History of Women’s Music

For many women the dream of becoming a pop musician would remain forever just that – a dream. Prior to the 1970’s, the chances of becoming a musician were almost non existent. For black women or southern women, it seemed more acceptable than for white-middle class women.

Even in the 1960’s, very few women dared to enter the male-dominated record business. Janis Joplin, for example, was the first female Rock’n’ Roll singer in history; She suffered greatly, in part because she was a pioneer. She modeled her stage behavior after the men she had seen perform. She was ridiculed partly because people were not accustomed to seeing a woman sweat on stage or act so bold. She didn’t represent the ideal type of woman that was every man’s dream. In other words she wasn’t timid, small and cute. Thankfully, she was able to open the door a little, but space was limited. There were all kinds of reasons to keep women out.

Many women weren’t allowed because of their looks. Many were told there wasn’t a need for female singers or they already had one recording. Quite often, women found they lacked the experience that men had been able to achieve while the doors had been closed to women. The 1970’s changed all that. The Women’s movement created many unique opportunities for women to expand their musical talents through the creation of a genre of music called Women’s Music.

Women’s music was made for a specific audience. It was not simply music made by women, nor was it music made by lesbians, although lesbians essentially founded the genre. It was music about issues of importance to women, as performed by women. Most of the music was simple and folk based. Often, the music was made and distributed independently. Only a handful of artists, such as gospel-tinged Sweet Honey in the Rock and the urban folkster, Ani Di Franco, have crossed over into the mainstream, since the performers and their audiences pride themselves on how they function as a community.

As with any movement, music plays an important role in rallying its members and informing them of issues. It also brings out an emotional response to those singing or listening. Women’s music came out of this understanding. For these reasons music was, and still is very important to lesbians. The first musician to publicly perform as a lesbian feminist was Maxine Feldman in 1969. Her song Angry Atthis was about wanting to hold hands in public with her female lover. Alix Dobkin began writing lesbian lyrics in 1971. Her songs were collected and produced in 1974 by the Women’s Music Network. The very political album called “Lavender Jane Loves Women,” advocates lesbianism as the solution to end patriarchy.

In 1973, ten lesbians who were already living and working as a collective founded Olivia Records. Everyone they employed was given a salary based on need rather than position. Olivia became the leader in women’s music. They sold hundreds of thousands of albums and held concerts nationwide that attracted huge audiences. Judy Dulgaz was one of the founders. She explained that her reasons for being in the business were because she was a big fan and she loves the artists. Dulgaz believes that Olivia Records was created for “every woman who has been looking for a community, a home, a family.” Olivia enables women to find each other and to realize we are talented, strong, dynamic and fun.

It was very common for all the musicians at Olivia to perform on each other’s albums. Meg Christian was an early recording star of Olivia who wrote her own lyrics and music. Her album I Know You Know was the first album produced by Olivia. Meg Christian gains new fans each year even though she quit recording in the early 1980’s to become a Buddhist monk.

On that record, two other Olivia “big names” appeared Chris Williamson and Margie Adams performed. Chris Williamson has been performing with Olivia since its inception. She says she could have made more money in the mainstream, but she prefers the audience she has now and feels she has more freedom. Her Album The Changer and the Changed (1975) is one of the top selling independent albums of all times and continues to be the number one best selling women’s music album. Meg Christian sang with her on this album.

Olivia sponsored the first Women’s Music Festivals. These were “women only” events that were always very political. Booths were set up to hand out movement literature and paraphernalia. The festivals offered not only music, but also workshops to raise concerns and solve problems of feminists. In 1974, the first National Women’s Music Festival was held in Champagne, IL.

The first Michigan Women’s Music Festival was held in 1976. It is still the largest women only festival in the U.S. During the 1970’s, it was known to draw a crowd of about 7000 and still brings a crowd of around 10,000. The Michigan festival has taken place every August in Wallhala and lasts for a week.10 Childcare is offered for all children to the age of ten. Male children over that age are not allowed in the festival area.

Deaf interpreters, easy accesses for the disabled and chem-free areas are some of the services provided. Entrance fees depended on what each woman could afford. They used the policy: pay more if you have it and less if you don’t. Women have come from all over the world to attend. The only men allowed to enter, are those hired to empty the port-a-janes every night at midnight.

Olivia wasn’t the only one interested in women’s music production. Holly Near has also been very successful. Her activism has been incredible. She has performed for the antiwar movement, the feminist movement, to improve prisons, for freedom in El Salvador, Nicaragua and Chile. She sang at benefits to raise money to defeat Reagan’s reelection. She sang for the peace march from L.A. to Washington D.C. to advocate disarmament. She sang at the Gay and Lesbian march on Washington. If there is a cause Holly Near will be there ready to sing.