Now she really has some clouds in her coffee!!

Ha! Ha!

Carly Simon has money troubles!

Carly Simon is great. I love her songwriting, and I think she was a really great singer in the past. I thought all her albums of original material (songs she had written) from 1971 thru 1975 were really strong. I began paying less attention to her after her great 1995 CD “Letters Never Sent” primarily because I felt that “The Bedroom Tapes,” released in 2000, was badly produced and some of it just didn’t sound good. During this decade she has put out several albums, none of which I like, and I think the primary reason is that her voice is shot. She can hardly sing now, and it’s sad to hear how she sounds.

Now Carly is suing Starbucks, huh? Well, she has spent her career complaining about how “the record company didn’t promote” her record, and now Starbucks is getting that treatment from her. In actuality, I would imagine, her record companies probably would complain about an artist who likes to sit back and watch the profits come in. This is an artist who does not tour. As such, I would place all the blame for poor record sales on Carly Simon herself. She complained that Arista didn’t promote “The Bedroom Tapes,” for example, and now she’s complaining about “This Kind of Love.” But, truth be told, and this coming from a fan, those are not good records, although the former is much better than the latter. If Carly Simon wants to blame someone for her lack of record sales and her lack of money she can blame the fact that while her counterparts (James Taylor, Jackson Browne, Elton John, Joni Mitchell, Cat Stevens, etc) were getting rich by going out on tour she was hanging out at home. She would have a much bigger and more loyal audience had she gone out on tour and bonded with people year after year. And she wouldn’t have money problems now!

I heard some samples of a brand new CD she is going to release in about a month. She sounds awful. It made me sad to hear that she has no voice left and is unable to sing hardly a note. It really pains me to say these things, because she has been a favorite of mine for years, and I still treasure those 25 years of great music she made, but now that her voice is gone, and she squandered away those years NOT TOURING it’s just too bad that it has come to this.

I can’t believe people don’t want to buy an album from a washed-up singer who released something she hoped would sell enough so she’d never have to record music again. Well, if that doesn’t sound like something that comes right from the heart. She got what she deserved.

Who ever said rock stars should be millionaires? The greed of the music industry is revolting. That’s why I only support and buy records by independent artists.

She was from a wealthy background, so I don’t think she really needs the money.

She comes from a wealthy background? Well, that means that her dad got $1 million for his share of Simon & Shuster in the 1950’s, and Carly got $60,000 from his estate back in the 1960’s. She has stated this many times and also pointed out how people imagine that she is some enormously wealthy heiress, which just is not true.

I really do love Carly’s music, I think she’s one of the greats. I’m just a realist about her situation and I think she could have toured for about 25 years and made piles of cash and now she wouldn’t be in such a bad place financially. Sorry if it seems harsh, it’s not intended to be. She is one of those under-appreciated “greats.”

She’s so vain!

It’s her own fault. If she had toured on a regular basis she would be financially secure.

I’ll give her $200 and all the free beer she can drink if she plays at my birthday party.

The reason the album tanked was because it was lousy.

Do perople really buy music at Starbucks?

I wouldn’t even download this illegally.

Right on Brian. Carly – seriously? You just want to make $$ and bail? F-off.

“However, due to the LP’s failure, Simon has been forced to continue her career”

I’m sorry, but I can’t help but chuckle each time I read this. I think even Daniel Kreps realizes how hilarious it is. Your album fails, so you’ll sue the chain that carries the album for failing to promote it? Yes, how DARE Starbucks not put a gun to their customers’ heads and FORCE them to buy a Carly Simon album. This is the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard of. It is not the responsibility of of the store carrying the album to promote it. It was CARLY’s album, and if she had so much riding on its success, then SHE should have gotten her ass out and promoted it. WITH LIVE PERFORMANCES. That’s how it’s done nowadays. People don’t get that excited over album releases anymore. The only way you matter is if you provide an attraction to the audience as a live performer. Don’t expect to have much success in today’s music industry as “studio artist”. And who buys albums at Starbucks anyways? Limiting the availability of your album to just one retail chain already reduces the likelihood that you’ll sell albums by the truckload. Based on those two major factors behind her album’s failure, she HAD to have seen this coming.

Maybe Axl Rose will sue Best Buy for not promoting Chinese Democracy. Even though he never lifted a finger to promote whatsoever.

Wait a minute… I just read the NYT article, and the album was NOT exclusively available in Starbucks. So wouldn’t that make her the even bigger culprit in her album’s failure?

I was a HUGE Carly Simon fan for years. Most work since 1989 is a reissue of something past or poor work. Carly used to have great producers and songwriting teams. Her music sold because it was REALLY good. When you put out a bad product people won’t buy it. I stopped buying. Also a new cd this month, 2 new songs and the rest redone old songs. That is soaking your public. Sorry Carly don’t blame Starbucks, Honey take a look in the mirror, write something new catchy and fresh. I know you still have it in you!

Even if Carly Simon recorded the greatest song of her career, nobody would care in 2009. Which is unfortunate.

I love Carly Simon, but I think she had unrealistic expectations from Starbucks.

Starbucks needs to stick to just serving coffee.

Starbucks had the CDs in stock, they just kept them in boxes in the back by the mops.

I too bought that CD and it was worth one listen. No more.

The samples from this new one are horrific. Please God, let her retire (not on Starbucks dime) and leave us with some found musical memories!

Also,if the music was good, it would have sold. It’s not “too soon to say goodbye” to this aging artist. It seems she is the only one who doesn’t know that.

Carly should feel lucky she sold as many as she did in this day and age. When bands are cracking the Top 10 by selling 5500 copies, 124,000 copies sold should make her feel pretty special.

carly – don’t blame starbucks because you wrote a bad CD that nobody wanted. retire.

This is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard. A singer suing because her album didn’t sell at a coffee shop??? Was she really expecting it to??? People go to Starbucks for the morning caffeine fix. Not to check out new music. This woman is a nut job. $575K is a nice chunk of change. I wish someone would give me that much to write a few crappy songs. Note to self: Never buy anything by Carly Simon album. The woman is a greedy, stuck up bisnatch.

Carly’s albums were all solid and filled with good songs up until the early 1990’s. After that, her albums weren’t as good. She missed the boat, she should have toured. She had a good 25 year run where people would have gone to see her. Sadly, her voice is gone now. Have you heard the samples from the upcoming CD? It’s unbelievable. I was shocked. She can’t even sing a note anymore. It’s sad to see one of my favorite singers and someone whom I really admire and adore come to a place where she is having financial trouble and some serious vocal problems and now she’s suing people on top of it all.

Looks like The Singer Who Wouldn’t Sing (she wouldn’t hit the road and sing for her fans anyway) has had her voice pretty much taken away from her. How ironic. How sad.

Her voice is gone. She cannot sing anymore. She was great in her day though. I think she should do something else with her time now. Instead of singing, which she is incapable of now, why not write instrumentals for films? Or why not write books? Write an autobiograpy? Surely there are other ways for her to make money.

For those of you who insist that Carly Simon is to blame for not having toured or performed over the years: She suffers from debilitating stage fright, to the extent that she has passed out and collapsed on stage. She was also diagnosed with breast cancer and experienced a prolonged bout of depression following chemotherapy. These are legitimate mental and physical health issues, and not merely a case of hanging out at home while others were promoting their careers.

I can’t believe how even supposed “fans” can write such hateful comments. How can people here brag about having heard “samples” of unreleased music ? If you claim she really sounds bad, why didn’t the NYT write as much in its article ? I wouldn’t believe anything that haters write, anyway. I think that haters are the ones that need to retire.

i know carly personally…wow does it suck to see so many people trashing her. :/ I mean, yes, people like James Taylor and Cat stevens and all them are rich because they perform. I’m glad Adrienne here finally pointed this out. She has terrible stage fright (yes, i know, irony), had breast cancer, etc etc. Its reasonable to say she wont sell as well as she used to. But heres the deal, and here’s why shes sueing:

She had the deal with starbucks, whose “hear music” company was tied to concord music group. five days before the release, it so far suggests that the head of starbucks woke up, and said “quick! fire hear music before anyone can prepare for it!” so hear music effectively went *poof* and concord music was left with no idea about what to do, because concord music records and makes the cds. hear music was in charge of promotion and distribution. so (and i went and personally checked 80+% of the starbucks in the boston and new york areas, which is alot, trust me) every single store had received one box of CDs, and were never told when they were going to get new ones. None were scheduled to ship. nothing. the CDs they had were sold immediatly, which IMPLIES that if the stored had a supply like they should have, the cd would have sold fine. also, part of the legal matter is that starbucks should have warned her. a company as big as starbucks doesnt shut down their music branch with no prior notice. something was wrong, they knew it, and they didnt tell carly or any other artist. The other implication that her record would have sold was that all her recent records (moonlight serenade, into white, bedroom tapes, etc,) all sold comfortably over 500k copies. so even if you think her music sucks, you cant refute that at LEAST half a million people think its still great.

I could ramble on about the situation in more detail but i wont. my last word is that her next CD is great, i watched her make it, and shes going to tour this CD more than she has of late. So give it a chance. Also, her son ben’s music is great. (hes on tour in europe atm) its funny, its smooth, and he sounds different from his father enough to be respected on his own.

I love Carly. I have all her CD’s. But when I heard the samples from the upcoming CD, especially the “Baby sneezes, mommy pleases” line in “Coming Around Again” I was shocked and saddened. She doesn’t sound good anymore, her voice is shot. I think only a sycophant would tell her that she still sounds good. She used to sound great, but now her voice is gone.

I actually wasn’t sure if Carly Simon was still alive or not, so I Googled her, which brought me to this article.

…she might as well be.

Oh Carly baby

Clouds in your Coffee, Clouds in your Coffee . . .

i like carly simon (70’s stuff was excellent). i don’t know the new cd, and i have nothing against starbucks and what they did or didn’t do to promote it.

but …

poor poor carly simon. saying that she hoped it was successful enough so that she could quit forever? guess what? i keep hoping that my next paycheck will be big enough that i can retire too, but i don’t sue anyone when it doesn’t happen.

carly surely must have 5000x the money that i’ll ever have, so f*** her and her whining.

why is there a picture of carly simon’s grandmother accompanying this article?

Carly does have a case in my opinion. Starbucks were known to previously support selected CDs and play them often as background music. Here in Dubai, as a fan, I was looking forward to having a sip with Carly singing in the background but it didn’t happen. And I had every intention of purchasing the CD too from Starbucks. (Instead I had to listen to their coffee machines and decided against it.)

After a few listens of each CD, Carly’s voice is like that of a dear friend and is one that continues to bring pleasure no matter what is the theme of the album. Her best was Letters Never Sent but that took a few listens to realise it and I expect it will be the same with the new upcoming album release. As for This Kind of Love, it is an album that does what I expect from a Carly album and is one that I continue to play. It is a pity though that I couldn’t buy it when it was being heavily promoted by Carly when originally released. I found it in the local Virgin Megastore a few months later. If her lawyers are handling her case on a “no win no fee” basis then I am sure she will win the case because they won’t let it fail. I can’t imagine Carly is prepared to take on the possibility of hefty legal costs otherwise. Corporations shouldn’t be allowed be disrespect people or talent in such a way.

Good luck Carly and I will always enjoy your contributions to the creative/artistic arena of life.

I see that some stupid people posted things like “I didn’t know Carly Simon was still alive” and “Why is there a picture of Carly Simon’s grandmother”? Funny how ignorant some people can be, as if to assume that if she doesn’t have new songs on the radio or in rotation on MTV that she must be dead. How many hit songs have you had? What have you done with your life? Carly Simon is a brilliant musician and songwriter and she used to have a great voice too. I would imagine she has eclipsed anything and everything you’ve done with your life. As for the “grandmother” comment, it must be from someone in his or her 20’s who still hasn’t realized that he/she will also get old one day. How stupid.

I still think it’s too bad she didn’t tour and now has money problems because of it. And it’s sad that she can’t sing anymore (go to her website and listen to the samples of the new music for yourself, it’s sad). But you know what? In her time, she was one of the greats. Nothing lasts forever. Frank Sinatra sounded terrible at the end of his career too. Elton John’s voice doesn’t sound so great anymore either (but he’s so amazingly great that no one cares). Stevie Wonder’s voice has diminished somewhat as well. Things happen. People get old. You’re not as great at 65 as you were at 25 or 30 or 40, or whatever. I really never meant to put down Carly Simon, I’m just being realistic and I’m not going to say how wonderful she still sounds when she sounds awful now.

These are some really horrible comments being thrown here. I can’t understand that Carly would need money enough to sue anyone.

I Googled “carly simon’s house” to see how she lives and she lives lives very well on Martha’s Vineyard. I saw a very clear map of her humongeous propety. She should sell some of it off and keep making mucis!!

Can’t wait for the new one to come out. check it out.

She never promoted herself and soulds pretty lazy.

people in their 60s retire,,,singing for 40 yrs and your voice changes,,thats life,,who wrote the rule book for touring? how dare you critsize rock and roll royalty,,she is still beautiful!

The vast majority if these comments sound like people who had already decided they hated Carly Simon and needed a quick venue to express it. As for “her voice”: Your right, she’s not a Cyrus/Swift/Montanna, etc soprano–and never was. Critics trashed her voice on the initial “Your So Vain” because she didn’t sound like what a female singer was supposed to sound like. Neither did Janice Joplin. But listening to the takes on her new album, like “Let the River Run” and “Anticipation”, “You belong to me”, “It Happens Every Day”—-I can not fathom what hearing disability some of the negative commentators must suffer from—-I feel sorry for THEM. It’s patently ridiculous to say “she sounds awful”! Somebody’s hiding an agenda behind deaf ears—admit it!
As for Starbucks—you can bet your latte that if they’d pulled on McCartney or Taylor what they pulled on Carly Simon, they’d be selling apples on the street corners singing “You’ve got a friend” for the rest of their lives.
Classic,Legendary voice is what she has been and still is.
And to mickersss–go see an eye doctor, will ya!

Well, Carly Simon used to be the queen anyway. She was awesome an great for a very long time. If you can honestly go to her website and listen to those new songs and not cringe at the sound of her voice and her inability to support a single note, vocally, then you’re full of a lot more than just hot air. And you’re probably a sycophant of some sort. The woman sounded great for many years. She sounds horrible now, and it’s just a fact.

There are some really ignorant and hateful comments on here. I just bought her new cd and it’s effing fantastic.
“This Kind of Love” WAS a weaker mixed-bag effort from her, with that I agree -but this cd is great and her voice sounds truly GOOD. Her pipes may not be what they were – but the people on here who are saying she sounds “awful” are full of BS. They definitely have a personal agenda/vendetta against Carly.
Ignore the HATERS.