The late Karen Dalton has been called a folk singer's folk singer. With a voice falling somewhere between the smokey jazz of Billie Holiday and the pure Appalachian folk of Jean Ritchie, Dalton was one of the brightest stars of the Greenwich Village folk scene in the early to mid 60's. Her ability to make any song from any genre her own made her a favorite of contemporaries like Fred Neil and Bob Dylan. Dalton's first solo album, It's So Hard to Tell Who's Going to Love You the Best, released in 1969, was a loose, folk-inspired album featuring traditional songs as well as those of peers Tim Hardin and Fred Neil. In late 1970 Dalton headed to Bearsville Studios in upstate New York with producer/bassist Harvey Brooks to begin her second album, In My Own Time. In contrast to the "playing in the living room" looseness of her debut, this sophomore effort featured well seasoned session players and an even more genre stretching song selection. Credit must go to Brooks whose skills at arranging and selecting songs keep the album flowing smoothly despite the disparity of the material. The musicians as well play with great finesse and restraint, never getting in the way of Dalton's voice, providing the perfect musical backing.
And what a voice. Never has the word "yesterday" sounded as heartbreakingly joyous as it does introducing the opening track "Something On Your Mind." And it only gets better from there. Next up is quite possibly one of the most unique versions of "When A Man Loves A Woman" ever recorded, her voice teetering on the edge of its range. After the first few tracks' slightly r&b feel, the mood switches abruptly, but somehow effortlessly, to 30's era Appalachia with "Katie Cruel," featuring Dalton on banjo and a lonesome fiddle off in the distance. Other highlights include a faithful rendition of the Band's "In a Station" and a glorious take on the country standard "Take Me," made famous by, among others, George Jones and Tammy Wynette.
Unfortunately after the release of this album, Dalton pretty much retired from the music business. Always a staunchly independent artist, she could never be pigeonholed to a specific genre which made her "unmarketable" by music business standards. She passed in 1993 without fully realizing the huge impact she would have on a whole new generation of artists.
Comments
Friday April 16, 2010 03:47pm
big panda such a beautiful voice. a shame that she didn't put out any more music.
The late 
