Buffy Sainte-Marie - The Mid-1970s Recordings

Buffy's 'new' record, 'Buffy - Changing Woman - Sweet America: The Mid-1970s Recordings' was released on Monday but I couldn't get it in Newcastle. Today, to celebrate the 4th July, I went up to my HMV of choice on Oxford Street, downstairs to the folk section and picked up a copy of the CD.

This is the first time that Buffy's three albums after she left Vanguard have been released on CD - 'Buffy' (1974), 'Changing Woman' (1975) and 'Sweet America' (1976). I bought 'Sweet America' back in 1976 or 1977 and it was my first or second Buffy album (I think my first was 'Native North American Child (An Oddysey)') but I only got 'Buffy' and 'Changing Woman' in the last few years on vinyl. I've had vinyl-to-digital recordings for a few years so I'm familiar with all the songs. There are no bonus tracks.

The sound quality is excellent, it's crisp and clean and I'm hearing some instruments for the first time, such as the electric piano doing twiddly bits in the background to 'Generation', the electronic effects on 'Eagle Man/Changing Woman' and 'Mongrel Pup' and the pow wow singing on 'Qu'Appelle Valley, Saskatchewan' and the magnificent 'Star Walker' (which is noted, on the vinyl album sleeve, as being dedicated to the American Indian Movement, but the dedication isn't noted on the CD). It's marvellous to hear these songs in proper digital format at long last, with Buffy's voice clear and strong.

The packaging is nice too. The cover is a version of the photo of Buffy on the back of 'Sweet America' and inside is a short essay about Buffy. There are only a couple of photos though - I was hoping for some new photos but I can't have everything. It includes all the credits for the individual records so somebody has done a lot of work checking studio records since the credits aren't on the original records in this detail. That's a nice touch. Well done to everyone involved in saving these three Buffy records and giving them to us to enjoy again. Thank you!