Sounds of Summer

Well, it is becoming increasingly hot outside and rising temperatures has put me in the mood for some vintage folk princesses. I really feel like singing great folk songs, partly because I'm being inspired by the best. Awesome hazy spacey chicks with powerful voices. Singers (especially female singers) today just try so hard to be over the top soul powerhouses, or they are computer augmented and arranged so that any actual talent isn’t even a requirement. I want to listen to someone actually sounds amazing and not like a robot Aretha Franklin with an attention complex.

I like the tendency of folk music to tell a story, have a narrative or historical/national point of view. The voice and the song blending together, when done right is just has a magic authenticity that just doesn't seem to exist today. Here is a sampling of the ladies I'm embracing right now-

Sandy Denny

Fairport's leading lady and solo artist Denny is an obvious choice. I love her voice, it is instantly recognizable but she has the vision and artistry to adjust her performances to each song. I think her phrasing in Matty Groves is great. Just a total classic.

Linda Thompson

Well it should be said that I have some kind of indescribable emotional connection to the albums Richard and Linda Thompson did together, I can’t help it, just think they are fantastic . Still, I don't think I really have to argue the point that Linda has a gorgeous voice. While the most significant work she did was done in tandem with her (then husband) wherein most of the lyrics and arrangements were done by him, I think the point (as is with Denny) is more the spirit and intangible romantic quality she gave to the music.

(Side note-apparently Linda Thompson is also the name of a sometime girlfriend of Elvis Presley, and a google search of the former will lead to many results of the latter. This Linda is NOT the plastic tan one.)

Judee Sill

Criminally over-looked American writer-singer. Compelling songwriter and absolutely amazing voice. Overlooked in the shadow of Joni Mitchell and Carole King, Sill had a much deeper and darker perspective. She was fascinated with religion and death and was a habitual drug user. She was arrested for robbery (pre music career) and spent time in a reform school. A really cult chick. In short, the kind of woman I'd rather hear stories from. (If you read that article, I think it is pretty revealing and disturbingly funny when she said that as a hooker her heart "just wasn't in it." Because, you know, that is a job you do for the love of it.) Many of her songs have a "church-ey" quality, as in something I would have heard in some forgotten church on a dirt road that five people go to on Sunday mornings, but I think that’s because she relies on a hymn-like choral structure and some obvious religious imagery when really much darker and more achingly curious themes lie beneath. Sill seems distinctly American, (as American as Denny and Thompson are British) and still quite otherworldly. I think that I have trouble connecting to many of Judee's more famous peers because they don’t have any kind of real weight or substance to them. They are pretty veneers of zeitgeist movements. They are like historical documents with no real historical gravity. Sill just seems to go beyond that.

I really love the song Down Where the Valleys Are Low (couldn't find a good video version, don't mess it up by listening to a poor version). I think the first time I heard it I actually stopped what I was doing because there is a real intensity to it and her voice is really masterful. It was also a live version, which was pitch perfect so doubly impressive.

Well clearly this is a cursory glance and there are other talented singers I'm overlooking, but I'm just really impressed with Sandy, Linda and Judee so I'm having trouble moving on. Suggestions are welcome of course. Until then I really wish I was hanging out in an awesome field with a great flowy dress and some very select company. Back to listening and singing along for now.