Julie Felix isn't too well-known in her native United States, but since 1964 she's been a major British folk music star and has been compared over there with Joan Baez. Felix was born in California, of mixed Mexican and Native American ancestry.
A natural singer by inclination, she was drawn to folk music at an early age but was unable to get a career started in America, even amid the folk revival of the early '60s. In 1964, she decided to go hitchhiking across Europe, and instead of heading home at the end of her travels she made England her destination. She arrived there just in time to catch a fresh wave of enthusiasm for American folk music, fostered by Bob Dylan's emergence internationally as a singer and songwriter.
American folk musicians had always found a welcome among England's folk enthusiasts, but just then, thanks to Dylan, the sheer number of folk listeners had ballooned to massive proportions. Felix also found a natural audience for her work -- she had an engaging voice and manner, a distinctive Mexican guitar (a gift from her father), and her combined Mexican and Native American backgrounds, which made her stand out from other of her compatriots, who were white and male. And suddenly, Felix had a major career -- the same year that she arrived in England, she became the first solo folk performer signed to a major British label when she got a contract from English Decca.
Felix debuted with a self-titled album and a single of Ian Tyson's, "Someday Soon," and she also scored a hit on television, on The Eammon Andrews Show. By 1965, she was a headlining performer, referred to in The London Times as Britain's First Lady of Folk. She cut two more LPs for Decca over the next two years, including an album of Bob Dylan and Woody Guthrie songs, and was also one of the biggest exponents of the work of Leonard Cohen before he'd established himself beyond a small cult of listeners in England. She also began getting recognized for her commitment to charitable causes, and not only raised money for hunger relief but visited several of the more troubled countries in the Third World.
By the end of 1965, she'd filled Royal Albert Hall for one of her concerts, reportedly the first folksinger based in England to accomplish that feat. In 1966, she moved to the Fontana label, for which she cut three albums -- her 1966 album, Changes, is regarded as one of her best, mixing traditional and contemporary material and utilizing the support of Martin Carthy and Dave Swarbrick; meanwhile, on-stage, she came under the wing of Brian Epstein, who booked her and Georgie Fame together at the Saville Theatre, with a then-unknown Cat Stevens appearing as the opening act.
By 1967, she was well enough established to be a featured weekly guest on David Frost's television series, and by 1968 had earned her own television variety series, with guests that included Dusty Springfield, Leonard Cohen, Donovan, and Richard Harris. Her late-'60s recordings included Going to the Zoo, a delightful collection of children's songs on Fontana, and in 1969 she was one of the artists featured at the Isle of Wight Festival. Finally, in 1970, Felix had her first pop hit when she reached the British Top 20 with her version of "El Condor Pasa," recorded under the auspices of producer Mickie Most -- indeed, Felix was the first artist on Most's newly formed RAK label to have a hit record, and she later recorded the album Clotho's Web (1972) for RAK.
She also made her long-delayed debut on American television, courtesy of her longtime friend David Frost, who booked her on his Metromedia-produced talk show. Felix scored a second hit for Most with her cover of "Heaven Is Here" before moving to EMI in 1974.
The mid-'70s marked a period of extreme change for Felix, who was an unapologetic 1960s liberal with a strong commitment to social issues. She became disillusioned with the direction of the world as the '70s wore on, with their more hedonistic orientation. Finding northern Europe a more agreeable place to live and work, she moved to Norway and subsequently enjoyed hit records both there and in Sweden.
Felix returned to California late in the decade and used the time to recharge her social conscience -- by the early '80s, she was heavily involved in the human rights campaign in Latin America. She returned to England and resumed her career, writing songs for the first time and directing her activities toward new age philosophy and interests, in addition to political issues. In the mid-'90s, Felix released her first new album in a decade, Bright Shadows, on her own label, Remarkable Records.
At the outset of the 21st century, she continues to enjoy a full schedule of performances in England and attention from old listeners who remember her from the 1960s and newer audiences who know Felix for her 1990s music. Her new music has received mixed critical and popular reception, but her 1960s repertory still elicits serious enthusiasm from her audience.
by Bruce Eder
In one of her first public appearances JULIE FELIX played the part of a witch in a college production of 'Macbeth'. To give her a suitably horrific profile, she was supplied with a putty extension to her nose, with the whole effect being heightened by green make-up and hair dressed in such a fashion that she resembled an irate porcupine.
Today, Julie still deals in witchcraft, but of a more beguiling kind, as she casts a spell on her adoring fans with her devastating combination of visual and vocal appeal. Her unusual ancestral background - Mexican father and American mother of Welsh descent accounts for her delicate, olive- skinned beauty and also for her love of folk music, which she sings with the warmth and passion of a person so strongly influenced by the racial characteristics of peoples of such outstandingly emotional temperament.
By nature, something of a wanderer, she has, at least for the time being, put down roots in Britain. She arrived completely unknown in 1964, after haphazardly drifting around Europe for two years and has progressed through records, television and concerts to become the country's First Lady of Folk, appealing not to a small select crowd of admirers, but to a widely spread audience of all age groups.
Born in Santa Barbara, California, on 14 June 1941, Julie recalls that her upbringing was in something of an artistic atmosphere, for her school- teacher mother is a poetry-lover and is interested in the cultural heritage of America, while her father, who taught her to play the guitar, was a musician before he turned to engineering.
The first songs she picked up came from Burl Ives LPs in her mother's collection but her repertoire was augmented by Mexican songs learned from her father. As a child, and in fact not until many years later, Julie took no great interest in singing. Her first great ambition was to become expert at sword-fencing, a desire sparked off by seeing a film about a pirate and his daughter. "My mother told me that the basis of all fencing was the dance and persuaded me to study ballet. After a few lessons I forgot completely about fencing", she says.
Original "Live In Concert" LP Liner Notes
1. The Flower Lady (Phil Ochs) - 4:31
2. Mexico (Sand And Foam) (Donovan Leitch) - 2:08
3. Dialogue (I Want To Be Alone) (Jackson C. Frank) - 3:13
4. Soldat (Wolf Bierman) - 1:50
5. Somewhere There S Gotta Be Me (Clint Ballard Jr) - 2:09
6. The Gates Of Eden (Bob Dylan) - 5:06
7. San Francisco (Sure To Wear Some Flowers In Your Hair) (John Phillips) - 3:01
8. The Great Brain Robbery (Joey Mellon, Julie Felix) - 1:45
9. Saturday Night (Donovan Leitch) - 2:31
10.Don T Make Promises (Tim Hardin) - 2:05
11.Berlin (Julie Felix) - 2:44
12.Chimes Of Freedom (Bob Dylan) - 6:03
13.Lost Children (Gordon Lightfoot) - 2:38
14.Daily News (Tom Paxton) - 2:35
15.Love Minus Zero • No Limit (Bob Dylan) - 2:58
16.The First Time I Saw Your Face (Ewan MacColl) - 2:24
17.But Sixteen (Tom Paxton) - 2:39
18.Le Malaguena (Traditional) - 3:42
19.Coni Coni Cononita (Traditional) - 2:41
20.Adios Amigos (Woody Guthrie, Martin Hoffman) - 6:08
21.Sugar Jack (John G. Williams) - 4:15
22.The Union Maid (Woody Guthrie) - 5:09
23.Sad Eyed Lady Of The Lowlands (Bob Dylan) - 3:36
24.One Man's Hands (Alex Comfort, Bob Gibson) - 3:18
Songs 1-12 from "Flowers" LP 1967
Songs 13-24 from "Live In Concert" recorded at the Fairfield Halls, Croydon, Surrey, England on 23rd November 1966 and released the same year