The Artist: Patty Waters
In 1966, no one sang like Patty Waters.
Barely known outside of New York’s free jazz circles, she was discovered by avant-garde pianist Burton Greene and championed by ESP-Disk - the legendary label that gave early homes to Albert Ayler, Sun Ra and Ornette Coleman.
Waters was soft-spoken, almost shy.
But when she sang, something came unbound.
Her voice could lull you into melancholy one moment - then twist, screech and spiral into absolute chaos the next. She didn’t just stretch a note - she tore it open.
Sings was her first record. And no one has recovered from it.
The Record: Sings (1966)
Sings was recorded in just one day in New York City. The first side is made up of seven minimalist torch songs - skeletal arrangements with Burton Greene on piano and Tom Price on bass. No drums. No polish. Just smoke and space.
Tracks like You Thrill Me, Why Can’t I Come to You and Moon, Don’t Come Up Tonight feel like transmissions from a distant satellite. Patty’s voice never shows off. It hovers. It aches. There’s intimacy and distance at once.
Then comes side two.
Black Is the Colour of My True Love’s Hair is the only track - a Scottish folk song reimagined as a slow-motion breakdown. Thirteen minutes long. One lyric. No structure. Just Waters pulling the melody apart like a threadbare dress.
She starts soft. Almost reverent. Then she begins to fracture - repeating the phrase over and over, stretching it, distorting it, crying it, choking it, howling it. It’s not performance. It’s possession.
The track is one of the earliest examples of extended vocal technique on record. It would go on to influence Diamanda Galás, Yoko Ono, Lydia Lunch and practically every noise vocalist who ever dared to scream from their art.
At the time, it sold almost nothing.
But it was never meant for the charts.
Play Now:
🔊 Spotify | Apple Music | YouTube
Start With:
- Moon, Don’t Come Up Tonight - Gentle devastation
- You Thrill Me - Jazz ballad with a shadow
- Black is the Color of My True Love's Hair - You’ve been warned
