There’s something quite comforting in the fact that, no matter how many albums you buy, tunes you download or music videos you watch, there will always be an artist left to discover, a song waiting to be uncovered.
You know that feeling (albeit a rare feeling) when you meet someone for the first time and you think to yourself: “Fuck! We’ve shuffled alongside each other on this mortal coil for decades without knowing each other even existed, but now I’ve met them I can’t imagine my life without them.”
The moment the stranger becomes a friend.
I had that feeling the other day. I got that feeling from Karen Dalton. And just like that, a moody, broody Cherokee singer suddenly jumped out at me from behind her banjo and screamed “Kat, you fool! I’ve been here for DECADES! How did you not notice me before?!”
Hands up. I am a fool. All the signs were there: she played with Bob Dylan, seeped in the Greenwich Village folk scene in the 60s. When she opens her mouth she sounds like a world weary Billie Holiday with swan songs of heartbreak to impart. And I’ve only just found her…
I’ve seriously worn her 1971 record ‘In My Own Time’ out at the seams: a collection of covers and traditional folk aires like ‘Katie Cruel’ which take your breath away. Opening track ‘Something On Your Mind’ washes over you like a vinyl-etched old friend, lost along the way, yet finally making their way back to you.
It’s only a shame that this soulful creature lost her battle with AIDS before any of us had the chance to truly pay homage to her incredible talent and spirit.
If you were in any doubt:
Nick Cave: “She understood the blues better than the folk singing milieu she was hanging out with. Absolutely. She’s a blues singer to me. It’s full of idiosyncrasies that you can’t repeat – it’s in her voice and it’s just extraordinary.”
Bob Dylan: “My favourite singer in the place was Karen Dalton. She was was a tall white blues singer and guitar player, funky, lanky and sultry. Karen had a voice like Billie Holiday’s and played the guitar like Jimmy Reed and went all the way with it.”
Devendra Banhart: “I just wish I knew more about her, you know? Karen Dalton looks like an agel, alchemist, witch! There’s a real magic. A look that’s piercing, deep, dark, mysterious, angelic, but strong as hell!”
Need more proof? Hit her MySpace and click on to ‘Katie Cruel’ and ‘Something On Your Mind’ for yourselves. Here’s to Katie Cruel:
karendaltoninmyowntime
