It’s great news when an album you love, that you know deserves masses more exposure, gets re-issued for many more music lovers that seek new flavours outside the mainstream plastic bubble to discover. And of course for those that have already discovered the gem but have yet to covet a vinyl edition….
German folk singer Sibylle Baier borders on something of a phenomenon in that she rose and fell away from the public limelight so fast, her music first appearing in the 1973 Wim Wenders film Alice in the Cities (she also appears briefly in the film with her daughter Julia). The recordings she made between 1970-1973 were made at home on a reel-to-reel tape and were shared with just family and friends. They didn’t come to public attention until 2006 when the tapes reached Dinosaur Jr.’s J. Mascis. The limited pressing release of Colour Green that followed soon resulted in a cult following and the album going for large sums of monies on online auction sites.
Her voice is comparable to the likes of Anne Briggs and her music has a delicate, fragile intimacy that is both warm and detached from the hectic pace of everyday life. It’s very easy whilst listening to the songs on the album to imagine her recording them in the still of the night when her family were asleep.
Instead of seeking the limelight that a career in singin or acting may have offered her she opted instead for motherhood and eventually moved to America to bring up her family. Her son Robby Baier now runs her website and explains “She is really quite perplexed by all the attention that her album “Colour Green” has gotten. My father keeps telling her about all the pages and articles that are out there, but she, though smitten, prefers to hear about her accolades through the eyes and ears of her family.”
Here’s a small taster with ‘Tonight’:
Lyrics for ‘Tonight’
tonight, when I came home from work, hurt
tonight, when I came home from work
there he, unforseen
sat in my kitchen buttering himself a bread and the cat was on his knee and smiled at me
tonight, when I came home from work
tonight, when I came home from work
there he, unforseen
passed the guitar and said I battered my car right now won’t you please give me your tune
we had change of the moon
we had change of the moon
tonight, when I came home from work
tonight, when I came home from work
tonight, when I came home from work
there he, unforseen
changed in an easy chair
and said what’s that sorrow you bear and I could tell him he understood
he gently took my arm
he listened to my tears till dawn
I dedicate this song to you tonight
we had change of the moon
we had change of the moon
tonight, when I came home from work
tonight, when I came home from work
tonight, tonight
tonight
Colour Green is available on CD | Vinyl | Digital via Orange Twin
Order via Norman Records | Orange Twin
Photo courtesy of: http://www.sibyllebaier.com