I knew her in Ann Arbor. By then she had stopped performing but I heard her play a couple of times at my uncle's house. I now wish I'd paid closer attention, I was just a stupid teenager at the time.
Connie Converse was a folk-music genius. Then she vanished
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Re: Connie Converse was a folk-music genius. Then she vanished
#12I knew her in Ann Arbor. By then she had stopped performing but I heard her play a couple of times at my uncle's house. I now wish I'd paid closer attention, I was just a stupid teenager at the time.
What year was this?
Re: Connie Converse was a folk-music genius. Then she vanished
#13Lots of stories like this. My favorite is Judee Sill - disappeared, died of an OD pretty much penniless. Music ahead of its time with layered recordings, rediscovered decades later... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judee_Sill
Collie Ryan is mine. She did three albums in the 1970s and then basically disappeared. I became aware of her through the use of her (amazing) song "It's Gonna Rain" which was featured on the soundtrack of Computer Chess (2013), a very weird (but good) film that seems to be about a computer chess tournament in the 1980s but gets weirder.
https://www.spinmagazine.com/2013/07/collie-ryan-its-gonna-r...
Re: Connie Converse was a folk-music genius. Then she vanished
#14I knew her in Ann Arbor. By then she had stopped performing but I heard her play a couple of times at my uncle's house. I now wish I'd paid closer attention, I was just a stupid teenager at the time.
Fascinating! Did her music feel different from other musicians at the time? Listening to some of her songs now, it's hard not to feel like she was way ahead of her time. Though that could just be hindsight talking.
Re: Connie Converse was a folk-music genius. Then she vanished
#15Lots of stories like this. My favorite is Judee Sill - disappeared, died of an OD pretty much penniless. Music ahead of its time with layered recordings, rediscovered decades later... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judee_Sill
My favorite is, fortunately, a lot less depressing. Sinead Lohan, right on the cusp of making it big, touring with some of the biggest names in folk at the time. Realized she didn't like the music industry so she stopped and retired right then and there. I have no doubt she'd be a legendary folk name if she continued. Whatever It Takes is my favorite song by her.
I have her album “No Mermaid” and wondered what happened to her. It’s a great album.
Re: Connie Converse was a folk-music genius. Then she vanished
#16Lots of stories like this. My favorite is Judee Sill - disappeared, died of an OD pretty much penniless. Music ahead of its time with layered recordings, rediscovered decades later... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judee_Sill
Collie Ryan is mine. She did three albums in the 1970s and then basically disappeared. I became aware of her through the use of her (amazing) song "It's Gonna Rain" which was featured on the soundtrack of Computer Chess (2013), a very weird (but good) film that seems to be about a computer chess tournament in the 1980s but gets weirder. https://www.spinmagazine.com/2013/07/collie-ryan-its-gonna-r...
Oh wow, Crickets is an incredible track. Never heard of her before.
Re: Connie Converse was a folk-music genius. Then she vanished
#17Lots of stories like this. My favorite is Judee Sill - disappeared, died of an OD pretty much penniless. Music ahead of its time with layered recordings, rediscovered decades later... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judee_Sill
My favorite is, fortunately, a lot less depressing. Sinead Lohan, right on the cusp of making it big, touring with some of the biggest names in folk at the time. Realized she didn't like the music industry so she stopped and retired right then and there. I have no doubt she'd be a legendary folk name if she continued. Whatever It Takes is my favorite song by her.
Oh man. I always wondered what happened to her. She absolutely would've been huge if she had kept with it. And it probably would've destroyed her spirit.
Re: Connie Converse was a folk-music genius. Then she vanished
#18I knew her in Ann Arbor. By then she had stopped performing but I heard her play a couple of times at my uncle's house. I now wish I'd paid closer attention, I was just a stupid teenager at the time.
That's an amazing experience even if you couldn't recognize it at the time. That's legitimately cool, and you can say you were in the room with genuine once in a lifetime talent. Not everybody has that experience.
I saw Dave Matthews play a very small show (like 30 people were there maybe) when I was younger while we waited for change to make a phone call. I didn't really pay attention, but remember thinking that this guy was really weird and really different and really really good. I wish I had stayed for the entire thing and maybe talked to him. But, at least the memory is there.
Re: Connie Converse was a folk-music genius. Then she vanished
#19I love her. Listening to her album sounds like you’ve opened a time capsule that’s been left undisturbed for years. It’s so unique and the lyrics are so lovely. Talkin’ Like You is my favorite.
“I don’t stand in the need of company / with everything I see talkin’ like you”
Re: Connie Converse was a folk-music genius. Then she vanished
#20Earlier quoted context omitted.
The private equity company that scooped up her music rights, most likely.
As far as I know, the rights are still owned by her family. The albums were issued by an independent label operated by one of the persons who tracked down her music. The recent reissue of "How Sad, How Lovely" is on Jack White's Third Man Records (also independent).
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