Search - Carolyn Hester :: At Town Hall

Bill is Right!

peter selik | New York City | 10/12/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Stand aside Joan Baez, Judy Collins, Bob Dylan, and all others. Carolyn Hester is the most touching interpreter of folk music to have ever sung a note. A unique, beautiful, soulful and above all touching voice. One for the ages."

The Best!

W. Johnson | Los Angeles, California United States | 02/27/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Some of the most beautiful songs sung by one of the most beautiful voices ever to sing. Truly unique. This concert will stay with you for years if not forever."

The Town Hall Concert Is Carolyn Hester's Moment In the Sun

Gavin B. | St. Louis MO | 01/25/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Texas singer Carolyn Hester is one of the few musicians that can claim to have close associations with both Buddy Holly and Bob Dylan. She grew up in Waco Texas was friends with Lubbock native Buddy Holly and once recorded an unissued session with Holly and Jerry Allison of the Crickets. She was also friends with Dylan in his early east Village years and Dylan played harmonica on a couple tracks of one of her albums. It was 1962 and Dylan was virtually unknown.



"Carolyn Hester at Town Hall" from a 1965 concert is the best available showcase of her talents. She had very sweet winsome voice, not unlike that of another West Texan singer, Nancy Griffith. A lot of her material was the out-dated strum and sing variety of the hootnanny era. Her biggest obstacles were she had limited skill as a guitarist and wrote very little original material. As the sixties progressed she lost ground to women in rock and roll like Grace Slick and Janis Joplin and escpecially Joni Mitchell who was a stunning singer, prolific songwriter and muscular guitar player.



The Town Hall concert worked because George Tomsco, the nimble guitarist from Jimmy Gilmer and the Fireballs ( of "Sugar Shack" fame) added definition to her own prosaic strumming style. Tomsco was a bit of an unsung legend himself, being a pioneer of Tex-mex and rockabilly guitar. The high point of the concert is Hester's stunning rendition of "The Water Is Wide" a beautiful traditional Celtic tune. She does a great rendition of Dylan's early tune "Playboys and Playgirls." Another song "High Flying Bird" has become more associated with the Jefferson Airlplane or Richie Haven over the years. In her cover of the Gershwin tune "Summertime" her voice reaches high notes that fall just short of shattering crystal goblets. This is a memorable album which I still enjoy even after decades have passed since it was recorded.



Be sure to purchase the complete unedited version of this album which is the CD that was issued in 1991. Earlier editions have far less material."