Buffy Sainte-Marie - Buffy/Changing Woman/ Sweet America

Three 70s albums on CD for the first time

In the wake of Carole King’s success with Tapestry in the 70s, the position of female singer-songwriters changed dramatically: every company with a female songwriter on their books attempted to replicate some of King’s success with glossy production on their albums.

Bearing in mind Sainte-Marie’s early, uncompromising releases, it seems a tad odd that she would follow this path, but follow it she did with pleasant songs such as I’ve Really Fallen For You on 1974’s Buffy, an outing that certainly had well-rounded corners. The following year’s Changing Woman is a decidedly more satisfying set, with Buffy’s vocals being more upfront and edgy, backed with more adventurous arrangements and production from Norburt Putnam on songs that are closer to what you may have expected from her Vanguard years. Sweet America is a patchy affair with some close to syrupy moments, but is saved by I Don’t Need No City Life and the gutsy Look At The Facts. Variable fare, but with enough of the lady’s strident talent present to make it attractive.

3 stars 3 stars 3 stars

Big Beat | CDWIK2 280

Reviewed by Kingsley Abbott
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