An Interview with Phoebe:
on NPR Weekend Edition
Listen to it with Real Audio at NPR's website
This information is distilled from things Phoebe said in an interview on National Public Radio on Saturday August 1, 1998. You can listen to it with Real Audio at NPR's website. When the site opened, I clicked on "morning edition" and the next screen had a search option. I searched for "Phoebe Snow" (in quotes) and immediately found the link to Weekend Edition for August 1, 1998. NPR
She is no longer spiritually or morally in the same place
Phoebe said the title "I Can't Complain" reflects her optimistic and positive attitude toward life. The album's buoyant, up feeling make it a happy album for her. She said years ago when she sang "Poetry Man" she did complain a lot. Although she is no longer spiritually or morally in the same place, she still sings "Poetry Man" because it's a pretty song. (She didn't say it's because her fans want to hear it, but you know they do!)
She sang "Rockin' Pneumonia and the Boogie Woogie Flu" and commented that she had sung it a lot in small bars and such places over the years because it was an easy song with only three chords.
The interviewer compared her with Bonnie Raitt, which Phoebe took as quite a compliment. Phoebe told about seeing Bonnie and Keb Mo together recently. The two sang "Ain't Nothin' Ramblin'," which was the second blues song Phoebe remembers hearing as a child. After hearing it, she went backstage and told Bonnie how well she remembered hearing it for the first time, and that it was the second blues song she learned. Bonnie responded by saying it was the second blues song she ever heard, too.
Phoebe revealed Large Marge.
In response to a question about how she started singing, Phoebe revealed Large Marge. Too shy to sing in public, Phoebe only wanted to play guitar. Then one day she found her stage persona hidden somewhere inside. This stage persona was a ham named Large Marge. Phoebe learned to compartmentalize herself a bit and let Large Marge take the stage when she needed to sing. (Large Marge, we love you!)
She sang "Right to the End" when asked about her daughter Valarie. When she first heard the song, she thought of her daughter. She described Valarie as courageous and funny, and said that Valarie is the one she has loved deepest and most umremittingly in her life.