She Used to Wanna Be a Ballerina
,
Buffy Sainte-Marie
's seventh album, is a varied collection of new originals by the singer/songwriter, along with covers of songs by her friends. It's an ambitious work, recorded at five different studios in New York, Los Angeles, and London, and co-produced by
Sainte-Marie
with
Jack Nitzsche
, who brings in some elaborate arrangements at times, as well as musicians including sometime-bandmates in
Crazy Horse
Neil Young
Danny Whitten
Ralph Molina
, and
Billy Talbot
. They are heard, for instance, in
's feeling version of fellow Canadian
Young
's
"Helpless,"
a song he cut previously with
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
, although it is a personal reminiscence of a Canadian childhood, and thus a song with which
can identify closely. The album also boasts an excellent
Gerry Goffin
/
Carole King
song,
"Smack Water Jack,"
which
performs alone to her own piano accompaniment. (The song also appears on
King
's LP
Tapestry
, released simultaneously with
.) Another notable track is a previously unheard and typically poetic and emotional
Leonard Cohen
"Bells,"
and
presents her version of a song
Cohen
, too, has covered,
"Song of the French Partisan"
(aka
"The Partisan"
). That is far from the only politically oriented tune on the disc, though.
also presents
"Moratorium,"
a reflection on troops serving, misguidedly, in her opinion, in Vietnam, which includes an expletive followed by "Bring the brothers home." A similar sentiment informs
"Soldier Blue,"
's theme song for the recently released film concerning mistreatment of American Indians, another constant in her work. The album also contains love songs like
"Now You've Been Gone for a Long Time,"
performed with equal effectiveness.
finds
holding onto many of the themes and the folk styles with which she began, but, with the assistance of
Nitzsche
and others, expanding into mainstream pop and rock successfully. ~ William Ruhlmann