A personal reinterpretation of the Mount Rushmore’ of female singer / songwriter icons. I chose these four monumental artists for their original style, their unique auras and works which enabled them to turn popular music into an Art form.
Stevie Nicks – the bohemian goddess with an enchanting stage persona and symbolic and spellbinding lyrics (Rhiannon, Gold Rush Woman)
Joan Baez – her romantic song Diamonds and Rust about her relationship with Dylan “a couple of light years ago” and her commitment to social and political justice as typified by her cover of Woody Guthrie’s song Deportee, his protest song about the death of Mexican passengers on a plane crash over Los Gatos Canyon.
Joni Mitchell – considers herself originally “a painter derailed by circumstance,” so her paintbrush here drips into her beloved Lauren Canyon (Coyote, Big Yellow Taxi, A Case of You)
Patti Smith – the punk poet laureate inspired by the works of the Beats and rebellious French poet Arthur Rimbaud. Patti fuses rock and her poetry in an ingenious style (album: Horses)