Customer Reviews

I Heard a Woman Singing

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This is one of my very favorite albums-- varied, potent, fierce, humorous and tender by turns, it showcases Armstrong's uniquely powerful vocal style. There are ballads here both traditional and modern; many concern relationship- and women's issues(Ballad of Erica Levine, I Don't Want Your Red, Red Roses, Millworker, Nothing Between us Now, Come Geordie, Hold the Bairn) while others are ancient stories that have lost none of their relevance. Of these, Tam Lin (side 2, cut 2) is perhaps the most amazing: it is long, but the power of Armstrong's voice and the mysterious and urgent quality of the story are such that it doesn't seem long at all. Cattle Call, at the beginning of side 1, may be a bit too unique for some-- a series of wordless vocalizations and trills that takes some getting used to-- but Mr. Fox, which follows it, is a gorgeous ballad-- a dark, traditional tale in the style of Bluebeard, with an ending that WILL get your attention. Several of the ballads defy definition: My Daughter, My Son is a plaintive and poetic question-and-answer piece that perfectly expresses a mother's primal (and sometimes overwhelming)urge to protect her children at all costs. Lady Margaret(side 2, cut 1) also poses questions; without answering them, it leaves one with a sense that the answer IS there, nonetheless... Taken By Surprise, one of my favorites, is an exotic, orientally-flavored mystery, in which the singer finds infinitely more than was ever sought. I highly recommend this album to anyone who loves ballads, celtic music/mythology, and the true, powerful voice of woman-- this, to me, is ultimately what Frankie Armstrong is all about... and she does it better than anyone I've ever heard.

I first heard Frakie's a capella rendition of Tam Lin on WXPN in Philadelphia (on an old folk program called the Unicorn). Her voice, along with the story she is telling, gave me chills as I sat transfixes and listened to her. Each week I would call the station and pest them to replay this for me. Imagine how pleased I was to find this on Amazon.
Although I really bought this album for the one song, I highly recommend the whole kit and caboodle!