''Moonshot'' is a

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

by American singer-songwriter

Buffy Sainte-Marie Buffy Sainte-Marie, (born Beverly Sainte-Marie, February 20, 1941) is an Indigenous Canadian-American (Piapot Cree Nation) singer-songwriter, musician, composer, visual artist, educator, pacifist, and social activist. While working in these are ...

, released in 1972 by

Vanguard Records Vanguard Recording Society is an American record label set up in 1950 by brothers Maynard and Seymour Solomon in New York City. It was a primarily classical label at its peak in the 1950s and 1960s, but also has a catalogue of recordings by a n ...

Recording

After the very modest success of her previous album ''

She Used to Wanna Be a Ballerina ''She Used to Wanna Be a Ballerina'' is the seventh album by Buffy Sainte-Marie, released in 1971. Her previous album '' Illuminations'' having sold so poorly as to lose Vanguard a considerable sum of money, the label placed considerable pressure ...

'', Vanguard again teamed Sainte-Marie with renowned pop session musicians in its effort to improve sales and the amount of money she was making for the label. Most notable among those performing on ''Moonshot'' are the

Memphis Horns The Memphis Horns were an American horn section, made famous by their many appearances on Stax Records. The duo consisted of Wayne Jackson (November 24, 1941 – June 21, 2016) on trumpet and Andrew Love (November 21, 1941 - April 12, 2012) on ...

, whilst production was by Buffy herself with

Neon Philharmonic The Neon Philharmonic (formed 1967) was an American psychedelic pop band led by songwriter and conductor Tupper Saussy and singer Don Gant. They released their two albums ('' The Moth Confesses'' and the eponymous ''The Neon Philharmonic'') in ...

bass player A bassist (also known as a bass player or bass guitarist) is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass (upright bass, contrabass, wood bass), bass guitar (electric bass, acoustic bass), synthbass, keyboard bass or a low bra ...

Norbert Putnam, who had produced

Joan Baez Joan Chandos Baez (; born January 9, 1941) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and activist. Her contemporary folk music often includes songs of protest and social justice. Baez has performed publicly for over 60 years, releasing more ...

' last Vanguard release '' Blessed Are...'' and was to produce Buffy's next two albums as well.

Marketing and sales

Although the album itself fared little better commercially than its predecessor, only spending seven weeks on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' Top 200, an extensive promotional campaign by Vanguard and extensive

AM radio AM broadcasting is radio broadcasting using amplitude modulation (AM) transmissions. It was the first method developed for making audio radio transmissions, and is still used worldwide, primarily for medium wave (also known as "AM band") transm ...

airplay saw the closing track, a cover of

Mickey Newbury Milton Sims "Mickey" Newbury Jr. (May 19, 1940 – September 29, 2002) was an American songwriter, recording artist, and a member of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame. Early life and career Newbury was born in Houston, Texas, on May 19, ...

's "

Mister Can't You See "Mister Can't You See" is a song written by Mickey Newbury and Townes Van Zandt that first appeared on Newbury's 1968 debut album '' Harlequin Melodies''. Newbury's original version was slow and dominated by strings and a very simple drumbeat, wi ...

", become Sainte-Marie's sole significant commercial success in the States, spending two weeks in the lower reaches of the

Top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is the current, 40 most-popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "Top 40" or " con ...

in late April and early May 1972. However, Sainte-Marie was very upset with Vanguard's extensive promotion of the single and this was one reason why she only recorded one more album for the label before moving to MCA in 1973.

Critical reception

According to

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most well-known and influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and ...

, "those who love or even respect aint-Marie weredismayed" by ''Moonshot''. Reviewing in May 1972 for ''

The San Diego Door ''The San Diego Door'', (in former versions: ''Good Morning Teaspoon'', ''Teaspoon Door'', ''Door to Liberation'', and ''Free Door'') was an underground newspaper that thrived from January 1968 to August 1974 in San Diego and San Diego County, So ...

'',

Cameron Crowe Cameron Bruce Crowe (born July 13, 1957) is an American journalist, author, writer, producer, director, actor, lyricist, and playwright. Before moving into the film industry, Crowe was a contributing editor at ''Rolling Stone'' magazine, for wh ...

derided the album as the singer's "most embarrassing to date" and a victim of

overproduction In economics, overproduction, oversupply, excess of supply or glut refers to excess of supply over demand of products being offered to the market. This leads to lower prices and/or unsold goods along with the possibility of unemployment. The de ...

in the music industry. He was particularly critical of the music's use of electric solo

breaks Break or Breaks or The Break may refer to: Time off from duties * Recess (break), time in which a group of people is temporarily dismissed from its duties * Break (work), time off during a shift/recess ** Coffee break, a short mid-morning rest ...

and the

to emphasize the lyrics.

Janet Maslin Janet R. Maslin (born August 12, 1949) is an American journalist, best known as a film and literary critic for ''The New York Times''. She served as a ''Times'' film critic from 1977 to 1999 and as a book critic from 2000 to 2015. In 2000 Maslin ...

was more enthusiastic about the record in ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'', applauding Sainte-Marie's stylistic range and refashioning of her vocals to suit the music's varied moods. "What's best about ''Moonshot''", Maslin believed, "is that, considering the kind of experimental stylistic departure it represents, it nonetheless bears such a strongly personal stamp." '' Ramparts'' magazine found the song selection effectively diverse, the music powerful, and Saint-Marie "capable of writing lines that jump out of a loudspeaker and grab the listener by the mind". Christgau was less impressed by her "unique attempt at a rock record" when he first reviewed it for ''

Creem ''Creem'' (often stylized in all caps) is a monthly American music magazine, based in Detroit, whose main print run lasted from 1969 to 1989. It was first published in March 1969 by Barry Kramer and founding editor Tony Reay. Influential criti ...

'', but later said she had finally done "something overtly perverse—come out of Nashville with what sounds in its most interesting moments like an art-pop record (with politics, of course)", and encouraged her to expand upon its musical experimentation. In another retrospective review,

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

's William Ruhlmann wrote that ''Moonshot'' was "not the Buffy Sainte-Marie of her early political period, but the album demonstrates her versatility, and it works as an appealing pop effort." ''

Exclaim! ''Exclaim!'' is a Canadian music and entertainment publisher based in Toronto, which features in-depth coverage of new music across all genres with a special focus on Canadian and emerging artists. The monthly Exclaim! print magazine publishes 7 ...

'' journalist Andrea Warner recommended the record in her "essential guide" to the singer's music, writing that it is "filled with all sorts of era-specific flourishes, yet also feels timeless". Paul Evans was more critical in ''

The Rolling Stone Album Guide ''The Rolling Stone Album Guide'', previously known as ''The Rolling Stone Record Guide'', is a book that contains professional music reviews written and edited by staff members from ''Rolling Stone'' magazine. Its first edition was published in 1 ...

'' (1992), regarding it as "her slightest record".

Track listing

All songs composed by Buffy Sainte-Marie except where noted. # "Not the Lovin' Kind" – 3:53 # "You Know How to Turn on Those Lights" – 2:05 # "I Wanna Hold Your Hand Forever" – 2:59 # "He's an Indian Cowboy in the Rodeo" – 2:09 # "Lay It Down" (Gene Thomasson) – 2:47 # "Moonshot" – 3:49 # "Native North American Child" – 2:14 # "My Baby Left Me" (

Arthur Crudup Arthur William "Big Boy" Crudup (August 24, 1905 – March 28, 1974) was an American Delta blues singer, songwriter and guitarist. He is best known, outside blues circles, for his songs "That's All Right" (1946), "My Baby Left Me" and "So Gla ...

) – 3:01 # "Sweet Memories" (

) – 3:19 # "Jeremiah" – 3:08 # "

" (Mickey Newbury,

Townes Van Zandt John Townes Van Zandt (March 7, 1944 – January 1, 1997) was an American singer-songwriter.

) – 3:17

Personnel

*Buffy Sainte-Marie – vocals, guitar, piano *

Charlie McCoy Charles Ray McCoy (born March 28, 1941) is a Grammy-winning American session musician, harmonica player, and multi-instrumentalist. In 2009, he was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. Based in Nashville, McCoy's playing is heard on r ...

- guitar, harmonica *Billy Sanford – guitar *

Norbert Putnam Norbert Auvin Putnam (born August 10, 1942) is an American musician, studio owner and record producer who was inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame in 2019.Robert McFarland, Jr"Norbert Putnam."'' Delta Business Journal''. November 2004. Acce ...

– bass * David Briggs – keyboards *

Kenny Buttrey Aaron Kenneth Buttrey (April 1, 1945 – September 12, 2004) was an American drummer and arranger. According to Country Music Television, CMT, he was "one of the most influential session musicians in Nashville history". Buttrey was born in Nashvi ...

– drums *Oma Drake - vocals *

Patrice Holloway Patrice Yvonne Holloway (March 23, 1951 – October 3, 2006) was an American soul and pop singer, and songwriter. Career Patrice Yvonne Holloway was born on March 23, 1951 in Los Angeles, California, the youngest of three children born to Wade ...

- vocals *

Rhetta Hughes Rhetta Hughes (born Dallas, Texas, June 15, 1939, died June 3, 2019) was an American soul singer and musical theatre and occasional screen actress. Music and acting career 1960s and before Although Hughes sang from a young age into adulthood ...

- vocals * Wayne Jackson - trumpet *Gloria Jones - vocals * Andrew Love - tenor saxophone *

Charts

''Billboard'' (North America)

Single

References

External links

* {{Authority control Moonshot (album) Moonshot (album) Albums produced by Norbert Putnam Moonshot (album) Art pop albums