Beads And Feathers

Beads and Feathers is the second studio album by Carol Hall, released in 1972 on Elektra Records (catalog number EKS-75018). The album expands on the singer-songwriter intimacy of her debut with richer arrangements and a more rooted folk-country-soul aesthetic, thanks in part to sidemen drawn from the Muscle Shoals/folk-country circuit. Across the record, Hall brings her storyteller instincts to bear, inhabiting characters in songs such as “Nana,” “Sunday Lady,” and the haunting “Charlie’s Waiting for the Snow.” While still firmly anchored in narrative lyricism, Beads and Feathers presents a slightly more expansive musical canvas, balancing solo piano moments with band textures, and allowing Hall’s voice—a bit husky, thoughtful, theatrical—to carry emotional weight with economy and clarity.

The album cover (and its promotional shots) reflect Hall’s theatrical sensibility: not mere singer-songwriter imagery but a portrait of a songwriter who sees and stages characters. The sequencing creates a life-song arc from memory and yearning to hope carried by the closing track.

Read Carol’s final interview at Pop Matters, which centers around Beads And Feathers.