Cindy Lee Berryhill
Cindy Lee Berryhill (June 12, 1965 - ) was born in Silver Lake, Los Angeles, California, and later married rock writer Paul Williams. Cindy is an American singer-songwriter, recording multiple albums, hit singles, and compilations over the years. Biography. Berryhill grew up in various parts of California, and began playing the guitar at the age of ten, which then led to her love of songwriting. Her debut album "Who's Gonna Save The World?" (Rhino/Capitol) came out in October 1987 and was followed by the Lenny Kaye produced, "Naked Movie Star" (Rhino/WEA) in 1989. In  Allmusic's online "Cindy Lee Berryhill Biography" entry (2008), Richie Unterberger wrote, "The San Diegan's 1987 debut, "Who's Gonna Save the World?", may be her best simply because it is her most straightforward. Then as now, she was most effective, ironically, at her most basic and serious." By contrast, Stewart Mason in his four and a half star review of her third album, calls it her "first completely solid and intriguing effort". Berryhill, like Brenda Kahn, Paleface, Beck, Michelle Shocked and John S. Hall were early proponents of the New York City Anti-folk movement. She is  featured in the documentary "Mariposa: Under a Stormy Sky" along with Emmylou Harris, The Violent Femmes, Daniel Lanois and others. It would be another six years before her third album "Garage Orchestra" (Cargo/Earth) would be released. "Garage Orchestra" was a tin-can-pop inflected departure from her earlier folkier albums and garnered a 4-star review in "Rolling Stone". In 1995 her boyfriend and husband-to-be, rock writer Paul Williams suffered a brain injury in a bicycle accident, and Berryhill put off the making of her next album until 1996's "Straight Outta Marysville". In 1997, Paul and  Cindy were married, and then Paul began to develop early onset dementia as a result of his bicycle accident, which ultimately led to him requiring full-time care in 2009. In 1999, Berryhill's novel, "Memoirs of A Female Messiah" was released along with a live album entitled "Living Room 16". After the birth of Berryhill and Williams's son in 2001, she began a song cycle that included the song "Beloved Stranger", that was inspired by her experiences with her husband's brain injury and the awareness that many soldiers were coming home from war with similar injuries. In  2008, the album "Beloved Stranger" (Populuxe) was released. Berryhill's second cousin was the surfboard shaper Dale Velzy (his mother was a Berryhill) and her first cousin is Damon Berryhill who was a major league baseball player and now works for the Braves. Cindy s husband, Paul passed away on March 27, 2013, after spending several years in a nursing home. Berryhill currently lives in Encinitas, California with her son, Alexander Berryhill-Williams. Her seventh album, "The Adventurist" was released on March 10, 2017, on Omnivore Records. Partial discography. All US releases unless otherwise noted.