It's My Way!
{{about|the Buffy Sainte-Marie album|the Dizzy Gillespie album|It's My Way (Dizzy Gillespie album)}}
{{Infobox album
| name = It's My Way!
| type = studio
| artist = Buffy Sainte-Marie
| cover = Buffy Sainte-Marie-Its My Way.jpg
| alt =
| released = {{start date|1964|4}}
| recorded =
| studio =
| genre = Folk
| length = 40:35
| label = Vanguard
| producer = Maynard Solomon
| prev_title =
| prev_year =
| next_title = Many a Mile
| next_year = 1965
}}
It's My Way! is the first studio album by the folk musician Buffy Sainte-Marie. It was released in April 1964 through Vanguard Records.{{cite magazine |editor-last1=Zhito|editor-first1=Lee |title=New{{nbsp}}Album Releases |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dUUEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA80 |accessdate=October 5, 2019 |magazine=Billboard|location=Cincinnati|publisher=The Billboard Publishing Co.|page=80|date=April 11, 1964}}{{cite news |editor-last1=Ostrow|editor-first1=Marty|editor-last2=Howard|editor-first2=Ira |title=It's{{nbsp}}My{{nbsp}}Way |url=https://www.americanradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Music/Archive-Cash-Box-IDX/60s/1964/CB-1964-04-04-OCR-Page-0022.pdf|work=Cash Box|location=New York |publisher=The Cash Box Publishing Co.|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220629062214/https://worldradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Music/Archive-Cash-Box-IDX/60s/1964/CB-1964-04-04-OCR-Page-0022.pdf|archive-date=June 29, 2022|url-status=live|page=22|date=April 4, 1964}} It was later released in Britain in early 1965 by Fontana Records.{{cite news |author=Fontana Records |author-link=Fontana Records |title=Fontana New Releases (advertisement) |location=London |work=Sing |publisher=The London Youth Choir |date=April 1965}}{{cite news |last1=Editorial Staff |first1=Gramophone |title=It's My Way! |work=The Gramophone |publisher=Compton Mackenzie |date=May 1965}} The album would become influential in the folk community. It is most famous for two widely covered folk standards, "Universal Soldier" and "Cod'ine", as well as "Now That the Buffalo's Gone", a lament about the continued confiscation of Indian lands, as evidenced by the building of the Kinzua Dam. The cover features a mouthbow, which was to be a trademark of her sound on her first three albums.
In 2016, It's My Way! was inducted by the Library of Congress into the National Recording Registry.{{Cite web|url=https://www.loc.gov/today/pr/2016/16-056.html|title=National Recording Registry Recognizes "Mack the Knife," Motown and Mahler|website=Library of Congress}}
In 2020 the album was named as one of two jury vote winners, alongside Main Source's Breaking Atoms, of the Polaris Heritage Prize at the 2020 Polaris Music Prize.[https://www.fyimusicnews.ca/articles/2020/11/16/2020-slaight-family-polaris-heritage-prize-winners-named "2020 Slaight Family Polaris Heritage Prize Winners Named"]. FYI Music News, November 16, 2020. This award was rescinded in 2025, following the revocation of Sainte-Marie's membership in the Order of Canada.Kevin Maimann, [https://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/buffy-sainte-marie-awards-1.7477741 "Buffy Sainte-Marie stripped of Juno, Polaris music awards"]. CBC News, March 7, 2025.
Reception
{{Album ratings
|rev1 = AllMusic
|rev1score = {{Rating|5|5}}[{{AllMusic|class=album|id=r97015|pure_url=yes}} Allmusic review]
}}
Writing for Allmusic, music critic William Ruhlman gave the album 5 of 5 stars and wrote "This is one of the most scathing topical folk albums ever made{{nbsp}}... Even decades later, the album's power is moving and disturbing."
Track listing
{{Track listing
| all_writing = Buffy Sainte-Marie, except where noted
| headline = Side one
|
| title1 = Now That the Buffalo's Gone
| length1 = 2:45
| title2 = The Old Man's Lament
| length2 = 3:55
| title3 = Ananias
| writer3 = Adapted by Buffy Sainte-Marie
| length3 = 2:35
| title4 = Mayoo Sto Hoon
| length4 = 1:19
| title5 = Cod'ine
| length5 = 5:01
| title6 = Cripple Creek
| writer6 = Folk song
| length6 = 1:45
| title7 = The Universal Soldier
| length7 = 2:15
}}
{{Track listing
| headline = Side two
|
| title8 = Babe in Arms
| length8 = 2:30
| title9 = He Lived Alone in Town
| length9 = 4:35
| title10 = You're Gonna Need Somebody on Your Bond
| writer10 = Traditional
| length10 = 2:45
| title11 = The Incest Song
| length11 = 4:11
| title12 = Eyes of Amber
| length12 = 2:16
| title13 = It's My Way
| length13 = 3:29
}}
Personnel
- Buffy Sainte-Marie – vocals, guitar, arrangements
- Patrick Sky – second guitar on "He Lived Alone in Town"
- Art Davis – bass on "Now That the Buffalo's Gone"
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Buffy Sainte-Marie}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:Buffy Sainte-Marie albums
Category:Albums produced by Maynard Solomon