Valerie Carter - Just A Stone's Throw Away (1977)

Valerie Carter's first full-length solo album continued her musical involvement with Lowell George and the members of Little Feat, which had begun three years earlier when she was a member of the band Howdy Moon. "Just a Stone's Throw Away" also featured a stellar cast of other musicians, including Jackson Browne, Linda Ronstadt, and John Hall. The album is at once funky and folksy, blending a variety of styles, from the haunting acoustic sounds of "Face of Appalachia" to the jazzy blues of "Back to Blue Some More." "Ooh Child" was featured very effectively at the end of the 1979 teen rebellion movie Over the Edge, while the title song is another great representation of the writing talents of Barbara Keith, an overlooked 1970s singer/songwriter whose self-titled 1972 album is worth seeking out.~Rob Caldwell