joseph lemas/special to the Sun
Sachiko Kanenobu was the only female artist on Japan’s first independent record label, Underground Record Club.
Sachiko Kanenobu may be in the midst of a musical comeback, but the modest Glen Ellen resident is taking it all in stride. Last year, an English version of her ground-breaking 1972 album “Misora (Look Up, The Sky is Beautiful)” was reissued to critical acclaim, cuts from her six albums and EPs have been covered by adoring Japanese artists, and, for the first time, she graced a Sonoma audience with a live performance of “Misora” with an English translation.
While living in Osaka, Japan, an 18-year-old Kanenobu was discovered and signed to a record deal by Japan’s first independent record company, Underground Record Club.
Sachiko was the only female artist on this era-defining label, and the very fact that she wrote and sang her own songs made her a rarity among Japanese women. Despite the fact that Kanenodu had no formal musical education, she is acknowledged as Japan’s very first female singer/songwriter.
With her debut album about to be released, Sachiko may have been poised to dominate the charts. Enter Rolling Stone music critic Paul Williams. They fell in love. Kanenobu left Japan and secretly emigrated to America where they were soon married. The happy couple moved to Glen Ellen to start a family. “Misora” was released in her absence and promptly slipped into obscurity without an artist to promote it. Surprisingly enough, it was science fiction author Philip K. Dick, who encouraged Kanenobu to return to music in the early ‘80s.
“Philip was a very good friend of ours and asked me to start singing again after he heard ‘Misora,’” said Kanenobu. “He really loved the album and wanted to produce another one for me.”
Dick served as executive producer for a single recorded in 1981, but died before he could realize his ambition to produce Sachiko’s comeback album. Still, she was inspired by his encouragement and reinvented herself with gusto as a “folk-punk” singer. She formed a new band, Culture Shock, in the mid-’80s. The band released a self-titled EP in 1988 and an album, “Seize Fire,” in 1992. The band was a hit in Germany and they embarked on three separate tours in the country.
Kanenobu and her ground-breaking debut “Misora” was rediscovered by Japanese fans in the early 1990s, which prompted her to return to her homeland many times to perform. The last decade proved most prolific for the artist who had once been content raising her two sons, Kenta and Taiyo, and being a housewife. “It’s Up To You,” a disc recorded in both English and Japanese, was released in 1995. In 1998, Sachiko released two CDs: “Toki ni Makasasete” and “Folk In The Road.” A self-titled CD of both English and Japanese songs was released in 1999.
Last year, Guy Blakmaan, owner of Australia Chapter Music and a singer/songwriter himself, re-issued “Misora.” The CD has found even greater success and is getting airplay all over the world. Blakmaan urged Kanenobu to translate the songs into English for the CD’s liner notes. When Blakmaan told Kanenobu that he would be traveling to the U.S. on a tour of his own, she started to think that a shelved dream could actually come true.
“I started to play songs from ‘Misora’ on my guitar and I was surprised I remembered these old songs of mine,” exclaimed Sachiko. “I got the idea that this is a great time to put together a concert with Mr. Blakmaan. This concert is a celebration of my ‘Misora,’ which I never had a chance to perform in Japan or any other place.”
That performance happened last Sunday, July 8, at the Sonoma Valley Woman’s Club. While Kanenobu revisited her musical past, Grace Noyes read the songs in English. Guy Blakmaan, Sly Hats, Wing It and Sukhawat Ali Khan, a classical Pakistan singer, were on stage to provide musical support. Kanenobu performed her “Misora” in its entirety for the fortunate audience.
“The concert was for peace and love for everybody,” proclaimed the singer/songwriter. “I hope World Music will bring people together, because what is important is the unity, not the dividing. Even when we don’t understand the language, we can feel the energy and that is just enough to make us connect to each other.”
