Little Wheel Spin and Spin explained

Little Wheel Spin and Spin
Type:	studio
Artist:	Buffy Sainte-Marie
Cover:	Little Wheel Spin and Spin.jpeg
Released:	1966
Recorded:	1966
Genre:	Folk
Length:	40:11
Label:	Vanguard
Producer:	Maynard Solomon
Prev Title:	Many a Mile
Prev Year:	1965
Next Title:	Fire & Fleet & Candlelight
Next Year:	1967

Little Wheel Spin and Spin is the third album by Buffy Sainte-Marie, released in 1966. It was her only album to reach the Top 100 of the Billboard 200. Its most famous song is "My Country 'Tis of Thy People You're Dying," which displayed a native perspective on the colonisation of North America.

In contrast to her first two albums which were entirely acoustic with occasional use of her distinctive mouthbow, parts of Little Wheel Spin and Spin added electric guitar by Bruce Langhorne and string arrangements by Felix Pappalardi, or feature fellow Native American performer Patrick Sky on guitar with Sainte-Marie. This served to pave the way for Sainte-Marie's stylistic experiments on her remaining Vanguard albums, where she covered territory ranging from country to rock to experimental music. Buffy Sainte-Marie wrote to reveal the "truth... about indigenous realities" through her music.^[1]

Track listing

All tracks composed by Buffy Sainte-Marie; except where noted.

1. "Little Wheel Spin and Spin" – 2:29
2. "House Carpenter" (Traditional; arranged and new words by Buffy Sainte-Marie) – 3:46
3. "Waly Waly" (Traditional) – 3:50
4. "Rolling Log Blues" (chorus by Lottie Kimbrough) – 3:32
5. "My Country 'Tis of Thy People You're Dying" – 6:48
6. "Men of the Fields" – 2:02
7. "Timeless Love" – 2:46
8. "Sir Patrick Spens" (Traditional) – 5:14
9. "Poor Man's Daughter" – 2:57
10. "Lady Margaret" (Traditional) – 1:43
11. "Sometimes When I Get to Thinkin'" – 3:37
12. "Winter Boy" – 2:11

Personnel

• Buffy Sainte-Marie - vocals, guitar, mouthbow
• Russ Savakus - bass
• Bruce Langhorne - electric guitar on "Little Wheel Spin and Spin", "Rolling Log Blues" and "Sometimes When I Get to Thinkin'"
• Patrick Sky - rhythm guitar on "Men of the Fields"
• Eric Weissberg - guitar on "Sometimes When I Get to Thinkin'"
• Felix Pappalardi - arrangement, conductor on "Timeless Love"

Charts

Billboard (North America)

Notes and References

1. Web site: Buffy Sainte-Marie's Authorized Biography Serves As A 'Map Of Hope'. Simon. Scott. Stewart. Ian. September 29, 2018. NPR. February 19, 2020.
2. . Billboard Top LP's . Billboard . 40 . 9 July 1966 . 22 March 2017.