Wayfaring Strangers - Ladies From The Canyon

Now available on vinyl for the first time. close your eyes and you could just as well be in a hazily lit club at bleeker and macdougal as a sun-splashed laurel canyon coffeehouse. but by the 1970s, folk music was the latter, a west coast kaleidoscope of the spaced-out and serpentine, cross-pollinating a decade of music from the byrds to neil young to linda rondstadt's stone poneys. three decades later, this long overdue package of women in song - from california and elsewhere - compiles 14 virtually anonymous artists. while each artist merits a mention, here are the most deserving: ex-gypsy and joni mitchell sound-alike caroline peyton ('engram'), who went on to sing in disney movies; carla sciaky ('and i a fairytale lady'), with her pin-drop vocals and boulder, colorado, high school folk club; the ethereal voice of the late mary perrin ('dedication'); and a 1970 selection from illinois' jennie pearl ('maybe in another year'), one of two performers whose whereabouts are unknown. another excellent compilation from numero. if you've read barney hoskins book 'hotel california', love joni, have just discovered the likes of judee sill and linda perhacs, you could do no wrong checking this beauty out!