Available:*
Library | Item Barcode | Shelf Number | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
Searching... Niagara Falls Public Library | 34305011132092 | B SAINTE-MARIE | Searching... Unknown |
Bound With These Titles
On Order
Summary
Summary
"Buffy Sainte-Marie is an icon and inspiration. This book is necessary--an authorized insight into the making of a legend." --Terese Marie Mailhot, author of Heart Berries
A powerful, intimate look at the life of a beloved folk icon and activist.
Folk hero. Songwriter icon. Living legend. Buffy Sainte-Marie is all of these things and more. In this, Sainte-Marie's first and only authorized biography, music critic Andrea Warner draws from more than sixty hours of exclusive interviews to offer a powerful, intimate look at the life of the beloved artist and everything that she has accomplished in her seventy-seven years (and counting).
Since her groundbreaking debut, 1964's It's My Way! , the Cree singer-songwriter has been a trailblazer and a tireless advocate for Indigenous rights and freedoms, an innovative artist, and a disruptor of the status quo. Establishing herself among the ranks of folk greats such as Joni Mitchell and Bob Dylan, she has released more than twenty albums, survived being blacklisted by two U.S. presidents, and received countless accolades, including the only Academy Award ever to be won by a First Nations artist. But this biography does more than celebrate Sainte-Marie's unparalleled talent as a songwriter and entertainer; packed with insight and knowledge, it offers an unflinchingly honest, heartbreakingly real portrait of the woman herself, including the challenges she experienced on the periphery of showbiz, her healing from the trauma of childhood and intimate partner violence, her commitment to activism, and her leadership in the protest movement.
Author Notes
Andrea Warner is the author of Buffy Sainte-Marie: The Authorized Biography (Greystone Books, 2018) and We Oughta Know: How Four Women Ruled the '90s and Changed Canadian Music (Eternal Cavalier Press, 2015). A freelance writer, Andrea is also an associate producer at CBC Music, a theatre critic at the Georgia Straight, a radio columnist, and the co-host of the weekly podcast Pop This!. Her pronouns are she/her/hers, and she is a settler who was born and raised in Vancouver on the unceded traditional territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh First Nations. Pop culture, art, and feminism make her happy. On Twitter: @_AndreaWarner
Reviews (3)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Warner (We Oughta Know: How Four Women Ruled the 90s and Changed Canadian Music) presents a broad overview of the career of Buffy Sainte-Marie, a Cree singer, activist, educator, and actor who was born in Saskatchewan in 1941. Sainte-Marie is known for her earnest pop songs from the 1960s through the '90s ( among them "Universal Soldier" and "Until It's Time for You to Go"), indigenous anthems ("Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee"), and her years as a performer on Sesame Street in the 1970s. Quoting extensively from interviews with Sainte-Marie, Warner writes honestly about the racism Sainte-Marie experienced growing up; her opioid addiction in the 1960s; and her claims of being blacklisted, along with other indigenous people, by American radio stations in the 1970s. She documents Sainte-Marie's music collaborations (she recently recorded with Canadian throat singer Tanya Tagaq); her Native American school curriculum, the Cradleboard Teaching Project, which helps raise self-esteem; and her receiving an Academy Award for best original song ("Up Where We Belong," performed by Joe Cocker and Jennifer Warnes). While Sainte-Marie's voice shines through-funny, sharply incisive, never bitter-some sections feel clunky due to an overreliance on direct quotes from lengthy, unedited interview transcripts. The book feels overlong, but it's nevertheless a heartfelt portrait. (Sept.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Booklist Review
Her voice could stretch from wilderness to solar system and back again. Her songwriting spanned genres as diverse as folk and funk. An innovator and experimenter in music as well as education, especially in the realm of indigenous culture, Sainte-Marie projected a singular vision across multiple platforms. To say that Sainte-Marie could not be categorized would be an understatement, yet her enduring legacy is one of an activist, indigenous folk singer whose relevance peaked early. But that is an oversimplification. Born into Saskatchewan's Cree tribe yet adopted out to a white family from Massachusetts, Sainte-Marie found that the dichotomy of her heritage was both boon and blessing. While she constantly sought to explore and honor her birthright, she also illuminated and exposed the hypocrisies and restrictive hierarchies of the white world in which she lived and worked. Warner (We Oughta Know, 2015) is a dexterous chronicler of Canada's music scene, and her biography of this soaring icon powerfully reveals Sainte-Marie's cultural advocacy while shining a much-needed light on her essential humanity, life experiences, and prodigious musical talent.--Carol Haggas Copyright 2018 Booklist
Library Journal Review
Warner (We Oughta Know: How Four Women Ruled the '90s and Changed Canadian Music) draws on 60 hours of exclusive interviews to explore the extensive achievements of Buffy Sainte-Marie (b. 1941)-as songwriter, performer, recording artist, educator, and activist. Early on, Sainte-Marie's natural musical talents and strong interest in her Cree heritage inspired her to compose songs of deep emotional eloquence that focused on the struggles for freedom and equality faced by all Indigenous peoples. She emphasized that her compositions were not an expression of anger but rather to educate listeners about the inequities encountered by Native Americans and the need to raise cultural awareness. Warner astutely describes Sainte-Marie's career, from her acclaimed performances and numerous recordings (beginning with the 1964 album It's My Way!) to her creation of highly successful educational programs and her groundbreaking work on Sesame Street. Behind-the-scenes details about Sainte-Marie's personal life are honestly and skillfully interwoven with those of her professional journey-the suffering and the joys. VERDICT For folk music enthusiasts as well as readers and institutions with a strong interest in educational awareness and activism on behalf of Indigenous peoples.-Carol J. Binkowski, Bloomfield, NJ © Copyright 2018. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Excerpts
Excerpts
When I started out in the sixties there weren't many women writing music, but Buffy Sainte-Marie was an exception to the rule. Whenever Buffy came through town I went down to the coffee house to hear her play. Her songs were so smart, so well-crafted, and her performances were stunning. She was different from the stereotypical music industry old boys' club. When I moved to Toronto to pursue music, I stopped at the Mariposa Folk Festival on the way to see Buffy perform. A year later, I played that same festival, so you could say I followed in Buffy's footsteps. Buffy really helped me at the beginning: before I was well-known, she performed songs I wrote, bringing them to a wider audience, and she played my tape for anyone who would listen. Over the years since, Buffy and I have maintained a long-distance mutual respect. We have ties to Saskatchewan, but we share more than just a home: we both write songs with emotion, songs with a message. And to this day, we both walk our own path. I've watched Buffy's long career with admiration, and I'm honored to write this foreword to her authorized biography. Buffy Sainte-Marie is one of folk music's unsung heroes, and her inspirational life is a story that deserves to be read. -- Joni Mitchell, June 2018 Excerpted from Buffy Sainte-Marie: The Authorized Biography by Andrea Warner All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.
Table of Contents
| Foreword | p. 1 |
| Prologue | p. 5 |
| 1 Suffer the Little Children | p. 13 |
| 2 Qu'Appelle Valley, Saskatchewan | p. 25 |
| Interlude: Buffy Sainte-Marie on surviving abuse | p. 46 |
| 3 Universal Soldier | p. 47 |
| 4 It's My Way | p. 61 |
| 5 Cod'ine | p. 71 |
| Interlude: Buffy Sainte-Marie on uncertainty | p. 86 |
| 6 My Country 'Tis of Thy People You're Dying | p. 87 |
| 7 Better to Find Out for Yourself | p. 103 |
| 8 Until It's Time for You to Go | p. 117 |
| Interlude: Buffy Sainte-Marie on fame | p. 128 |
| 9 Not the Lovin' Kind | p. 129 |
| 10 Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee | p. 141 |
| 11 Generation | p. 159 |
| 12 Up Where We Belong | p. 171 |
| Interlude: Buffy Sainte-Marie on happiness | p. 190 |
| 13 The Priests of the Golden Bull | p. 191 |
| 14 We're Only Getting Started | p. 205 |
| 15 No No Keshagesh | p. 225 |
| Interlude: Buffy Sainte-Marie on decolonization | p. 240 |
| 16 Power in the Blood | p. 241 |
| 17 Carry It On | p. 253 |
| Afterword: Buffy and Me | p. 267 |
| Acknowledgments | p. 276 |
| Discography | p. 278 |
| Notes | p. 283 |
| Bibliography | p. 289 |
| Index | p. 291 |