CD Reviews

Karen Dalton

Cotton Eyed Joe | Delmore: 2CDs, 1 DVD

By JEFF TAMARKIN | February 5, 2008

3.0 Stars

The very definition of cult heroine, Karen Dalton’s sparse, often ghostly acoustic folk songs, skillful 12-string and banjo, and tortured phrasing — think Cowboy Junkies meet Billie Holiday — have, in the 45 years since these performances were taped at a Boulder coffee house run by one Joe Loop, attracted worshipers from Dylan to Devendra. That she died strung out, broke, and largely forgotten in 1993, having left behind only two albums recorded in 1969 and ’71, has only added to her posthumous mystique. Dalton’s voice, even at this 1962 stage, often sounded pained — not just another early-’60s Joan Baez wanna-be, she had more in common with the grizzled blues divas of decades gone by. Yet despite the lo-fi quality of these two discs, there is a luster and a palpable soulfulness to the stark renditions of songs from Fred Neil, Ray Charles, and old-faithful Trad. With some songs stripped down to near-dirge, bare-boned skeletons and others pumped up hootenanny style, then taken to some other place altogether, Dalton pours herself so fully into each tune, it’s no wonder she flamed out. A bonus four-track DVD offers rare footage of her performing several years later.

Topics: CD Reviews , Entertainment, Music, Joan Baez, More

| More

view all

[ 06/03 ] Always, Patsy Cline @ Ogunquit Playhouse

ARTICLES BY JEFF TAMARKIN

NEW YORK DOLLS | DANCING BACKWARDS IN HIGH HEELS | March 17, 2011
The new New York Dolls have now been around longer - and released more albums (three) - than the old New York Dolls, and they're commemorating that new longevity by letting go of any compulsion they may have still harbored to honor their designation as "punk-rock progenitors."

BLACK JOE LEWIS & THE HONEYBEARS | SCANDALOUS | March 09, 2011
The soul revival has been going on long enough now that maybe it's a not a bad idea to stop calling it a revival at all.

BRYAN FERRY | OLYMPIA | October 19, 2010
From the Kate Moss cover pic to the A-list of guest stars to the reunion with original Roxy Music members Brian Eno, Phil Manzanera, and Andy Mackay, Olympia screams, "EVENT!"

OLD 97'S | THE GRAND THEATRE | October 12, 2010
When Old 97's are on — which they are most of the time on their eighth studio album — they're very, very on.

DAR WILLIAMS | MANY GREAT COMPANIONS | October 05, 2010
The companions of the title are Dar Williams's songs, which the singer-songwriter revisits here two different ways.