1976 Buffy Sainte-Marie – Sweet America

Sweet America was the twelfth studio album by Buffy Sainte-Marie and her last before retiring from music to work on Sesame Street and in education. The album was dedicated to the American Indian Movement and featured some songs with tribal rhythms and vocals that she was later to develop on her 1992 comeback Coincidence and Likely Stories.

After parting with MCA Records, Sainte-Marie signed with ABC Records, then home of such artists as Steely Dan, the early Pointer Sisters, Isaac Hayes and the James Gang. Although Sweet America received a little more attention from the press than her two MCA albums Buffy and Changing Woman, most reviews were not favorable. When MCA acquired ABC Records in 1979, Sweet America went out of print along with her two MCA albums, and remaining copies were not thereafter circulated. Claims that her retirement was motivated by the collapse of ABC Records are unlikely because she had not been recording for over three years when the label collapse

Tracks

1  Sweet America (Barry Greenfield) 2:58
2  Wynken, Blynken & Nod (Buffy Sainte-Marie; Eugene Field) 3:06
3  Where Poets Go (Buffy Sainte-Marie) 2:49
4  Free The Lady (Barry Greenfield) 3:16
5  America My Home (Buffy Sainte-Marie) 2:27
6  Look At The Facts (Buffy Sainte-Marie) 2:13
7  I Don\’t Need No City Life (Buffy Sainte-Marie) 3:07
8  Sweet January (Buffy Sainte-Marie) 2:44
9  Qu\’appelle Valley, Saskatchewan (Buffy Sainte-Marie) 3:14
10  Honey Can You Hang Around (Buffy Sainte-Marie) 3:10
11  I Been Down (Buffy Sainte-Marie) 2:00
12  Starwalker (Buffy Sainte-Marie) 2:26
13  Ain\’t No Time For Worryin\’ Blues (Buffy Sainte-Marie) 1:03

Media

Musicians

1 Sweet America

BassMax Bennett
DrumsJohn Guerin
GuitarLarry Carlton
KeyboardsMike Melvoin
VocalsBuffy Sainte-Marie


2 Wynken, Blynken & Nod

GuitarBuffy Sainte-Marie
GuitarChris Leuzinger
DulcimersBen Benay
KeyboardsDwight Scott
VocalsBuffy Sainte-Marie


3 Where Poets Go

BassSpady Brannon
DrumsSteve Krawczyn
GuitarBen Benay
GuitarChris Leuzinger
KeyboardsDwight Scott
OrganMike Melvoin
RecorderTom Scott
PercussionEmil Richards
VocalsBuffy Sainte-Marie


4 Free The Lady

BassMax Bennett
DrumsJohn Guerin
GuitarLarry Carlton
KeyboardsMike Melvoin
Background VocalsJulia Tillman Waters
Background VocalsMaxine Willard Waters
Background VocalsVenetta Fields
VocalsBuffy Sainte-Marie


5 America My Home

BassMax Bennett
GuitarLarry Carlton
KeyboardsMike Melvoin
VocalsBuffy Sainte-Marie


6 Look At The Facts

BassDennis Kovarik
DrumsMike Baird
GuitarBen Benay
GuitarJay Graydon
KeyboardsBill Cuomo
Background VocalsJulia Tillman Waters
Background VocalsMaxine Willard Waters
Background VocalsVenetta Fields
VocalsBuffy Sainte-Marie


7 I Don\’t Need No City Life

BassSpady Brannon
GuitarBuffy Sainte-Marie
GuitarChris Leuzinger
PercussionEmil Richards
VocalsBuffy Sainte-Marie


8 Sweet January

BassSpady Brannon
GuitarBen Benay
Steel GuitarRed Rhodes
BanjoChris Leuzinger
KeyboardsDwight Scott
HarmonicaBen Benay
VocalsBuffy Sainte-Marie


9 Qu\’appelle Valley, Saskatchewan

DrumsSteve Krawczyn
OrganBill Cuomo
PianoBuffy Sainte-Marie
WurlitzerDwight Scott
Background VocalsSheldon Peters
VocalsTony Purley
VocalsBuffy Sainte-Marie


10 Honey Can You Hang Around

BassJohn Pierce
DrumsBart Hall
GuitarGeoff Levin
KeyboardsMike Melvoin
VocalsBuffy Sainte-Marie


11 I Been Down

BassSpady Brannon
DrumsSteve Krawczyn
GuitarChris Leuzinger
KeyboardsDwight Scott
PercussionEmil Richards
Background VocalsSheldon Peters
VocalsBuffy Sainte-Marie


12 Starwalker

BassSpady Brannon
DrumsSteve Krawczyn
GuitarChris Leuzinger
GuitarGeoff Levin
KeyboardsDwight Scott
Background VocalsSheldon Peters
VocalsBuffy Sainte-Marie


13 Ain\’t No Time For Worryin\’ Blues

GuitarBuffy Sainte-Marie
GuitarChris Leuzinger
VocalsBuffy Sainte-Marie

Liner Notes

Producer – Buffy Sainte-Marie, Henry Lewy
Arranged By (Horns, Strings) – Mike Melvoin (Tracks 1, 4, 5, 10)
Arranged By (Horns, Strings) – Ben Benay (Track 6)
Engineer – Henry Lewy
Engineer (Assistant) – Ellis Sorkin
Mastered By – Bernie Grundman

Art Direction – Tom Wilkes
Photography By – Norman Seeff

Recorded At – A&M Studios
Published By – Caleb Music