the reluctant female folk musicians

For this post I want to focus on a couple of very talented musicians who choose to walk away from promising music careers and as a result their music sunk into obscurity up until the last few years.  

It Hurts Me Too by Karen Dalton – In 2004 Bob Dylan wrote that Karen was his favorite singer when he first came to Greenwhich Village – in fact they even performed together a few times in those early days of the folk movement along with underrated folky Fred Neil.  Karen recorded two albums in the late 60s/early 70s before dropping out of the music scene all together.   Most music historians argue about what exactly became of her after she dropped out.  It seems the popular belief now is she split time between a desolate cabin in Colorado and staying with old friends in upstate New York.  She died in 1993 from complications of AIDS after spending 8 years living with the disease while fighting drug and alcohol problems.  Fun Fact (in an otherwise dreary post) – Karen’s mother was full Cherokee Indian.   

Tonight by Sibyelle Baier – the story goes German born Sibyelle recorded a handful of tunes in the early 70s when she was both a musician and actress.  She decided not to pursue those early careers and instead moved to America and concentrated on raising a family.  30 years later her son Robby compiled a CD to give as gifts to family after finding the original recordings his Mom had made.  One of those CDs ended up in the hands of J Mascis who in turn passed it on to some of his record label friends at Orange Twin who turned the CD into an official release.  Sibyelle is said to be working on a new album now.  

Diamond Day by Vashti Bunyan – In the mid 60s Vashti was discovered by Rolling Stones’ manager Andrew Loog Oldham and released her first single – a Jagger/Richards tune- to little fan fare.  She then started writing her first album while on a commune with folk singer Donovan.  She finally released that album in 1970 but the album never found it’s audience and a frustrated Vashti retreated to live a rural life raising her 3 children and tending to animals.  In that time, her album had become a bit of a collectors item completely outside of her knowing it.  In 2000 the album was re-released and Vashti became a bit of an influence on the newer indie folk movement with Devendra Banhart, Joanna Newsom, Animal Collective, and members of Mice Parade working with her.  She now tours and is recording new material again.  

Len Chandler – my newest Broadside discovery

…this guy really struck me as an interesting singer/writer.  I don’t know how I hadn’t heard of him until a few minutes ago.  Oddly enough, I was listening to stuff on sampler disc to the giant “Broadside” box set this past weekend where he was signed through his career but he wasn’t on the disc I had.  For those who don’t know, Broadside was a magazine started in the early 60s that focused on topical songs – mostly of the folk variety.  Basically it was a socially conscious publication that discussed and distributed songs about political & social issues at the time.  It’s widely regarded as an important publication in the development of the 60’s folk revival that launched the careers of Bob Dylan, Phil Ochs, Pete Seeger, Janis Ian, etc, etc.  In fact, some of Dylan’s earliest pieces were recorded by Broadside.  If your really into this type of music – mostly protest songs in folk arrangments – check out the entire Broadside box set by the Smithsonian.  I can’t say I like it enough to warrant a 5 disc set, but it’s interesting enough to listen to a sampler of the artists it featured.

Keep on Keepin On by Len Chandler

For Mason

Dearest Mason, although Paul McCartney and George Harrison were both Beatles, George Harrison was the only one who had a video in the 80s with singing animal heads.

I Got My Mind Set On You by George Harrison

…but my favorite George Harrison tune(if you were wondering) is “If Not For You” which he co-wrote with Bob Dylan. Dylan did a version on his New Mornings CD(I believe Harrison plays guitar on the tune too) while Harrison did a version on his classic All Things Must Pass CD.

If Not For You by George Harrison

If Not For You by Bob Dylan – this is my favorite version – love the Nashville sounding country guitars.

If Not For You by Olivia Newton-John – Here is the happy crappy Musak version