- Helen Watson (singer-songwriter)
Infobox musical artist
Name = Helen Watson
Background = solo_singer
Origin =Manchester ,England
Genre =folk ,blues ,soul ,jazz , pop
Occupation =Singer ,songwriter
Years_active = 1960s–present
Label =EMI ,RCA Records , Building Records,Fledg'ling Records
URL = [http://www.myspace.com/helenwatsonmusic myspace.com/helenwatsonmusic]Helen Watson is a
singer-songwriter whose oeuvre encompassesblues ,soul ,jazz , pop andfolk . Helen began performing on the folk-club circuit during the late 1960s whilst working as a teacher in Manchester. During the 1970s and 80s she was singer with blues band Loose Lips and a member of the Manchester quartet Well Knit Frames, which also included Martin McGroarty (who would become her regular writing partner). She was also a backing singer with Carmel on an extensive world tour.Watson made a demo tape with McGroarty which found its way to
Keith Hopwood at Pluto Music, who signed them, demoed their songs, and introduced her to music publisher and managerDeke Arlon . Soon after Helen signed withEMI , releasing her debut albumBlue Slipper in 1987. Produced byGlyn Johns the record featured contributions fromBill Payne ,Richie Hayward ,Paul Barrere ,George Hawkins ,Michael Landau ,Steve Lukather andBernie Leadon . This was the first time sinceLowell George 's death that members ofLittle Feat had played together. A second album, "The Weather Inside ", came out in 1989, again produced byGlyn Johns with the same stellar cast of session musicians and featuringAndy Fairweather-Low . Whilst signed toEMI Helen undertook notable tours supportingJoe Cocker and Black.Helen signed to
RCA for 1992'sCompanion Gal , which was recorded at the legendaryRockfield Studios in Wales.Andy Fairweather-Low once again lent his talents, as didBrinsley Schwarz . In support of the album Helen played shows at the Half Moon in Putney, theBand on the Wall and London's Tenor Clef. Lack of interest at the record company meant Helen's days working with major labels came to an end shortly afterwards. She spent the next three years working withChristine Collister ,Barb Jungr and Michael Parker as part of , which toured the USA, Canada and Europe (and released an album of songs from the show in 1993). Helen also formed a female supergroup calledDaphne's Flight , (withChristine Collister , Melanie Harrold, Julie Matthews and Chris While), releasing an eponymous album in 1995.In the ensuing decade Helen would release a number of mostly acoustic folk albums, touring the UK annually. She continues to work with other artists, notably
Emmylou Harris andLinda Ronstadt on their Western Wall album. Helen also producedChristine Collister 's 1996 album Blue Aconite and appeared on releases by Ashley Hutchings.In December 2006 Helen completed another tour of the UK's more intimate venues, including shows with David Hughes and
Christine Collister . From March to May 2007 she will be touring as singer withSnake Davis 's band Burden of Paradise [cite web|url= http://www.snakedavis.com/|title= Snake Davis] before returning to solo shows in July.olo Discography
*"
Blue Slipper " (EMI ) (1987 )
*"The Weather Inside " (EMI ) (1989 )
*"Companion Gal " (RCA ) (1992 )
*"Notes On Desire " (Building) (1995 )
*"Somersault" (Fledg'ling Records ) (1997 )
*"Doffing" (Fledg'ling Records ) (1999 )
*"Lifesize" (Fledg'ling Records ) (2002 )References
External links
* [http://www.myspace.com/helenwatsonmusic Helen Watson MySpace page]
* http://www.thebeesknees.com/?cat=8 Helen Watson biography and discography
* [http://users.bart.nl/~jad/watson.html J.A.D.'s Helen Watson Webpage]
* [http://www.soton.ac.uk/~hrw103 Helen Watson Biochemistry Career]
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