Karen Dalton - In My Own Time (1971)

Karen Dalton was an American folk singer, guitarist and banjoist.

The enigmatic Karen Dalton almost managed to get by without recording at all - her debut album from 1969 only came about because she didn't know the tape was rolling. It's lucky then that she did agree to put the time in to record another record, going to Woodstock in 1970 to record at Albert Grossman's Bearsville Studio. The sessions were produced and arranged by bassist Harvey Brooks, who brought in many top backing musicians including guitarist Amos Garrett, Bill Keith on pedal steel, pianist John Simon and fiddler Bobby Notkoff. The result from these sessions was a truly strange album, with an eccentric mix of folk, blues, country and soul styles set to some loose band arrangements. Her strange, highly uncommercial voice simultaneously blessed it with a unique spirit and doomed it to obscurity.

As Dalton didn't write her own songs, In My Own Time consisted entirely of covers, including numbers by Dino Valenti, Richard Manuel, Paul Butterfield and George Jones. Most surprising of all were her versions of the well-known soul hits "When A Man Loves A Woman" and "How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)" which she twisted and transformed in her own idiosyncratic style. It also featured a song by her husband Richard Tucker, "Are You Leaving For The Country".

The album was released on the tiny Just Sunshine label, and went by almost totally unnoticed. Thus Karen Dalton's brief and erratic recording career came to a close. It was her second and final album, and after its release she drifted out of view. She strugged throughout the rest of her life with alcohol and drugs, and reportedly was homeless on the streets of New York when she died in 1993.

It's So Hard To Tell Who's Going To Love You The Best (1969) <|
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Karen Dalton - It's So Hard To Tell Who's Going To Love You The Best (1969)

Karen Dalton was an American folk singer, guitarist and banjoist.
 

Born in 1937 in Oklahoma, Karen Dalton made the move to New York in th early 60s and began performing as a folk singer, befriending fellow folkies such as Bob Dylan and Fred Neil. She played 12-string guitar and banjo, and possessed an unusual voice which often drew comparisons to Billie Holiday. She was always reluctant to record, which accounts for her sparse discography, and almost had to be tricked into recording her debut album, which came out in 1969. It showcased her distinctive style of folk-blues, with minimal accompaniment (for the most part just low-key bass and drums). Among the mix of folk and blues covers (including two Fred Neil compositions, and a Tim Hardin number), it had a surprise in her interpretation of a then-recent Stax soul gem, "I Love You More Than Words Can Say" (written by Eddie Floyd and Booker T. Jones, recorded by Otis Redding).

|> In My Own Time (1971)
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