Syd Straw

Syd Straw is an American rock singer and songwriter. The daughter of actor Jack Straw (The Pajama Game), she began her career singing backup for Pat Benatar, then took her distinct voice to the indie/alternative scene and joined the ever-evolving line-up of Golden Palominos from 1985 through 1987, appearing on their second and third albums. Straw was a frequent lead singer and occasional co-songwriter for the group, which was spearheaded by drummer Anton Fier and also featured vocal turns by Michael Stipe, Matthew Sweet, Don Dixon, Jack Bruce and others. She left the group in 1987 to establish her solo career.

Syd Straw at Heartwreck 2004

Straw released her first solo album, Surprise, in 1989;[1] it featured contributions by Stipe, Fier, Richard Thompson, Jody Harris, Peter Blegvad, and a number of other well-known musicians. A second album, War and Peace, appeared in 1996. Recorded with a relatively obscure Midwest rock group called the Skeletons, it chronicled a brief and unhappy romance. In 2008, she released a new album, entitled Pink Velour, on her own label, Earnester Records. According to an earlier interview, the title track “is about my family moving back and forth between the east and the west, and my being kidnapped by my mother on Valentine's Day in 1969, and about not seeing my dad for almost seven years.”

A frequent backup singer and contributor to duets with other musicians, Straw has also maintained an intermittent acting career, appearing on the television shows The Adventures of Pete & Pete and Tales of the City. Straw's role on The Adventures of Pete & Pete as a middle-school math teacher was introduced in the episode "Valentine's Day Massacre," and was reprised in the episodes "Hard Day's Pete" and "x=why?"

Syd Straw can be heard singing harmony and backing vocals on the Rickie Lee Jones albums Traffic from Paradise and The Evening of My Best Day. She is also featured on Leo Kottke's Peculiaroso, which Jones produced. Straw appears on "What Am I Worth" from the Dave Alvin album King of California. For a number of years she has given an annual "Heartwreck" live performance on Valentine's Day.

In 1994, Straw teamed up with Wilco to contribute the song "The T.B. Is Whipping Me" to the AIDS benefit album Red Hot + Country, produced by the Red Hot Organization.

Discography

Albums
  • 1989: Surprise (Virgin) - reissued in 2000 on Koch with two bonus tracks)
  • 1996: War and Peace (Hi-Gloss)
  • 2001: Live at the Triple Crown (TAO) with The Adventures Of...
  • 2005: Whole Wide World: Uncollected Songs (self-released)
  • 2008: Pink Velour (Earnester)

Compilation albums
  • 1985: various artists - Luxury Condos Coming to Your Neighborhood Soon (Coyote) - track 13, "Listening To Elvis"
  • 1988: various artists - Stay Awake: Various Interpretations of Music from Vintage Disney Films (A&M) - track 4(c), "Blue Shadows on the Trail"
  • 1990: various artists - Rutles Highway Revisited (A Tribute to The Rutles) (Shimmy Disc) - track 1-7, "I Must Be In Love" (with Marc Ribot)
  • 1992: various artists - Downtown Does The Beatles Live at the Knitting Factory 1992 (Knitting Factory) - track 10, "Don't Let Me Down" (with Arto Lindsay, Mark Ribot, Joey Baron, and Greg Cohn)
  • 1993: Chris Stamey and Friends - Christmas Time (East Side Digital) - track 10, "(I'm Always Touched by Your) Presents, Dear"
  • 1994: various artists - Beat the Retreat - Songs by Richard Thompson (Capitol) - track 5, "For Shame of Doing Wrong" (with Evan Dando)
  • 1994: various artists - Red Hot + Country (Mercury Nashville) - track 16, "The T.B. Is Whipping Me" (with Wilco)
  • 1994: various artists - A Live Christmas Extravaganza (Deko) - track 2, "X-Mas Twist"
  • 1995: various artists - Live from Mountain Stage Volume 8 (Blue Plate) - track 9, "Golden Dreams"
  • 1998: various artists - Real: The Tom T Hall Project (Sire/ Delmore) - track 10, "Harper Valley P.T.A." (with the Skeletons)
  • 2000: various artists - One Step Up / Two Steps Back: The Songs of Bruce Springsteen (Capitol) - track 12, "Meeting Across the River"
  • 2001: various artists - Daddy-O Daddy! Rare Family Songs of Woody Guthrie (Rounder) - track 8, "My Daddy (Flies a Ship in the Sky)"

Appears on


  • 2014: Wilco - Alpha Mike Foxtrot: Rare Tracks 1994-2014 (Nonesuch)
  • 2015: Bill Wells & Friends - Nursery Rhymes (Karaoke Kalk)

As composer
  • 1990: David Halley - Stray Dog Talk (Demon) - track 9, "Dream Life" (co-written with David Halley)
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References
  1. "Pantera offers up easy-access disc ". The Spectator - Hamilton, Ont. Krewen, Nick. Jun 20, 1996 Page: 4
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