^{Photo: Steve Keyser}

Cris Williamson Celebrates the 50th Anniversary of The Changer and the Changed

by Steve Desroches

In the 1970s there was a shift. As a woman, a lesbian, and a feminist, Cris Williamson had had enough of the status quo. She and those who felt similarly began to say to the power structures in place that limited their options and sought to control their lives and bodies that they had had enough and “who the f––k were they” to try and tell them what to do. It was both an exhilarating and frustrating time. When confronted with troubling times how do you respond is the question. As a singer-songwriter Williamson says that it’s imperative to double down on your art, create beauty, and live as you want the world to be. That’s where the power lies. So when male-dominated record labels wouldn’t listen to her and her fellow female musicians’ visions, let them direct the creative process, or let them in on the production side of recording, Williamson and others created Olivia Records, an all-female-run record label that also promoted the work of lesbians. 

Out of that came Williamson’s landmark 1975 album The Changer and the Changed, one of the best-selling independent releases of all time. Every aspect of that album was created by women, an act of revolution at the time. Now celebrating the 50th anniversary with a national tour that includes a stop in Provincetown this Friday, Williamson says that the album still feels fresh, and not just artistically, but in how it relates to the troubled times we’re in. It’s time again to say who the f––k are you to tell me what to do.

“It’s interesting to me that when I do [those songs] they still hold water, they’re still true,” says Williamson. “You have to aim for some universality.” 

The Changer and the Changed quite literally changed music, in general, and for women and the LGBTQ community proving an album can be a commercial and artistic success outside a corporate system, and without men in leadership roles. Like many good ideas, Olivia Records was founded on saying yes to passion, without a concrete plan. “We were building a plane while we were flying it,” says Williamson of her along with Meg Christian, Ginny Berson, Judy Dlugacz, Kate Winter, Jennifer Woodul, and others. It felt both important and overwhelming. Williamson laughs when thinking about those days as she says she wasn’t “ambitious” in the way of thinking “I’m going to change the world!” Rather, while certainly committed to the causes of feminism, equal rights, and LGBTQ rights, she focused on the artistry and taking one day at a time recording The Changer and the Changed.

Born in South Dakota and raised in Wyoming and Colorado, the wide-open spaces inspire her songwriting and performance. It’s as if you can hear the expanse of the West. Upon first traveling to the East Coast Williamson instantly felt how crowded and congested it is, especially compared to where she grew up. What to some on the coasts feels like the middle of nowhere feels like freedom to her. Perhaps that in part inspired many of the concepts in The Changer and the Changed, a young women’s declaration of herself and self-determination. And in that process, there’s a declaration of joy. Achieving contentment, self-acceptance, and peace of mind in a society that is actively working against those personal milestones is in itself an act of revolution. In the song “Having Been Touched (Tender Lady)’ from The Changer and the Changed there’s the refrain, “Tell me, have you something to ease her pain. Why not give her happiness and peace again?” In a time where cruelty seems to be the point and empathy is seen as a weakness, those lines are as powerful now if not more so than when she first sang them 50 years ago. And with The Changer and the Changed fans followed Williamson over the decades, often pulling towards nostalgia as the years past wanting her to sing songs from the album, but at Williamson’s guidance, staying open to change and new material.

“They trusted me,” says Williamson. “I asked them to come with me and they did.”

Doing this 50th anniversary tour has been a catharsis for Williamson and her audiences. With the wisdom that comes with age and an examined life the lyrics and melodies can at the same time land differently or regenerate thoughts and feelings long felt abandoned. Williamson feels a responsibility to honor her work as well as the devotion fans have to the album. “They know it by heart,” says Williamson. “I can see their lips moving.” Creating an iconic piece of art can’t be forced. There’s so much out of the artist’s control when it comes to how a work will be received in real time and over time, especially one that consistently stays relevant as culture and politics shift over generations. And taking this tour to Provincetown Town Hall is particularly sweet considering Williamson has been a part of the town’s artistic offering for as long as The Changer and the Changed as been out in the world.

“Provincetown is the place where I practiced my shyness,” says Williamson. “I was so shy. I’d play at the Post Office and it’s so intimate. Or I’d be at Womencrafts signing albums and be so close to people all the time. My shyness has been transformed. I could talk to people. I listened to their stories and appreciated it. It’s like family. Provincetown is certainly a mecca of sorts for many, many years for so many women and men who could feel like they were home.”

Cris Williamson: The Changer and the Changed 50th Anniversary Concert is at Provincetown Town Hall, 260 Commercial St., on Friday, October 17 at 7 p.m. Tickets ($40-$125) are available online through womensweekprovincetown.com and criswilliamson.com.