There is a direct correlation between a female singer’s beauty/shape/age and the amount/level of success that she can attain. Give me any example of a famous or even “indie” famous female singer and beauty/thinness/age plays a role: Cat Power, Sheryl Crow, Laura Marling, Sarah Harmer, Tift Merritt, Liz Phair the list is endless. Even in the more level playing field of folk/americana music beauty still plays a role. Not as much but nonetheless.
I blame the lack of success of Sarah Elizabeth Campbell to this attitude that we need our women singers to be a certain shape, have a certain look, and exude a certain sexual prowess. Admittedly there could be instances where artists shoot themselves in the foot (see the Little Tenderness artwork below). But on the whole looks have way more of an impact on a person’s career than is necessary. Sarah Elizabeth Campbell in her prime could out-write and out-sing anyone else on the scene. Her two independently released records A Little Tenderness (1990) and Running With You (1994) are stellar examples of the genre but despite critical acclaim went nowhere.
If you want to read more about Sarah Elizabeth Campbell’s interesting life in and out of music her bio can be found here. Here is her song “Geraldine & Ruthie Mae from the debut album A Little Tenderness. It’s a song about the fear of being homeless, infirm and losing your natural abilities (in this case Sarah Elizabeth Campbell’s voice). It’s a chilling tale of the fear we all must have about what our future life may be like.
P.S. I’m finally uploading all my CD’s to iTunes so I may occasionally revisit a song or an artist from the past. Rest assured the songs will be out of print and the artists obscure but deserving. This is the first such post.
Tags: Sarah Elizabeth Campbell