Mary McCaslin (December 22, 1946 – October 2, 2022) was an American folk singer was one of the most appealing contemporary folk performers of the 1970s. Since the country-folk singer worked totally outside of the Nashville sphere, singing of prairies and Old West images in almost mythic terms, her audience was confined to the folk circuit (though within that boundary, it was very wide). Yet her ability to appeal to rock and pop listeners helped pave the way for country-folk-pop stars like Nanci Griffith and Mary-Chapin Carpenter, although her influence in this area has remained relatively unacknowledged.
Born in in Beechgrove, Indiana. She was adopted and her parents moved the family to Redondo Beach, California, when McCaslin was just six years old. Mary's earliest musical influences were early rock 'n' roll, bluegrass and country, particularly the Western ballads of Marty Robbins. When she was fifteen, Mary saved money which she earned by babysitting and bought a Stella guitar. A few years later she was given a small Martin, and at the age of 18, in 1964, performed her first gig at The Paradox, a coffeehouse in Tustin, California.
A phone company job had been arranged for Mary when she graduated high school, but she had no time for career plans which did not involve music. Around this time, she began to make her way into Los Angeles where, among the many film and music aspirants, there was also a group of folksingers and folk-rockers. She soon began performing at the Los Angeles Troubadour club, where she became connected with a record producer. Inspired both by country narrators like Marty Robbins and singer/songwriters like Joni Mitchell, she recorded her first album, Goodnight, Everybody, for Barnaby in 1969. She released a cover version of the Supremes’ hit “You Keep Me Hangin’ On.” According to New York Times: “transforms the tune from an urban teen-oriented lament into a mountain-flavoured folk song of quiet, adult desperation.”
Way Out West was the first of three albums that McCaslin made for Philo in the 1970s, featuring her finely wrought songs, strong upper-register vocals, and sympathetic, fully arranged accompaniment. Two of the tracks that attracted widest notice were her acoustic interpretations of two Beatles songs ("Things We Said Today" and "Blackbird"), which were not only among the few truly fine folk renditions of Lennon-McCartney tunes but among the best Beatles covers ever attempted.
She was regarded as a pioneer of open guitar tunings, and known for her distinctive vocal style. Her Philo era is recognized as her artistic peak, although she maintained her presence on the folk scene with albums for Mercury (Sunny California, 1979) and Flying Fish (A Life and a Time, 1981). She also did a duo album with her husband, guitarist and songwriter Jim Ringer (who also played on McCaslin's albums), in the late '70s.
McCaslin met singer-songwriter Jim Ringer in 1972, and began performing with him. They married in 1978, and as a duo released the album The Bramble & the Rose. They moved to San Bernardino, California. McCaslin separated from him in 1989. Ringer died in 1992 after a long illness, and McCaslin provided the liner notes for a retrospective album of his songs: The Best of Jim Ringer.
Her musical development was influenced by the western ballads of Marty Robbins, the guitar playing of Joan Baez and Joni Mitchell, the singing and banjo playing of Hedy West, and the vocal inflections of the Beatles and the Bee Gees.Her songs have been recorded by Tom Russell, Bill Staines, Gretchen Peters, David Bromberg, Kate Wolf, Stan Rogers, and Còig. The Grand Canyon Railroad used her song "Last Cannonball" for its promotional television ad.
1994's Broken Promises was her first album in 13 years. In 1998 she was named a Gail Rich Award winner for her contributions to the county’s abundant artistic environment. McCaslin and Arrufat left Santa Cruz in 2016 around the time issues with her vocal chords began to surface. In 2017, McCaslin was diagnosed with progressive supranuclear palsy, (PSP), a rare neurological condition that can cause problems with balance, movement, vision, speech and swallowing which made it difficult for her to perform. She died from PSP at her home in Hemet, California on October 2, 2022, at the age of 75.
(Edited from AllMusic, Wikipedia, Mercry News, Folk Alley & Bear Family)