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Victoria Williams
While Victoria Williams's gifts as a singer and songwriter have been vividly documented
on her own albums--ironically, the work that introduced her to many listeners
barely featured the Louisiana-born artist at all. "Sweet Relief," released
in 1993, was a collection of Williams' songs performed by more than a dozen of
rock's most respected performers, including Pearl Jam, Soul Asylum, The Jayhawks,
Lou Reed, and Michelle Shocked. What those artist knew--and what others soon discovered--is
that Victoria Williams is a writer of craft and talent, an artist who, with vivid
words and melodies, paints unforgettable pictures. December 1958, Shreveport, Louisiana, USA. This talented singer-songwriter
had her career disrupted by the onset of multiple sclerosis, which was diagnosed
in the spring of 1992. At that time she was touring with Neil Young and receiving
plaudits as a promising newcomer. She made her recording debut in 1987 (at that
time still married to Peter Case), with an album produced by Anton Fier and
Stephen Soles that surrounded her compositions with a varied background, including
a sitar, strings and horns. The most notable accompaniment came from an award-winning
Donn Pennebaker video. Williams' second set was a considerable improvement and
revealed her to be a writer of depth by removing some of the extraneous instrumentation.
Instead, co-producer Michael Blair (multi-instrumentalist with Elvis Costello
and Tom Waits) focused on Williams' childlike, rural spirit and inspired lyrics
with simple, effective song constructions. Her rise had already been noted in
the film world, and she made her acting debut in Gus van Sant 's lesbian epic
Even Cowgirls Get The Blues. However, once her illness had been diagnosed, Williams'
hospital bills soared, and guest musicians played a series of benefit concerts
throughout 1992. This culminated in a core of friends and admirers putting together
the cast for Sweet Relief - The Songs Of Victoria Williams, where fourteen artists
contributed cover versions of her songs. Soul Asylum 's version of 'Summer Of
Drugs' began the set, while other contributions included Lou Reed ('Tarbelly
& Feather Foot'), Jayhawks ('Lights'), Waterboys ('Why Look At The Moon'),
Giant Sand ('Big Fish'), Lucinda Williams ('Main Road'), Evan Dando of the Lemonheads
('Frying Pan'), Michelle Shocked ('Opelousas (Sweet Relief))', Maria McKee ('Holy
Spirit'), Pearl Jam, Buffalo Tom, etc. The lyrics to 'Main Road', sung by fellow
Louisianan Lucinda Williams, were perfectly apt: 'I never knew I had so many
friends'. By 1994 Williams reasserted her own strength as a performer with the
release of Loose, sustaining herself on stage with little evidence of her illness,
with husband Mark Olson of the Jayhawks joining her for a duet of 'When We Sing
Together' and Peter Buck and Mike Mills of R.E.M.on hand to support a new collection
of supremely simple but deeply affecting songs. |
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