Songs of Leaving

Though recorded to a warped acetate -- and subsequently flecked with wavering semitones -- Niela Miller's debut (and only) album Songs of Leaving still reveals her nonetheless impressive talent. An obscure figure in the Greenwich Village folk scene of the early '60s, Miller occupies some of the same mysterious country blues territory of Karen Dalton but sings like a theatrically strange and much less precious cousin of Joan Baez. Nonetheless, on tunes like "Mean World" (covered by Dave Van Ronk) and "Too Long Blues," framed by her accomplished and spare folk-blues picking, she manages both to comfort and haunt listeners. While fame and sales eluded Songs of Leaving, the set includes "Baby Don't Go to Town," a song composed by Miller that inspired her then boyfriend Billy Roberts to write "Hey Joe." The similarities between her song and the inevitable rock cover are so striking that somebody, somewhere owes Ms. Miller millions.