A calm subtle yet driven personality who, as most genius' do, lived her life out to its natural end. Her sense of purpose exceeded her sense of acceptance. And now as all icons, lives in the minds and hearts of people like you and I.
I became attentive to her by an article of German Süddeutsche Zeitung 05/08/2023. I listend in all her songs on youtube. a wonderful melancholic singer with a mystery in her curriculum vitae. Nice special songs interpreted with a wonderful sometimes childlike attitude. It‘s a pity that she disappeared one day…
Came here after reading a fascinating "New York Times Magazine" article about Connie. This is really a great, touching song. I"m wondering why I never heard a cover? I would have loved the Everlys doing this.
This is a fascinating and talented woman who seemed unconcerned or incapable of anything remotely show biz. She seems to have been a loner who couldn't connect, and she expressed that and a feeling of melancholy that is unshakeable when you listen to her. In a way she is more folk that the folkies of the '60s in that she was a self taught, an anachronism, a thing unto herself, - like many of the outsiders in the art world. She was singing her own personal tragedy and it was real. A great performer doing How Sad, How Lovely, someone like Peggy Lee, could have killed with it.
Joe, Thanks for putting this song of Connie’s up. I just read the NYT article published today, 05.12.23 and learned of her talent. Sad she was not widely recognized, but besides being just slightly ahead of her time in popular music, it also seems she lacked the single minded focus and drive to apply herself to the task. Her brother described her as a polymath, and from the descriptions of her various jobs and talents, it seems so. There also seems a contradiction in descriptions of her being a loner, but that she enjoyed performing among friends. Perhaps she was a closeted person, and that held her back from leading a more public life. The few songs I just heard of hers are written from having had experience in relationships and life, not completely withdrawn from it. Perhaps her genius was also brushed by mental health issues, as she seemed eternally restless, even while ever moving ti new places in NYC. All questions we will never have complete answers to. All we have is the music she left behind for us to contemplate and enjoy, much as her close friends did while peacefully relaxing in someone’s living room.
I believe the woman at 1:32 is Molly Drake, mother of the brilliant songwriter, Nick Drake...Molly also wrote songs, but was a housewife and didn't pursue a musical career.
@@katherinebailey9591 Her story has some similarities to Nick Drake, Sixto Rodriguez and Vashti Bunyan (see Guitar International magazine for my interview with Vashti who returned to enjoy her cult following after left the music scene to live in a horse drawn cart...
OVERVIEW LYRICS LISTEN 1 of 3 2 of 3 How sad, how lovely, how short, how sweet, to see the sunset at the end of a street and the day gathered in to a single light and the shallows rising from the brim of the night too few, too few are the days that will hold your face, your face in a blaze of cold how sad how lovley, how short how sweet to see the sunset at the end of a street and the lights going on in the shops and the bars and the lovers looking for the first little signs like life, like your smile, like the fall of leaf how sad how lovley, how sweet
She left New York in 1960. I wonder if she had stayed a few more years and met Dave Van Ronk, Joan Baez, The Clancy Brothers, Joni and Dylan. What might have come her way. If only.
One postscript. I have been told that the image in the thumbnail is not Connie but Karen Dalton and it is there on her wikipedia page so sorry for any confusion. It was shown on the google images for Connie Converse and, of coarse, the internet is never wrong (NOT).
Thank you. You can choose a new thumbnail in the video’s settings on youtube without having to reupload your video btw. Thanks for this upload and the other images you used
@@nchan4679 This is way late but I checked that image in the photos on google and there are at least to articles that use that photo as being Connie. It is a different look.
Hope ya noticed she was being interviewed by CBS News reporter/anchor Walter Cronkite in one of the pix in the video. Walter became the the concious of America during the 1960's, anchoring The CBS Evening News. So, she was not unheard of, just quickly forgotten. The music industry did not support work like hers during her time of creative offerings. It would be interesting to know what people thought of her work. Obviously, it didn't trip anyones' trigger that had money & power to promote her to the Big Show. But, she may well of had lots of exposure, but didn't catch on. Most folks today probably don't know of The Ed Sullivan Show. Thousands of people appeared on his tv show in the 1950's & 60's. And millions of people performed in local talent shows in their towns all around the world for hundreds of years. You know, like people entertained themselves and neighbors before recordings of professionals existed. Oh, an' radio, too.
You make a lot of very good points. All of the female singers around this period were singing other people's songs and had a similar type of delivery. There were notable exceptions. Peggy Lee comes to mind but I'm sure there were others. But most had that blond bright eyed girl next door thing going on. Connie wrote some very individualistic songs an didn't have a conventional voice. But just a few years later, a guy like Dylan could really catch on. She was jut in the wrong time.
Super interesting story and definitely a unique talent for the time period. To say she’s the first singer songwriter is simply inaccurate though. Woody Guthrie was writing brilliant songs back in the early to mid ‘30s, and was obviously the most influential writer of his era and well into the Bob Dylan era (who emulated Woody and wanted to be him). Doesn’t negate her talent, but Woody was the quintessential singer songwriter.
She went to Portland and then to oklahoma. She married and had a son he usef to play with my older friend when they were kids. He also became a musician and had his own studio. I saw her a couple of times.
@@08pixiedust his name was oliver and he was way older then me. he would hang out with us we were like 10 yrs old and he was 19 i think. he had all the people in our part of town show up to his house to see his band. she was giving snacks and food to all of us. she looked very young and very promiscuous......... she would bring in males into her house and everybdoy knew what was going on. but we were too afraid to say anything to oliver....... they moved to austin then they moved to portland. that was the last i heard of them. this was the 90s. the father was also a musician.
@@mikeknapp9811 there isnt. i think oliver passed away. the remaining family is in canada and nw united states. but they dont know about it...... i think there are videos of them playing in a band. and you might be able to see her there serving food. i dont know what happend tot the films. they wre on projector and betas. she had music recorded on cheap 4 track machines......
The woman at 1:17 and on the thumbnail is Karen Dalton not Connie Converse. You should change it as Connie is enough of an unknown figure and the confusion this creates isn't helping.The woman before that at 1:05 is Sibylle Baier I believe.
She just doesn't sound like someone who never loved before . I think its wrong to assume she never had for lack of a known boyfriend in the picture . Had she a girlfriend in the 1950s and coming from a strict christian background we would have never known . That could be why she was so guarded and intensely private . Its no biggie today but in her day not so .
That’s lovely for someone to play and sing in my kitchen, but I can’t imagine her selling many albums. To blame her rejections and lack of success on a male dominated industry is a cop out. There were many successful female singer songwriters in that era.
Your point about singer songwriters is important because there were a lot of singers that did songs written for them or songs in a folk tradition but name me songs written by the singers. I'm sure there were some but she was kind of groundbreaking in this regard. She was in NY from like 1952-1961. This was way before all the singer /songwriters of the 1960s
I didn’t say it wasn’t groundbreaking. I did say that the music is not particularly special and frankly sounds like my mother wrote it in the kitchen on Saturday afternoon. But if you think the reason she wasn’t famous like all the other female singer songwriters who had contracts and whose names we all knew in the 60s is your fault because of your maleness feel free to make an apology to the planet or turn yourself into a eunuch...which ever alleviates your guilt better. Judy Collins Karen Dalton Joan Baez Joni Mitchell Carole King Nico Laura Nyro Etc etc etc (you could try googling it) I was a teenager in that era and you look like you’re old enough to have been one. You must have heard of these women. Their music was on the radio constantly. It must’ve been a record label and radio station owed by a woman. 😂😂😂God men are dumb.
@@lillytaggert178 First where did I in any way suggest identity politics with male/female? You've brought that up for some reason? Second everyone of those great singers you listed put out records in the 1960s and many not all did other people's songs. All I'm saying is that Connie Converse was writing her songs starting in the early 1950s. She didn't have the voice or looks or charisma for a great professional singer agreed. I like some of the songs she wrote and they speak to a certain loneliness and being outside looking in type of themes. This is why there has been renewed interest in her.
![I.N "HALLUCINATION" | [Stray Kids : SKZ-PLAYER]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/n5B5q1Hwt_U/mqdefault.jpg)
A calm subtle yet driven personality who, as most genius' do, lived her life out to its natural end. Her sense of purpose exceeded her sense of acceptance. And now as all icons, lives in the minds and hearts of people like you and I.
The day gathered in to a single light. And the shadows rising from the brim of the night.
I became attentive to her by an article of German Süddeutsche Zeitung 05/08/2023. I listend in all her songs on youtube. a wonderful melancholic singer with a mystery in her curriculum vitae. Nice special songs interpreted with a wonderful sometimes childlike attitude. It‘s a pity that she disappeared one day…
I enjoy her music. It's sad that she did not reach a wide audience.
Came here after reading a fascinating "New York Times Magazine" article about Connie. This is really a great, touching song. I"m wondering why I never heard a cover? I would have loved the Everlys doing this.
Oh how amazing that would have been!!
How beautiful. A true gem.
Has some melancholy vibes from "over the rainbow".
I've loved this song for a while now but had never seen a photo of Connie before. Thanks so much for posting!
This is a fascinating and talented woman who seemed unconcerned or incapable of anything remotely show biz. She seems to have been a loner who couldn't connect, and she expressed that and a feeling of melancholy that is unshakeable when you listen to her. In a way she is more folk that the folkies of the '60s in that she was a self taught, an anachronism, a thing unto herself, - like many of the outsiders in the art world. She was singing her own personal tragedy and it was real. A great performer doing How Sad, How Lovely, someone like Peggy Lee, could have killed with it.
She was too private to know who she was .
For a minute thought I was listening to Joan Baez. She was 10 years ahead of time
Such a lovely song. How sad she disappeared. She would have gone far🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽💔💔💔
Joe, Thanks for putting this song of Connie’s up. I just read the NYT article published today, 05.12.23 and learned of her talent. Sad she was not widely recognized, but besides being just slightly ahead of her time in popular music, it also seems she lacked the single minded focus and drive to apply herself to the task. Her brother described her as a polymath, and from the descriptions of her various jobs and talents, it seems so. There also seems a contradiction in descriptions of her being a loner, but that she enjoyed performing among friends. Perhaps she was a closeted person, and that held her back from leading a more public life. The few songs I just heard of hers are written from having had experience in relationships and life, not completely withdrawn from it. Perhaps her genius was also brushed by mental health issues, as she seemed eternally restless, even while ever moving ti new places in NYC. All questions we will never have complete answers to. All we have is the music she left behind for us to contemplate and enjoy, much as her close friends did while peacefully relaxing in someone’s living room.
There is just something utterly compelling about her voice...
Connie r I p. Seems to B. A lovely person. 1:23
saw the NYT article. A Mt. Holyoke woman as well! Mt. Holyoke produced illustrious women.
I believe the woman at 1:32 is Molly Drake, mother of the brilliant songwriter, Nick Drake...Molly also wrote songs, but was a housewife and didn't pursue a musical career.
I was going to say that it didn't look to me as if all the photos were of the same woman.
@@katherinebailey9591 Her story has some similarities to Nick Drake, Sixto Rodriguez and Vashti Bunyan (see Guitar International magazine for my interview with Vashti who returned to enjoy her cult following after left the music scene to live in a horse drawn cart...
OVERVIEW
LYRICS
LISTEN
1 of 3
2 of 3
How sad, how lovely,
how short, how sweet,
to see the sunset
at the end of a street
and the day gathered in
to a single light
and the shallows rising
from the brim of the night
too few, too few
are the days that will hold your face, your face in a blaze of cold
how sad how lovley,
how short how sweet
to see the sunset at the end of a street
and the lights going on
in the shops and the bars
and the lovers looking for the first little signs
like life, like your smile, like the fall of leaf
how sad how lovley, how sweet
Thanks for adding the lyrics. There is something special in her music.
Very beautiful. Parts of it remind me of Kurt Weill's "Speak Low"
I noticed that too!
She left New York in 1960. I wonder if she had stayed a few more years and met Dave Van Ronk, Joan Baez, The Clancy Brothers, Joni and Dylan. What might have come her way. If only.
One postscript. I have been told that the image in the thumbnail is not Connie but Karen Dalton and it is there on her wikipedia page so sorry for any confusion. It was shown on the google images for Connie Converse and, of coarse, the internet is never wrong (NOT).
Thank you..I too noticed the difference and am glad to know why :)
Thank you. You can choose a new thumbnail in the video’s settings on youtube without having to reupload your video btw. Thanks for this upload and the other images you used
Whos the woman at 1:16 is that actually connie? And i notice the woman before and after dont match as well. Just curious
@@nchan4679
This is way late but I checked that image in the photos on google and there are at least to articles that use that photo as being Connie. It is a different look.
I mean it’s SO CLEARLY not her 🙄🤷🏼♀️ wtf…..how could you think it WAS???
Hope ya noticed she was being interviewed by CBS News reporter/anchor Walter Cronkite in one of the pix in the video. Walter became the the concious of America during the 1960's, anchoring The CBS Evening News. So, she was not unheard of, just quickly forgotten.
The music industry did not support work like hers during her time of creative offerings. It would be interesting to know what people thought of her work. Obviously, it didn't trip anyones' trigger that had money & power to promote her to the Big Show. But, she may well of had lots of exposure, but didn't catch on. Most folks today probably don't know of The Ed Sullivan Show. Thousands of people appeared on his tv show in the 1950's & 60's. And millions of people performed in local talent shows in their towns all around the world for hundreds of years. You know, like people entertained themselves and neighbors before recordings of professionals existed. Oh, an' radio, too.
You make a lot of very good points. All of the female singers around this period were singing other people's songs and had a similar type of delivery. There were notable exceptions. Peggy Lee comes to mind but I'm sure there were others. But most had that blond bright eyed girl next door thing going on. Connie wrote some very individualistic songs an didn't have a conventional voice. But just a few years later, a guy like Dylan could really catch on. She was jut in the wrong time.
Super interesting story and definitely a unique talent for the time period. To say she’s the first singer songwriter is simply inaccurate though. Woody Guthrie was writing brilliant songs back in the early to mid ‘30s, and was obviously the most influential writer of his era and well into the Bob Dylan era (who emulated Woody and wanted to be him). Doesn’t negate her talent, but Woody was the quintessential singer songwriter.
She went to Portland and then to oklahoma. She married and had a son he usef to play with my older friend when they were kids. He also became a musician and had his own studio. I saw her a couple of times.
I hope this is true! What was her married name? And do you remember the name of her son? A lot of people have wondered about her over the years.
@@08pixiedust his name was oliver and he was way older then me. he would hang out with us we were like 10 yrs old and he was 19 i think. he had all the people in our part of town show up to his house to see his band. she was giving snacks and food to all of us. she looked very young and very promiscuous......... she would bring in males into her house and everybdoy knew what was going on. but we were too afraid to say anything to oliver....... they moved to austin then they moved to portland. that was the last i heard of them. this was the 90s. the father was also a musician.
I would love for this to be true, do you have any evidence of it though?
@@mikeknapp9811 there isnt. i think oliver passed away. the remaining family is in canada and nw united states. but they dont know about it...... i think there are videos of them playing in a band. and you might be able to see her there serving food. i dont know what happend tot the films. they wre on projector and betas. she had music recorded on cheap 4 track machines......
@@luismartinez6408 did she continue using the name Connie Converse or did she change her name?
The woman at 1:17 and on the thumbnail is Karen Dalton not Connie Converse. You should change it as Connie is enough of an unknown figure and the confusion this creates isn't helping.The woman before that at 1:05 is Sibylle Baier I believe.
10 SECONDS AND I HAD ENOUGH
You have pictures of Molly Drake and other female folk singers mixed with pictures of Connie.
Karen Dalton is in the first pic and thumbnail
Thanks I've changed the thumbnail picture.
I thought the pic was of Danica McKellar, lol.
Where did she go?
She disappeared in 1974, just a few days after her 50th birthday. Packed up and moved away and was never heard from again.
She just doesn't sound like someone who never loved before . I think its wrong to assume she never had for lack of a known boyfriend in the picture . Had she a girlfriend in the 1950s and coming from a strict christian background we would have never known . That could be why she was so guarded and intensely private . Its no biggie today but in her day not so .
That's Karen
That’s lovely for someone to play and sing in my kitchen, but I can’t imagine her selling many albums. To blame her rejections and lack of success on a male dominated industry is a cop out. There were many successful female singer songwriters in that era.
Your point about singer songwriters is important because there were a lot of singers that did songs written for them or songs in a folk tradition but name me songs written by the singers. I'm sure there were some but she was kind of groundbreaking in this regard. She was in NY from like 1952-1961. This was way before all the singer /songwriters of the 1960s
I didn’t say it wasn’t groundbreaking. I did say that the music is not particularly special and frankly sounds like my mother wrote it in the kitchen on Saturday afternoon. But if you think the reason she wasn’t famous like all the other female singer songwriters who had contracts and whose names we all knew in the 60s is your fault because of your maleness feel free to make an apology to the planet or turn yourself into a eunuch...which ever alleviates your guilt better.
Judy Collins
Karen Dalton
Joan Baez
Joni Mitchell
Carole King
Nico
Laura Nyro
Etc etc etc (you could try googling it) I was a teenager in that era and you look like you’re old enough to have been one. You must have heard of these women. Their music was on the radio constantly. It must’ve been a record label and radio station owed by a woman. 😂😂😂God men are dumb.
@@lillytaggert178 First where did I in any way suggest identity politics with male/female? You've brought that up for some reason? Second everyone of those great singers you listed put out records in the 1960s and many not all did other people's songs. All I'm saying is that Connie Converse was writing her songs starting in the early 1950s. She didn't have the voice or looks or charisma for a great professional singer agreed. I like some of the songs she wrote and they speak to a certain loneliness and being outside looking in type of themes. This is why there has been renewed interest in her.
Carter family also had female singer songwriters before Connie
@@lillytaggert178 Yeah, blame all men because of one person...
eh not much of a voice, her disappearance is interesting.
Not a memorable voice.