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Saturday, June 21, 2014

Leonda - Woman In The Sun (1969 canada, marvelous folk psych with jazz blues tinges, 2007 issue)



Though it was released on a major label (Columbia's Epic subsidiary) in the late '60s, Leonda's sole album, Woman in the Sun, is extremely rare, and little known even among fans of singer/songwriters of the era. Because Leonda is Native American, and sometimes uses prominent vibrato in her vocal phrasing, she might generate comparisons to the most well-known Native American singer/songwriter of that era, Buffy Sainte-Marie. Actually, however, she's almost as similar to Annisette of Savage Rose or (more distantly) Melanie, or perhaps some of the gutsier woman singers from late-'60s West Coast rock bands. 

While Leonda has an appealing, somewhat raspy voice, her folk-bluesy material (with backup help from members of the Canadian rock band the Paupers) is less impressive. The songs are fairly meandering and not all that tuneful, if good-natured with a vaguely hippie uplifting vibe. Things are better when she moves away from a blues base to a folkier one, as she does with the orchestrated "When I Lived in My Grandmother's House" and the acoustic "Zono My Bird."
by Richie Unterberger


Tracks
1. Mist In The Sky - 3:39
2. Somebody´S Gonna Ask Me Who I Was (Leonda, Mike Baish) - 4:59
3. When I Lived In My Grandmothers House (Michael Peter Smith) - 4:34
4. Blue Diamond In Platinim Setting - 3:26
5. Mother In Love - 3:48
6. Come Take A Waltz Through My Heart - 3:38
7. Peace And Pipes - 6:46
8. Zono My Bird - 3:39
9. Head Country (Tothe Lost City OF Zoozoo) - 3:39
10.Make It All Right - 4:06
All songs by Leonda unles as else stated

Personnel
*Leonda - Vocals
*Brad Campbell - Bass
*Teddy Irwin - Guitar
*Sammy Lawhorn - Guitar
*Adam Mitchell - Organ
*Kermit Moore - Cello
*John Ord - Organ, Piano
*Skip Prokop - Drums

Free Text

9 comments:

  1. Thanks Marios.

    http://youtu.be/pN2t9ALrG9A

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  2. Music is so-so but I have to say she has the most beautiful teeth.

    Dental Dam

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  3. Leonda 1997 on right ;) Extremely rare photo. Only seen by a handful of people...

    http://i61.tinypic.com/24bkebc.jpg

    Peace and Pipes is obviously one of the best 'acid' songs of all time and should be considered along with Hurdy Gurdy Man by Donovan, and the works of Iron Butterfly, the Doors, etc.
    In Zono My Bird, the lyric "Fly me away the water tank, carry me away" refers to when she lived in Watertown MA and envisioned 'flying away' from the city to the country realm and nature. Although she mentions Spotted Eagle take me home today, her secret mystical bird was the Perot, and her native totem the Turtle.

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  4. In 1967 she took part in International Song Festival Sopot(Poland). Her appearance on the festival stage was a sensation. Without the orchestra, only her and her unique guitar.
    Leonda charmed the Festival audience and from the first evening she became the star of this Festival, a very famous in Europe and in the world. She received the prestigious Journalists' Award. You may see her Sopot Festival entry on YouTube.

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  5. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hntaODweJ60

    here is her Sopot Festival 1967 entry!

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  6. Have new links for this disc? Amigo.

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  7. Hola Amigo, "Leonda - Woman In The Sun", renew...

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  8. Greatful Marios! Another pearl uncompressed!! Many thanks!!

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