Tina Date
A Single Girl

The Greenwich Village, now a legendary residential district of Manhattan, NY, has been, since the 1960s, the stage for a comings and goings of artists – (almost) all (more or less) talented and creative –, who have chosen it as their paradise on earth, a realm where art and life could, often, coincide. Despite there being a “second nature” (spontaneous) fundamental male hierarchy, there were certainly no shortage of female figures who, for better or worse, contributed something, both humanly and artistically, to that scene. Among the greatly forgotten: Tina Date.

Australian, from Melbourne (not the one where Jim Morrison is from, in Florida), she moved to New York in 1966. Tina got a small role in the comedy “They’re A Weird Mob” with Walter Chiari as the lead actor. But before that, just one year earlier, she released her first and only album, “A Single Girl”, a powerful title in its drama. However, the music it contains, though often tinged with melancholy, is an expression of joy, bucolic, timeless. Perhaps a bit naive, yet very genuine and deep – innocent. It could be an album from the 1500s, if there had been LPs in the 1500s. The atmosphere is very “Elizabethan” (no wonder two tracks are taken from Shakespeare’s Hamlet).

One wonders: are the songs hers or are they all traditional? The approach is certainly very traditional, but something tells me the lyrics are original. I search and discover it's a mix of traditional and modern folk music. So, nothing of her own. Yet!? The title track could be hers. Lacking information, I assume it is hers. The piece that stuck with me the most, however – “It’s Hard for a Lass to Be Lonely”, is the only one, in fact, penned by an Australian: Bill Scott, a much-renowned poet in his homeland.

Under the wing of record (and film) producer Arthur Gorson, who, at the same time, has, in his circle of the chosen, artists of the caliber of Phil Ochs (with whom Tina will also have a tumultuous relationship), Tom Rush, and David Blue. But let's go back!

As a girl, Tina studied classical piano, until, once she enrolled in University, she began to devote herself, with dedication, to theater. A singing part in a play gave her the confidence needed to perform in public, and soon she learned, self-taught, to play the guitar, making appearances in Sydney folk clubs (and surroundings), for example at the Troubadour. She supported various international performers during their Australian tours, including Judy Collins – and the two would later become good friends. This, perhaps, is what led her to fly to America.

Discographically, as mentioned, the LP from '65 is nothing more than “a single album” of “a single girl”. A gem from a second-hand market in some dusty corner of the world – if copies of this sublime collection of traditional tracks still exist, which, although traditional, move without boring. Although I often reward authorship, and hence those who write and sing their own songs, this is one of the rare cases where I turn a blind eye.

PS. There has been talk of a “lost album” by Tina Date, recorded in the '70s, with producer Shel Talmy. The album was centered around the story of Ned Kelly, a legendary Australo-Irish outlaw. Friend and artist Martin Sharp had worked on the cover and the album featured Albert Lee on guitar and Clem Cattini on drums. Unfortunately, due to contract issues, “The lost album” (so to speak) was never released.