She might have stepped away from full band outings, but singing legend Barbara Dickson is still up for a gig.
After completing an emotional last-ever concert hall tour with her stalwart backing band earlier this year, the Fife-raised chart-topper is back on the road with a series of more intimate dates this month.
Born in Dunfermline and raised in the city and in nearby Rosyth , the Answer Me and Another Suitcase In Another Hall hitmaker was a star on the folk club scene of the late ’60s and early ’70s before landing a record deal with Australian stage impresario Robert Stigwood’s RSO in 1975.
She then went on to release one platinum and five gold-certified albums, as well as appearing on big-selling cast soundtracks Evita and Chess.
Looking back aged 77, Barbara, who’s touring as a duo with her regular keyboard player Nick Holland, says she achieved success almost in spite of herself.
‘I’m not ambitious at all’ says folk legend
“In about 1971 I had made some recordings for the Decca label, although they were still kind of folk and acoustic music, and I was traveling more in England by then,” she explains.
“They were rather modest tours but it was a very significant time for me because I met a person who would become my manager in 1972 when I was playing at a club in Wolverhampton.
“We got together and he said to me, ‘Do you know, I think you’re fantastic and you should be singing in the Albert Hall and not in this pub’.
“And that is what actually started me trying to be slightly more ambitious, because I’m not ambitious at all.
“I’ve always had problems with confidence – I think I’m a poor conduit for the gift I was given. So somebody else rooting for you is a really good idea.”
The singer became a household name in the UK in the ’70s thanks to her regular guest appearances alongside TV comedy greats The Two Ronnies, later making an Olivier Award-winning acting debut in the lead role in the play Blood Brothers .
“I just kind of accidentally got into the theater because of my friendship with Willy Russell, the great Liverpool playwright,” she says.
“I knew him from folk music, so when he was doing John, Paul, George, Ringo…And Bert and subsequently Blood Brothers, he asked me if I would participate because he just loved my voice.”
Good songs ‘don’t need Auto-Tune’ to work
Barbara lists the likes of Martin Carthy, Gilbert O’Sullivan, Paul Simon and Bob Dylan among her favourite songwriters, and admits those key artists from the ’70s continue to inspire her.
“That era was full of brilliant songwriters,” she adds.
“I really do love listening to other musicians from all sorts of walks of life because I learn a lot from them. And I think, well if they can do it then yeah, I can continue to do it as well.
“Every time I hear Doctor My Eyes by Jackson Browne , I just think: this is what really good interesting song-writing is about.
“It’s not really about production. I always say good songs can be played on a piano or a guitar and they’re still good songs.
“They don’t need production or Auto-Tune – they don’t need a special frock to make them work.”
But as far as folk and traditional music is concerned, Barbara considers herself a “storyteller”.
“I see myself as a storyteller – I’ve always enjoyed that – and there’s no age cap on it. You can sit round a campfire when you’re 93 and tell stories, can’t you?”
Barbara Dickson plays Strathearn Arts, Crieff on Sunday October 13 and Dundee Rep on Tuesday October 15. For tickets and information, see her website.
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