July 17: Phoebe Snow

One of the most original vocalists and songwriters of the 1970s, Phoebe Snow (Phoebe Ann Laub), was born in New York on this date in 1950. Her 1974 eponymous album sold over a million copies, but her career was sidelined by the birth of a severely disabled daughter the following year, whom she valiantly kept out of institutions until the young woman died in 2007, less than three years before Snow suffered a cerebral hemorrhage (January 19, 2010) and slipped into a coma. Snow died on April 26, 2011. Among her best-known songs are “Poetry Man” and “Harpo’s Blues,” and her collaborative partners included Paul Simon, Linda Ronstadt, Donald Fagan, Phil Ramone, and Dave Mason. Snow was “variously labeled a jazz, blues, pop, funk and gospel artist, depending on the record she released,” wrote Stephen Holden in her New York Times obituary. “Few popular singers of her generation combined the technical resources she commanded.” To see her performing “Poetry Man” in 1989, click here.
“Occasionally I put an album out, but I didn’t like to tour and they didn’t get a lot of label support. But you know what? It didn’t really matter because I got to stay home more with Valerie and that time was precious.” —Phoebe Snow
Watch Phoebe Snow perform ‘Poetry Man” live on The Midnight Special (1975):