Re: kd lang... Ingenue

[neilg@sfu.ca (Neil K. Guy)]

In rec.music.gaffa you write:

>It's a wonderful feeling to find some (new) music
>which you feel is something special.
>kd lang : Ingenue is such music.

>I have since found out that she is a canadian, post-country
>performer with a number of releases to her credit.

 Yep.

>Local media (as they love to do) have also informed us that she's
>a lesbian [...]

 Most of us have known that for *ages* but she officially came out in
the June issue of the Advocate, so the media is now gasping in shock
horror as they are wont to do. Sells more papers, I suppose.

>Now... to the request (either e-mail or to the e-net)...
>Are there any long term fans out there who could inform me
>of her previous releases and their merit (in your opinion)?
>I'd appreciate it.
>One (album) is never enough.

 Well here's a selective and rather random little bio. It's
all based entirely upon memory, so please let me know if I've made
any particularly appalling factual errors. Matters of opinion are
directed to dev/null. :)

 I first heard of k.d. lang aeons ago in Calgary, Canada, back when
she was still just a local gal, playing hotel bars and the like.
Apparently lang grew up in small town Alberta, in a little place
called Consort. Her first record was with her band the Reclines, and
it was called "A Truly Western Experience." It was when she was still
wearing her country skirts, spiky hair and thick-framed black glasses.
And claiming that she was a reincarnation of legendary singer Patsy
Cline. The record is fun and lively, although it has a few rough
edges. Still that amazing voice is there, and the record's last track
is the weirdest one she's ever done - "Hooked on Junk" which includes
some spoken verse. "Cowpunk" was the common description of the album at
the time, which I guess is as good a label as any. It came out in 85
or 86, I think - I don't have my copy in front of me.

 Her second album was something of a breakthough, as she got signed up
to Sire in the US. It was produced by Dave Edmunds and is a really
fun country album - the kind of "wing-ding-daddy of a good time"
sound that resembles her concerts. The album, "Angel with a Lariat"
was recorded in the UK and includes a number of popular country hits
as well as original tracks. It was released in 1987.

 k.d's third record was her attempt to prove to the fat, close-minded,
conservative and bigoted (IMHO of course) country music establishment
that she could do it like the best of 'em. She's never had a
particularly close relationship with mainstream country, which is wary
of her image and her refusal to be the whining doormat that many
female country singers seem to feel the need to play. (IMHO once more)
The album, "Shadowland" was produced by Nashville producer Owen
Bradley, who was pulled out of semi-retirement for the project. This
is her first record without the Reclines, and consists of mainly blue
(my lover left me, I feel shitty, etc.) traditional country tunes,
with no original compositions. The last track is totally hokey but
nevertheless kind of fun - it's a medley featuring k.d. lang, along
with long-time country stars Brenda Lee, Loretta Lynn and Kitty
Wells. All women who were produced - to great success, apparently - by
Bradley in the past. Lots of strings on this record. If anyone other
than lang had done this album, it would have been quite awful, IMHO.
I find most country music to be trite, formulaic, sexist and insipid.
But that wonderful voice with the perfect delivery make this album
something else.

 The year "Shadowland" came out - 1988 - lang gave a private
concert for Olympic volunteers at the Winter Olympic Games in
Calgary, and then gave an unforgettable performance during the
closing ceremonies of the Games. The whole stadium came alive for
the ceremonies which, in strong contrast to the contrived hoopla of
the opening ceremonies, had a more genuine, personal and even a
"gee we did it and wasn't it a blast?" feel. During lang's amazing
contribution the Canadian athletes came down from their assigned
seats and joined her on stage, much to the consternation of official
organizers. By the end all the athletes were down there - even the
Soviets and East Germans shyly and somewhat nervously came down
to the stage. (this was still the cold war here - the Eastern Bloc
athletes all seemed to be looking over their shoulders...)

 lang then followed this album up with her brilliant "Absolute Torch
and Twang," once more with the Reclines. A terrific collection of
mainly original tracks covering a variety of moods. From good-time
(Luck in My Eyes), painful shyness at a high school dance (Wallflower
Waltz), ironic self-reference (It's Me), melancholy nostalgia (Trail
of Broken Hearts), and the jovial bounce of an unlikely star at a
small-time dance (Big Boned Gal). (all IMHO with my admittedly clumsy
labels, BTW). It was around this time that lang suffered a bit of a
backlash from a lot of Alberta rednecks. She appeared in a now
infamous commercial, "Beef Stinks," in which lang - an avowed
vegetarian who doesn't feed meat to her dog - denounced the cattle
industry and carnivorous practices in general. AT&T (heh) came out in
1989.

 During the gap between albums lang recorded a track for the AIDS
benefit fundraiser record "Red, Hot and Blue" (I think I have the name
right) which was a collection of Cole Porter covers. I can't remember
the name of the song she did for the record, but I think that the vibe
of the track definitely influenced her next recording. Also, as
someone on the net pointed out to me (sorry - I've lost your name) she
made her acting debut in the film "Salmonberries" at this time.

 Us fans of kathryn dawn have had to wait until this year for the
latest release, "Inge'nue." This album sees lang leaving her country
past behind her in favour of more personal and intense songs, most
co-written by lang with her long-time collaborator Ben Mink. It's
a very introspective album, with a considerably less exuberant
feel than most of her previous work - even "Shadowland." Still,
her wry irony still comes through on tracks like "Miss Chatelaine"
(Chatelaine is a Canadian women's fashion magazine.) I think it's
interesting that she chose this album to come out with her sexual
orientation. Perhaps she feels that now she has a dedicated and
wide-ranging following she can safely ignore the fickle intolerance
of the country scene and just be herself.

 lang moved here to Vancouver around 5 years ago, I think. But I've
read somewhere that's bought herself a nice little acreage near the
Fraser River. She's on tour right now, and will be playing Vancouver
in July.

>An observation. How come there seems to be sooo many good
>canadian musicians who don't get a break over here (Australia)?
>Egs. Bruce Cockburn, kd l, Jane Siberry, the Nylons. Even Anne
Murray.

 Well I'd hesitate to call the Nylons and Anne Murray "good." ;) (All
IMHO again - please use email only if you want to flame me regarding
my opinions of the relative merits of these particular artists.) But
a lot of Canadian artists find it extremely difficult to get anywhere
outside Canada. In fact, most Canadians find that they can't
get anywhere even *in* Canada until they get signed to an American
label first. 'Tis sad, to be true. But you're dealing with a country
so insecure about its national identity that you can find only
American movies on the "Domestic" shelves in video stores, and
Canadian productions are usually found in the "Foreign Movies"
section...

 By the way, it's kind of interesting that a number of
Canadian artists have turned up on this newsgroup, eh? To date I think
we've had Sarah McLachlan (another Vancouverite), Jane Siberry
(Toronto), Loreena McKennitt (Stratford) and now k.d. lang. (by the
way, KaTe purists... please don't hassle me for another non-Kate
posting. If Ms. Bush put out a new record for us to drool over then
perhaps some new discussions may be sparked... Um. That wasn't
meant to sound as snarky and snide as it probably did, BTW. I was
intending to sound ironic. Damn this narrow bandwidth medium! :) )

 Anyway, that's more or less all I know about lang. And nope, I
have no idea why she chooses to spell her name in lower case.

 - Neil K.

--
  49 N 16' 123 W 7'  /  Vancouver, BC  /  n_k_guy@sfu.ca