Dory Previn – On My Way To Where (1970)

Dorothy (Dory) Langan was born in 1925, which may make her the earliest born artist in this entire series.  Of Irish parents she had a troubled relationship with her Catholic upbringing and her father who suffered with depression; she married composer Andre Previn in 1959 and recorded an early album of her songwriting as she was trying to break into film songwriting.  Divorced and recovering from the first of her mental breakdowns in 1970 when she discovered that Andre was having an affair with Mia Farrow she released at age 45 the first of a quartet of confessional and simply incredible albums.  She sung songs of betrayal and sadness, but also of hope and wonder, never flinching from her own fragile mental state.  Her producer Nick Venet allowed her the space to open her heart with bitter-sweet songs such as ‘Beware Of Young Girls’ (about Mia Farrow), ‘I Ain’t His Child’ (her father) and ‘Mr. Whisper’ (her own mental state).  She drifted a bit after this, releasing two further albums which were not as good and got into political activism, especially about the environment and wrote short stories.  She died in 2012 aged 86; an incredible songwriter and singer.  I adored these first four albums and count them as some of my very favourite albums.