Karen Dalton: 4/5 in The Times (Posted By Harry)
Karen Dalton in The Times
Karen Dalton
1966
Delmore Recordings
“…A gorgeous recording from folk’s mid-Sixties golden age is rescued from the vaults. Karen Dalton was a hard-living, part-Cherokee Greenwich Village habitue, much admired by Bob Dylan, with an unforgettable voice of sandpaper, cigarettes and regret. Dalton was a reluctant star; she only made her debut when the producer pretended that the tape wasn’t running.
1966 is a product of a friend bringing a reel-to-reel to Dalton’s cabin in Summerville, Colorado, and recording her to help with rehearsals for gigs – so she didn’t think anyone would ever hear it. It’s wonderfully unguarded as a result: her versions of Tim Hardin’s Don’t Make Promises and Reason to Believe are starkly affecting. As for her rendition of the traditional ballad Katie Cruel– “When I first came to town they called me the roving jewel, now they’ve changed their tune, call me Katie Cruel” – it’s heartbreaking, particularly when you consider that Dalton, a beautiful and talented woman, died on the streets of New York in 1993, ravaged by drink and drugs. Hers is the most affecting of these four folk- tinged albums, (First Aid Kit, Laura J. Martin, Kathleen Edwards Voyageur) each of them enriching in their own frosty way.”
Written By Will Hodgkinson (Full Review in The Times- Fri 20th Jan)
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