Buffy Sainte-Marie is a Canadian folk singer who, over three quarters of a century, has managed to realize herself not only as a singer, but also to receive a vocation as an artist, activist, teacher and actress. She is the epitome of the true symbol of Canada.
Biography
Buffy St. Marie, a member of the Cree Indian tribe, was born on a reservation located in the K'Apple River Valley, Saskatchewan, Canada. The exact year of her birth is unknown. Different sources name both 1941 and 1942. The fact is that the Canadian folk singer, being an orphan, was adopted by the Saint-Marie family from Massachusetts. The girl's adoptive parents also had Native American roots. They partly belonged to the Mikmak people. Sainte-Marie knew little of her origins. Later, the desire to learn the history of her ancestors became an important stimulus for the development of her creative activity.
As a child, she learned to play the piano and loved to devote her free time to writing poetry. And as a teenager, she mastered the guitar and began to write songs. However, while devoting time to her creative pursuits, Buffy never neglected her studies. She graduated from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst in 1962 with a degree in Eastern philosophy. Later, at the same educational institution, she defended her doctorate in art history.
After graduating from college, Sainte-Marie became a regular visitor to Greenwich Village, a block in western Lower Manhattan in New York City. Her unique outlook and rather harsh-sounding vocal vibrato won the attention of the public, first in local clubs, and then all over the world.
Buffy Sainte-Marie's career began in 1962. It was at this time that she performed at the Gaslight Cafe and Gerdes Folk City clubs. Very soon she is noticed by the executives of the Vanguard label. She received an offer to sign a contract and in 1964 Sainte-Marie's debut album "This is my way!" Was released. Renowned music critic William Ruhlmenn called it "one of the sharpest folk-themed albums ever released" on the All Music Guide website. Indeed, it touched on topics ranging from incest to drug addiction. In 1965, Buffy's second album, Many Miles, was released. It includes both folk songs and those written by Sainte-Marie. For example, the composition Until It's Time for You to Go. Not popular with the singer, the song became a major hit in 1972 in Europe after being featured in the Elvis Presley version. It has also been performed over the years by Cher, Neil Diamond, Barbra Streisand, Vera Lynn and jazz vocalist Carmen McRae. Such a demand for her compositions provided a great help to Buffy in achieving financial stability.
The singer's next two albums, Little Wheel Spin and Spin (1966) and Fire & Fleet & Candlelight (1967), also did not go unnoticed by both critics and folk music fans. Sainte-Marie began to appear at major venues such as Carnegie Hall in New York. In 1968, in Nashville, together with the musicians of the country studio, Buffy recorded and released the next album, I'm Gonna be a Country Girl Again.
By this time, Sainte-Marie took part in popular shows on television and became, if not a star, then at least one of the most famous performers of folk music. Her songs were often played on the radio until she criticized the Vietnam War. After that, Sainte-Marie ended up on the black list of "deserving to be forgotten" performers. Nevertheless, the singer continued to record songs for the Vanguard and to be popular with her fans, who were especially numerous among the Native American population.
In the late 1960s, Buffy moved to Hawaii despite various projects that forced her to make frequent trips to the mainland. In these and subsequent years, the creative potential of Sainte-Marie was realized in a variety of areas.
For example, she joined the cast of the popular children's television program Sesame Street, wrote about Native American issues for various print media, taught digital technology and the arts at the Institute of American Indian Art, starred in several films and, of course, continued to create songs and music, including using digital processing. Sainte-Marie is also the creator of the foundation, which aims to provide education and scholarships to Native American students who wish to study Native American history and seek to educate others about the plight of these peoples.
Buffy Sainte-Marie is undoubtedly the person whose creativity and active life position have had a significant impact both on the formation of folk music in America and on the musical world in general.
Sainte-Marie has been married several times. The first husband of a folk singer was surf instructor Dewane Bagby. This marriage ended in 1972.
Several years later, Buffy married actor, director, producer and screenwriter Sheldon Peters Wolfchild. The couple had a son, Dakota Wolfchild Starblanket, who starred with his mother in Sesame Street. In 1978, Sainte-Marie and Wolfchild divorced. And on March 19, 1981, Buffy remarried Jack Nietzsche.
On his estate on one of the Hawaiian islands of Kauai, Sainte-Marie leads a secluded life, practices yoga and breeds pets, including a small horse, goats and a cat.
