Never Been Gone is an album by the American singer/songwriter Carly Simon

Carly Simon

Carly Elisabeth Simon is an American singer-songwriter, musician, and children's author. She rose to fame in the 1970s with a string of hit records, and has since been the recipient of two Grammy Awards, an Academy Award, and a Golden Globe Award for her work...

, released in October 2009. The album features new acoustic versions of many of Simon's past hits. It is her 25th studio album (and her 33rd overall).

The album peaked at #134 on the United States Billboard album chart, and at #45 in the UK. It has sold approximately 12,000 copies, making it Simon's all-time lowest charting album. It was given away free with "The Mail On Sunday" newspaper on 28 March 2010.http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1259197/Get-Carly-Simons-latest-album-free-weeks-Mail-Sunday.html

Background

The album was conceived in the summer of 2008

2008 in music

2008 was a huge year in music history with the emergence of pop superstars Lady Gaga and Katy Perry into the mainstream. Also, this is the year that is widely agreed upon by critics as the start of the fall of hip hop from the mainstream and the rise of Synthpop into the mainstream due to acts such...

, a time when Simon was having problems promoting her previous album, This Kind of Love

This Kind of Love

This Kind of Love is an album by American singer/songwriter Carly Simon, released in April 2008. It is Simon's 31st album, her 24th studio album, and her first album of original material since The Bedroom Tapes in 2000....

, which had been released through Starbucks

Starbucks

Starbucks Corporation is an international coffee and coffeehouse chain based in Seattle, Washington. Starbucks is the largest coffeehouse company in the world, with 17,009 stores in 55 countries, including over 11,000 in the United States, over 1,000 in Canada, over 700 in the United Kingdom, and...

 Hear Music label, which Carly claimed the company had failed to promote properly. Simon's son, Ben Taylor

Ben Taylor (musician)

Benjamin Taylor is a musician and actor. He is the son of folk rock artists James Taylor and Carly Simon. His sister, Sally Taylor, is also a musician. Ben Taylor bears a striking resemblance to his famous father and has a singing voice akin to him as well...

, convinced her to channel her energies into making a new album. Never Been Gone features new acoustic versions of many of Simon's hits spanning her career, and was recorded at her home on Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts.

Track listing

1. "The Right Thing To Do" – 2:59
2. "It Happens Everyday" – 2:47
3. "Never Been Gone" – 2:54
4. "Boys In The Trees" – 3:15
5. "Let the River Run
   Let the River Run
   "Let the River Run" is a song first featured in the 1988 film Working Girl, with music and lyrics by Carly Simon. The song won the Academy Award for Best Original Song at the 61st Academy Awards in 1989...
   
   " – 3:42
6. "You're So Vain
   You're So Vain
   "You're So Vain" is a song written and performed by Carly Simon and released in December 1972. The song is a critical profile of a self-absorbed lover; Simon asserts "You're so vain, you probably think this song is about you." The subject's identity has been the matter of speculation, fueled by...
   
   " – 4:19
7. "You Belong to Me
   You Belong to Me (The Doobie Brothers song)
   "You Belong to Me" is a song written by American singer-songwriters Carly Simon and Michael McDonald. Originally recorded by the American rock group The Doobie Brothers for their seventh studio album, Livin' on the Fault Line , the song was made famous by Simon herself when recorded for her seventh...
   
   " (Simon, Michael McDonald
   Michael McDonald (singer)
   Michael McDonald is a five-time Grammy Award winning American singer and songwriter. McDonald is known for a soulful baritone singing style and a multi-octave range. He began his career singing back-up vocals with Steely Dan...
   
   ) – 3:53
8. "No Freedom" (Simon, Michael McDonald
   Michael McDonald (singer)
   Michael McDonald is a five-time Grammy Award winning American singer and songwriter. McDonald is known for a soulful baritone singing style and a multi-octave range. He began his career singing back-up vocals with Steely Dan...
   
   ) – 3:38
9. "That's The Way I've Always Heard It Should Be" (Simon, Jacob Brackman
   Jacob Brackman
   Jacob Brackman is an American journalist, writer, and musical lyricist.After graduating from Harvard University in 1965, he went to work for Newsweek as a journalist. He remained there for six months and was then hired by The New Yorker...
   
   ) – 4:17
10. "Coming Around Again" – 3:42
11. "Anticipation" – 3:22
12. "Songbird" – 2:36