2015 Obit: What Became of Tia Blake?

Subject: What Became of Tia Blake?
From: GUEST,John Scovill
Date: 29 Jan 12 - 09:17 AM

Tia Blake recorded a lovely album "Folk Songs and Ballads" in 1971.All of the tracks of the album are available on YouTube and Spotify. Whatever became of this promising artist?

Subject: RE: What Became of Tia Blake?
From: maeve
Date: 29 Jan 12 - 09:27 AM

Have you seen that her album is being released on cd by Water Music on 28 February 2012? "First time available on CD with Tia Blake's own recollections. 11 tracks...) http://www.cduniverse.com/productinfo.asp?pid=8445038

Here is her version of "Polly Vaughn" on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4fq3-H1v0g

Subject: RE: What Became of Tia Blake?
From: GUEST,John Scovill
Date: 29 Jan 12 - 12:16 PM

Thanks, Maeve. There are a few different sources for her music but seemingly, no details on her career.

Subject: RE: What Became of Tia Blake?
From: maeve
Date: 29 Jan 12 - 12:22 PM

I wondered if you might contact "Water Music" to request information, John? I looked about for a while, but haven't found contact information for them. The notes for her cd did specify "on CD with Tia Blake's own recollections", so it seems likely it is a release with her cooperation.

Subject: RE: What Became of Tia Blake?
From: maeve
Date: 29 Jan 12 - 12:26 PM

Here's a starting point, John:http://www.musiconsult.net/20.html

Subject: RE: What Became of Tia Blake?
From: GUEST,John
Date: 29 Jan 12 - 06:00 PM

Naeve, I'll give it a go. John

Subject: RE: What Became of Tia Blake?
From: maeve
Date: 29 Jan 12 - 06:09 PM

Let us know what you find, John. And if you were to join Mudcat (free) I could send you a private message (PM) when/if I get an answer from the email I have also sent.

Subject: RE: What Became of Tia Blake?
From: maeve
Date: 30 Jan 12 - 01:37 PM

That last link is a red herring (Water Music Records is not the same as Water Music, who is releasing the cd.) I've written to CD Universe instead.

Subject: RE: What Became of Tia Blake?
From: GUEST
Date: 30 Jan 12 - 02:29 PM

Maeve, I'm on Facebook, so we can start a private correspondence there. You can here all of the recordings on Tia's vinyl album on YouTube or Spotify. She has a lovely voice and the accompanying musicians (all French, it appears) do quite a creditable job. Will become a Mudcat member soon. John

Subject: RE: What Became of Tia Blake?
From: maeve
Date: 30 Jan 12 - 02:57 PM

Thanks, John. No Facebook for me.

I've listened to several of Tia's YouTube recordings and enjoyed them. I'm mostly interesting in helping you find out the answer to your initial question. In the meantime, no telling who will wander across your thread here and perhaps fill in the blanks.

Subject: RE: What Became of Tia Blake?
From: GUEST,David
Date: 01 Feb 12 - 09:15 AM

There are liner notes on the back of the old LP sleeve, images of which are on Google (very small). The back cover, I think, mentions Columbus (Georgia) and "Paris chez Benito"...but I don't speak French.

Anyway, she's a great find. Would love to know more.

DK

Subject: RE: What Became of Tia Blake?
From: maeve
Date: 01 Feb 12 - 11:12 AM

CD Universe is distributing the old album/new cd release, but have no information as to her whereabouts. The contacts persons at both CD Universe and at Water Music Records (the aforementioned red herring) were quite friendly and willing to help had they been able.

Perhaps a search of the copyright information might lead to a clue. I still haven't found the contact information for the Water Music company that is supposedly the label company for the cd, nor have I found current information for either of the establishments named in the cd notes:
"Ossian Studio in Paris in 1971 and released that same year by the tiny French label SFP (Societe Francaise de Productions Phonographiques)"

Good suggestions, guest David/DK. Thanks for aiding in John's search.

Subject: RE: What Became of Tia Blake?
From: MartinRyan
Date: 01 Feb 12 - 11:22 AM

Interesting singer, alright. She has a nice version of "The Rising of the Moon", also.

Click here

Regards

Subject: RE: What Became of Tia Blake?
From: maeve
Date: 01 Feb 12 - 12:12 PM

The back cover starts something like this very rough translation (apologies to those who speak French!):

"...If one day you met Tia--at Benito's Paris house, from a street in Columbus, Georgia,of all places, where she was born in 1952 -- if you are at all normal you have fallen in love at first sight..."

It's hard to read the image I found, even after manipulation with Picasa software. However, lower down on the cover, the following people are listed:

Artistic Direction- Benito Marline
Sound Engineer-- Daniel Valiancian (?)
Cover(?) photo-- Gigi Carlassare
??-- Jean-Paul Smots (?)

Subject: RE: What Became of Tia Blake?
From: maeve
Date: 01 Feb 12 - 12:25 PM

Contact information for the (apparently defunct?) SFP:

Société Française de Production (SFP)

Contact information

2 avenue de l'Europe
94366 Bry-sur-Marne
France

Website : www.sfp.fr

Jean-Pierre Barry
Chief Executive Officer
****
Found here: http://en.unifrance.org/directories/company/85321/societe-francaise-de-production-sfp

That website lists the following:
Euro Media France, Headquarters

2 avenue de l'Europe
94 360 Bry-sur-Marne
France

E-mail: contact (at) euromedia-france (dot) com (Altered to avoid giving them sp*m headaches) There are telephone numbers listed at the same link.

Subject: RE: What Became of Tia Blake?
From: JohnSc
Date: 03 Feb 12 - 03:27 PM

Thanks Maeve, Martin, and David for your contributions. I find Tia Blake to be very interesting not only because she has a lovely voice and sings two of my favorite songs ever, but she was born in Georgia, as I was. So her you have a women recording a record with her own band in Paris at the age of 19, and after this, nothing. I suppose that artists leave music all the time to become private people, but still I wonder if she is still performing.

Who knows, she may read this and say, I'm a veterinarian in Augusta.

Thanks and regards,

John

Subject: RE: What Became of Tia Blake?
From: maeve
Date: 03 Feb 12 - 04:00 PM

Welcome, John. Let's keep this thread refreshed from time to time...perhaps Tia herself will find us.

Subject: RE: What Became of Tia Blake?
From: maeve
Date: 03 Feb 12 - 04:04 PM

I hit Return too soon...I also wondered what Mudcatters might be equipped and willing to search for:

*clues to the people mentioned in the album notes, or
*the owner(s) of the rights to Tia's album?

Subject: RE: What Became of Tia Blake?
From: JohnSc
Date: 03 Feb 12 - 06:03 PM

I have been Googling the musicians who participated in Tia's album. I had a few hits, but it doesn't look like they have been very active, just a few albums not so long after "Folksongs and Ballads". Maybe they had day jobs?

Subject: RE: What Became of Tia Blake?
From: JohnSc
Date: 03 Feb 12 - 07:50 PM

These are the credits from Tia's album, Folksongs and BallaThere are a lot of guitarists her. So did they just do this album and never have a history of live performances?

Eric Kristy, Guitar
Gilbert Caranhac, Dobro guitar
Francios Brigot, guitar
Bernard Vandame, guitar
Tia Blake, guitar and vocals
Michael Sada, guitar
Sydney Aufrere, flute

Benito Merlino, artistic director

SFP = Société Française De Productions Phonographiques

Subject: RE: What Became of Tia Blake?
From: maeve
Date: 03 Feb 12 - 08:41 PM

It's entirely possible the "band" was put together for the one recording session.

Did you notice that some copies of the album say, Tis Blake and Her Folk Group", while others say, "Tia Blake and His Folk Group"?

Subject: RE: What Became of Tia Blake?
From: JohnSc
Date: 03 Feb 12 - 11:05 PM

Hi Maeve,
I saw that some of the web entries say "his group". Can't say whether the images of the album on the web aren't copies of the original. I take it that the "his group" is a mistake. I was thinking that the musicians credited on the album know each other but aren't really a a musical group. I think that Eric Kristy, a guitarist on the album, is a movie producer and also continues to play with country or cajun bands, there's an interview and a 28 minute performance on YouTube. He's the same guy as a link to a 70s album, his picture is on the cover.

Visited Last.fm as they had her music and do similarity searches like Pandora. One of my obscure interests is Folkal Point, which they selected as a stylistic match. Eerie, I'm thinking.

Regards,

John

Subject: RE: What Became of Tia Blake?
From: GUEST
Date: 05 Feb 12 - 07:50 AM

Perhaps Benito might know more?

http://www.myspace.com/benitomerlinoyahoofr

I'm guessing that the myspace profile name is also his email address. Anyone here speak Italian?

DK

Subject: RE: What Became of Tia Blake?
From: GUEST,JohnSc
Date: 05 Feb 12 - 03:35 PM

Nice catch, DK! I am thinking that since he lived in Paris and was the artistic director and had the chez Benito, that he probably he also speaks French.

Thanks again,

John

Subject: RE: What Became of Tia Blake?
From: JohnSc
Date: 09 Feb 12 - 07:56 AM

Dave,
I wrote to Benito using the MySpace URL as an email address. I assume that the message went through as it hasn't been bounced back. No response yet.

Thanks again for the bright idea.

John

Subject: RE: What Became of Tia Blake?
From: GUEST,JohnSc
Date: 10 Feb 12 - 10:27 AM

Maeve and Dave,
Yesterday I got a kind response from Benito.   He says that unfortunately he lost contact with Tia many years ago. She returned to the States, Nord Caroline as he charmingly puts iit, where she was writing short novels.

Thanks again for your interest and assitance.

John

Subject: RE: What Became of Tia Blake?
From: maeve
Date: 10 Feb 12 - 11:08 AM

Interesting! Where do you plan to look next?

Subject: RE: What Became of Tia Blake?
From: GUEST
Date: 10 Feb 12 - 12:19 PM

Let me first confess, that like a lot of former soldiers, I have not been overly fond of France. However, Benito's generous response makes me question my stereotypes. Feel a bit sheepish. Library is a place to start. See if the county or the state have any books by her. I think I'll go by Barnes and Noble and have them search "Books in Print" and other literary data bases to see if she has ever published any books. But since she doesn't appear in this context in Google, maybe she hasn't been published.

Subject: RE: What Became of Tia Blake?
From: maeve
Date: 10 Feb 12 - 12:42 PM

You'll want to log in again via the drop-down menu, John. Otherwise your cookieless condition with no name in the Guest slot could result in the post being removed.

As for finding books by Tia, remember she may well have a different last name, or may be using a pen name.

Subject: RE: What Became of Tia Blake?
From: JohnSc
Date: 10 Feb 12 - 06:44 PM

Maybe she has a book out? You never can tell. People who live in NC, maybe they write about NC. We vacation in the outer banks and there is a writter who sets mysteries there. So here's a UNC url to fiction set in NC. I've only started thinking about this. Maybe a literature prof knows her work?

http://www.lib.unc.edu/ncc/ref/fic/authors.html

Subject: RE: What Became of Tia Blake?
From: JohnSc
Date: 10 Feb 12 - 07:05 PM

Has anyone read any books by Tia Blake?

Subject: RE: What Became of Tia Blake?
From: maeve
Date: 10 Feb 12 - 07:37 PM

Not I. Talk to a capable librarian who is good at using library and publishing databases.

You got your cookie back- good!

Subject: RE: What Became of Tia Blake?
From: JohnSc
Date: 10 Feb 12 - 11:04 PM

The university library is down the hall. They look like they know their business.

Subject: RE: What Became of Tia Blake?
From: JohnSc
Date: 11 Feb 12 - 11:01 AM

Maeve,You were right about the album jacket. Evidently they printed and sold some reading "Tia Blake and His Folk Group". Hazards of publishing a bilingual product I suppose. Find a native to edit your copy for you.

John

Subject: RE: What Became of Tia Blake?
From: JohnSc
Date: 12 Feb 12 - 07:10 PM

Any bright ideas on where to look next would be greatly apreciated

Subject: RE: What Became of Tia Blake?
From: maeve
Date: 13 Feb 12 - 06:15 PM

Just searching for a connection between Tia and writing... found
this:

http://www.thepilot.com/news/2006/aug/01/edmonde-w-buckminster/?print

It may be a red herring, but is interesting.

Subject: RE: What Became of Tia Blake?
From: maeve
Date: 13 Feb 12 - 09:09 PM

I can't believe it; lookee here:
Heeeeeere's Tia!

Subject: RE: What Became of Tia Blake?
From: maeve
Date: 13 Feb 12 - 09:19 PM

And here: http://www.granta.com/Contributors/Tia-Wallman

"It's hard to believe that Tia Wallman is a first-time author, so assured is her writing. In 'We Went to Saigon', she recalls the bizarre trip that she and her sister took to join their father at the height of the Vietnam War. Wallman had heard nothing from her father for years, when out of the blue she received two round-the-world tickets and a letter saying he'd meet them in Hong Kong and to "please dress like young ladies. No mini skirts! And don't say 'groovy'!""http://traveller.outlookindia.com/issuecontent.aspx?id=598&type=3&flag=issuehome

Subject: RE: What Became of Tia Blake?
From: JohnSc
Date: 14 Feb 12 - 06:34 AM

Very nice, Maeve. Time has been kind to Tia.

Ft. Benning is right next to Columbus, GA. So it's likely that her dad was in the Army.

Thanks so much!

Subject: RE: What Became of Tia Blake?
From: maeve
Date: 14 Feb 12 - 06:51 AM

You provided the missing link, John; her current last name! Yes, she looks happy, I am glad to see. Thank you for starting this search for a talented musician and, we now know, writer.

Maeve

Subject: RE: What Became of Tia Blake?
From: MartinRyan
Date: 14 Feb 12 - 07:07 AM

Good work!

Regards

Subject: RE: What Became of Tia Blake?
From: GUEST
Date: 25 May 12 - 02:56 PM

Here can you hear short extracts from the bonus new rediscovered tracks (6 rehearsal and unreleased tracks).

http://www.allmusic.com/album/folksongs-ballads-r2134434

Subject: RE: What Became of Tia Blake?
From: GUEST
Date: 26 Jul 12 - 09:40 PM

The story about the rediscovery and photographs from the seventies...

here : http://www.lib.unc.edu/blogs/sfc/

Look for post from June 22, 2012 by Aaron :

Tia Blake Record Release Party

Subject: RE: What Became of Tia Blake?
From: maeve
Date: 27 Jul 12 - 04:06 PM

post from June 22, 2012 by Aaron : Tia Blake Record Release Party

Thanks, Guest. I'm glad Tia Blake's music is appreciated to that extent. By my reckoning she's a very interesting person.

Subject: RE: What Became of Tia Blake?
From: GUEST
Date: 29 Jul 12 - 12:27 PM

When i first heard her music and saw that she had seemingly disappeared from the face of the earth, I conceived of all kinds of imaginative scenarios to explain what had become of her. Reality is perhaps as astonishing as the ima

Subject: RE: What Became of Tia Blake?
From: GUEST,bruno
Date: 18 Jan 13 - 11:58 AM

Allmusic has some information about Tia, and especially her album:

"Folksongs & Ballads is the only document of Tia Blake's short-lived stint as a folk performer. In 1970, Blake was an American teenager living in Paris who stumbled into a recording contract that resulted in a single LP of 11 public domain folk compositions. There was only one live performance in Paris to promote the album's release, and the next summer Blake left France, never to return and never to record or perform publicly again. California reissue label Water extends the original album with some rehearsal tapes, as well as three songs from 1976 recorded by the Canadian Broadcasting Company but never used, representing just about every song the artist ever put to tape in her time. With minimal orchestration of two guitars, Blake's darkly powerful voice, and the occasional flute or dobro flourish, these traditional songs are rendered either gorgeously wistful -- as on the breezy "Wish I Was a Single Girl Again" or the trucker's anthem "Plastic Jesus" -- or crushingly sad. Swinging between these extremes, the album finds a quiet gracefulness that bests some of the most successful folk albums of its time. As Blake winds her smoky voice around delicate standards, one is reminded of folkstress Karen Dalton's second album In My Own Time and its dour take on familiar popular tunes, or even ESP artist Patty Waters' fractured lens on folk dirges. The album exists in the same insular headspace as Dylan's earliest albums, and while far less extroverted and rambling than those albums (or any of the big-name folk artists that would define the genre in popular memory) Blake cultivates a world of fragile intricacy that is by turns weighty and carefree. This collection definitely falls into the "lost classic" category, predicting the less freaky side of freak folk songwriters like Josephine Foster, MV & EE, or Devendra Banhart decades in advance, while existing in a lush stillness all its own."

http://www.allmusic.com/album/folksongs-ballads-mw0001766076

Subject: RE: What Became of Tia Blake?
From: GUEST
Date: 30 Jan 13 - 04:55 PM

Thanks, Bruno.

Subject: RE: What Became of Tia Blake?
From: GUEST,jondoe
Date: 27 Jan 14 - 03:22 PM

Ah, I love a good mystery!

Subject: RE: What Became of Tia Blake?
From: GUEST,From Guest BettyJ
Date: 29 Apr 14 - 02:51 AM

Thanks you! Her voice is haunting. I had to know more about her. Btw, what is mudcat?

Subject: RE: What Became of Tia Blake?
From: maeve
Date: 29 Apr 14 - 08:54 AM

Welcome, Guest BettyJ.

Mudcat Cafe is the Folk and Blues (and various other topics) online community of music lovers. Mudcat is also the revered home for the Digital Tradition- a wonder repository of Blues and Folk and other song lyrics, mp3 files, and scholarly as well as enthusiastically amateur research into song and folklore.Members and guests live across the globe, and our opinions and preferences are as wide-ranging. Max is the wonderful founder and there are various people who are moderators.

To get a feeling for who and what we are, you'll need to wander around reading posts for the last many years. There are links to Mudcat FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) [click on this link] in the upper right of the home page, and to the DTradition on the upper left. The Filter (under the fiddling blue catfish logo) is adjustable as to topic and span of time to be searched. The upper threads (discussions) follow music , folklore, and technical issues, while the BS threads are in the lower part of the home page. Patience and good manners are very helpful when posting questions and information.

Enjoy your sojourn here. As long as you remember there is an amazing array of opinions, experiences, and manners here you'll likely find as much treasure here as I have.

Maeve.