Phoebe Snow (born July 17, 1950 – April 26, 2011) was an
American singer, songwriter, and guitarist, best known for her chart-topping
1975 hit "Poetry Man". She was described by The New York Times as a
"contralto grounded in a bluesy growl and capable of sweeping over four
octaves.
She was born Phoebe Ann Laub in New York and grew up in
Teaneck, New Jersey. Her mother, Lili Grossman, was a former dancer with Martha
Graham's company and had married Merrill Laub, an entertainer turned pest
exterminator, who also restored antiques.
Snow studied the piano but switched to the guitar in her
teens. "I wanted to be the greatest woman guitarist alive," she said.
In the early 1970s she began playing in Greenwich Village. Although afflicted
with severe stage fright, she possessed an awesome four-octave voice ranging
over folk, pop, jazz and blues. She renamed herself after a fictional Phoebe
Snow, who featured in advertisements for a local railway.
Snow signed to Leon Russell's Shelter label and released her
debut album in 1974. The chart success of Poetry Man, distinguished by Snow's
smoky voice and fluent guitar-playing, helped the album reach No 4 in the US,
and she was nominated for a Grammy for best new artist. She appeared on the
cover of Rolling Stone and was feted as one of the most promising
singer-songwriters of the era, touring as an opening act for both Jackson
Browne and Paul Simon.
She featured prominently on Simon's 1975 single Gone at Last
and also sang back-up vocals on his hit 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover. Snow moved
to Columbia Records and her album Second Childhood (1976) went gold, but it
lacked a hit single. In the late 1970s she released the albums Never Letting Go
and Against the Grain – one track, Every Night, was a top 40 hit in the UK in
1979 – but she slipped out of view after releasing the album Rock Away (1981).
Part of the problem was that Snow's eclectic musical tastes
had made her difficult to pigeonhole and market. More significant was the
arrival of her daughter, Valerie, in 1975, who was born with hydrocephalus
(fluid on the brain). Snow and her husband, the musician Phil Kearns, separated
and Snow combined looking after Valerie with recording new material.
Her situation was further complicated by breach-of-contract
lawsuits. She released a new album, Something Real, in 1989 and performed as
part of the New York Rock and Soul Revue, a stellar ensemble put together by
Steely Dan's Donald Fagen, featuring Boz Scaggs and Michael
McDonald. She appeared on the group's 1991 live album.
McDonald. She appeared on the group's 1991 live album.
In 1994 she sang at the 25th anniversary of the Woodstock
festival as part of a group including Mavis Staples, Thelma Houston and CeCe
Peniston. During the 80s and 90s she sang on commercials and was a regular
guest on Howard Stern's radio show. She performed at Stern's wedding in 2008
and also sang for President Bill Clinton at Camp David. In 2003 she released
Natural Wonder, her first album of new material for 14 years. A live album was
released in 2008.
Her daughter Valerie died in 2007, aged 31. "She was my
universe," said Snow. "She had fulfilled every profound love and
intimacy and desire I could ever have dreamed of."
Phoebe Snow suffered a cerebral haemorrhage on January 19,
2010 and slipped into a coma, enduring bouts of blood clots, pneumonia, and
congestive heart failure. Snow died on April 26, 2011 at age 60 in Edison, New
Jersey. (Info mainly edited from Guardian.com)
Phoebe live in Germany. Larry DeBari/guitar, Joy Askew/keys, Frank Villardi/drums, David Conrad/bass
1 comment:
For Phoebe Snow’s 1974 debut album go here:
http://www30.zippyshare.com/v/3qNBtqPL/file.html
1."Good Times" (Sam Cooke) – 2:20
2."Harpo's Blues" – 4:22
3."Poetry Man" – 4:36
4."Either or Both" – 3:52
5."San Francisco Bay Blues" (Jesse Fuller) – 3:29
6."I Don't Want the Night to End" – 3:55
7."Take Your Children Home" – 4:15
8."It Must Be Sunday" – 5:50
9."No Show Tonight" – 2:57
CD (DCC label Only) bonus tracks
10."Easy Street" [original demo] – 3:20
11."Good Times" [original demo] (Cooke) – 2:39
12."Harpo's Blues" [original demo] – 4:55
13."I Don't Want the Night to End" [original demo] – 3:55
14."It Must Be Sunday" [original demo] – 6:42
15."San Francisco Bay Blues" [original demo] (Fuller) – 4:09
16."Poetry Man" [original demo] – 3:43
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