Not all records’ value can be measured in their audio quality or collectability. This is a dirty, ragged copy of a mass market pop folk release, but it’s by one of my partner’s personal favourites.
While I were listening to Black Sabbath and Stooges, she was digging into the lesser Woodstock performers, and now that our record collections have merged I really appreciate Safka’s voice and songwriting.
The obvious highlights are “What have they done to my song Ma” and her cover of “Ruby Tuesday”, but the entire album is a nice throwback to a former generation of singer/songwriters with something on their minds and the pipes to communicate it. When I someday get around to washing this I’m sure it will sound loads better than it does now.
One of my late father’s favourite albums and favourite singers, it’s truly a moving listen.
It holds a very dear place for me also, as I listened to a lot of his music while he was passing away. Though I love her music, I really cannot listen to this album without welling up.
Have you heard the live performance of “Look at what they done to my song Ma” where she does a couple of verses in French and German (IIRC)?
Thanks for sharing! The memories associated with certain music can be intense, but I hope you can listen to this again someday with some distance.
I only really started collecting vinyls after my brother passed last year and I took over his collection. He didn’t even own a record player, so there have been some moments where I wished he could have heard just how good it sounds. And there is music I won’t be able to listen to for a good while yet, because it’s so deeply associated with his memory.
I’m not sure I’ve heard “What have they done to my song” with a German verse, but my partner has played a few live recordings of it. There are definitely a few French stanzas if not a full verse on this recording, too.