Patty Waters' 1965 debut, "Patty Waters Sings," the only studio album she ever made, is a truly jarring study in contrasts, wrong-footing the listener with an unnerving effect: The first side consists of seven short, sweet, forlorn ballads, performed with shy restraint. The entire second side is a nearly 14-minute-long rendition of the Scottish traditional song "Black Is the Color of My True Love's Hair," starting in eerie abstraction and building to screaming hysteria, and which I'm delighted to offer here as an exclusive free download, thanks to ESP Disc, which has recently released a CD containing both Waters' debut and a live album she released the next year. This recording, which Diamanda Galas cites as a prime influence, is a landmark in extended technique vocalizing, and while it's far from an easy listen, the sheer artistic gumption of it is astonishing.
-- T.B.
Shares