Twenty Years Ago

“Suzanne Vega” (1985)

“One of the 100 Greatest Albums of the 80’s” “…Vega's intimate first album proved to be a significant milestone in this decade” - Rolling Stone Magazine

"…Vega's self-titled debut album proved to be one of the decade's seminal releases.”- Alan Jackson, Vox

“…Vega's philosophical, quiet, but confident approach would open the door for a second generation of female singer-songwriters like Dar Williams and Shawn Colvin. Her debut remains an unassuming sleeper for one of the '80s best folk or pop albums.”-Roy Francis Kasten

Twenty years ago, I graduated from college, got a new car, moved from my hometown of Memphis and took a slightly higher than minimum wage job. On my day off, I was looking for new music that would not strain my budget and found a nostalgic record store on the south side of Birmingham, AL, called Charlemaine's. I had seen the signs for this shop, had walked by the place a couple of times. It was above a restaurant, so there was a door at street level behind which was a dark set of stairs leading to a one bare bulb lit door at the top. I had heard many stories about people travelling dark staircases that led mostly DOWN to bad consequences,...not as many leading UP to bad consequences(I was sheltered as a child and had seen too many mob movies with dark staircases). So after I ran my wildly imagined "dark stair gauntlet", the rest of the experience was pretty normal and non-threatening. When I walked in, the clerk was playing a new recording of a new artist, Suzanne Vega. He spoke highly of her as a new folk artist. I knew folk music a little. My father had some albums of The Weavers, with Pete Seegar, The New Christy Minstrels, The Hootenannies, so I knew I liked that folk jangle and the stories their ballads told. I looked at the the jacket of the album, no great shakes there, just some black and white photos. Interesting, but not a big purchase hook for me. I happened to be cash poor that day, so I walked out of the store without it. This was the pre-compact disc era,...and I didn't have a turntable, but had an AM/FM cassette player in my new '84 Honda Civic. I liked what I heard while in Charlemaine's and as I was about to leave the clerk told me that she was coming to the University of Alabama at Birmingham(UAB) in a couple of weeks. He gave me a postcard/handbill with all the pertinent information included. I was always looking for something different to do, so I asked my, then, girlfriend(now wife of 18 years)if she would like to go with me. She didn't know Suzanne Vega either, but we went. We were even able to purchase the tickets at the door the evening of the concert, so this wasn't considered a "hot ticket" in Birmingham. She played a small, out of the way theatre on campus, more like a room. There was a local warm-up folk singer. He was pretty good, but not memorable. Attending this concert was sort of like betting a maiden horse race,(first race for new horses; no track record/history to help anyone beat the odds; it's any horse's race; unpredictable) so not many people were betting on Suzanne's talent that night. Suzanne came from behind the curtain, sat on a tall stool,...just her and her guitar. I soon found that she really didn't need music behind her words,...they were musical by themselves; without accompaniment. The words she chose and the way she arranged them were worthy art. But her music was like a shot of Bailey's in your coffee,...just adding an extra zip, skilled guitar accompaniment and complex melodies were a complementary flavor for her lyrics. They were haunting, intoxicating and addictive. This concert proved to be one of those rare moments when you instantly love something and know it is destined to be a favorite of yours. The very next day, cash poor or not, I went back to Charlemaine's and picked up the cassette(none of the chain record shops had it) and played it for years. Two years ago, I finally decided that I needed to replace my cassette with a CD. I think I have worn grooves in that disc, so much so that we could probably play it on my turntable. In early August, a month ago,...I went to see Suzanne Vega perform in Dallas. It was my second time to see her. A twenty year cycle had brought me back to see Suzanne Vega and had brought her back to touring with just her guitar. I drove there in my new car. The second new car I have ever owned. Another 20 year cycle event.