Toe in the Water

Betsy

Betsy

Here’s a story that was never written and probably never will be. If nothing else, it demonstrates that the world is full of stories, so there’s no excuse for having nothing to write!

YouTube loves to throw unexpected things at me, just to see if I’m still awake, and yesterday it sent me a mystery. This came in the form of a video of a young lady named Betsy Legg. She was having a go at one of Bob Dylan’s old songs, Tomorrow is a Long Time. Obviously, YouTube knows that I’m a sucker for anything by Mister Zimmerman and, sure enough, I was unable to resist taking a listen.

Betsy’s voice turned out to be rivetting. Almost a dead ringer for Joan Baez, yet somehow having an extra appeal, perhaps because I know nothing of the singer. I resolved to find out more.

It turns out that YouTube has a number of her songs, all taken from an album she made in 1971. The songs are covers of well known folk songs of the period and Betsy does a fine job of them all.

Now I’m fairly used to discovering artists that I’ve never heard of before but finding that they were famous in their day. There were decades when I just wasn’t listening, I know. But Betsy quickly became a mystery of impenetrable lack of information. I found myself following a well worn trail of others who had looked for information on young Betsy. There was nothing. Google tried all sorts of people with similar names but had to throw up its hands in despair in the end. When Google gives up, you can be sure that there’s nothing out there.

I did find a long thread of questions regarding Betsy but no one seemed to know anything definite. One claimed that the album had been a private pressing in Atlanta, Georgia, with very few copies produced. Somehow, one of these had found its way on to YouTube. Someone else maintained that she was now Betsy Simon and lived in Tennessee. But there was nothing definite.

The story turns out to be just a series of unanswered questions. Who is or was this young lady with the voice of an angel and why had she never been noticed and broadcast to a world hungry for talent? Was this reluctance toward fame a matter of Betsy’s own choice or was it another of those sad tales of close, but no cigar? If it’s the former, there is some irony in the fact that her album is now available to everyone, courtesy of today’s technology.

It’s frustrating to be left wondering about Betsy’s story. But, at the same time, there is also something fascinating in being able to write our own story around these few songs so exquisitely sung. In our minds, she can remain as the voice that was just too good for this world.

Betsy’s version of that first song I listened to is embedded below. If you want any more, you’re going to have to search YouTube for yourself!




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