The vinyl plays beautifully, with just 3 clicks towards the end of Track 2 Side 2.. A little worn around the edges and the gatefold spine has been flattened a little. Good colour though with full lyrics in the centre of the gatefold.

VINYL: Ex

LABEL: Ex

COVER: VG+

Side 1

1. Crayon Angels
2. The phantom cowboy
3. The archetypal man
4. The lamb ran away with the crown
5. Lady-O
6. Jesus was a cross maker

Side 2

1. Ridge rider
2. My man on love
3. Lopin’ along thru the cosmos
4. Enchanted sky machines
5. Abracadabra

I promise you this. There is no way you can listen to ‘Enchanted sky machines’ and not wonder why the hell this woman wasn’t as big a star as anyone coming out of west coast America in the 60’s/70’s. The music is unmistakably American with elements of country, folk, west coast hippy coupled with a more than subtle undertone to the wild-west outrider during ‘Ridge Rider’.

Her voice is something else though. Pure, effortless, a range we would all welcome. It dominates each song with complex lyrical arrangements. A line stands out in ‘Lopin’…

I’m lookin’ so hard for a place to land, I almost forgot how to play…’

 Somehow, this could sum up the life she led. Little was known about her life after she left the music industry in the early 70’s. Perhaps these lines captured it. The industry is strewn with tragedy and success in equal measure but in retrospect, when writing these notes years later, you cannot but help in wondering how something so exquisite can be produced against a background of misfortune and heartbreak.

But to end on a high. ‘Enchanted sky machines’ is such a driven, all encompassing, jazz, piano centric song that is way too short. Certainly a highlight but not the only one on this simple, but at times complex offering. Well worth an investment especially as the vinyl is in outstanding condition.