I distinctly remember seeing Buffy Sainte-Marie on the The Ed Sullivan show in 1967. My sister and I sat there enthralled as Buffy, a real live Indian (Cree), played the mouth bow and sang “Cripple Creek.” One of the seminal folk artists of the early ‘60s, Buffy has ventured into all genres of music over her career, earning an Oscar—“Up Where We Belong” from An Officer and a Gentleman (music by Buffy and Jack Nitzsche; lyrics by Will Jennings), lifetime achievement awards and the respect of her peers. Upon seeing the bodies returning from Vietnam, she wrote the quintessential politically-charged anti-war anthem, “Universal Soldier,” for which she was blacklisted by the Johnson and Nixon administrations. Never one to mince words or pull her punches, Buffy’s songs cover her championing of peace, the environment and the rights of women and Native Americans.

On this rare tour, Buffy is still playing the role of educator and preacher. “Piney Wood Hills,” “He’s an Indian Cowboy in the Rodeo” and “I’m Gonna Be a Country Girl Again” extol the virtues of the simple country life and the respect for nature. She charges into “No No Keshagesh” (Cree for “greedy guts”), a hard rocker from her latest CD, Running for the Drum, then tones it down for a gentle “Little Wheel Spin and Spin.” Buffy’s voice is still powerful, the tremolo wavering like a brook meandering over a streambed.  “Up Where We Belong,” a much-deserved Oscar-winning Best Original Song, is light and frail like the love she writes about. Buffy’s “Until It’s Time for You to Go” has been recorded by Elvis Presley, Neil Diamond, Glen Campbell, Cher, Nancy Sinatra, Shirley Bassey, Barbra Streisand, Bette Davis (yes, Bette!), the Boston Pops Orchestra, Roberta Flack, Paul Anka, Eddy Arnold, The Monkees and Bobby Darin—quite a testament to her songwriting skills.

Of course, the plight of Native Americans is Buffy’s main concern and she closed the show with the hard-hitting indictment of genocide, “Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee” and her honoring of the generations in “Starwalker.”  Buffy Sainte-Marie is much more than the sum of her many artistic parts, and it’s always a pleasure to be in her presence.

Steve Murray
Cabaret Scenes
August 14, 2011
www.cabaretscenes.org