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This is a thread to talk about this album, or indeed this woman`s work, because something tells me this little-known singer may never get another MB thread. I don`t mean to suggest that she isn`t worthy of attention. After all, it`s sometimes the dustiest book that holds the proudest words, and I like the fact that the FAIR album club shines a little light on musicians who aren`t forever in the blaze of the floodlights... So thanks once again to fazstp for coming up with a forgotten gem.
Quote:
Originally Posted by fazstp
Karen Dalton - It's So Hard to Tell Who's Going to Love You the Best (1969)
Great bluesy vocals on this first release from Karen Dalton. This is the opening track; her version of the Fred Neil track A Little Bit of Rain.
So thanks once again to fazstp for coming up with a forgotten gem.
Well I can't really take credit seeing she was unknown to me before following the lead you posted with the photo of Dylan, Neil and Dalton jamming in Greenwich. That said this album certainly is a gem. My one disappointment is that she didn't write any of her own songs but she has a way of taking any song and making it her own. Her vocals are a mournful blues tinged with a lazy inflection any trumpet player would kill for. All up I am giving this one an excellent.
If "In My Own Time" has other tracks as good as that ^ one, I think I might enjoy it more than "It`s so hard...", which at first I found quite disappointing - not just because, as you say, there are no original compositions, but because of the Billie Holiday singing style. Also, for my personal taste, there are too many lyrics about " missin` my man ".
So although some of the tracks, like "In the Evening", are beginning to grow on me, I think for me KD is going to remain an artist I`d rather read about than listen to. She cuts such an intriguing figure, drifting in from Oklahoma, rubbing shoulders with the greats of Greenwich Village and belatedly, reluctantly, recording just a couple of albums.
She hasn`t left a lot of material behind, and this powerful rendition from "It`s so hard...", is about the only clip I`ve found that actually shows KD performing. It gives an idea of the extraordinary control she had in her craft, and may help to dispel the image of Billie Holiday that lingers around KD`s work like a ghost.
__________________ "Am I enjoying this moment? I know of it and perhaps that is enough." - Sybille Bedford, 1953
It`s so hard to tell... by Karen Dalton
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