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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

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