Among the young folkies who settled in New York's Greenwich Village in the early 1960s, singer and guitarist Karen Dalton was a standout.
Fred Neil and the still-unknown
Bob Dylan admired the Oklahoma woman with two children, who at 21, after two divorces, moved to New York with her banjo and twelve-string guitar. She sang through, raw and deep from her soul, like
Bessie Smith or
Billie Holiday… (with whom she also shared her addiction). She thus interpreted traditional folk songs, blues and soul repertoire, and songs by friends such as Tim Hardin and Dino Valente. The title of her second album In My Own Time refers to the fact that everything had to be done under her own conditions and at her own pace, in the studio at Woodstock where bassist Harvey Brooks acted as producer. His patience was rewarded because Dalton's second and latest album, In My Own Time, is her best work, on which she bares her soul in interpretations of the soul hits When A Man Loves A Woman and How Sweet It Is, among others, in addition to the stalwart traditional Katie Cruel and songs by Paul Butterfield and Richard Manuel. Music with a timeless melancholy and lived-in quality that still comes across well on this 50th anniversary edition. A selection of outtakes and live recordings complete this legendary album. After this album, Dalton retired from music. She died in 1993, penniless and homeless as an addict in New York. (MR)more
