MARGARET KITAMURA

Margaret Kitamura, a part-Japanese folk singer, grew up on a remote cattle station where her early musical experiences were limited to listening to the family’s antique gramophone, featuring Dame Nellie Melba and Gilbert & Sullivan 78s, or learning occasional songs from the station hands. She didn’t hear the radio or popular music until well into her teens. In the early 60s, Kitamura began singing to student audiences at El Toro in Sydney before heading north, becoming a regular at the Brisbane Folk Centre. Her repertoire evolved from child ballads (à la Joan Baez) to political and topical songs (by Don Henderson and others), delivered in a piercing soprano that could sometimes waver off-key when she was nervous (as heard in her rendition of "Blowin’ In The Wind" on the album 'Australian Folk Festival', but captivated listeners when she was at her best.

In 1965, she supported the American folk trio The New Lost City Ramblers during their Australian tour and appeared on Dave Guard's TV folk show, Dave's Place, singing "Mary Ann." Tasmanian singer Ian Clarke credits Kitamura’s unique version of Sydney Carter’s anti-war lullaby "The Crow On The Cradle" as inspiring his own decision to perform. Sean Cullip (of Sean and Sonja fame) fondly remembers Kitamura as a vibrant, striking, and witty woman who often wore white makeup and a man’s tuxedo (Dietrich-style) with a rose at the lapel. When Bob Dylan toured Australia in 1966, the acoustic guitar he played throughout the tour was loaned to him by Margaret. Dylan’s guitar had been damaged in transit from U.S.A. to Sydney, where the tour was to commence. In 1968, she recorded her only album, 'Margaret Kitamura,' on Union Records. Later in life, Kitamura lost her voice, left Australia, and found work at a drive-in church in the United States.

ALBUMS

'Margaret Kitamura' 1968 Union

References

http://www.warrenfahey.com.au/early-sydney-part4/