Karen Dalton
Karen Dalton |
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Karen J. Dalton (born Karen J. Cariker July 19, 1938 – March 19, 1993) was an American folk blues singer and banjo player associated with the early 1960s Greenwich Village folk music scene, particularly with Fred Neil and the Holy Modal Rounders as well as Bob Dylan.
Biography
Dalton, whose heritage was Cherokee, was born Karen J. Cariker in Enid, Oklahoma.[1] Her bluesy, world-weary voice is often compared to that of iconic jazz singer Billie Holiday. She sang blues, folk, country, pop, Motown -- making over each song in her own style. She played the twelve string Gibson guitar and a long neck banjo.
In his 2004 autobiography[2], Bob Dylan wrote this in his description of discovering and joining the music scene at Greenwich Village's Cafe Wha? after arriving in New York City in 1961: "My favorite singer in the place was Karen Dalton.... I sang with her a couple of times."
Dalton's second album, In My Own Time (1971), was recorded at Bearsville Studios and originally released by Woodstock Festival promoter Michael Lang's label, Just Sunshine Records. The album was produced and arranged by Harvey Brooks, who played bass on it. (Harvey Brooks played bass also on the Miles Davis album Bitches Brew, on the Bob Dylan album Highway 61 Revisited and on the Richie Havens album Mixed Bag.) Piano player Richard Bell guested on In My Own Time. Its liner notes were written by Fred Neil and its cover photos were taken by Elliot Landy. Less well-known is Dalton's first album, It's So Hard to Tell Who's Going to Love You the Best (Capitol, 1969), which was re-released by Koch Records on CD in 1996.
Both Dalton's albums were re-released in November 2006: It's So Hard To Tell Who's Going To Love You The Best, on the French Megaphone-Music label, included a bonus DVD featuring rare performance footage of Dalton. In My Own Time was re-released on CD and LP on November 7, 2006 by Light In The Attic Records.
The version of the song Something on Your Mind (composed by Dino Valenti) that is sung by Dalton on her album In My Own Time is the soundtrack during the ending credits of the 2007 film Margot at the Wedding, which was written and directed by Noah Baumbach and starred Nicole Kidman and Jennifer Jason Leigh.
Known as "the folk singer's answer to Billie Holiday" and "Sweet Mother K.D.", Dalton is said to be the subject of the song Katie's Been Gone (composed by Richard Manuel and Robbie Robertson) on the album The Basement Tapes by The Band and Bob Dylan. She struggled with drugs and alcohol for many years and died in 1993 in New York City after an eight-year battle with AIDS.[3]
Discography
- It's So Hard to Tell Who's Going to Love You the Best (1969)
- In My Own Time (1971)
- Cotton Eyed Joe (2007) (recorded live in 1962)
- Green Rocky Road (2008)
References
- ^ Laura Barton (23 March 2007). "The Best Singer You've Never Heard of". The Guardian. Retrieved 2008-07-12.
- ^ Dylan, Bob (2004). Chronicles: Volume One. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 0-7432-2815-4. (Page 12.)
- ^ Jim Caligiuri (8 February 2008). "In Her Own Time: The return of Karen Dalton". The Austin Chronicle. Retrieved 2008-07-12.
External links
- Karen Dalton at AllMusic
- Illustrated Karen Dalton discography
- Light In The Attic Records "In My Own Time" CD
- Delmore Recordings "Cotton Eyed Joe: The Loop Tapes/Live In Boulder 1962" CD & DVD and "Green Rocky Road" CD"
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