Karen Dalton - the greatest singer you've never heard of

[@BekiBrindleScalaGUITARIST]

Thank you, Katie, for this lovely video-tribute to Karen who in the early 80s, became one of my dearest friends. I met her via the guys in "The Band" when I was 21 years old & just starting to work as a side-lead-guitarist with her contemporaries. We were house-mates in two different houses and she was so much more than however her last years and days were presented in print. She had many friends who were there for her. I know it was terribly rough for her at the end but I knew her in such a different way. I was sitting with her, playing guitars and singing when she got the call from the doctor, telling her she was HIV positive. I didn't do drugs & wasn't around her when she was doing any of that. Maybe she did a bit but not around me and she was like a sister to me. She had the best sense of humor! We miss her so very much. She was wise and so incredibly talented. Vocally and guitar-wise. She taught Dylan, Danko, et. al, how to sing. She taught me how to sing. She is beloved by so many and we all miss her. Her spirit lives on. I don't think a day goes by when I don't think of her. 🎶 💞 Thanks again for your wonderful video!! :)

[@cordesrecords]

@@BekiBrindleScalaGUITARIST oh my that’s is so special. And I am especially grateful you have shared all that on here for future viewers of this video and comments so they appreciate and understand there is “more” to artists than the written biography. Thank you for sharing that about Karen - I really appreciate it. Katie

[@BekiBrindleScalaGUITARIST]

@@cordesrecords Thank you again for appreciating Karen's unique talent! I know where she is, she is smiling, with that unforgettable "Cheshire Cat" grin of hers! 🤗

[@melvynobrien6193]

@@cordesrecords Chick was fair ordinary. Way overrated.

[@WillyPDX94]

And down the rabbit hole I go .... in search of Karen Dalton ... such fun ... thank you for putting this out in the universe for me to find ✌❤

[@jkkjeldsen8249]

As a big fan of under-appreciated female singers (Lucinda Williams, Maria McKee, etc) your video popped up in my feed. I'm familiar with most of the singers you mentioned except Karen, so I'm looking forward to hearing her. Thank you!

[@cordesrecords]

@@jkkjeldsen8249 Fantastic. Pleased it helped

[@mattjohn4731]

Right on, KD was great. Blessings from USA, to you and yr mum💪❤️🎸

[@midgebattelle9084]

Karen Dalton was a genius interpretor of song......she was Bob Dylan's favorite singer......still extraordinary after all this time......In My Own Time is a masterpiece for all time. Thank you for this post.

[@cordesrecords]

@@midgebattelle9084 thanks for the comment.

[@marktubeie07]

This is amazing to find your review as I just purchased her album 'In My Own Time ' yesterday here in Sydney. I discovered her through another doco here on KZbin by 'Polyphonic'. Yes, just amazing and beautiful singer !

[@cordesrecords]

@@marktubeie07 wow. That’s a coincidence!! Excellent album - enjoy!

[@cordesrecords]

I’ve just saved that video to watch later. Had no idea! Excellent when things align.

[@VinylandKicks86]

i'm a huge Karen Dalton fan of her two proper LPs i prefer It's So Hard To Tell Who's Going To Love You The Best it's one of my all time fav albums to simply put it that album speaks to my soul.

[@cordesrecords]

@@VinylandKicks86 it’s a beautiful album isn’t it. Thanks!

[@dwashington607]

Thanks for introducing me to an artist I have never heard of. I will definitely will check her out.

[@cordesrecords]

@@dwashington607 please do!

[@HarpBaldfellow]

Thank you so much for introducing me to Karen Dalton, I don't recall hearing her before but she's become an immediate favourite. This was the first video of yours I have seen, definitely become a subscriber!

[@cordesrecords]

@@HarpBaldfellow fantastic you’ve now discovered her. Read through the comments there are a few other female singers from same era that have been recommended

[@astickofbutter5863]

Thank You. I just heard Something on your mind. No auto tune. Perfect.

[@michaellaverty1844]

I have heard of her for years and years. She was like an Urban Legend but I never heard her music.

[@David-Ellis]

Hi Katie - I just found your channel and have spent the past few hours streaming some Karen Dalton for the first time. Thank you so much. Why have I never heard of her? I have so much to learn. I'll hunt down some vinyl for sure. All the best from a grey London day today - D

[@cordesrecords]

@@David-Ellis oh that’s fantastic! Thanks. Good luck on the vinyl hunt :)

[@bdp24x14]

Great to have you making videos about music Katie! You're a new VC favorite of mine. I was buying LP's back when Karen Dalton was active, but somehow missed her. In the past couple of years I have picked up her It's So Hard To Tell Who's Going To Love You The Best and In My Own Time reissues by Light In The Attic, gotta get the others. Being in Australia you are probably aware of another favorite artist of mine, Kasey Chambers. I have all her albums, but most of them have been issued only on CD. Somebody needs to rectify that situation!---Eric.

[@cordesrecords]

@@bdp24x14 oh thanks for the kind words. I’m looking forward to Kasey’s new album!

[@iancitizen6489]

Katie, hello and thank you for your post. I complete agree with what the others have said, Jo Anne Kelly, Judee Sill, Judy Henske, are all wonderful female artists. May I also suggest Anne Briggs, Bridget St John, Vashti Bunyan, Shirley Collins, Barbara Dane, Bonnie Dobson, Mimi Farnia, Sybille Baier, Ellen Mcllwaine just to name a few.

[@cordesrecords]

Thanks Ian. I went to my local record store today and found an Aussie Promo Not for Sale stamped 1969 Bonnie Dobson - that's clean and quiet. Thanks for suggestions.

[@iancitizen6489]

Enjoy Katie, good score! You may know her most famous song, ‘Morning Dew’, was about a post apocalyptic world, written many years before recording it, and cover by many artists. I heard Robert Plant sing it a few years ago. Best of luck collecting.

[@cordesrecords]

@@iancitizen6489that’s exactly what my record store owner told me about! Hahaha

[@myles7522]

I was never a great Blues fan although at the time my friend had one of her albums, can’t remember the name. He loved it and I only listened because he was my friend…🤣🤣🤣 lLove your channel by the way 👏👍

[@cordesrecords]

@@myles7522 oh Thanks mate! She is great!

[@johnsradios484]

Thank you for introducing me to someone new!

[@cordesrecords]

@@johnsradios484 You are welcome

[@OurFamilyInMotion]

If you love Karen Dalton's music, you should check out a band named Innocence Mission. Very, very similar styles. Innocence Mission has something like 13 albums now and they're all great.

[@calico1947]

It was Fred Neil who recommended and introduced Karen to his producer Nik Venet which subsequently led to her first recording-"It's So Hard to Tell Who's Going to Love You the Best" (1969). And it was Fred Neil's wonderful liner notes, the only time he ever did such a thing, that graced the back cover of her second album-"In My Own Time" (1971). Also, I must give a shoutout to my friend, Mark Linn, who is responsible for the "Karen Dalton 1966" album and CD released on his Delmore Recording Society label.

[@cordesrecords]

@@calico1947 such a great album. I love that one. Thanks for your comments about Fred Neil and yes - thanks to your friend Mark Linn - great issue and release.

[@lupcokotevski2907]

Also check out Cameo (1970) by Marian Henderson (Australia), Her only album, it was released in the USA and UK. Also, Judy Henske, an influence on Janis Joplin and Grace Slick. And the goat of female singer/songwriters, Laura Nyro, who declined to be David Geffen's first signing on Asylum, so it became Judee Sill. Nyro "probably influenced more successful songwriters than anyone" Elton John, 2007.

[@cordesrecords]

@@lupcokotevski2907 thank you! I know Nyro but not ironically Marian Henderson or Judy Hensley😆. Thanks very much.

[@lupcokotevski2907]

@@cordesrecords You're very welcome. Marian does a few Leonard Cohen and Dylan tunes, if I remember. I have the vinyl. Nyro is my favourite artist, ahead of Hendrix and Tim Buckley. Cheers from Newcastle.

[@ulpana]

@@lupcokotevski2907 Yes, while I am not hierarchical about rating artists, listening to Laura Nyro going back to my first hearing her on NYC radio as a pre-teen and being drawn to it despite her albums being so clearly of different conception than any one genre cracking the radio waves of those circa 70's years struck cords in me that I was intuitively drawn to. My relationship to Nyro's recordings and performances right up through her last couple of small combo tours through intimate clubs of Northern California where I lived through the 1990's and aughts never stopped evolving. I kept hearing more or perhaps my life's internal emotional territory gained the bevels to better appreciate the nuance in Nyro's oh-so-intuitive writing, composing, piano playing, vocal phrasing and arranging style. To this day nobody reaches those inner recesses Laura Nyro could reach with her "Mediterranean wailing....." Tio Mitchito Mitch Ritter\Paradigm Sifters, Code Shifters, PsalmSong Chasers Lay-Low Studios, Ore-Wa (Refuge of Atonement Seekers) Media Discussion List\Looksee

[@7BobbyGaylor7]

Karen Dalton is so good.

[@Beetlehair]

Enjoyed your video. Do you also like Fred Neil? Another great talent that most people have not heard of. Fred worked with Karen in folk clubs in the early days.

[@cordesrecords]

@@Beetlehair yes. I mention him the video a bit. He went on to look after the protection of Dolphins which is so interesting.

[@FiendishThingy1965]

My vote goes to Judee Sill.

[@cordesrecords]

@@FiendishThingy1965 I don’t have any of her so will change that!

[@rekindle]

"Something On Your Mind" is THE song, an immortal performance

[@deanallen927]

I remember that green capitol label. So "1970".

[@danileljockomo1424]

Listen to Jo Ann Kelly

[@cordesrecords]

@@danileljockomo1424 ok! Will do

[@joannebeauchamp1169]

I’m a huge fan of Karen Dalton…but also of Jo Ann Kelly & Judee Sill…All 3 women were unique singers!…Far better than anyone recording today! That’s for sure! 👍🏿👍🏿👍🏿💥💥💥

[@danileljockomo1424]

Dont know Judee Sill... tell me about her... Thanks

[@michael-i7g7n]

OK. If you listen to Eva Cassidy you won't regret it. I'm just 15 min. into this site, haven't listened to my first Karen Dalton song yet, but I've got that feeling it's gonna be a lot like when I discovered Eva; electric from the first note. She didn't write her own material either, but sang blues, pop, folk, country, jazz, everything better than anyone I've ever heard. A perfect voice and the emotion to DELIVER the song. She died way too young, from melanoma.

[@maryannpshock955]

​@@michael-i7g7n Eva...I wish she'd known about what was happening within her body before it was too late. Such a tragedy. She had a beautiful voice, but from all I've read she was also a beautiful soul.... Her version of Over the Rainbow is unparalleled.

[@wp9860]

You might want to check into a singer that everybody has heard, but few have heard of. That would be Marni Nixon.

[@cordesrecords]

@@wp9860 great!! Will do

[@crazyprayingmantis5596]

I stumbled across a woman by the name of Sara Bareilles doing a cover of Sitting on the dock of the bay a few weeks back and Wowee!! Check it out if you haven't, wear your best headphones too.

[@cordesrecords]

@@crazyprayingmantis5596 I know Sara’s music well!

[@EndoftheTownProductions]

The greatest singer in the past 70 years was Giuseppe Di Stefano.

[@jackstonehenge]

Which album should a new comer listen to first, if you had to pick one?

[@cordesrecords]

@@jackstonehenge in my own time is her masterpiece. :)

[@jackstonehenge]

@@cordesrecords ok, thx! Love hearing about new music people love

[@jhandle4196]

We love our mentally disturbed artists.

[@gostrum1]

Most good art comes from these types.. Otherwise we’re left with the likes of Olivia Newton John 🥱

[@PeterMarlow-u2i]

Betty Harris.

[@PeterMarlow-u2i]

Erm, but I have heard of Karen Dalton. I'd venture Rita Abadzi and Magda Olivero. Oh, and Lata Mangeshkar - nobody has heard of her, but she's far from obscure!

[@cordesrecords]

@@PeterMarlow-u2i fair. Can’t speak to all. Do you like her music?

[@PeterMarlow-u2i]

@@cordesrecords Yes, but I'd struggle to say quite why. I'll have to track down an album and live with it. I have quite a lot of old timey records and I can hear that connection in Karen's voice. I sometimes think that singers with voices that initially sound strange are exactly those singers that grow on you the most. Even some of the most famous female singers - say Joni or Nina - I can still remember hearing their voices the first time and the feeling of surprise. Nina's voice was so incredibly rich and dark for the first few years - but life took its toll eventually. For me, in all seriousness, I think the most neglected female singers are the many great black soul singers of the 60s. So many people name check Aretha, but she was far from alone in being wonderful. Irma Thomas, Betty Harris, Baby Washington, Bettye Swann, Theola Kilgore etc etc. Sometimes the rock / folk "cognescenti" go back and deliberately seek out obscure and overlooked artists, but it's not a guarantee they're always worthwhile. A friend at art school knew Nick Drake from his days at Marlborough. I like Nick Drake but the spotlight has been shone a little too brightly? I started exploring "other" music back in the e80s, nowadays I mostly listen to jazz, classical and world music nowadays. I have to say you have a very nice channel, I'll subscribe.

[@cordesrecords]

@@PeterMarlow-u2i Thank you for the feedback. I am mostly unfamiliar with the above although I am diving a bit deeper in 60’s folk female. Just picked up Bonnie Dobson after another commenter on here suggested. Love her. But will now go and seek out to listen to the above black soul singers - thanks Peter! (Ps: my local vinyl store has an OG Nick Drake for $1200 🥺)

[@PeterMarlow-u2i]

@@cordesrecords Ouch! Believe it or not, I no longer collect vinyl. Partly the prices! 🤨 I have about 900 LPs from first time round, I never disposed of any when CDs came along. I totally understand why people love vinyl, but I'm hooked on exploring music and CDs are so affordable now, plus there's all sorts of music which is impossible to find on vinyl - at least in the UK. I have about 4000 CDs I think. They're in heaps everywhere! We still have regular record fairs in my local town, but my favourite seller has passed away now - very sad, he was on a similar wavelength to me. He was a good friend of Charlie Gillett (google him) but Charlie has also passed.

[@TomTobin67]

I thought Jan Terri was the best singer ever.

[@drpepperr]

Odd voice

[@instantparty8856]

Aquired taste. Her voice you will really like or really hate?

[@onecompass7290]

ok, I listened and you did not play any of her music???? WTAF. total waste of time

[@cordesrecords]

@@onecompass7290 Thanks at least for giving it a go mate. Always nervous for playing the music in case of You Tube strike. Fair comment.

[@myradioon]

Karen Dalton is not a Good singer. She is a UNIQUE singer. She is not even close to being "The Greatest Singer". Her voice is weary, creaky, strained, very 'pitchy' - but nobody would call it "Good". And I like her for that. She can't even hit the high note on her signature song - "Something on Your Mind" - but it works because the lyric is "You can't make it without ever even TRYIN"...". One could argue she didn't make it because her voice was not very commercially viable.

[@cordesrecords]

@@myradioon yes absolutely. In fact the liner notes of one of the albums suggested similar.

[@ronmartin4212]

The original album on Capitol is about $300+these days.

[@myradioon]

@@ronmartin4212 I found a copy about to go into the trash in a basement hall in NYC early 2000's. Sold it to the local record store for far too little and had to explain to the owner who she was and how she was coming into vogue again.

[@ronmartin4212]

@@myradioon Seriously?!?!??Great rescue!!!!Even then,she was largely forgotten and her albums were under the radar,valuewise.Probably wouldn't have made a difference then.What 10-15 years foresight will do.Theyre all huge on the market now!!

[@myradioon]

@@ronmartin4212 Devendra Barnhart and many 'Freak Folk' artists touted her in the Aughts. Cheers.

[@melvynobrien6193]

She sounds mediocre to me; Laura Nyro is far better; and Nick Cave is no expert on singing, lol.

[@calvinwazoo]

What a fascinating video! Just discovered your channel. Why don't you have 1K+ subscribers? Well, you have a new subscriber now and I tracked down In My Own Time to find a copy at a very good price (you're right, the OGs are grails!). I'll be watching more!

[@cordesrecords]

@@calvinwazoo oh thank mate! Really appreciate the feedback. One day I will have 1000 subscribers 🤞. So great you have purchase one of her albums.