What a nice discovery!
Aquarius Records | San Francisco | 01/20/2007
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Sometimes one person's tragedy is another's good fortune. Don't know if any of you scored any good deals from Tower Records sad going out of business sale, but we were surprised at some of the finds still available on the second to last day. Of course the Rock and the Hip Hop sections were long plundered, but if you ventured into the Folk, World, and 20th century composer section, you could still find a $35 import for just 4 bucks of some obscure koto avant-jazz or take a chance on an old folkie that we had never heard of which is the case with this gem.
Who is Barbara Dane? Well we thought she would be some songbird like Carolyn Hester or Texas Gladden, but Dane's voice is truly a force to be reckoned with, not a collegiate howler, like Judy Henske or Dorris Henderson but husky, low and tainted with regret. Here on her first recording on the Tradition label (home of John Jacob Niles) she delivers some of the loneliest sounding interpretations of songs from the folk cannon including the Carter Family's "Single Girl", "Girl of Constant Sorrow", and Woody Gutherie's "Ramblin'". Moonshinin', the painful bedevilment of men and standing tall on one's own are consistent themes in these songs, accompanied by guitar and banjo. Dane, who is still alive and still singing is now known for being more of a Blues singer, but she entered that particular world through these amazing folk interpretations. What a nice discovery! Fans of John Jacob Niles, Cat Power, and Karen Dalton will find lots to love here. Since not everybody was as lucky as one of us happened to be to find this at the Tower sale, we thought we'd order 'em in -- even at full price, it's well worth it!!"
The real deal.
fluffy, the human being. | forest lake, mn | 04/13/2007
(5 out of 5 stars)
"you could look at the cover of this album, see a white woman with blonde hair and an acoustic guitar, and think, "from 1959, huh? this has a high probablity of being hokey." you could think that. but i want to chase such thoughts from your mind. this is the real deal. powerful, down to earth folk music, sung by a woman with an amazing voice that's rich in tone and full of confidence. tom paley, from the new lost city ramblers, is the lone accompaniment here, playing acoustic guitar on all but two tracks ("little maggie" and "the danville girl" are decorated by wonderful banjo work from mr paley). these are stark and beautifully done recordings. "greensleeves," in particular, is rendered here in a glorious heartfelt performance. anyone with an interest in folk music should pick up a copy of this fantastic recording from 1959."
Unknown treasure
Lilly | RAMAT HASHARON ISRAEL | 03/20/2010
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I was not familiar with this singer but heard one track on a different compilation. I bought this on a whim, basically. It turned out well for the songs and the singer are perfectly delightful. Recommended for anyone with a soft spot or interest in American folk music."
Track Listings (15) - Disc #1