Karen Dalton

Infobox musical artist
Name = Karen Dalton


Img_size = 200
Background = solo_singer
Birth_name = Karen J. Cariker
Born = birth date|1937|07|19
Enid, Oklahoma, USA
Died = death date and age|1993|03|19|1937|07|19
New York City, New York, USA
Instrument = Vocals
Genre = Folk blues, country, jazz
Occupation = Vocalist, banjoist
Years_active = 1960s–1990s

Karen J. Dalton (19 July1938 – 19 March 1993) was an American folk blues singer and banjo player associated with the early 1960s Greenwich Village folk music scene, particularly with Fred Neil and the Holy Modal Rounders as well as Bob Dylan.

Biography

Dalton, whose heritage was Cherokee, was born Karen J. Cariker in Enid, Oklahoma. [cite news | author=Laura Barton | title=The Best Singer You've Never Heard of | url=http://music.guardian.co.uk/folk/story/0,,2040189,00.html | work=The Guardian | date= 23 March 2007 | accessdate=2008-07-12] Her bluesy, world-weary voice is often compared to that of iconic jazz singer Billie Holiday. She sang blues, folk, country, pop, Motown -- making over each song in her own style. She played the twelve string Gibson guitar and a long neck banjo. Her second album, "In My Own Time" (1971), was recorded at Bearsville studios, produced by Bob Dylan's former bass player Harvey Brooks, with liner notes by Fred Neil, originally released on Michael Lang's (Woodstock promoter) label, Just Sunshine. The cover photos were taken by Elliot Landy, and piano player Richard Bell guested on the album. Less well-known is her first album for Capitol, "It's So Hard to Tell Who's Going to Love You the Best" (1969), re-released by Koch Records in 1996.

Both Dalton's albums were re-released in November 2006: "It's So Hard To Tell Who's Going To Love You The Best", on the French Megaphone-Music label, included a bonus DVD featuring rare performance footage of Dalton. "In My Own Time" was re-released on CD and LP on November 7, 2006 by Light In The Attic Records.

Known as "the folk singer's answer to Billie Holiday" and "Sweet Mother K.D.", it is said that the Richard Manuel song "Katie's Been Gone", from The Band's "The Basement Tapes", was written about her. She struggled with drugs and alcohol for many years and died in 1993 in New York City, New York after an eight-year battle with AIDS. [cite news | author=Jim Caligiuri | title=In Her Own Time: The return of Karen Dalton | url=http://www.austinchronicle.com/gyrobase/Issue/story?oid=oid%3A589038 | work=The Austin Chronicle | date=8 February 2008 | accessdate=2008-07-12]

Discography

* "It's So Hard to Tell Who's Going to Love You the Best" (1969)
* "In My Own Time" (1971)
* "Cotton Eyed Joe" (2007) (recorded live in 1962)
* "Green Rocky Road" (2008)

References

External links

*allmusic|11:gzfqxqu5ldje
* [http://www.wirz.de/music/daltodsc.htm Illustrated Karen Dalton discography]
* [http://www.lightintheattic.net/releases/karendalton/ Light In The Attic Records "In My Own Time" CD]
* [http://delmorerecordings.com/?page_id=3 Delmore Recordings "Cotton Eyed Joe: The Loop Tapes/Live In Boulder 1962" CD & DVD and "Green Rocky Road" CD"]