Buffy Sainte-Marie: A Unique Artist

Subject: RE: Buffy Sainte-Marie: A Unique Artist
From: Tannywheeler
Date: 06 Dec 05 - 03:48 PM

Sheesh!! Someone's not satisfied with the level of violence in the world as it is. Has to go around looking for fights to pick. Yucko.

Buffy Sainte-Marie is a storyteller, and a good one. Never achieved quite the pop-icon status of Baez or Collins or some of the others, but had/has a steady following who appreciate her unique voice(in several senses), and like a well-told story. Glad to hear she's still functioning.                Tw

Subject: RE: Buffy Saint-Marie: A Unique Artist
From: Steve-o
Date: 06 Dec 05 - 01:23 PM

Well, we don't need astounding credentials to be ahead of our two "Guests"- one is a crappy poet and the other can't remember his own name. Go get a life, kids.

Subject: RE: Buffy Saint-Marie: A Unique Artist
From: GUEST,Critic of 'a critic of the era'
Date: 06 Dec 05 - 11:47 AM

And what are YOUR credentials?

Subject: RE: Buffy Saint-Marie: A Unique Artist
From: Wolfgang
Date: 06 Dec 05 - 09:51 AM

I love listening to her. My personal favourite is Piney wood hills.

Wolfgang

Subject: RE: Buffy Saint-Marie: A Unique Artist
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 06 Dec 05 - 02:32 AM

Silly guest, critic of the era, you can say many things about Buffy but you can't call her voice mediocre, thats like saying Earl Scruggs was a poor banjo player.

eric

Subject: RE: Buffy Saint-Marie: A Unique Artist
From: Metchosin
Date: 06 Dec 05 - 02:25 AM

Yes mg, I believe she was born on the Piapot Reservation in Saskatchewan and now resides in Hawaii. She was recently interviewed on the CBC here regarding her computer generated art and was one of the early ones to really use the computer to record music.

While I admire her music writing abilities, as far as her singing goes, I find her vibratto irritating after awhile.

Subject: RE: Buffy Saint-Marie: A Unique Artist
From: mg
Date: 06 Dec 05 - 01:19 AM

I think she ahs an awesome talent and an awesome voice. And is she not Canadian rather than usa american? Although some do not recognize those borders. I think she was on Sesame Street for a while..perhaps in Canada. mg

Subject: RE: Buffy Saint-Marie: A Unique Artist
From: M.Ted
Date: 05 Dec 05 - 11:39 PM

She's a great songwriter, and has written a few songs that people will always want to play and hear. Incuding a couple that were big hits among people who knew not a bit about folk music-- her own version of "Up Where We Belong" , if you never paid much attention to the Joe Cocker/Jennifer Warnes version, you'll be amazed at what a great song it really is--

Subject: RE: Buffy Saint-Marie: A Unique Artist
From: GUEST,.gargoyle
Date: 05 Dec 05 - 11:05 PM

End of the term is drawing near
Term papers are due in the folk-music schools
Looking for something, an instructor's heart-dear
The web is filled with lazy-assed fools.

Sincerely,
Gargoyle

Subject: RE: Buffy Saint-Marie: A Unique Artist
From: GUEST,A Critic of the Era
Date: 05 Dec 05 - 11:00 PM

Buffy Saint-Marie an OPORTUNIST with little talent, a mediocre voice, riding on the perfect crescent of a folk-revival movement combined with a minority-rights placement. By acknowledging placement as "an artist" within that American period it raised her above critical comment, but, it has unfortunately left her dawdry-drawers to flap on the clothes-line of time as someone who contributed little that will be recalled fifty more years from now.

Subject: RE: Buffy Saint-Marie: A Unique Artist
From: Peace
Date: 05 Dec 05 - 09:33 PM

Another link you may wish to read.

Subject: RE: Buffy Saint-Marie: A Unique Artist
From: Roger in Baltimore
Date: 05 Dec 05 - 04:15 PM

Although often mentioned along with Baez and Collins, Buffy never reached the same level of popularity. Her voice is not as classical as the two ladies, and that may be part of it. I think she was overtly more political than either of the other two ladies in her song writing. Baez certainly is political, but it is not as strongly in her music IMHO.

I still occasionally sing Buffy's song "Codeine". Surely written by someone who has been there. "My body is shaking, there's an achin' in my head. I feel like I'm dying and I wish I were dead. If I live 'til tomorrow, that'll be a long time. And I'll reel and I'll fall and I'll rise on codeine. And it's real, and it's reel, one more time."

Roger in Baltimore

Subject: RE: Buffy Saint-Marie: A Unique Artist
From: Peter K (Fionn)
Date: 05 Dec 05 - 03:48 PM

Little Hawk must be off duty, to let this thread go drifting by.

She certainly should have had status comparable with some of those others mentioned. I do recall that she topped the bill at a UK festival (Lincoln I think) in 1971 that included Paxton and James Taylor. She was of course mightily anti-Vietnam war, and I wondered whether the USA found this too much to take from an American Indian.

Subject: RE: Buffy Saint-Marie: A Unique Artist
From: Georgiansilver
Date: 05 Dec 05 - 12:26 PM

alanabit, thanks for the link. Best wishes, Mike.

Subject: RE: Buffy Saint-Marie: A Unique Artist
From: open mike
Date: 05 Dec 05 - 11:20 AM

NOt only a brilliant musician, Buffy has done a lot to inspire native
people, especially youth to express themselves. Also an educator, she
has designed an award-winning curriculum to indroduce mathmatics to
lyoung people, especially First Nations students.
http://www.connectforkids.org/node/501
http://www.cradleboard.org/
http://www.firstnationsdrum.com/biography/fall98_buffy.htm
I love her Piney Wood Hills, which i often sing.
I think the VANGUARD RECORDS has recently re-released
a collection of her best tunes. as well as a newer c.d.
http://www.vanguardrecords.com/buffy/
http://www.creative-native.com/
http://www.sosu.edu/news/native-american-symposium-2005/

Subject: RE: Buffy Saint-Marie: A Unique Artist
From: cetmst
Date: 05 Dec 05 - 07:09 AM

My Buffy Ste.-Marie Song Book is today on a moving van somewhere between Maryland and New Hampshire, will review the contents when I can dig it out but two memorable songs about the condition of Native Americans are the powerfully bitter "My Country 'Tis of Thy People You're Dying" and the poignant "Now That the Buffalo's Gone."

Subject: RE: Buffy Saint-Marie: A Unique Artist
From: GUEST,Tunesmith
Date: 05 Dec 05 - 05:38 AM

She is/was fabulous!! I saw her a couple of times in the UK in the 1970s. And of course, she was so different than Baez and Collins.

Subject: RE: Buffy Saint-Marie: A Unique Artist
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 05 Dec 05 - 03:54 AM

Buffy is one of a few singers who's voice can make the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.

Full blood Cree by the way

eric

Subject: RE: Buffy Saint-Marie: A Unique Artist
From: alanabit
Date: 05 Dec 05 - 03:46 AM

Buffy Saint-Marie.

Subject: RE: Buffy Saint-Marie: A Unique Artist
From: alanabit
Date: 05 Dec 05 - 03:43 AM

I don't know as much about her as I should, but our Canadian friends will soon put us right. I recall "Soldier Blue" being a hit in the early seventies. The film was important too, because it was first inkling for many people that there was something wrong with Hollywood's portrayal of Indians/Native Americans. I believe Bufy St.Marie is, at least partly Indian by descent.
I don't think she was ever seen as a "star" in the way that Joni Mitchell became one. She certainly had some success as a songwriter though. "Until It's Time For You To Go" was a hit for Elvis Presley and her brilliant, sardonic, "Universal Soldier", (associated with Donovan by a lot of peopple), was one of the defining statements of the folk/protest song movement.
You will certainly find out more about her if you do a Google search. There are many Mudcatters who have forgotten more than I ever knew about her and I am confident that they will soon turn up here to enlighten you further and correct my errors!

Subject: RE: Buffy Saint-Marie: A Unique Artist
From: TheBigPinkLad
Date: 05 Dec 05 - 01:32 AM

She was 'hot' for a while after her hit "Soldier Blue" when the movie of the same name was a box office success (was that 69?) She was well-respected before and after that although I don't think she never had the profile of either Baez or Collins. She still has a faithful following in Canada.

Subject: Buffy Saint-Marie
From: GUEST,Carla E.
Date: 05 Dec 05 - 01:07 AM

Can someone offer insight on what type of success Buffy had in the 60's. Was she compared to Joan Baez and Judy Collins? Did she have radio hits and lots of publicity? Btw, I think she's a creative songwriter with a unique voice. I love her album "Many A Mile" and others.