Chilly Winds
Sun's Gonna Shine
The Extraordinary Voice Of Elmerlee Thomas
Cover Photo: Dan Budnick
Warner Bros. Records B 1251
1959
From the back cover: "I am not a folk singer, like the Leadbellys, Woody Guthries and Blind Sonny Terrys. I am a singer of folk songs."
Elmerlee Thomas is one of that rare breed – and she is a great one.
What comes out of Elmerlee Thomas, soaring power, and infinite variety. It is subtle and explosive, spiritual and sensual, joyous and thoughtful. It shouts and is delicate, caresses and lashes, soothes and preaches, warms and chills. It can speak softly, but always carries a big kick. It is fluent in five languages. It defines prison-spawned songs of despair and church-charted songs of hope with startling insight. No musical waters are alien to it – from the most formidable German lieder to the deceptive simplicity of America folk balladry, so unforgettably performed in this collection.
Oakland born Elmerlee Thomas went from private, concert-oriented musical study, begun when she was fifteen years old, to the music department of the University of California, in Berkeley. Co-interested in hormone research, she spent nearly as much lab as lieder time. She also discovered American folk music. Its deep emotional honestly appealed to her. Its rich heritage fascinated her. Its growing significance as an art form and the colossal diversity of its repertoire challenged her. Practical encouragement came quickly. She accepted an offer to sing lead voice with a local, just-formed, folk song trio – the Gateway Singers.
The Gateway auditioned at the one spot in the area most likely to hire, and succeed with, a folk song-singing trio – San Francisco's adventurous hungry i, proving grounds for such separate talents as Mort Sahl, Johnny Mathis, Irwin Corey, and Josh White (who was appearing there at the conclusion of Josh's engagement. "Josh," Elmerlee smiles, retelling it, "stayed six months." When it did open up, the spot turned out to be a pair of Monday nights. Receptive audiences parlayed the two "off night" appearances into two weeks, then two years, plus subsequent fringe benefits like a national tour, on which one stop would be at New York's Carnegie Hall. Recording executive George Avakian happened into the hungry i one night, was deeply impressed by Elmerlee, told her he wanted to record her as a soloist (the group had already been snapped up for records) at the first available opportunity. When George joined Warner Bros., he had Elmerlee rushed east to record this album, her debut as a soloist.
Elmerlee chose the songs to be included – authentic American folk songs she had been singing since her Berkeley days. Jerry Walters, one of the Gateways, sketched the arrangements – simple, uncluttered complements to the pure authenticity of the songs and Elmerlee's performances of them.
Chilly Winds
Buckeye Jim
Ribbon Bow
Sweet Thing
Johnnie Has Gone For A Soldier
Good News
Sun's Gonna Shine
Turtle Dove
All The Pretty Little Horses
Pretty Boy
Sometimes I Feel Like A Motherless Child
No Hidin' Place
No comments:
Post a Comment
Howdy! Thanks for leaving your thoughts!