Search - Various Artists :: Wayfaring Strangers: Ladies From the Canyon

Forget the haters below

Debra Perry | 08/14/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"As with all the Numero Group releases, this collection is a pock marks and all look at a weird but cool sub genre that is just now coming into light. Fans of Linda Perhacs, Joni's dark work (Last Time I Saw Richard, Blue), or Ruth Ann Friedman should take note. If you're expecting PP&M or other revival sounding folk, move on. My favorite track is "Eternal Life" by Shira Small, which sounds like nothing else ever made on this planet. Bizarre and beautiful, youthful yet not young sounding.



Private folk is another untapped musical genre that the Numero Group have resurrected, let's hope there are others waiting to be found as well."

I liked it

Beth | Mesa, AZ United States | 08/13/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This collection from the Numerogroup, features a bunch of unknown female folk singers from the 60's, most of which were only recognized locally. It is put together lovingly with pictures and descriptions of each artist featured. Except for Window and Mary Perrin, the other works here aren't released on cd elsewhere. While there are a few duds in the mix overall there is a naive charm to it. This cd led me to the works of Chuck and Mary Perrin and for that I'm grateful enough. Just the other day I found a Marj Snyder record in a thrift store and I was happy. I would have past by it otherwise. I would love to see a companion piece full of unknown male Tim Buckley/Fred Neil wannabes."

Songs of searching souls

William Timothy Lukeman | 08/19/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I'm with previous reviewer Debra Perry -- this is a wonderful collection of little-known singer/songwriters, most certainly off the beaten track, but well worth discovering. Yes, Joni Mitchell is an obvious inspiration for some of them, but that's to be expected from this particular time. And really, Caroline Peyton is the only one who sounds conspicuously Joni-like, at least to my ears.



What's captivating about so many of these tracks is how personal they are, expressions of unique lives informed by the fading (but still potent) culture of the 1960s. I don't think it's an accident that some of these singers are Christian ... although it's more of a hippie Jesus than the fundamentalist variety of the present day. So much had happened to America, so many people were weary to the soul, disillusioned, wondering where to go next -- although you don't have to be Christian yourself to enjoy the universal aspect of their search.



And so we get these often contemplative, inward-looking songs. Still, there's plenty of exultation & wonder to be found here as well, since the inward search is often expressed in outward terms, as in Shira Small's "Eternal Life," or Collie Ryan's delightful "Cricket." The sensitive, innocent girl-child & the grown, sensual woman meet in many of these songs, in an unforced & natural way that would be impossible now.



Not for every taste, of course -- but a beautiful, wistful window into a brief period of time, a different way of living, that offers many rewards to the receptive listener. Highly recommended!"