Karen Dalton

Karen J. Dalton (born Jean Karen Cariker; July 19, 1937 – March 19, 1993) was an American country blues singer, guitarist, and banjo player. She was associated with the early 1960s Greenwich Village folk music scene, particularly with Fred Neil, the Holy Modal Rounders, and Bob Dylan. Although she did not enjoy much commercial success during her lifetime, her music has gained significant recognition since her death. Artists like Nick Cave, Devendra Banhart, and Joanna Newsom have noted her as an influence. Life and career Dalton was born Jean Karen Cariker in Bonham, Texas, but was raised in Enid, Oklahoma. She also lived in Stillwater, Oklahoma, and Lawrence, Kansas. With two divorces behind her at the age of 21, Dalton left Oklahoma and arrived in Greenwich Village, New York City in the early 1960s. She brought her twelve string guitar, long-neck banjo, and at least one of her two children with her. According to her daughter Abralyn Baird, at that point Dalton had lost two of her bottom teeth breaking up a fight between two of her boyfriends. Greenwich Village scene Dalton quickly became entrenched in the Greenwich Village folk musical scene of the 1960s. She played alongside big names of the time, including Bob Dylan (who occasionally backed her up on harmonica), Fred Neil, Richard Tucker, and Tim Hardin. She covered many of their songs in her own performances. Dylan later wrote that "Karen had a voice like Billie Holiday and played guitar like Jimmy Reed.” She was among the first to sing Hardin's "Reason to Believe". She later married Tucker, with whom she sometimes played as a duo, and in a trio with Hardin. While Dalton was a regular at famous folk venue Café Wha? and performed at benefit concerts for civil rights groups, she was a reluctant performer and refused to perform her own songs. Combined with her use of alcohol and heroin, recording her music and touring was particularly hard.