Constant Companion [Bonus Track] Ruthann Friedman

BUY THIS ITEM

  • $17.99 List price
    $13.69 Online Price
    (Save 23%)
    $12.32 Member price
    Join Now
    • skip to cart
  • Add To List uiAction=GetAllLists&page=List&pageType=list&ean=646315716726&productCode=MU&maxCount=100&threshold=3

DELIVERY & GIFT DETAILS:

Usually available in 1-2 weeks

Delivery Time and Shipping Rates

Eligible for gift wrap & gift message.

CD

  • Release Date: 03/07/2006
  • Original Release: 1970
  • Sales Rank: 187,297
  • Label: WATER
  • UPC: 646315716726

Listener Rating: (2 ratings)

See All Detailed Ratings

 
  • Overview
  • Tracks
  • Editorial Reviews
  • Customer Reviews
  • Details & Credits
Track List
Click on LISTEN or link to hear an audio clip.
To listen to samples you'll need a Windows Media Player

Constant Companion [Bonus Track]

1LISTENTopsy-Turvy Moon 0:39
2LISTENPiper's Call 3:44
3LISTENFairy Prince Rainbow Man 3:08
4LISTENToo Late to Be Mourning 2:57
5LISTENRinging Bells 3:12
6LISTENLooking Back Over Your Shoulder 3:41
7LISTENPeople 3:40
8LISTENMorning Becomes You 3:13
9LISTENPeaceable Kingdom 4:24
10LISTENNo Time 3:15
11LISTENDanny 1:52
12LISTENLook Up to the Sun 3:30
13LISTENCarry On (Glittering Dancer) Bonus Track 2:28

Editorial Reviews

Singer/songwriter Ruthann Friedman, best known as the lovelorn scribe behind the Association's 1967 smash hit "Windy," released her one and only album on Reprise in 1968. With a voice that fell somewhere between Linda Thompson and Grace Slick, Friedman's lone collection, the sparse and surprisingly powerful Constant Companion, bristles with the polarizing emotional state of the late-'60s West Coast counterculture movement. Like Jefferson Airplane -- she had previously been in a duo with Peter Kaukonen, brother of Airplane guitarist Jorma -- Friedman's lyrics touched on both the darkness and the good of the era, channeling the literate wisdom of Joni Mitchell and exuding a vocal confidence that brings to mind contemporary artists such as Faun Fables and Cat Power. All of the tracks, besides "Morning Becomes You," which features guitar work from Kaukonen, and the bonus track "Carry On (Glittering Dancer)," which boasts arrangements by former boyfriend Van Dyke Parks, rely only on Friedman's slightly bluesy guitar work and gorgeous voice. Fans of Sibylle Baier's equally haunting lone '70s recording, Colour Green, or Vashti Bunyan's Just Another Diamond Day will find much to love here. Reverend Lee Power, All Music Guide

Customer Reviews

  • Listener Rating:
  • Ratings: 2Reviews: 2

johnny loftus...detroit metro timesby Anonymous

Reader Rating:
See Detailed Ratings

September 10, 2006: Detroit March 5, 2006 Constant Companion was Ruthann Friedman's lone album. Originally released in 1969, its stripped-bare style floats alongside Clouds, Joni Mitchell's record of that year. Friedman's vocals and plucked acoustic guitar are dressed only in filmy fabric and misty morning echo, like she's singing her songs to gathered lovers and friends after a night of wine and whatever else. She lived in that famed California scene too — Friedman performed at the 1969 Big Sur Folk Festival alongside Mitchell and Joan Baez. But Companion resonates today not as a dog-eared memory, but for its arresting ability to rumple the era's psychedelic themes and folk structure with moments of unique beauty and sudden tales of warning. Hindsight might label "Fairy Prince Rainbow Man" as redundant whimsy. But Friedman's character is a bringer of dreams who's fated to die mysteriously, having "hidden himself for his love of the sun." "People" too is a lament, with the scratchy ache in Friedman's voice pleading for something real, or the recognition that Left Coast bohemia isn't necessarily paradise. With its searching themes, gorgeous artwork and evocative photography of the artist's penetrating eyes, Companion thrives as both a welcome reissue and provoking listen for all the mornings of today.

a winnerby Anonymous

Reader Rating:
See Detailed Ratings

April 22, 2006: Water continues their seamless reissue streak with this '69 find, the lone album by LA-based folksinger Friedman who a few years earlier had found success by penning "Windy" for the Association. Fans of the recent psych-folk implosion (and hallucinogens) could ostensibly crawl inside this gorgeous, unadorned album of lyrical fantasy, gentle yet sturdy acoustic accompaniment, and unmistakable of-the-times demeanor, and quite possibly live contentedly within it forever. Friedman's story is one of a musician who had her fun and celebrated only the positives of the peace & love generation, gingerly avoiding its dark side and remaining unscathed, seemingly with nothing but fond, collectively-experienced memories of being in such an invigorating and pivotal social moment, which included everything from joining Joni Mitchell onstage at the Big Sur Folk Festival to dating Van Dyke Parks, palling around with Dr. John the Night Tripper and living with David Crosby. Another feather in the cap of hindsight being 20/20, this time tipping in its favor. Says on the label that it's recommended for fans of Cat Power and Vashti Bunyan, but Friedman often provides a grounded counterpoint to those artists' flights of fancy. Quite a find. [DM]