Bridget St John

Bridget St John
Bridget St John, 2003
Background information
Birth name	Bridget Hobbs
Born	(1946-10-04) 4 October 1946 South London
Origin	England
Genres	Folk rock
Occupations	Singer, guitarist, songwriter
Instruments	Vocals, guitar
Years active	1968–1976; 1999–present
Labels	Dandelion Chrysalis

Bridget St John (born Bridget Hobbs, 4 October 1946, South London) is a British singer and songwriter, best known for the three albums she recorded between 1969 and 1972 for John Peel's Dandelion label. Peel produced her debut album Ask Me No Questions. She also recorded a large number of BBC Radio and Peel sessions and toured regularly on the UK college and festival circuit. Her popularity peaked in 1974 when she was voted fifth most popular female singer in that year's Melody Maker readers poll.

An accomplished guitar player, she credits John Martyn as her guitar mentor.

The second album Songs for the Gentle Man, was produced by Ron Geesin. St John then recorded another album, Jumble Queen, for Chrysalis Records in 1974. She emigrated to Greenwich Village in 1976^[1] and virtually disappeared from the public eye for over 20 years. She took part in the Strawbs 25th Anniversary festival held at Stansfield in Suffolk in 1993, where John Martyn (among others) also performed. She appeared at a Nick Drake tribute concert in New York in 1999, performing "Northern Sky" and "One of These Things First". She toured Japan in 2006 with the minimalist French musician Colleen.

Aside from work under her own name, Bridget St John has also recorded with Mike Oldfield on his albums Ommadawn (1975) and Amarok (1990), as well as Kevin Ayers and Robin Frederick. In 2007 she reunited with Kevin Ayers to record on his album The Unfairground in New York. They duetted on the song "Baby Come Home".

She was described by John Peel as "the best lady singer-songwriter in the country".^[2]

Albums

• Top Gear (BBC) 1969 includes four tracks by Bridget
• Ask Me No Questions (Dandelion) 1969
  • John Martyn (Guitar), Richard Sanders (Guitar), Bridget St John (Vocals, Guitar, Keyboards), Simon Stable (Bongos), Producer: John Peel

1. "To B Without A Hitch"
2. "Autumn Lullaby"
3. "Curl Your Toes"
4. "Like Never Before"
5. "The Curious Crystals of Unusual Purity "
6. "Barefeet And Hot Pavements"
7. "I Like To Be with You in the Sun" (Song for the Laird of Connaught Hall)
8. "Lizard-Long-Tongue-Boy"
9. "Hello Again (Of Course)"
10. "Many Happy Returns"
11. "Broken Faith"
12. "Ask Me No Questions"

• Songs for the Gentle Man (Dandelion) 1971
• Thank You For... (Dandelion) 1972
• Jumblequeen (Chrysalis) 1974
• Take the 5ifth (Road Goes on Forever) 1996

References

External links

• Interview at The Terrascope