Buffy Sainte-Marie

b. 20 February 1941, Piapot Reserve, Saskatchewan, Canada. An honours graduate from the University of Massachusetts, Buffy eschewed a teaching career in favour of a folksinger. She was signed to the Vanguard label in 1964, following her successful performances at Gerde's Folk City. Her debut IT'S MY WAY, introduced a remarkable compositional and performing talent. Sainte-Marie's impassioned plea for Indian rights, Now That The Buffalo's Gone, reflected her Native American parentage and was one of several standout tracks, along with Cod'ine and The Universal Soldier. The latter was recorded, successfully, by Donovan, which helped introduce Buffy to a wider audience. Her second selection included Until It's Time For You To Go, a haunting love song which was later recorded by Elvis Presley. However, Sainte-Marie was also a capable interpreter of other writer's material, as her versions of songs by Bukka White, Joni Mitchell and Leonard Cohen showed. Her versatility was also apparent on a superb C&W collection, I'M GONNA BE A COUNTRY GIRL AGAIN, and on ILLUMINATIONS, which featured an electronic score on several tracks. A campaigner for Indian rights, Sainte-Marie secured an international hit in 1971 with the theme song to the film, Soldier Blue, but subsequent releases failed to capitalize on this success. Temporarily bereft of direction, Buffy returned to the Indian theme with SWEET AMERICA, but with the collapse of the ABC labels, she retired to raise her family and concentrate on her work for children's foundations. She composed the 1982 Joe Cocker/ Jennifer Warnes' hit, Up Where We Belong which featured in the film An Officer And A Gentleman. Her welcome return in 1991, following her signing with Chrysalis Records, produced the warmly-received COINCIDENCE AND LIKELY STORIES, which displayed her current interest in computer technology.