Buffy Sainte-Marie at the Beeb

The BBC has opened its vaults of old footage of singer-songwriters from the late 60s, 70s and early 80s and it's a trip down memory lane to see some of the singers that I only vaguely remember. Tonight's 'Singer-Songwriters at the BBC' show on BBC4 opened with Bobbi Gentry and included John Martyn singing 'May You Never', a song I always associate with the lovely Linda Lewis who was also on the show, Roy Harper, Joni Mitchell, Don McLean, Dori Previn and a host of others. The two things that all the performances have in common is the vast array of hair on display and a guitar.

The important clip, however, is of Buffy Sainte-Marie singing 'Until It's Time For You To Go' from 1971 on a show I've never heard of called 'One In 10'. Buffy was not only singing live but was wearing the shortest pair of hotpants putting Kylie's golden hotpants to shame. I've never seen that clip before and, although it's not the best of Buffy, it's just nice to see her included in the array of singer-songwriters from yesteryear. Of course, she's one of the few people on that programme still making and releasing new music and touring - she's playing a gig in Canada tomorrow night.


Now, if the BBC has one clip of Buffy, it means they have more. I know for a *fact* that it has a half hour show all about Buffy because I saw it in 1975 or 1976 and I've never forgotten it. C'mon Beeb, hunt out all your clips of Buffy on shows over the years and give us a DVD or, at the very least, repeat it on telly. Even better, invite me in to curate a season of Buffy at the Beeb. My rates are very cheap y'know...

Here's a photo of Buffy in concert from January 2010 at Shepherd's Bush Empire: