Joan Armatrading is a British singer, songwriter, and guitarist born on December 9, 1950 in Basseterre, Saint Kitts and Nevis. She moved to Birmingham, England with her family in 1957 and later relocated to London in the early 1970s to pursue her musical career. With two Brit award nominations for best female vocalist and an Ivor Novello Award for Outstanding Contemporary Song Collection in 1996, Armatrading has established herself as a highly acclaimed artist. Where are all the voices gone?” A good question in today’s bizarre musical world of video clips and techno where one searches in vain for a tender, sweet-perfumed flower. Armatrading's talent extends beyond performing as she owns Bumpkin Studios, a recording facility located at her home in Surrey. This purpose-built studio has been instrumental in producing most of her albums since "Sleight of Hand". Additionally, Armatrading was part of Cyndi Lauper's "True Colors" Tour in 2008.

On their remaster of Joan Armatrading, Intervention Records invites us to enjoy the album in a new way with superior sound and presentation all the way through. So, skip past the used copies and get this pressing (or the hybrid stereo SACD version, coming soon and playable on all CD players). Your ears will thank you. British singer, songwriter, and guitarist born December 9, 1950 in Basseterre, Saint Kitts and Nevis in the West Indies. Armatrading moved with her family to Birmingham, England, United Kingdom, in 1957 and in the early 1970s, moved to London to perform in a repertory production of "Hair". Owner of Bumpkin Studios, a purpose built recording facility in the grounds of her home, in Surrey, where she has recorded most of her albums since "Sleight of Hand".

Reviews

The 1976 Glyn Johns-produced Joan Armatrading was the British singer-songwriter's breakout album. Aided by timeless singles "Down To Zero" and "Love and Affection" and an appearance on SNL, it introduced American audiences to Armatrading's singular talents. Her soulful vocals, shimmering guitar work, and introspective yet universal songwriting are on full display on the celebrated recording. More than forty years later, it remains a landmark in the singer-songwriter genre, a showcase of musical talents and production aesthetics alike.

From the first note of the opening cut, "Down To Zero," it's clear Intervention has given listeners a real treat. The remastering opens the music up, with deep bass, impactful vocals, shimmering pedal steel, resonant drums, and newfound clarity. The wider soundstage and greater detail make it not only more involving but also more inviting throughout.Joan Armatrading’s 180-gram LP is 100% analog mastered by Kevin Gray at CoHEARent Audio from the best source available — phenomenal-sounding 1/2″ safety copy of the original stereo master tape. The remastering is amazing! Thanks to Glyn Johns’ recording and production work, Joan’s vocals and guitar playing have never sounded so rich, resonant and dynamic. This is an audiophile demo disc all the way, with depth, realism and a breathing dimensionality. Armatrading was constantly compared to Joni Mitchell, which, for 1976, made some sense. To borrow a phrase from Mitchell, they were “ women of heart and mind,” writing the highest caliber of hypersensitive song, and both fought to manifest their musical identities. The comparison still wasn’t wholly accurate. Armatrading’s lyrics were broader in scope, while Mitchell tended toward the granular. If Mitchell’s brilliance was in her details, then Armatrading’s was in her angle, at a smart remove, like a caring friend watching on with the clarity of distance. It gives Armatrading’s writing a useful sweep. Two years prior, Mitchell sang, on her biggest single, “Help me.” Armatrading had another idea for floundering, inadequate, unthinking lovers: “It would help me more if you helped yourself.”

Theres an outstanding balance to the sound having a nice bass and airy highs with the ever present mid range vocals. I personally find the mix to be underutilizing the Stereo a bit but thats just how it is. She and girlfriend Maggie Butler entered a civil partnership on 2 May 2011, in the Shetland Isles. Show more And so it's a perfect choice for Intervention Records to re-examine in the label's meticulous way. For this new pressing, the album was remastered from tape sources in an all-analog chain. The mastering work was undertaken by Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio. RTI handled the record pressing, using an ultra-quiet formula for the 180-gram pressing. If that weren't enough, the iconic album artwork has been fully restored and printed on a film-laminated, tip-on sleeve at Stoughton Printing. It's high-quality through and through -- the ultimate presentation of this singular album. Joan Armatrading was still adoringly received: It went gold within a year, remained on the U.S. charts for 27 weeks, and the UK music paper Sounds named it the album of the year over Bob Dylan’s Desire and Joni Mitchell’s Hejira . That fall, when she sold out her first massive headlining date at the Hammersmith Odeon, an NME critic wrote that the audience included “more women than I've ever seen at a comparable gig anywhere.” But in the U.S., even by the time of her next great album, ’78’s To the Limit, Armatrading remained “ vastly unknown” to young American listeners. An intensely private person, she never sought fame, even as she continued to record prolifically. As the decades progressed—no thanks to the star-making machinery—she gained increasingly greater control over her visionary pop music, turning towards new wave and reggae, producing her own albums, writing ever more daring songs, and eventually creating a recording studio in a barn where she works on her self-determined music independently. Already on Joan Armatrading, that agency resounded.I always trust Kevins work but the tape copy factor could be an insurmoutable handicap against earlier versions. Currently I only have this but I would like to someday find out if other cuts also exhibit a little sibilance at times as well as a light distortion in Save Me. Ive done some work to figure out what this may be but so far all 3 copies Ive heard on different systems have the same issues and given the high end Styli used this is surely something on the metalwork and tape most likely. It is not overly glaring as some will surely not notice anything until its pointed out. I myself never noticed the drop in level halfway through Tall in the Saddle on my own either.