Connie Converse
How Sad, How Lovely
scum stats: I think we did 2000 limited versions with the bonus 7", black vinyl for eternity forward
Connie is filled with contradictions. I feel like after reading the beautifully exhaustive biography "To Anyone Who Ever Asks" we simultaneously know everything about her while knowing nothing about her.
Simply, Connie was born 102 years ago, came up in a post-beatnik, pre-folk NYC songwriting realm, made a pile of informal recordings, never released anything, then at fifty years old, two days after Nixon's resignation, she disappeared, telling friends and family to not look for her.
To provide more context, some claim Connie to be the first true female "singer-songwriter" in the mold that we understand to this day. Her music, spare, simple, hauntingly familiar yet utterly unique, standalone in it's ability to captivate and enrapture all while lacking any sort of pretense or affect.
I am so incredibly proud to be able to put this record out on Third Man. I'm giving away one copy of the limited edition vinyl (with bonus 7-inch!) to celebrate. Please post a comment below about something in your life, a physical object, that has disappeared (I don't wanna hear about missing pets or family members there'll be a time for that) and any thoughts attached to it. Best comment left by midnight central time, April 2nd, will get this bad boy shipped straight to their house.
When I was 12 and on vacation with my parents on our way from Kankakee Illinois to Tampa we stopped off in Nashville and visited shops on Broadway. This was 1968 and Roy Acuff had a souvenir novelty shop there at the time. We stopped into his shop and to our surprise Mr Acuff himself was there too talking to the lady who was working the shop. There was a small arrowhead collection in the shop and I just happened to be carrying in my pocket an arrowhead I had recently found near the Kankakee river. I gave it to Mr Acuff to display with his collection. He said he would label it with a note saying where it was found. In return he gave me a post card of taxidermy squirrels posed as dressed up country musicians. And, on the back of the postcard he wrote, ‘Thanks, Roy Acuff.’ Somewhere along the way that postcard disappeared. Probably when I was off wandering around in my youth. I think about that postcard, and meeting Roy Acuff, and wonder what became of his arrowhead collection. Apologies for the long story.
When I was 12 and on vacation with my parents on our way from Kankakee Illinois to Tampa we stopped off in Nashville and visited shops on Broadway. This was 1968 and Roy Acuff had a souvenir novelty shop there at the time. We stopped into his shop and to our surprise Mr Acuff himself was there too talking to the lady who was working the shop. There was a small arrowhead collection in the shop and I just happened to be carrying in my pocket an arrowhead I had recently found near the Kankakee river. I gave it to Mr Acuff to display with his collection. He said he would label it with a note saying where it was found. In return he gave me a post card of taxidermy squirrels posed as dressed up country musicians. And, on the back of the postcard he wrote, ‘Thanks, Roy Acuff.’ Somewhere along the way that postcard disappeared. Probably when I was off wandering around in my youth. I think about that postcard, and meeting Roy Acuff, and wonder what became of his arrowhead collection. Apologies for the long story.
I lost a Charlie Feathers Flip 45 for 2 years. One day I randomly pulled out a Everly Brothers lp and it was inside the jacket.
6 year old me lost my favorite blankey at a cheap hotel in Bowling Green, Ohio and every blanket I’ve bought since then has paled in comparison
6 year old me lost my favorite blankey at a cheap hotel in Bowling Green, Ohio and I still think about it sometimes
I lost my heart in San Francisco
My ticket stub for the 2003 White Stripes show in Kansas City. I’m still holding out hope it falls out of a box when I’m cleaning some deep recess of a closet. It was my first concert and firmly established my appreciation of live music. Plus I went with my dad, so I’ve got that core memory.
I’m a big fan of this Connie Converse release. My daughter is four months old. Any time she’s losing it, I (terribly) sing “There Is a Vine”. She loves it. My copy is scheduled to arrive next week, so please bless someone else with this primo giveaway. Just wanted to speak my piece.