Chinese Folk Songs, by Lily Chao

Chinese Folk Songs

by Lily Chao

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dogbert301 趙曉君 (Zhao Xiao-Jun, Lily Chao) was forced into a singing career after winning a regional contest, but this album of traditional Chinese folk songs, recorded with an unnamed guitar ensemble, is stunning. Favorite track: Picking Tea Leaves and Catching Butterflies.

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Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

(WAVE) Digital album 13 tracks + 4 bonus. Includes artwork and liner notes.

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Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album
Expanded reissue of her masterpiece released in 1968
Includes lyrics, biography and 4 bonus tracks.

Includes unlimited streaming of Chinese Folk Songs via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

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Deluxe Vinyl Edition (LP)
Record/Vinyl + Digital Album
High quality limited Vinyl LP including liner notes and biography.

Includes unlimited streaming of Chinese Folk Songs via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

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1.	Whose Blooming Rose 02:10	buy track
2.	Mountain Girl 02:47	buy track
3.	Rainbow Girl 02:16	buy track
4.	The Nostalgic Song 02:59	buy track
5.	A Carrying Pole 02:00	buy track
6.	Shepherdress 02:03	buy track
7.	In That Faraway Land 01:47	buy track
8.	Lifting Your Veil 01:54	buy track
9.	Little Cowherd 02:53	buy track
10.	Feeling Grieved 02:37	buy track
11.	Picking Tea Leaves and Catching Butterflies 02:32	buy track
12.	A Youthful Dancing 02:02	buy track
13.	A Kangding Love Song 02:42	buy track
14.	Who Can Know My Heart (Bonus Track) 03:09	buy track
15.	I Smile Whenever I See You (Bonus Track) 02:21	buy track
16.	It's Vexed To Talk About Love (Bonus Track) 02:27	buy track
17.	My Heart Is All For You (Bonus Track) 02:06	buy track

about

As the first entry in its catalog, Akuphone presents a reissue of Lily Chao’s Chinese Folk Songs, originally released by Four Seas Records in 1968. This edition includes four previously unheard titles and exclusive liner notes containing Lily Chao’s biography and lyric translations. Chao Xiao-Jun aka Lily Chao was born in Taiwan in 1948, while mainland China was rapidly undergoing major changes immediately following the end of the Chinese Civil War.

After experiencing hard times in her girlhood, she ventured out into singing quite unwillingly. Indeed, at age19, Lily Chao was compelled to give up her studies to support her family and start a career as a singer, after passing an audition at the Taipei Cabaret in Taiwan. The cabaret industry was in full swing at the time, offering destinations for popular entertainment, and Lily Chao’s efforts to launch her singing career immediately attracted producers’ attention. Her appearances at the Taipei Cabaret as part of its shows, which combined music in Mandarin, poetry, drama, magic, and other fine arts, soon earned her a reputation.

Despite the immediate success that her numerous stage performances and appearances on the national television channel won her, Lily Chao led a chaotic and painful private life. As she smiled very little and tended to appear distant, the audience dubbed her the «Ice Queen,» a nickname that she would keep for the rest of her career.

This barely-concealed melancholy can be felt throughout Chinese Folk Songs, as well as in her very particular way of singing, which is both jerky and perfectly fluid. The album stands halfway between Mandarin folk songs and rock singing inspired by The Shadows, all surf guitar and garage sounds recorded with pinpoint precision and enhanced by saxophone and organ touches, while Lily Chao’s intoxicating vibratos bring a pinch of soul to the music.

An outstanding achievement of timeless pop music from the 1960s.

credits

released January 9, 2015

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Akuphone France

Tradition, Transition, Transmission.

French independent label founded in 2015 by Cheb Gero.

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