Phil Ramone's pop-jazz production were still in place, and Snow remained a remarkable singer, but her synthesis of styles was beginning to seem not so much inspired as muddled."[1] Robert Christgau wrote of the album; "By now Snow projects a jazz singer's assurance, and the originals are still overshadowed by the covers... the tempos are invariably too reflective, and the reprises invariably too much."[2]

Track listing

All songs written by Phoebe Snow, except where noted.

1. "Love Makes a Woman" (Carl Davis, Eugene Record, William Sanders, Gerald Simms) – 3:21
2. "Majesty of Life" – 3:36
3. "Ride the Elevator" – 3:55
4. "Something So Right" (Paul Simon) – 4:02
5. "Never Letting Go" (Stephen Bishop) – 3:12
6. "We're Children" – 3:01
7. "The Middle of the Night" – 3:33
8. "Electra" – 3:53
9. "Garden of Joy Blues" (Clifford Hayes) – 4:31

Personnel

• Phoebe Snow – lead vocals, acoustic guitar (2, 6)
• Hugh McCracken – electric guitar (1, 4, 5, 7), acoustic guitar (2, 5, 6), slide guitar(3), harmonica (3)
• Steve Burgh – electric guitar (1-9), 12-string acoustic guitar (5), acoustic guitar (6)
• Steve Khan – electric guitar (1, 3, 7, 8), 12-string electric guitar (8), electric guitar solo (8), acoustic guitar (9)
• Ken Ascher – acoustic piano (1, 7, 8), electric piano (1, 5, 7), organ (1), keyboards (3, 9), synthesizer (7), orchestration (7)
• Richard Tee – electric piano (2, 4)
• Bob James – acoustic piano (5), electric piano (6)
• Will Lee – bass guitar (1, 5, 6, 7)
• Tony Levin – bass guitar (2, 3, 4, 8, 9)
• Chris Parker – drums (1, 4-7)
• Grady Tate – drums (2, 7)
• Steve Gadd – drums (3, 8, 9)
• Ralph MacDonald – percussion (1, 2, 4, 6)
• Michael Brecker – tenor sax solo (1, 6)
• Hubert Laws – flute solo (2)
• Eddie Daniels – clarinet solo (3)
• Phil Woods – alto sax solo (5)
• William Eaton – orchestration (1, 2, 8), woodwind orchestration (4)
• Robert Freedman – orchestration (3, 5), string orchestration (4)
• David Nadien – concertmaster
• Gwen Guthrie – backing vocals (1, 4, 5)
• Lani Groves – backing vocals (1, 4, 5)
• Patti Austin – backing vocals (1, 4, 5)
• Kenny Loggins – vocals on "We're Children"

Strings

• Cello – Janet Hamilton and Charles McCracken
• Double bass – Russ Savakos
• Viola – Lamar Alsop and Emanuel Vardi
• Violin – Sanford Allen, Joyce Flissler, Harry Glickman, Marvin Morgenstern, Tony Posk, Herbert Sorkin and Carol Webb

Brass

• Bass trombone – David Taylor
• Trombone – Barry Rogers
• Trumpet and Flugelhorn – Randy Brecker, Victor Paz and Alan Rubin
• Tuba – Jonathan Dorn

Woodwinds

• Baritone saxophone – Ron Cuber
• Clarinet and Alto Flute – Ray Beckinstein, Leon Cohen, Dave Tofani and George Young
• Bass flute – Phil Bodner, Harvey Estrin, Walter Kane and George Marge
• B-Flat clarinet – Eddie Daniels
• Tenor saxophone – Michael Brecker and Eddie Daniels

Production

• Producer and Remix: Phil Ramone
• Engineer: Jim Boyer
• Design: Gene Grief and Paula Scher

Reception

1. Ruhlmann, William. "Never Letting Go > Review". Allmusic. Retrieved April 4, 2019.
2. Christgau, Robert (1981). "Consumer Guide '70s: S". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies. Ticknor & Fields. ISBN 089919026X. Retrieved March 12, 2019 – via robertchristgau.com.