// 1969 Mercedes Sosa - Mujeres Argentinas

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This is a terrific album, where Mercedes Sosa, possibly Argentina's finest female vocalist, interprets songs about Argentinian women throughout the country's history (hence the title of the record). While the songs are not exactly folk music, they were written by some of Argentina's finest folk musicians. "Alfonsina Y El Mar" alone is worth the price of the CD.

Some of the women are vaguely famous (such as Juana Azurduy, a rebel leader against the Spanish) or Alfonsina Storni (a poet), some are simple women who simbolize a time or a social type, such as the white woman who refuses to leave the defeated Indians and return to a civilization no longer hers (Dorotea La Cautiva). Or the anonymous European settler women, faced with decades of backbreaking work in the middle of nowhere (Gringa Chaqueña).

This is a fairly quiet but beautifully put together record, and the songs tend to have an introspective tone. Mercedes Sosa is backed mainly by Spanish guitars and harpsichord, with some Southern American percussion such as the bombo.

1. Gringa Chaquena
2. Juana Azurduy
3. Rasarito Vera, Maestra
4. Dorotea, La Cautiva
5. Alfonsina Y El Mar
6. Manuela La Tucumana
7. Las Cartas De Guadalupe
8. En Casa De Mariquita