photo: Kellie Walsh

Somewhere back around 1999 or 2000, I experienced one of those classic New York
metropolitan area moments. In actuality, a whole bunch of them.  I was in Hoboken, 
New Jersey, at Maxwell's, to see Kelly Joe Phelps. As I walked in, I glanced off to one side. 
Sitting in a dining alcove with Kelly Joe's wife was Phoebe Snow. Phoebe, a long-time 
devotee of virtuoso guitarists, was an ardent fan. What followed that evening was both 
shocking and exalting. I kept hoping that Phoebe would be getting up to sing. Initially, 
though, two things happened. The place was jammed with supporters of a local act but 
they all disappeared when that was over. Kelly Joe, not as well-known as he is now, played
 to an almost-empty room. I thought: "C'mon, Hoboken! You've got to be kidding! 
Wake up! (With regard to Kelly Joe, they probably have by now.) I marveled at Kelly Joe's 
playing, but kept hoping for Phoebe to join in. Finally, she walked into the room and 
signaled to Kelly Joe that she'd like to join him in a song. He nodded.  She got up on 
stage and, without a microphone, shook the windowpanes, blew a hole in the heart of 
my cares, and, as usual, filled it in with joy. I don't know about heaven and the hereafter, 
but if there's anyone up there, they heard her. She sang, "When the Roll is Called up Yonder 
(I'll be there)," a song that Kelly Joe had covered on his second album, Roll Away the Stone. 
Although Kelly Joe was still plugged in, her magnificent vocal instrument matched him 
perfectly without amplification. And it isn't just about volume. The tone and color of her 
voice create a polished jewel. She can sing with anyone. Mormon Tabernacle Choir, are 
you listening? Skip the microphone, though. She won't need it.

I got in touch recently with her publicists and they set up an phone interview. We talked 
for over an hour about her life and in particular, her just-issued CD, Natural Wonder. 
She said it was such a guitar-oriented album -- it certainly is -- and was disappointed that 
she hadn't gotten Kelly Joe to play on it. The dictates of recording corporation economics 
forced her to go with a group of very fine studio musicians, but not the guitar gods she was 
hoping for. Nevertheless, it's a terrific album. Her voice is still magnificent and she's still 
writing beautiful songs. 

The first track, "Sahara" is a song Phoebe wrote about Sahara Sunday Spain, a very unique 
little girl from California who Phoebe met when the girl was 7 years old.  Today at 11 years old, 
Sahara is an artist and poet with a published book entitled If There Would Be No Light. 
With innate wisdom, the child has the qualities of a seer. Phoebe was enormously affected and wrote:  
"She holds you gently in her vision… Sahara Sunday Spain, she says, 'don't be frightened… 
says we're all enlightened.' " An inspired, soaring tribute to a remarkable child.

Phoebe and Sahara, both natural wonders

Throughout the album, Phoebe's remarkable voice rides towering waves of guitar virtuosity 
belonging to Jim Chapdelaine, Roger Butterley and James Mastro. There are chunks of distortion 
booster feedback, soaring leads, and gentle fingerstyle patterns.  
Track two, "How Beautiful," appears to be her tribute to the religious underpinnings that she relies 
on for strength. Following a slow, stately rhythm, she sings, "You are my manta, You are my prayer… 
You'll always be my inspiration, I love you from afar… 

It's still exciting to hear her voice go from zero to sixty in two seconds flat, low and soft to high 
and charged, all the while sounding totally relaxed. The album liner notes thank 
"all the … patient teachers who have shown me how to find mystical shelter from the storm."

"The Other Girlfiend," track three, is a flat-out rocker. "When she sings, 
"but you wear me down, you use me up," look out. Male of the species, tread lightly. 
She ends with an ad-lib blues chestnut, "Goin' to Chicago, sorry but I can't take you." 
Sheer delight.

One of the only two covers on the album, is "Lightning Crashes"  (the other is "Baby I Need Your 
Lovin'"), written by Ed Kowalczyk of the band Live. When she first heard it, the song was 
resonant of personal things that were happening in her life. Live's version was being used on radio 
during reports on the Oklahoma City bombing. Then, just before she was to record the song, 
World Trade and 9/11 happened. Though she was concerned that it would be seen as capitalizing 
on the tragedy, it had a whole other meaning for her, and she went ahead and recorded it. 
There is an apocalyptic mood throughout… about birth and death. 
"A new mother cries. Her placenta falls to the floor. The angel opens her eyes… The confusion sets 
in before the doctor can even close the door… Lightning crashes, old mother dies… The angel closes 
her eyes. The confusion that was hers belongs to the baby down the hall."  
There seems to be redemption at the end of the song: 
"Voices pullin' from the center of the earth again. 
Oh now feel it comin'  I can feel it… Like a rollin' thunder chasin' the wind… I can feel it…" 
Drums and cymbals crash and the effect is perfectly suited to the mood.
"Changed" is one of Phoebe's favorites. It speaks to the maturing process and getting away from 
the wildness of her youth (well, only most of it, I'll bet). I just love it when she starts off with, 
"I want to sing the blues like an old blind guy, howl at the moon in the black-hole sky."  
Phoebe loves the old blues players. A phrase that catches the ear is "I remember when pleasure 
became obscene, I remember when George became Christine," alluding to the Christine Jorgensen 
sex change operation, the first in the United States. This album finds Phoebe in superlative form. 
This is a great addition to everyone's "Phoebe Collection."

Beginnings
We talked about her childhood influences. She said that her family was full of very humorous people,
 all comedian wannabees. She thought she'd like to make people laugh. The idea of being funny all 
the time really appealed to her. She found out though, that it's really hard to be funny all the time. 
She said, "Most people can't keep that up. When they get off stage they're miserable." In addition, 
Delta blues, Broadway show tunes, classical rock and folk music recordings were played around the 
clock.
Her mom was a big influence. In the midst of all the other music that was played in the household, 
it was her mother who brought folk music to the table. Phoebe remembered: "She was a very 
bohemian type person, very esoteric. She actually knew Woody Guthrie. She and Woody's wife 
Marge were dancers in a company together." Her mom danced with "some high-profile dance 
companies," Alvin Ailey, Merce Cunningham, Martha Graham and Sophie Maslow among them. 
Phoebe has a copy of Bound for Glory in which Woody had written verses as well as a poem to 
her mom.  
The most shocking thing I learned from Phoebe is that when she was very young, she didn't sing. 
Didn't like the sound of her own voice! She wanted to sing, but when the sound came out, she felt 
embarrassed.  
When she was 18, she had a crush on a boy who was the leader of a band. The band held auditions 
for a singer and Phoebe decided to try out. "the guy passed on me!" she said. However, she got a 
call from him that explained why. He said that she was "better than they were" that the band felt 
that she'd make them look bad. He wanted to "manage her career."  "What career?" she said. 
"I just want to be in a band!" He told her she should start going to open mics and develop her 
talent further and from then on continued to encourage her. A bit of romance passed between them 
but didn't go anywhere. They remained friends. He passed away while very young, the victim of 
an unfortunate accident. Phoebe's lament for him is enshrined in one of her best songs, 
"Harpo's Blues."  The lyrics state poetically, but sadly: 
"I strut and fret my hour upon the stage / The hour is up / I have to run and hide my rage / 
I'm lost again / I think I'm really scared / I won't be back at all this time / And have my deepest 
secrets shared  / I'd like to be a willow / A lover, a mountain or a soft refrain / But I'd hate to be a 
grown-up / And have to try to bear my life in pain."

Guitar Dreams
Phoebe's fascination with guitar was sparked by listening to records. She said she had aspirations to 
be a good blues player but, "A funny thing happened on the way to my guitar career… I started singing!"

I enjoyed the guitar work that I heard on her earlier CDs and I asked if she did the playing. She said yes, 
explaining, 'When I was 11 or 12, I found an album by Big Bill Broonzy in my mom's folky Vanguard 
collection. I was instantly enchanted. I'd heard blues before, but said "What is that?!! I immediately
decided, set a goal that I wanted to play guitar and I wanted to play like that! She said that the 
rudimentary blues playing that she wound up playing was directly related to Broonzy. After recently  
viewing a French documentary on him, she realized that the chord voicings  that she does, the basic 
Spanish tuning , the blues that she plays in E… "It's his stuff!" She didn't do it intentionally. She loved 
the very first song of his she heard, his version of "Key to the Highway" and seemingly absorbed those 
stylistic elements. Then, she discovered, among others, Mississippi John Hurt. There was something 
lilting and mellifluous about it. Then, when you listen to the words," …the young girl in her appears… 
"It's really dirty !  …Very sexual! …That's what that stuff is all about!" She learned "Big Leg Woman" 
and  finally recorded it on her 1998 album Can't Complain. Changing the gender to suit herself, it goes, 
"raise up baby, take your big leg off of mine… get so happy, make a good woman change her mind. 
Ask you baby, just to come here and hold my hand… Rather see me worry or rather see me glad?"  
She said, "Boy I could really pick up guys with that one!" She sometimes questions her motives for
her pursuit of becoming an excellent player and singer. Uhh… Phoebe, we're not complaining!
Coming up, her favorite women players were Bonnie Raitt and Rory Block. One of the milestones for 
her was using a "classic" instructional album How to Play Blues Guitar authored and performed by 
Stefan Grossman and Rory, which came with a big tablature book. Because Rory was only 13 years 
old at the time, child labor laws being what they were, the name on the credits was changed to 
"Sunshine Kate."  She used it to learn "Mississippi Blues" …"Goin' down to Mississippi…"  
There were parts for two guitars. During her early days, "before I was Phoebe Snow" (her real 
last name is Laub), she was a  huge fan of David Bromberg and followed him from club to club. 
She met him one night in Greenwich Village and played one part of "Mississippi Blues" while he 
played the other.  She said, "I levitated… I had an out-of-body experience." 
Her first guitar teacher when she was about 15, Rick Schoenberg had, along with Dave Leibman, 
transcribed Scott Joplin's piano rags for guitar and put out an album of just that. The name escapes 
her. He taught her one of the rags. As she said, "I almost learned it… It gave me a migraine, I had 
to concentrate so hard, to do it! It's a very difficult genre, but they made it into this beautiful classic 
thing." She also learned, early on, "Deep River Blues," by Doc Watson.

The Big Break
As Phoebe went to more and more open mics, and started experimenting with her marvelous vocal 
instrument, she said that "reviews were mixed." As she gained confidence, the accolades, especially 
referring to her voice, kept increasing and building.
In 1972, Phoebe had auditioned one afternoon to play at amateur night at the Bitter End. Normally, 
most people have to go through a waiting period before playing, but the MC told Phoebe, "Don't go
anywhere, I want you on tonight. So, she hung around the city the rest of the day for the evening
show. Dino Airali, a promotion man for Shelter Records was in town from California and wanted to
sit in on the amateur night but couldn't remember the name of the club he'd intended to go to. During 
a televised spot on the Democratic primaries, an announcer said, "Well, it looks like the bitter end for 
Hubert Humphrey." Dino thought, "That's the name! That's the club I was thinking of!" He hopped 
into a cab and arrived to see the last three-quarters of Phoebe's set. He walked in just as Phoebe had 
broken a string on her guitar. Tapping her foot and chatting her way through a difficult moment, 
someone handed her a guitar tuned exactly the same as hers, and she continued as if nothing had 
happened. That got her a standing ovation from the crowd and an ensuing record deal with Shelter 
Records. Her first album, Phoebe Snow, released in 1974, featured old favorite David Bromberg and 
well as some killer guests, like jazz piano master Teddy Wilson, "Zoot" Sims on sax, Ralph MacDonald 
on percussion and Dave Mason on electric guitar.  Along with the aforementioned "Harpo's Blues," 
there's the breakthrough hit "Poetry Man," which Phoebe says was written for yet another love interest. 
She chuckled at her early appetites and the way it steered her artistic direction. Other seductive titles of 
great songs on this album that she wrote included "All Over" and "Two-fisted Love." 
 
Phoebe Snow was followed by Second Childhood and It Looks Like Snow in 1976, Never Letting Go, 1977,
 Against the Grain, 1978, The Best of Phoebe Snow, 1981, Rock Away, 1980, Something Real, 1989, 
Rock and Soul Revue, 1991, P.S., 1995, Good News in Hard Times, 1995, I Can't Complain, 1998, 
The Very Best of Phoebe Snow, 2001, and now, her new one Natural Wonder.  
 

A favorite of mine is Something Real. In the title cut, which she wrote, she sings: 
"Tell me what you're feelin' and what it all means, you could be defensive, or open up and share your 
dreams… We can make love all night, til the sky catches fire, keep talkin' for hours, I'll never get get tired, 
don't want you to lie, but you're such a beautiful liar… This time when I reach out it may be my last time… 
I want somethin' real before I die."
Two others she wrote which are especially moving are "Touch Your Soul" where she sings, 
"…Your lonely nights of conquest can never make you whole, you squander your body, you need 
someone to touch your soul…" and "I'm Your Girl."  A bit simpler but effective nonetheless: 
"…You're my world, my little world, my seasons and my days…"

An Amazing Story
We were discussing the song "Changed" on Natural Wonder and how it was constructed from fragments 
of other songs the way that Dylan's "Hard Rain" was said to have been. We agreed that Dylan's song was 
a scary, thoughtful piece full of predictions. She then remembered that she'd just been given a remnant 
from an earlier time in her career. It concerns the album Against the Grain which is out of print and can't 
even be ordered from amazon.com. Some fans have found it online at web sites for out-of-print records 
and one found it on Japan ebay. It contains a song called "Keep a Watch on the Shoreline," a song Phoebe 
wrote that wound up being a message to her daughter, but had a darker origin. Phoebe wasn't sure if she 
wanted me to relate this story, but I thought it pertinent.
In 1978, a CBS in-house promotional vinyl interview album called Interchords was produced. Someone 
found a CD transcription of the album on Ebay and a friend gave it to Phoebe. She played it for me over 
the telephone as I recorded our interview. On the album, Phoebe responded to questions about each song 
on the then-current release. Her responses then led into the playing of each song.
The Dream: Prefacing the "Keep a Watch" track, on the recording, Phoebe spoke about a dream she had, 
which propelled her to write the song. In that dream, terrorists had kidnapped the son of a foreign dignitary 
and hidden him in the World Trade Center along with a bomb. The bomb was set to go off somewhere 
between four hours to four days and it was feared it might destroy Manhattan. A public address system 
directed people to leave Manhattan and people milled in the streets, screaming. In the dream, Phoebe 
grabbed her guitar and some diaries and drove across the GW Bridge to a friend's apartment across the 
river in New Jersey where she could still see the New York skyline. Still describing her dream on the 
recording, Phoebe stated that she lay in bed awake asking how she might know if Manhattan would 
survive. God's voice responded saying, "Go down to the Hudson River and keep a watch on the shoreline. 
If nothing happens within the next few days, you will all be safe." At the end of the dream, Phoebe walked 
down to the river, and as she heard heavy violin music in a kind of movie fadeout, saw "all these people
lining the shoreline watching the river." On the recording, she chuckled nervously as she remembered how 
she woke up thinking "keep a watch on the shoreline… keep a watch on the shoreline…" Then the sound 
of the song itself faded in over the interview segment and washed over the spoken part. Returning to our 
interview, Phoebe then shut off the CD player.  She said she changed the meaning of the song, not able to 
deal with the actual content of the dream. 
I was amazed and fascinated at the powerful premonition contained in this obscure 1978 promotion piece. 
Perhaps it simply means that Phoebe had her finger on the pulse of the dangers of the world that would 
visit us down the road. Whatever it means, I continue to think that not only is Phoebe Snow is a timeless 
talent, but also that she's connected to some universal flow of life and truth that surrounds us. Between 
Phoebe Snow and Sahara Sunday Spain, there's still hope.

Upcoming performances include: 
Aug. 11th, 9:30 pm at Joe's Pub, at the Public Theater 425 Lafayette St., Manhattan 
Aug. 15th, 6pm at The South Street Seaport, Pier 17 in Manhattan
Aug. 23rd, 9pm at the Sunset Junction Street Festival, 4019 Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 
Check Phoebe's web site at www.phoebesnow.com to find out about other appearances.