Court and Spark

[mudcub]

As a treat for myself, I thought I'd buy some CDs from the seventies folk-rock period. I am most impressed by female singer-songwriters who wrote, sang, and recorded their own music. In this age of vapid synthesized American Idols, I find it refreshing to go back thirty years and enjoy the originality of the women artists of previous decades.

Here are some CDs I don't own but think I should listen to:

Carole King "Tapestry"
Joni Mitchell "Court And Spark"
Carly Simon (I'll but a best-of CD)
Joan Armatrading "Walk Under Ladders"
Janis Ian (best-of, with "At Seventeen")

What about these artists? Can they be included in the genre?

Laura Nyro
Karla Bonoff
Patti Smith
The Carpenters
Kate Bush
Helen Reddy
Anne Murray

Can you recommend any others? Aren't there some famous lesbian singers I'm missing like Suede and Ferron and Holly Near and Cris Williamson?

Comments

[progbear.livejournal.com]

If you like Tapestry, I’d recommend Thoroughbred as well; one of CK’s most solid albums, 100% deep tracks (“Only Love Is Real” was the “hit,” albeit a minor one). Also of interest, Really Rosie, her collaboration with children’s author Maurice Sendak, which will cause huge pangs of nostalgia for people of a certain age.

I love Court & Spark, one of Joni’s finest alongside the classic Blue and personal fave The Hissing of Summer Lawns.

Favourite Joan Armatrading album is her self-titled album, with Show Some Emotion close on its heels. Her debut album, the Gus Dudgeon-produced Whatever’s For Us, is a personal fave; you get to hear more of her piano playing on that than any subsequent album. Hands down my favourite singer from St. Kitts & Nevis.

Laura Nyro and Kate Bush I’d absolutely recommend, two favourites of mine. Other female singer/songwriters I enjoy who have yet to be mentioned:

Tori Amos

Kiki Dee

don’t scoff, she had some superb stuff

Cheryl Dilcher

tragically neglected, probably as none of her albums have been reissued

Lesley Duncan

Nona Hendryx

Carita Holmström

a very enjoyable Finnish singer-songwriter, EMI released a 2 CD anthology—with a long Finnish title—of her first two albums plus a mess of bonus tracks a few years ago. See her video for “The Knight” for a taste

Shona Laing

New Zealand’s finest; sadly only the synth-heavy South is generally available. It is good, but in general I prefer her more organic material, in particular her first two albums from the mid 70s, which are not on CD and damned hard to get outside of NZ.

Sally Oldfield

Annette Peacock

in general more avant-garde jazz than singer-songwriter, but worth hearing for sure

Jane Siberry

a must! Love her!

Judie Tzuke

I fell in instant love with her Welcome to the Cruise album when I first heard it. It’s released as a 2-on-1 CD with her second album, Sportscar, which I highly recommend.

Wendy Waldman

I also have a fondness for the mini-explosion of female rock bands from the early 70s: Fanny, Birtha and Isis.