Welcome to Volume 2 of the 'My Favorite Venusians' series.
We kick off with the great, Immediate label artist P.P. Arnold with a fierce cut of this old gem.
Next the astonishing Patti Smith with the flipside of her first 7" single.
Early '60's Greenwich Village folk scene stalwart Karen Dalton is captured here with a gorgeous cover of The Band's In a Station. Karen was a Native American with a complete disinterest of fame, who was hardly recorded, though she had one of the greatest voices of the 20th Century.
Jackie DeShannon, a singer and songwriter of many hit records, this track has always sent a shiver.
Linda Lewis, the fab UK vocalist with one of the best falsettos around, who, apart from her wonderful solo albums, was featured on Bowie's 'Aladdin Sane'.
Another great falsetto vocalist, she of lovin' you (la la la la la) fame, as well as a featured vocalist in Chicago's Rotary Connection, Minnie Ripperton brings us this great tune, taken from her 'Come into My Garden' album.
One of the many fantastic Brazilian female vocalists, Nara Leao presents one of her more uptempo tunes Ole' Ola. Nara's style is usually far more down tempo, but all beautiful treats.
The great Germanic femme fatale, recently departed from the Velvet Underground, though also with an extensive past with Warhol, Fellini, a recording artist on Immediate and a famous fashion model. This track penned by VU's Reed and Morrison has Nico exploring the hidden depths of NYC's infamous Chelsea Hotel.
Judee Sill was a strange one, highly gifted as a musician and composer, though weighed down by back pain, heroin addiction and christianity. Her short trouble life reaped two amazing albums. This is taken from a live recording from around the time of her 2nd LP.
Sandy Denny was one of the finest voices in the UK. Her work with The Strawbs, The Fairport Convention, Fotheringay and then her solo albums were all stellar affairs.
Nina Simone, probably one of the strongest voices of opposition to male control in music, forged a incredible career, breaking all the rules as she went. Her voice and performance on this number is as powerful as it is sweet.
Carla Thomas was one of the only early female stars on Stax Records. Initially it was her work with her father Rufus Thomas that got her out in the world, then gee whiz got the ball rolling for a number of fine albums, she also had a short spell as musical partner with Otis Redding, as the King and Queen of Soul.
Dionne Warwick, a rich an expressive vocalist, whose main fame was achieved, achieving the difficult task of delivering the words and music of Hal David and Burt Bacharach, Something she did magnificently.
Ruth Copeland, from Consett England, moved to Detroit in '65, beginning her US career that came to fruition through the pairing with the Parliament/Funkadelic machine, with whom she contributed songs and backing vocals. This lead to her two fine albums Self Portrait and I Am What I Am.
Slipping back to the UK Vashti Bunyan, an artist who's early career in the hands of Andrew Loog Oldham and Immediate Records stalled after several very cool singles, then was rekindled by Joe Boyd, he of Nick Drake and Fairport Convention fame, produced her Another Diamond Day album. Her choice though in its aftermath was to disappear back into gypsy life in the north.
Judy Collins was one of the first of the 60's folk boom female stars, with Joan Baez and others to follow. A powerful vocalist who tackled some very progressive and contemporary themes in a time that could ruin your career. Here is a great version of the Sandy Denny tune.
The next is Joni Mitchell heading deep into her fusion period. Here's the title track of her Hissing of Summer Lawns album, drenched in the delirium of southern California.
Shelagh McDonald, like Vashti, arrived with a bounty of talent and compositional hoodzpah, and like Vashti, found it a world she'd best do without, disappearing, as the story goes, until her daughter pointed out to her that she's apparently very hip and popular, after re-issues of her two albums in the Naughties. Though a tad twee in the diddley-aye lyric department, the end result is incredibly powerful music.
Kathy Dalton, not to be confused with Karen (as I did), teams up with Little Feat for this killer adventure on Zappa's DiscReet label. Also, this track comes with a Tooth alert.
Linda Perhacs, a highly talented singer, musician and composer, who slipped into obscurity after releasing an incredible but unnoticed album, from which I've taken the title track. Linda found a fantastic reaction as well when this album was re-issued and had since released new material. The intro of this mix is taken from one of the extra tracks on the album's CD release.
We finish up this groovy journey with another Brazilian goddess, singer, songwriter and apparently, actor, Nazare Pereira. This track I've taken from the album that introduced me to Brazillian music and Tropicalia in particular, Brazil Classics 1. An absolutely devine song.
We say goodbye, with love from me and Francis Faye.
I hope you like this mix - here's the LINK
1. Linda Perhacs - Intro
2. P.P. Arnold - The First Cut is the Deepest
3. Patti Smith - Piss Factory
4. Karen Dalton - In a Station
5. Jackie DeShannon - What Was Your Day Like
6. Linda Lewis - Fathoms Deep
7. Minnie Ripperton - Memory Band
8. Nara Leao - Ole' Ola
9. Nico - Chelsea Girls
10. Judee Sill - The Archetypal Man
11. Fairport Convention (Featuring Sandy Denny ) - I'll Keep it With Mine
12. Nina Simone - Do What You Gotta Do
13. Carla Thomas - Stop Thief
14. Dionne Warwick - Message to Michael
15. Ruth Copeland - Thanks For the Birthday Card
16. Vashti Bunyan - The Coldest Night of the Year
17. Judy Collins - Who Knows Where the Time Goes
18. Joni Mitchell - The Hissing of Summer Lawns
19, Shelagh McDonald - Dowie Dens of Yarrow
20. Kathy Dalton - Cannibal Forest
21. Linda Perhacs - Parallelograms
22. Nazare Pereira - Caixa de Sol
23. Francis Faye Loves You
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