Buffy Sainte-Marie – Illuminations (LP 1969)

 

HERE: Buffy Sainte-Marie – Illuminations (LP Vanguard – VSD-79300, 1969). Production : Maynard Solomon, Mark Roth. Genre : Psychedelic Rock, Freak Folk, Country, Experimental. “ Illuminations ” is the sixth studio album by Canadian singer-songwriter Buffy Sainte-Marie , recorded in 1969 at the Electronic Music Studios of the State University of New York, Albany, New York and released the same year on the Vanguard Records label. It is considered the singer's best album and her most experimental. Buffy presents a more ambitious work on this LP, the first with her voice processed through a Buchla 100 synthesizer, as well as the first album recorded using quadraphonic technology, “Illuminations” is an innovative “cosmic folk” masterpiece, which would later influence the gothic and psychedelic genres. “God is Alive, Magic is Afoot”, a song written by Leonard Cohen, opens the album and perfectly presents the mystical world of Saint-Marie. “Illuminations” has a completely different sound from anything the singer had done previously. Using the vocals (highlighting the tremolo) and the guitar, Sainte-Marie and producer Maynard Solomon used electronic synthesizers to create a sound that was much more experimental music than folk. The publication Pitchfork ranked the album as the 66th best album of the 60s. Buffy Sainte-Marie, stage name of Beverly Sainte-Marie, born on the Cree Piapot Indian Reservation in Qu'Appelle Valley, Saskatchewan, Canada, on February 20, 1941, is a Canadian singer, musician, visual artist, pacifist, educator, social activist and philanthropist. Being self-taught, her protest songs generally center on the theme of Indian rights. Her music can generally be categorized as folk and traditional, although she recorded a predominantly country album, “I'm Gonna Be a Country Girl Again,” in Nashville. Buffy won an Oscar for co-writing the song "Up Where We Belong" for the film "Officer and a Gentleman." In 1999 she received a star on Canada's Walk of Fame in Toronto. Buffy has been in business since 1953 to the present. Tracks/Tracklist: A1 - God Is Alive, Magic Is Afoot (Buffy Sainte-Marie, Leonard Cohen) 4:40 A2 – Mary (Buffy Sainte-Marie) 1:26 A3 - Better To Find Out For Yourself (Buffy Sainte-Marie) 2:12 A4 - The Vampire (Buffy Sainte-Marie) 2:05 A5 – Adam (Richie Havens) 4:50 A6 - The Dream Tree (Buffy Sainte-Marie) 2:35 B1 - Suffer The Little Children (Buffy Sainte-Marie) 3:15 B2 - The Angel (Ed Freeman) 3:30 B3 - With You, Honey (Buffy Sainte-Marie) 1:45 B4 - Guess Who I Saw In Paris (Buffy Sainte-Marie) 2:25 B5 - He's a Keeper of the Fire (Buffy Sainte-Marie) 3:20 B6 – Poppies (Buffy Sainte-Marie) 3:10