Deluxe 2CD+DVD featuring previously unreleased 1962 live reel-to-reel recordings, remastered at the Abbey Road studios. Karen Dalton was one of the most fascinating singers of the 1960's New York folk scene, a genuine cult figure and an influence on such famous friends such as Bob Dylan, Fred Neil, Tim Buckley or Tim Hardin. Her second LP, "In My Own Time", was reissued to great critical acclaim by Light In The Attic Records in 2006.
"My favorite singer in the place was Karen Dalton. Karen had a voice like Billie Holiday's
and played the guitar like Jimmy Reed." - Bob Dylan
"She is my favorite female blues singer." - Nick Cave
"Without a doubt, she is my favorite singer." - Devendra Banhart
"She sure can sing the sh*t out of the blues." - Fred NeilHere's an unexpected treat, the first release of Karen Dalton (1938-1993) recordings, aside from her scant two studio albums, 1969's It's So Hard to Tell Who's Going to Love You the Best and 1971's In My Own Time. In the vein of the Captain Beefheart set, Grow Fins, much work has gone in to make these low-fidelity recordings sound better--but they're still just live recordings from a small folk club in Denver in 1962 called The Attic. It's definitely a fans-only release, but it's hard to imagine anyone really listening to this imaginative and heart-breaking song interpreter and not becoming a rabid fan. Like her friend and mentor Fred Neil, the jazzy folk chanteuse was an exceptionally talented artist with substance abuse issues and a strong dislike for the spotlight. Dalton had to essentially be tricked into her first recording date (she'd been told it was a Fred Neil session) and she took so long to make her second one, it was amazing it ever got done. Supposedly, Dalton did not want any recordings of the sort on this release to be issued. But it's such a joy to hear her here, especially when she gets really ragged and raw (and still achingly beautiful) on traditional numbers like "Prettiest Train" and "Old Hannah." --Mike McGonigal
