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Donald's Encyclopedia of Popular MusicA B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y ZSNOW, Phoebe(b Phoebe Ann Laub, 17 July 1950, NYC, grew up in Teaneck NJ; d 26 April 2011, Edison NJ) Singer, guitarist, songwriter with a jazz-influenced melismatic style and a flexible contralto voice: few recording artists of her era had her vocal ability. She studied piano as a child, guitar at 15, and began writing poems and setting them to music. She took her stage name from a railroad's fictional advertising character, seeing the name on boxcars rolling through town. She was discovered at the Bitter End by Denny Cordell, a promo exec for Leon Russell's Shelter label; her first album Phoebe Snow '74 went gold (later on The Right Stuff CD), including a no. 5 hit 'Poetry Man'; 'Harpo's Blues' included Stan Getz and Teddy Wilson in the backing. She switched to Columbia, toured with Paul Simon and had a no. 23 hit duet 'Gone At Last' '75; second album Second Childhood '76 also went gold with some backing from Ron Carter, drummer Grady Tate, Jerome Richardson. It Looks Like Snow '76 was still a top 30 album; Never Letting Go '77 slipped, Against The Grain '78 made top 100; she came back to the chart with Rock Away '81 on Mirage and again with Something Real '89 on Elektra. Almost all (plus a Best Of on Columbia) were available on CD '97, the sure sign of a loyal following. Her daughter was born with hydrocephalus and was not expected to live long; Snow refused to institutionalise her and looked after her until she died at age 31. She had left Columbia while owing the label money and admitted in an interview '83 that she had not had time 'to learn the ropes of the music business', and motherhood made touring difficult. She was recruited by Steely Dan's Donald Fagan for a New York Rock and Soul Revue, which led to a live album recorded at the Beacon Theatre in Manhattan '91. In '94 she performed at a Woodstock 25th anniversary festival; there was also a duet 'Have Mercy' with Jackson Browne, and she did commercial jingle work. Natural Wonder 2003 was her last album; in 2007 after her daughter's death she appeared at Birdland in Manhattan, her gifts undiminished. |