Karen Dalton
karen dalton, “every time i think of freedom”
from: shuckin sugar 1963
“I been hammerin’
Since December
Wind so cold
Wind so cold
If I cross that
White oak mountain
I’ll go free
I’ll go free
Every time I think of freedom
Can’t keep from cryin’
Can’t keep from cryin’
Oh, freedom,whoo freedom
I got a rainbow
Tied all round my shoulder
Ain’t gonna rain
Ain’t gonna rain
”
Ms. Dalton’s quavering, faltering vocals, where the bottom falls out at times, have been the source of much reaction to her work. To me they are the very factor that imbues her delivery with poignance, passion and a genuine simplicity. From 1963, in a benefit concert for the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE).