Carly Simon planning first ever shows in Europe

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - "Anticipation," indeed.

Singer/songwriter Carly Simon is planning to play concert dates in Europe early next year for the first time in her 38-year career, she told Reuters on Thursday.

Times and places are still being worked out, but she expects to perform at small venues beginning in January, to promote her upcoming acoustic album "Never Been Gone."

"I'm going to do what Elvis should have done," Simon said, referring to the King of Rock 'n' Roll's noted failure to perform across the Atlantic.

"I like to play small places, because I'm much better in an intimate setting than I am in a large hall where I can't see everybody. I really like to see the people that I'm singing to."

Simon, 64, has largely eschewed public performances, thanks to a ruinous combination of stage fright and fear of flying.

To coincide with the album's October 27 release in the United States, she plans to leave her home on the island of Martha's Vineyard, off the coast of Boston, to perform in New York on both ABC's "Good Morning America" and NBC's "Today."

Appearances on CBS "Late Show With David Letterman" -- "when he gets himself together" -- and Comedy Central's "The Colbert Report" are also on the cards. A swing among the West Coast talk shows will depend on whether there's "energy" around the record, she said.

"Never Been Gone," which is coming out on her son Ben Taylor's Iris Records label, offers freshly arranged home recordings of Simon's big hits, including "You're So Vain," "Anticipation" and "The Right Thing To Do". It also includes two new tunes, "No Freedom" and "Songbird."

"I had a great time doing it, and I hope I have a great time promoting it," Simon said. "I feel as if there's a very good energy around it. But commercially, I'm not expecting very much from it."

Simon's previous album, "This Kind of Love," her first recording of new material in nine years, was released in April 2008 through Starbucks' Hear Music label. But the coffee giant exited the music business days before it hit stores, leaving Simon in "a really bad funk" when the album fell between the cracks.

(Reporting by Dean Goodman; editing by Jill Serjeant)