Karen Sue "Casse" Culver (March 7, 1944 – December 4, 2019) was an American folk singer and songwriter in the

women's music Women's music is music by women, for women, and about women. The genre emerged as a musical expression of the second-wave feminist movement as well as the labor, civil rights, and peace movements. The movement (in the USA) was started by lesbian ...

genre.

Early life and education

Culver was born in

Bethesda, Maryland Bethesda () is an unincorporated, census-designated place in southern Montgomery County, Maryland. It is located just northwest of Washington, D.C. It takes its name from a local church, the Bethesda Meeting House (1820, rebuilt 1849), which ...

, the daughter of Ronald H. Culver and Thyra Marjorie Ferguson Culver. Her father was an electrical engineer and her mother was a beautician. She attended

St. Mary's College of Maryland St. Mary's College of Maryland (SMCM) is a public liberal arts college in St. Mary's City, Maryland.Maryland State Archives, Online Manual, "St. Mary's College Of Maryland: Origin & Functions" http://msa.maryland.gov/msa/mdmanual/25univ/stmarys ...

. In the 1980s, she took a course of Bible study at the Way of Faith Christian Institute in Virginia. Her older brother Donald M. Culver was president of the Gay Restaurant Owners of Washington.

Career

Culver began singing and playing guitar as a busker in the late 1960s. She had a record contract in 1971, and recorded an unreleased album. Culver played her "very personal, folk-sounding music" at women's music festivals, and toured nationally in the 1970s. Susan Abod performed with Culver in concerts, and on Culver's album ''3 Gypsies'' (1976). She and Boden Sandstrom began a sound company, Woman Sound, in 1975. Beyond music, Culver was an organic gardener in

Woodstock, New York Woodstock is a town in Ulster County, New York, United States, in the northern part of the county, northwest of Kingston, NY. It lies within the borders of the Catskill Park. The population was 5,884 at the 2010 census, down from 6,241 in 200 ...

, in the late 1960s, and ran a garden and landscaping service in the 1980s. She enjoyed doing home renovation projects, and was a house manager for a group home in Washington, D.C. In the 1980s, she taught at a church, Hear and Be Healed Ministries, and was known as "the Rev. Elder Casse Culver" by the early 1990s.

Publications and recordings

* ''Casse Culver Songbook'' * ''3 Gypsies'' (1976 LP) * "What We Gonna Do (About Anita)"/"Queen of the Night" (1978 single) * ''Songs and Other Dreams'' (1982 LP) * "Ride,

Sally Ride Sally Kristen Ride (May 26, 1951 – July 23, 2012) was an American astronaut and physicist. Born in Los Angeles, she joined NASA in 1978, and in 1983 became the first American woman and the third woman to fly in space, after cosmonauts ...

!"/"Blame it on the Moon" (1982 single) * ''Casse Culver Live in Concert'' (1984 cassette, recorded in 1974) * "Perfect Child of God" (2018, poem)

Personal life

Culver married Boden Sandstrom in 2013, but they were together "on and off" from the mid-1970s. Culver died from lung cancer in 2019, at the age of 75, in

Milton, Delaware Milton is a town in Sussex County, Delaware, United States, on the Delmarva Peninsula. It is located on the Broadkill River, which empties into Delaware Bay. The population was 2,576 at the 2010 census, an increase of 55.5% over the previous d ...

. There is a large collection of her papers in the

Sophia Smith Collection of Women's History The Sophia Smith Collection at Smith College is an internationally recognized repository of manuscripts, photographs, periodicals and other primary sources in women's history. General One of the largest recognized repositories of manuscripts, ar ...

at Smith College. There is a recording of Casse Culver and Willie Tyson performing in 1976 on

WBAI WBAI (99.5 FM) is a non-commercial, listener-supported radio station licensed to New York, New York. Its programming is a mixture of political news, talk and opinion from a left-leaning, liberal or progressive viewpoint, and eclectic music. ...

in New York, in the

Pacifica Radio Pacifica may refer to: Art * ''Pacifica'' (statue), a 1938 statue by Ralph Stackpole for the Golden Gate International Exposition Places * Pacifica, California, a city in the United States ** Pacifica Pier, a fishing pier * Pacifica, a conce ...

Archives.

References

External links

Biography of Casse Culver
at Goldenrod Music
Casse Culver at Discogs

Casse Culver at AllMusic

"Ride, Sally Ride"
(1983), Culver's novelty song about the astronaut, on YouTube {{DEFAULTSORT:Culver, Casse 1944 births 2019 deaths People from Bethesda, Maryland American singers American songwriters